The Trump Presidency 2.0

[Mota]

If you have nothing to hide, hide nothing.

[Ksyrup]

Originally Posted by JPhillips

It's just structurally impossible to be successful as a third party. Perot found this out, any position that a party takes that's popular is going to be co-opted by one of the two major parties. The only way to get somewhere with a third party is to start locally and build support over many years. There's no path for a party to start at the national level.

This is particularly true given that Trump just proved that if you have what it takes, a takeover of a major party is the obvious move because everyone falls in line behind you. Now... easier said than done, yadda yadda, but what is more realistic - fighting 2 major parties, or using the force of one of the two major parties?

I did find it funny that without any kind of self-awareness, the South African who cozies up to Nazis posted: "We've tried red. We've tried blue." Am I supposed to come to any other conclusion than, "Here I am, introducing the White Party"?

[Lathum]

When asked if he was going to visit Texas trump said maybe Friday and he wanted to give them a few days so he wouldn’t be in the way.

I seem to remember Biden doing similar and being skewered on FOX news for days on end.

[Ghost Econ]

He probably ran out of Depends and doesn't want to add to the continued flood risk.

[kingfc22]

Originally Posted by Lathum

When asked if he was going to visit Texas trump said maybe Friday and he wanted to give them a few days so he wouldn’t be in the way.

I seem to remember Biden doing similar and being skewered on FOX news for days on end.

Dear Leader can do no wrong. It’s a fucking cult made of pretzel people.

[RainMaker]

Originally Posted by Ksyrup

This is particularly true given that Trump just proved that if you have what it takes, a takeover of a major party is the obvious move because everyone falls in line behind you. Now... easier said than done, yadda yadda, but what is more realistic - fighting 2 major parties, or using the force of one of the two major parties?

I did find it funny that without any kind of self-awareness, the South African who cozies up to Nazis posted: "We've tried red. We've tried blue." Am I supposed to come to any other conclusion than, "Here I am, introducing the White Party"?

The thing with Trump is that most of his policies align with what Republicans want anyway. So it's not like the party made a huge shift on policy outside of the protectionism/tariffs. The issue most people in the party had with him is just the optics.

[cuervo72]

Originally Posted by Lathum

When asked if he was going to visit Texas trump said maybe Friday and he wanted to give them a few days so he wouldn’t be in the way.

Surprised he didn't say "two weeks."

[Brian Swartz]

For some of us, the 'optics' are more important than the policies.

[Lathum]

When you have lost Doocy...

DOOCY: So what happened to the Epstein client list that the attorney general said she had on her desk?

LEAVITT: I think if you go back and look at what the attorney general said

DOOCY: I've got the quote. She said, it's sitting on my desk right now to review. pic.twitter.com/RtsRuUrNwh

— Acyn (@Acyn) July 7, 2025

[Lathum]

VA laying off 30k workers by September. Bought to you by the president who loves our vets.

[RainMaker]

So are we going to bomb or tariff someone to take attention away from the Epstein and Texas stuff?

[SirFozzie]

Tariffs announced, so yeah.

[Edward64]

As Elon Musk moves to create a third party to upend America’s political system, he’s spoken with one-time Democratic presidential candidate Andrew Yang about the nascent effort.

Yang, the 2020 White House contender and founder of the independent Forward Party, said in an interview that he has been “in touch” with Musk and his team.

Glad I still have my Yang t-shirt

[GrantDawg]

You have a yang on a shirt?

Sent from my SM-S938U using Tapatalk

[Edward64]

This one. Who doesn't love UBI.

[Edward64]

Bibi (and Pakistan) knows how to play the game

Netanyahu plays into Trump’s hopes for Middle East peace — and nominates him for a Nobel Prize

[Ghost Econ]

The military conducting operations on American soil and preachers can openly stump for particular candidates. Nothing like living in a Christian Theocratic Kleptocracy.

[JPhillips]

Mamdani is so good at retail level politics.

Shooting our videos is a little bit different now. pic.twitter.com/6F1ufZ8alX

— Zohran Kwame Mamdani (@ZohranKMamdani) July 8, 2025

[Atocep]

The fact that a potentialy/likely mayor is drawing as much hate from both sides tells you hes exactly what's needed. The establishment money on the dem side complaining that this is why dems lose elections is pretty amazing and out of touch.

[GrantDawg]

President Trump’s response here on Jeffrey Epstein, juxtaposed with the fact that Prime Minister Netanyahu is in Washington right now, is inflaming neo-Nazis like I haven’t seen in a long time.

All of this is becoming very dangerous. pic.twitter.com/1YGgZoP41i

— Yashar Ali �� (@yashar) July 8, 2025

[Danny]

His response there isnt in the top 10,000 of worse things he has said.

[Ghost Econ]

The funny thing is, Bondi's response is perfectly legitimate. if she had initially said the Epstein file is on her desk to review, she wouldn't have this problem. Her problem is she lies so much she doesn't deserve the benefit of the doubt.

[RainMaker]

It is a fair question to ask why not a single person has been charged outside of Epstein and Maxwell. They supposedly trafficked hundreds of minors but to no one apparently.

[Atocep]

She also made her rounds on Fox News, Newsmax, etc her first month as AG bashing the Biden administration for sitting on the Epstein files and doing nothing with them while promising the files would be released and they would go after people.

[RainMaker]

It is still one of the most insane stories we've had. Guy with intelligence ties is connected to almost every influential man in the world gets caught trafficking minors. No one can tell you where all his money came from, can't pinpoint any actual trades he made, or why these billionaires were willing to give him power of attorney or pay him tens of millions a year to do their taxes.

[RainMaker]

nytimes.com

[Atocep]

One detail in the budget package that I've only seen mentioned in one article is the $200k lifetime cap on Stafford loans, which will likely lead to a doctor shortage in the near future.

[dubb93]

I’m convinced my grandkids will be back to working in the mines with very little to no regulation.

[miami_fan]

Originally Posted by RainMaker

It is a fair question to ask why not a single person has been charged outside of Epstein and Maxwell. They supposedly trafficked hundreds of minors but to no one apparently.

It is only a fair question if you believe any of this had to do with the prosecution of crimes related to trafficking hundreds of minors.

[Edward64]

Originally Posted by RainMaker

No one can tell you where all his money came from, can't pinpoint any actual trades he made, or why these billionaires were willing to give him power of attorney or pay him tens of millions a year to do their taxes.

Wiki has the answer on how he made his money.

Jeffrey Epstein - Wikipedia

[Ksyrup]

I don't want to derail the Severe Weather thread with politics, but there's been some pretty good reporting with details on how the GOP completely fucked over Texas residents in Kerr County on the issue of installing flood warning systems which - SHOCKER! - they are now lying about by saying taxpayers wouldn't fund it or it would have cost them money they didn't have.

A review of transcripts of minutes from the Kerr County Commission is pretty enlightening/damning. Specifically, in 2017 there was a grant available to pay the just short of $1M needed to do it, but the Commission refused because the money would come from the Obama Administration. Four years later, they had $5.1M in their account from Biden's America Rescue Plan Act to cover the costs, and again refused, this time because they wouldn't accept money from "criminal" Biden. It's unclear from what I read whether they actually gave the money back, though, because they were afraid it would be sent to NY or NJ or CA to be used for things the TX GOP was against so at the time, they simply elected not to use it specifically for a flood/disaster warning system (which was the proposal at the time) and either used it later for something else, or perhaps eventually gave it back.

The same guy quoted by the NYT in the last couple of days as saying the system wasn't in place because taxpayers wouldn't pay for it was on the Commission and part of these discussions.

As it relates to the Trump administration, the FEMA cuts have drastically cut down the number of people sent to assist with this disaster. It was like under 100 people as of Sunday. Long-time FEMA people have said they would have had several hundred staffers on the ground by then to assist.

Just a shitshow of partisan buffoonery that has directly led to citizens' deaths and suffering.

[JPhillips]

The head of FEMA has been completely invisible and nobody in the media seems to care because it will make Trump mad to say it.

[Ghost Econ]

@Ksyrup, $5 says they would still vote for Trump for a 3rd term if they had the chance.

They showed an interview with a mom of a camper who survived. They went back to the camp for some reason, I guess to get stuff. The kid is just standing there the whole time, dead eyed. But the mom was just smiling and talking about what her daughter experienced. Just completely oblivious to her kid's suffering.

[miami_fan]

Originally Posted by JPhillips

The head of FEMA has been completely invisible and nobody in the media seems to care because it will make Trump mad to say it.

Do we still have any expectations for FEMA to respond to natural disasters?

I am wondering if the states have any idea of the emergency management responsibilities that has been dropped to them from the federal government.

[Ghost Econ]

So, currently Texas has floods, plagues (measles), and locusts (cicadas).

Maybe they should pay attention to the signs.

[RainMaker]

Originally Posted by Edward64

Wiki has the answer on how he made his money.

Jeffrey Epstein - Wikipedia

People gave him money for imaginary services. Seems really really odd. Never heard of a billionaire signing over power of attorney to a middling trader from the 80's. Or tens of millions of dollars every year for tax planning to a guy with no real accounting background.

Feels like something more was going on here.

[RainMaker]

Originally Posted by Ksyrup

Just a shitshow of partisan buffoonery that has directly led to citizens' deaths and suffering.

They were let down. Although after Uvalde, I think we know what we can expect from Texas and protecting children.

Texas Flooding Camp Mystic emergency plan approved by inspectors days before disaster

[Atocep]

Originally Posted by Ksyrup

I don't want to derail the Severe Weather thread with politics, but there's been some pretty good reporting with details on how the GOP completely fucked over Texas residents in Kerr County on the issue of installing flood warning systems which - SHOCKER! - they are now lying about by saying taxpayers wouldn't fund it or it would have cost them money they didn't have.

A review of transcripts of minutes from the Kerr County Commission is pretty enlightening/damning. Specifically, in 2017 there was a grant available to pay the just short of $1M needed to do it, but the Commission refused because the money would come from the Obama Administration. Four years later, they had $5.1M in their account from Biden's America Rescue Plan Act to cover the costs, and again refused, this time because they wouldn't accept money from "criminal" Biden. It's unclear from what I read whether they actually gave the money back, though, because they were afraid it would be sent to NY or NJ or CA to be used for things the TX GOP was against so at the time, they simply elected not to use it specifically for a flood/disaster warning system (which was the proposal at the time) and either used it later for something else, or perhaps eventually gave it back.

The same guy quoted by the NYT in the last couple of days as saying the system wasn't in place because taxpayers wouldn't pay for it was on the Commission and part of these discussions.

As it relates to the Trump administration, the FEMA cuts have drastically cut down the number of people sent to assist with this disaster. It was like under 100 people as of Sunday. Long-time FEMA people have said they would have had several hundred staffers on the ground by then to assist.

Just a shitshow of partisan buffoonery that has directly led to citizens' deaths and suffering.

Trump would have had Newsome arrested if this had happened in California

[Atocep]

Originally Posted by RainMaker

So are we going to bomb or tariff someone to take attention away from the Epstein and Texas stuff?

They're out of new ideas. Criminal Investigations into Brennan and Comey confirmed although both said they haven't been contacted by the DOJ, which tells you they know there isn't anything to actually investigate them for and they're hoping it distracts from Epstein.

[bhlloy]

They’ve still got the Russia card to play. Apparently bombing Moscow has now been mentioned. A good month or two of fun stories around that upcoming. Could even get Zelensky back for another public dressing down.

[GrantDawg]

Originally Posted by RainMaker

People gave him money for imaginary services. Seems really really odd. Never heard of a billionaire signing over power of attorney to a middling trader from the 80's. Or tens of millions of dollars every year for tax planning to a guy with no real accounting background.

Feels like something more was going on here.

Nah. The DOJ said it was fine. It is all been a big misunderstanding.



Edit: I'm not a big conspiracy guy. I think most things are really hard to keep secret very long, especially when it is in the public eye. It is really hard NOT to see a conspiracy when dealing with Epstein though. To the point that it is really not hard to believe he was a CIA/Mossad operative of some sort. The level of protection and cover up is just too much.

[GrantDawg]

Gutting all the senior scientist at NASA isn't a big deal, right?


Just a moment...

[RainMaker]

Tariffs on countries who won't let his corrupt friends get away with crimes. Blatantly illegal but laws seem optional at this point.

Trump threatens 50% tariffs on Brazil if it doesn’t stop the Bolsonaro ‘witch hunt’ trial | CNN Business

[GrantDawg]

Originally Posted by RainMaker

Tariffs on countries who won't let his corrupt friends get away with crimes. Blatantly illegal but laws seem optional at this point.

Trump threatens 50% tariffs on Brazil if it doesn’t stop the Bolsonaro ‘witch hunt’ trial | CNN Business

HE just wants no politician to ever face corruption charges. I wonder why?

[bronconick]

Bolsonaro on trial for "attempting to stage a coup" after he lost.

Huh.

[Ksyrup]

Even shithole countries have standards that exceed ours.

[Fidatelo]

Sorry for ruining your summer guys. I imagine Trump will slap a tariff on our smoke exports tomorrow.


https://www.cbc.ca/news/world/canadi...mmer-1.7580738

[Lathum]

I can totally see a scenario where Trump suggests putting up “fans” along the northern border that resemble the windmills he demonizes so much.

[Ksyrup]

My boss usually spends a week in isolation just over the border from MN in Canada, where they camp. This year, they were unable to have a campfire and it was really smoky. On the positive side, bugs were virtually nil!

[Fidatelo]

Originally Posted by Lathum

I can totally see a scenario where Trump suggests putting up “fans” along the northern border that resemble the windmills he demonizes so much.

Seems right. Maybe the US will bill the cost of the fans back to us as part of the Golden Dome charge.


Though before drastic measures are taken perhaps we can look into creating a Wildfire Czar up here to deal with the source of the problem, nip those fires in the bud.