The Trump Presidency 2.0

[Ksyrup]

Everything is fine. Nothing to see here.

Trump: I don't think we're gonna necessarily ask for a declaration of war. I think we're just gonna kill people. Okay? We're gonna kill them. They're gonna be, like, dead.

[NobodyHere]

Originally Posted by RainMaker

I just did a cursory search and apparently that was 30 years ago.

fastcompany.com

I consider thinking about it and actually doing it to be in different worlds.

[Ghost Econ]

That's ok, Bannon says they intend to run Trump in 2028... but No Kings is stupid.

[Lathum]

Originally Posted by Drake

Thanks for the clarification, my dude. For the record, I got mine in Gatlinburg, and my mother-in-law paid for it -- so no Croation tattoos for me.

Though I did have the best dinner in my life in Zagreb in January 2005.

I got my first tattoo in Gatlinburg also.

[JPhillips]

Originally Posted by Drake

Thanks for the clarification, my dude. For the record, I got mine in Gatlinburg, and my mother-in-law paid for it -- so no Croation tattoos for me.

Though I did have the best dinner in my life in Zagreb in January 2005.

The food I ate in Dubrovnik was some of the best I've had, a mix of Italian and Greek. In particular, there was a Dalmation ham/oil cured cheese sandwich that everybody got as they were leaving the bars.

I did a show in the castle that Game of Thrones used for King's Landing.

[RainMaker]

Originally Posted by Arles

There’s a US innovation called Google that you can use to figure this out if you so choose.

Search engines existed before Google and their algorithm (which made them better) was outright stolen from the Chinese engineer who created Baidu.

[SirFozzie]

geezus. He is cancelling all negotiations with Canada because he got his precious fee-fees hurt.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/world...ations-reagan/

[Fidatelo]

Originally Posted by SirFozzie

geezus. He is cancelling all negotiations with Canada because he got his precious fee-fees hurt.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/world...ations-reagan/

It's all performative. The US team were never going to bargain in good faith and are just looking for excuses like these. The goal is to crush Canada's economy and force us into annexation. CUSMA will be ripped up next year and then we'll really see the tariffs and rhetoric fly.

[Ksyrup]

Color me shocked - and heartbroken - to read that the Washington Post is likely in "severe financial distress." That's kinda what happens when you destroy the value of a newspaper by replacing basic, reliable newsreporting to cater to your overlords. There are plenty of right-leaning places to go for news, so why would they suddenly pick up the Post?

[Mota]

Originally Posted by SirFozzie

geezus. He is cancelling all negotiations with Canada because he got his precious fee-fees hurt.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/world...ations-reagan/

He should be mad at Ronald Reagan, it's his words being used in the ad.

[Ksyrup]

I read that the Reagan foundation is backing Trump instead of (accurately) defending Reagan's legacy. Second time today... color me shocked!

[Arles]

It's wild to me that, in 2025, we have a president that is so "us against them" with global politics. I don't even think FDR in the middle of WWII was this divisive. It's getting very 1940s Germany with the rhetoric.

[HerRealName]

This is a wild story. Centrist free speech warriors will avoid this one:

The Absurd Prosecution of a Man Who Posted a Charlie Kirk Meme

Edit: Just want to add that the "Centrist" that I have in mind is Bari Weiss, the hypocrite, billionaire creature running CBS News somehow.

[RainMaker]

Originally Posted by HerRealName

This is a wild story. Centrist free speech warriors will avoid this one:

The Absurd Prosecution of a Man Who Posted a Charlie Kirk Meme

I kept seeing bits and pieces of this story and kept thinking there had to be more to what he did. But no. Free speech is long dead.

[Arles]

There is a ton of irony of all the "go woke, go broke" crew under Biden who told the left to relax and not get so worked up over things mocking political correction are now literally incensed anytime anyone pokes fun at the right (esp Charlie Kirk).

[Ghost Econ]

Originally Posted by Arles

There is a ton of irony of all the "go woke, go broke" crew under Biden who told the left to relax and not get so worked up over things mocking political correction are now literally incensed anytime anyone pokes fun at the right (esp Charlie Kirk).

I guess they take the old adage, "you shouldn't best a dead horse," to heart.

[Ghost Econ]

I, for one, love that private citizens now own our military.

[Mota]

We're seeing the issue of "winning" on trade deals. Trump is so obsessed with winning, that he doesn't see what is happening around him. The trade world is re-organizing without the USA.

They are obsessed with destroying Canada's auto sector. Well the first thing I'd do is to force auto dealers to put a picture of the flag of origin on the front of every car in the lot, that way Canadians know which cars NOT to buy. It's already happening in grocery stores.

You can use tariffs to block access into the USA, but you can't force people in other countries to buy product from the USA. As the canola farmers and bourbon makers are finding out. It's a lose lose proposition. A country might win on one front, but then be bleeding out on other ones.

[Brian Swartz]

Totally agree. Free trade is an inevitability in the global economy whether we want it to be or not. Protectionism will always hurt us far more than it helps.

[flere-imsaho]

This is what happens when you elect a moron president. Even Dubya wasn't this dumb.

[Fidatelo]

They know it hurts the US, but they also know it hurts Canada more. The point is to weaken us relative to them, so they can annex us.

[JPhillips]

Is there a single historical example of a country choosing less trade, less immigration, and fewer allies and being more prosperous and secure? Every example I can think of ended up falling behind the countries that did the opposite of that.

[Atocep]

Originally Posted by JPhillips

Is there a single historical example of a country choosing less trade, less immigration, and fewer allies and being more prosperous and secure? Every example I can think of ended up falling behind the countries that did the opposite of that.

There isn't an example. We're choosing to backwards on science, medicine, trade, immigration, and social programs. Billionaires are going to get richer, those making $200k+ per year are going be able to stay afloat. Everyone else is largely going to be far worse off. The cult doesn't care as long as they have enemies lined up in front of them to be angry at.

No amount of getting people out of the country is going to make people's lives better. Prices aren't coming down. Crime isn't going to come down. We're seeing a resurgence in long defeated diseases.

Some might say China, but that's western propaganda. China has been opening up trade, pouring money into science and medicine, and expanding social programs for the poor and elderly. They're also expanding into new areas and creating partnerships and allies as we isolate ourselves.

[Mota]

This Trump meltdown might be the event that causes Canada to remove the 100% tariff on Chinese EV's. Imagine that.

[AlexB]

Originally Posted by Fidatelo

They know it hurts the US, but they also know it hurts Canada more. The point is to weaken us relative to them, so they can annex us.

Have faith. Although I don’t claim to know the intricacies of global business, I’d trust a PM who used to be Governor of the Bank of England much more than a President who can be distracted by shiny things

[Fidatelo]

Originally Posted by AlexB

Have faith. Although I don’t claim to know the intricacies of global business, I’d trust a PM who used to be Governor of the Bank of England much more than a President who can be distracted by shiny things

I'm with you there, I really like Carney and believe that if there is someone that can navigate Canada through this mess it's likely him. But it's quite a David and Goliath scenario for him.

[RainMaker]

Originally Posted by Ghost Econ

I, for one, love that private citizens now own our military.

Of course it is a guy with Epstein ties who benefit from the government being shut down.

[Lathum]

Living in NJ in the off election years sucks. Constantly getting barraged with commercials, mail, texts, etc...

[bhlloy]

I don't even live in NJ, but those endless governor adverts make me want to throw my TV through a window. Holy fuck.

What makes me laugh is when you get a Sherill one that says Ciattarelli will raise tax and then one immediately after you get a Ciattarelli one that says Sherill will raise the same tax. Like you couldn't you save yourselves 100 million dollars and my sanity and just agree that those messages cancel each other our so we're not going to bother?

[Ksyrup]

The race to replace McConnell in KY has been going for several months. The GOP ads are just awful - people falling all over themselves to prove how far they can stick their head up Trump's ass while simultaneously calling each other out for being a "McConnell boy."

[RainMaker]

Sort of seems like the Trump administration is going to back down on some China tariffs now that they desperately need the rare earth minerals.

[Lathum]

JFC he is the most vindictive POS to ever walk the earth.

Access to this page has been denied

[JPhillips]

I don't understand the obsession with the auto pen. It would have to mean the Jan 6 pardons are invalid. Trump certainly didn't hand sign 1600 pardons.

[PilotMan]

The argument isn't that he used it, it's that he was so cognitively impaired that he couldn't sign himself, or even know what was going on and others were essentially telling him they were doing it since he couldn't.


It's likely total bullshit, and it's just one stone they intend to drill into just for the sake of the media coverage. Even if they fail, they open the discussion, and if it's open, then both sides, and if both sides, then yeah but they have a point, and the conversation needle never really goes back to the place where the original point existed.

[PilotMan]

Originally Posted by Ksyrup

The race to replace McConnell in KY has been going for several months. The GOP ads are just awful - people falling all over themselves to prove how far they can stick their head up Trump's ass while simultaneously calling each other out for being a "McConnell boy."

The dumb thing about that is that KY used to have a very libertarian bent, and didn't want to kiss up to anyone, and to generally be left alone. The success that Paul and Massey have had going against trump may ultimately doom them, but older kentuckians would have told trump to fuck himself rather than bend the knee too. Even if they agreed with a chunk of his positions.

[Ksyrup]

Yeah, the Massie/Paul thing is very interesting. Paul makes some sense, but Massie always came off as a MAGA type. I don't know if his wife dying changed his outlook, or maybe he and Paul decided to tag-team on some of this stuff, but it's interesting to watch.

Although I disagree with how fully libertarian they want to take things, I do appreciate the fact that they are calling (some) things as they see them and not just fully bending over for Trump.

[RainMaker]

Massie is just an old school, semi-small government conservative with isolationist views. Used to be sort of common and was part of the whole tea party movement. But just about everyone else with that mindset changed their views to lick Trump's boots and he was one of the only ones to stand his ground.

The reason he gets attacked a lot is because he calls out AIPAC which is the worst crime a politician can make for the establishment on both sides.

[JPhillips]

Originally Posted by PilotMan

The argument isn't that he used it, it's that he was so cognitively impaired that he couldn't sign himself, or even know what was going on and others were essentially telling him they were doing it since he couldn't.


It's likely total bullshit, and it's just one stone they intend to drill into just for the sake of the media coverage. Even if they fail, they open the discussion, and if it's open, then both sides, and if both sides, then yeah but they have a point, and the conversation needle never really goes back to the place where the original point existed.

But that ends with asking him if he meant it and him saying yes. Meanwhile you have Trump not seeming to know why he's pardoning people other than someone told him to.

[RainMaker]

I think he knows.

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[Ksyrup]

Originally Posted by JPhillips

But that ends with asking him if he meant it and him saying yes. Meanwhile you have Trump not seeming to know why he's pardoning people other than someone told him to.

They are going to force them to go through the protocols on how Biden was briefed and consented to each use of the pen is my guess. This isn't a question of what Biden says, it's whether others were allegedly not keeping him informed - or didn't keep a good enough paper trail so that they can claim Biden didn't know.

[JPhillips]

Over the last decade the GOP figured out that low information voters aren't paying enough attention to know why things go to shit, they only know they are shit and they blame the ruling party. Now that's coming back to hit them square in the face. All those voters know is that the GOP kept saying they were in charge with a huge mandate and now everything is falling apart. For their own good, they need to kill the filibuster.

[Ksyrup]

Originally Posted by Flasch186

We’re officially Austrian citizens (dual) and our passports have been ordered

You know

Just in case Edward is wrong

My brother and I are looking into this based on our Greek heritage. I think my brother wants it more for the flexibility to travel through Europe once he retires, but I'm looking at it for multiple reasons, the least of which is vacationing. I want options.

The easiest route is through a parent, but my dad is not a Greek citizen. So we're looking at cost/time it will take to get him citizenship through my grandparents' lineage, and then if he gets it, my brother and I can qualify fairly easily through him. Cost is less of an issue than my dad's health. But I've reached out to a law firm that specializes in this kind of stuff to get an idea of what the process looks like. And we're old enough that the conscription law won't be an issue (although I think we'd be OK if we live permanently outside of the country anyway).

If we could do this, it would be great. Options! And, it's something I could pass down to my two kids.

[JPhillips]

Looks like this is how things are going to play out:

Trump tariffs China
China stops buying soybeans
Trump tariffs China again
China cuts off rare earth minerals
Trump agrees to let China have top end AI chips
China agrees to sell rare earth minerals
Trump agrees to cut tariffs
China agrees to buy soybeans

Master of the deal, I tell you.

[JPhillips]

dola

Trump says we're going to start testing nuclear weapons again. No info on what that means.

[Ghost Econ]

Texas is going back to banning gay marriage. I'm sure the Supreme Court will care.

[Lathum]

Texas rep Dan Fallon was on the radio this morning claiming the dems are partnering with drug cartels to dox ICE agents for a 60K reward. Insanity.

[HerRealName]

Originally Posted by Lathum

Texas rep Dan Fallon was on the radio this morning claiming the dems are partnering with drug cartels to dox ICE agents for a 60K reward. Insanity.

This is my rep in my stupidly gerrymandered district. He's an absolutely horrible person.

[Lathum]

I listen a lot to POTUS network on Sirius and they have a fair bit of republicans on there. They are all so boorish and follow the same script that is obviously spoon fed to them. Currently it is that the dems shut down the government and murdering fisherman 2,000 miles away is in the interest of national defense.

[Flasch186]

Originally Posted by Ksyrup

My brother and I are looking into this based on our Greek heritage. I think my brother wants it more for the flexibility to travel through Europe once he retires, but I'm looking at it for multiple reasons, the least of which is vacationing. I want options.

The easiest route is through a parent, but my dad is not a Greek citizen. So we're looking at cost/time it will take to get him citizenship through my grandparents' lineage, and then if he gets it, my brother and I can qualify fairly easily through him. Cost is less of an issue than my dad's health. But I've reached out to a law firm that specializes in this kind of stuff to get an idea of what the process looks like. And we're old enough that the conscription law won't be an issue (although I think we'd be OK if we live permanently outside of the country anyway).

If we could do this, it would be great. Options! And, it's something I could pass down to my two kids.

Good to have options

Our passports showed up today

[Atocep]

Originally Posted by Lathum

I listen a lot to POTUS network on Sirius and they have a fair bit of republicans on there. They are all so boorish and follow the same script that is obviously spoon fed to them. Currently it is that the dems shut down the government and murdering fisherman 2,000 miles away is in the interest of national defense.

My wife is in Texas for her grandfather's funeral and her family keeps asking if I'm getting paid and when she tells them no but I'm still working they start complaining that the dems shut down the government, refuse to negotiate, and shut the House down. She got tired of trying to correct them and is just ignoring it now.