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In 1990 Nelson Mandela was released having spent 27 years in prison. Much of it in brutal conditions and much of it in isolation from his fellow inmates. A little over 4 years later he was elected president carrying the dreams and aspirations of a beaten-down majority whilst having to balance the risk of provocation, capital flight and warring factions. He pledged forgiveness in return for candour.
Fast forward 25-30 years and a gilded population enjoying still almost unrestricted consumerism and consumption elects Donald Trump. A convicted fraudster born into privilege. A known sex offender. A draft-dodging cowardly crook. They elect him because, frankly, they want more for less - again. They want to reject tolerance and respect in return for a few more goodies. This freeloading, pampered parasite who has got where he is by bullying, lying and gambling is pledging revenge on people who dared to run against him, expose his lies or just oppose him democratically.
There is something very wrong at the heart of America (if it has one at all).
It probably also spikes when Melania sits opposite him and crosses her legs.
It's been widely reported she won't be living with him at the White House. Pretty sure the divorce would be going through if he'd lost.
That conspiracy theorist Kennedy was on the news earlier, he can't even speak properly. What an absolute joke of a health minister. If I were an American, living in America right now, I'd be frightened.
No, because a lot of them are really appreciating that their man won and that the cost of living is going to come down for them, not just because he said so, but also because the recent price drop in petrol has shown that it is AND HE IS NOT EVEN IN OFFICE YET.
Some people, sure, they might be not looking forward to the upcoming years. Those are possibly illegal aliens, undocumented workers, LGBTQ people, poor people with complex medical condtions and young women in conservative states that have the Roe vs. Wade reversal on the books already or coming, but he fact that he won both the college and the popular vote means that a lot of people want his brand of nutjob, rapacious Republicanism running their nation, or are at least fine with it enough to _not_ vote for literally anyone else but him.
No, because a lot of them are really appreciating that their man won
That doesn't make bunnyhop's comment any less true though does it. Whilst the majority of Americans who voted, voted for trump, there were many millions who didn't. And you don't need to be a minority to feel a sense of dread if you don't agree with anything he says.
As a white, middle class bloke, I may not be on the trump hit list, but like bunnyhop if I was American I'd have major concerns about the future of the country.
I'm beginning to wonder about how long a country can hold itself together when the government of the day is truly unqualified to run it.
I'm no manager but I fully recognize that running an operation requires good management with relevant and extensive experience, the ability to foresee difficulty and make coherent decisions.
That all seems to be something that the US will be lacking come January
Serious politicians understand the importance of building consensus, finding common ground. I suppose the domination of maga might make that a quaint notion, we shall see. But without it, an irreparably divided nation and only a matter of time before it comes tumbling down.
I’m beginning to wonder about how long a country can hold itself together when the government of the day is truly unqualified to run it.
Last time around one of the things that kept the excesses of Trump's behaviour in check was the people around him seeking to protect not only the country (or particularly Republican ambitions for the country) and partly to try and dissuade Trump from taking actions that were illegal - things that were illegal for him to demand and illegal from them to action.
Trump's now emboldened by the Supreme Court decision regarding immunity (which is actually quite limited). But there are 1,800 other people in the Whitehouse, the Supreme Court ruling only mentions one of them - that immunity presumably doesn't extend to all of them or even any of them. Injecting a layer of die-hards, yes men and loons at the top of each department doesn't mean it possible to then fill each of those departments with people who are willing to share the magical thinking and stake their liberty and livelihood on it.
The appointment of RFK is fascinating - we hear a lot in America about the private health care system & the eyewatering amounts of money involved. Given all that - where do big pharma sit in terms of influence?
Is this like him putting someone who is Anti-NRA in charge of gun licensing?
Is this like him putting someone who is Anti-NRA in charge of gun licensing?
More like putting someone who thinks that school shootings are hoaxes in charge of gun licensing.
JFK Jr says a worm ate some of his brain and then died in there.
Are we sure it died? or is it controlling him?
Are we sure it died?
Yip..........of hunger.
As a Curb your Enthusiasm fan boi its always been really weird that Larry David's Cheryl is RFK junior's wife. And they were apparently introduced to each other by LD. I assumed that their marriage was as strong as Trump's but she's still hanging in there.
His wikipedia entry is full of delightful content:
During his marriage to Richardson, Kennedy was known among his friends for sending explicit nude photos of women that they presumed he had taken, according to Vanity Fair.<He reportedly engaged in multiple affairs during the marriage.
On May 12, 2010, Kennedy filed for divorce from Richardson. On May 16, 2012, Richardson was found dead in a building on the grounds of her home in Bedford, New York. The Westchester County Medical Examiner ruled the death a suicide due to asphyxiation from hanging.<Before her death, Richardson had discovered Kennedy's personal journal from 2001, in which he recorded sexual encounters with 37 different women. According to Kennedy, Richardson passed the journal along "to her sisters with instructions that, if anything happened to her, [it should be] published in the press".
I assumed that their marriage was as strong as Trump’s but she’s still hanging in there.
Rumours abound that she's left/leaving him
I'd rather have the brainworm in charge of US health policy than RFK jnr.
Matt Gaetz as Attorney General
Tulsi Gabbard (who was accused of being a Russian asset) in charge of National Security.
Elon Musk in any position of power.
It's government as a form of trolling, put the worst people in charge of stuff just because.
It’s government as a form of trolling, put the worst people in charge of stuff just because.
This is the key thing, Trump has learned that owning the libs gets him ratings. He doesn't give a shit about policy or convention, he's just appointing people that he knows will generate headlines.
All the buyers regret seems to be coming home with Reps now reality is setting in.
Folk with existing medical conditions didn't know that ACA and Obamacare are the same thing.
Muslims shocked that Huckabee and Shapiro are pro-Israel.
Google searches for 'who pays tariffs'? peaked on Nov 7th.
Pity the research wasn't done before making their mark, but that's US politics.
I hope the ones who voted Red are worst hit, so that the lesson may be learned before the next election.
Shares in pharmacutical companies have taken a hit on the news that the guy who's about to be the head of all the health gubbins in the states wears a tinfoil helmet and quite fancies seeing the reintroduction of smallpox. He'll be working for a man who thought the cure for covid was to inject yourself with belach.
Whats the opposite of 'the enlightenment'?
Pity the research wasn’t done before making their mark, but that’s politics.
Just needed one word removing.
EDIT: ooo… someone else’s turn to post a PSB Agenda video!
I can't decide whether that team of cretins will just provide a clown show for a few months until they just collapse and drown in a paddling pool of blancmange or unfortunately more probable do serious damage that will be felt for decades, but won't start to really show the damage until later in his term or even after.
A lot of people have had 8 years knowing this was on the cards, I dont think they'll be quite as poorly organized as last time.
So it turns out that Elon Musk's claim that "hundreds of British citizens, including journalists, are reporting that they’ve been visited by the police this weekend regarding X posts" is based on this :
Original tweet:
https://twitter.com/elonmusk/status/1856962072757620980
I reckon Katie Price is a shoe-in for the still vacant treasury post.
This is the key thing, Trump has learned that owning the libs gets him ratings. He doesn’t give a shit about policy or convention, he’s just appointing people that he knows will generate headlines.
Well season 1 of the reboot of Trumpton, life’s just a tv program to him.
It’s taken what, three hundred years, but the Pilgrim Fathers original plan is coming to fruition - an autocratic theocracy where Nationalist Christians are in complete control of the government, where they plan on defunding the public schools, meaning that other than home schooling the only option is a school system that teaches that the Bible is the only truth that they will need.
I think this Trump presidency will do a lot of damage. Even if they are completely useless, balls everything up etc - we now know there is a large proportion of the US electorate who'll buy any bullshit so long at it reinforces their entirely unjustified sense of grievance.
Whatever the actual policy achievements or (far more likely) disasters, the nasty underbelly of the US electorate will be even nastier in 4 years.
inject yourself with belach
I know what you mean, but I think this new word sounds fitting.
It’s taken what, three hundred years, but the Pilgrim Fathers original plan is coming to fruition – an autocratic theocracy where Nationalist Christians are in complete control of the government
I doubt any of them would ever dared imagine the kind of person who would finally deliver it
fenderextender
we now know there is a large proportion of the US electorate who’ll buy any bullshit so long at it reinforces their entirely unjustified sense of grievance.
Hostile state actors and (their) domestic grifters know too.
I know not everyone agrees but social media has played a huge part in this state of affairs, almost entirely developed by US companies in a near wild west environment.
They sewed the seed of their own demise. Hell, it might be the demise of all democracies.
Rather hoping people will see how swivel eyed these loons are that they'll become the rump of the Republican party. Like Farage and his gang.
Like Farage and his gang.
Don't write them off yet.
It's entirely possibly that they, along with the Tories, form a coalition government sometime within the next decade.
Elonia Musk has high expectations for his new government position’s staffing:
On Thursday, the so-called Department of Government Efficiency announced on X-formerly-Twitter — which in the ouroborous of American oligarchy, Musk owns — that it would start accepting applications, albeit with some eye-brow raising demands.
"We don't need more part-time idea generators," wrote the Department of Government Efficiency in the post. "We need super high-IQ small-government revolutionaries willing to work 80+ hours per week on unglamorous cost-cutting."
Sounds thrilling. But if performing totally unremunerative work for the world's richest man is your thing — and if you sincerely think having a high IQ is worth bragging about — then "DM this account with your CV," the account implored. "Elon and Vivek will review the top 1 percent of applicants."
Doge Days
The Department of Government Efficiency is the brainchild of Musk and president-elect Donald Trump. Its shorthand, DOGE, is a joke referring to the meme-turned-cryptocurrency Dogecoin, a longtime obsession of Musk's.
Whats the opposite of ‘the enlightenment’?
the majority of the American electorate apparently
Surely being willing to work for free will mean you are lying about the high IQ bit or just hiding a mental illness which overrides it?
Board and lodging maybe but for free? That or you are planning to make a shit ton from bribes, sorry, future employment offers.
Is Cummings working in America now ? ^^
So he's picked
A paedophile for Attorney General
A neonazi fox news host at defense
A Russian asset in charge of the CIA
An anti science conspiracy loon at Health
And billionaire space Karen in charge of austerity
I'm. Assuming it'll be Hulk Hogan for education next and we'll be ready to rock
The people he's choosing are never going to be able to work this shit. They're all going to end up fighting against each other for the attention of their orange ****puffin. While he changes the rules and moves the goal posts based on which shiny things KJU and Vlad wave in his face.
It’s entirely possibly that they, along with the Tories, form a coalition government sometime within the next decade.
Or possibly within the next five years. The very latest opinion poll gives the Tories a 2% lead over Labour.
Combined Tory-Reform support is 48% and with Labour on an extraordinarily low 27% I think those figures would probably give a Tory-Reform coalition a healthy majority.
https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/labour-tories-uk-poll-badenoch-starmer-b2645517.html
Anyone else find it slightly ironic that the department for government efficiency has... (checks notes) two people in charge of it?!
The party of small government.
the whole set up kinda makes sense if you view it through a Cold War lens. If you were looking from Vlads’ side, who would be the best fit to accelerate the dismantling of the US state? It’s looking like fait accompli!
I think I need to buy shares in Popcorn!
Have there been any mutterings about California seceding yet? It's the sort of proposal that could gain momentum, given that it has the fifth largest economy in the world on its own, and its tax dollars are heavily subsidising the motley lump of red states that put Trump back into office.
Even Republican voters there might be tempted by the idea, given their fondness for state's rights and lower tax.
Here’s Yanis Varoufakis take on the current state of western democracy, a good watch/listen
https://www.youtube.com/live/e8xSGzqdKC8?si=GKpxurDhbvff_SNG
Here’s Yanis Varoufakis take on the current state of western democracy, a good watch/listen
He makes interesting comments concerning Trump's attitude to Palestine. Apart from the fact that the situation in Gaza cannot possibly be worse under Trump than it has been under Biden/Harris he suggests that under Trump Netanyahu will be less likely to drag the United States into the regional war which he desperately wants compared to Harris. Because for Trump it is the "wrong" war.
Varoufakis certainly paints Trump as a more pragmatic politician with actual thought out policies than many people give him credit for. Indeed on the issue of Palestine he suggests that Harris had no strategic plans at all and that Democrats are prepared to back/fight multiple wars whilst the only adversary that Trump is concerned with is China. Which is not a bad assessment imo – China has to be easily the United States biggest and fastest growing threat.
Also an interesting suggestion with regards to the United States/the West driving Russia into the arms of China. Although that could also possibly be said of Iran I guess.
Apart from the fact that the situation in Gaza cannot possibly be worse under Trump than it has been under Biden/Harris he suggests that under Trump
With a pro settler Israeli ambassador and defense secretary
I think you could be wrong on that one, I expect that Israels next move will be to simply annexe as much Palestinian land as they want
Is varoufarkis still pushing neutrality for Ukraine? A completely naive position that ignores Putin's desire to claim the entire country
that the situation in Gaza cannot possibly be worse
When things seem at their worst so far… they can always get worse still.
Anyone that helped give the world a second Trump term because “he can’t make things worse” are about to learn that. Not that it’s them in the literal firing line of an out of control right wing Israeli government that’s about to get a partner in a USA government made up of people who actively pushed for settlement expansion and the Jerusalem embassy in the last Trump government, joined by some fresh Christian fundamentalists that want the idea of a Palestinian state destroyed forever.
Surely being willing to work for free
Some of the posters in the WFH thread are probably forwarding their CV's right now.
I’ve changed my voter affiliation to unaffiliated. Mostly just to avoid obvious idiocy from local knuckle draggers. It just means people can’t see my party affiliation online, helpfully right next to my address
This has always confused me. Like, why is this a thing? Why can I go on to a famous American's Wikipedia page and see the political party they're aligned with? That doesn't happen here. I can't see who is a registered Tory, labour or SNP voter. How come it's a thing in America?
Some of the posters in the WFH thread are probably forwarding their CV’s right now.
If they're having once a month social events then sign me up
Apart from the fact that the situation in Gaza cannot possibly be worse under Trump than it has been under Biden/Harris
Lets file that one away for future reference. You know that all the American evangelical Christian’s fervently believe in ‘The Rapture’ as an article of faith, right?
They believe that the second coming is due any day now and when Jesus returns the Jews will all convert to Christianity?
Thats Trumps MAGA base.
And you don’t think the situation in Palestine can get worse? Seriously?
Right now Trump and Netenyahu are looking at what’s happening in Gaza right now, looking from there to January and saying ‘hold my pint’
Im not sure if this is subscription only but I’ll give it a try. And if you’re not subscribed then why the hell not?, it’s damn fine proper journalism 😉
Good read from The Byline Times,
The Psycho-Social-Techno Politics of ‘MAGA’ Trumps Democracy – And the Liberal Left Has No Answer
Donald Trump’s second victory in the United States is a warning sign to democracies everywhere of the centrality of emotions – and their manipulation – in the new politics of gross inequality and psychic rebellion fuelled by tech-driven alternative realities, writes Hardeep Matharu
This has always confused me. Like, why is this a thing?
Land of the free and all that.
I went down a YouTube black hole of ex pat Americans describing the additional freedoms they felt had living in the UK or Europe. Interestingly one of them said that in America you had "freedom to" do things (and sod everyone else). While in France, they had "freedom from" the threat/risk of things.
And you don’t think the situation in Palestine can get worse? Seriously?
Me? Well I am struggling to think how it might possibly become any worse, how would you suggest it might? What exactly do you think Joe Biden has stopped Netanyahu from doing that Trump will let him do?
That is a genuine question btw, I honestly cannot see a single example of Biden reigning in Netanyahu, can you? Sure Biden does the talk, such as making demands that Israel allows 350 aid trucks per day into Gaza giving them 30 days to comply, the United Nations and aid agencies then claim that Israel has further reduced permission for aid to enter, and the Biden administration then announces that Israel has complied with their demands. In what way would Trump have been different.....he wouldn't have gone through the pointless charade that the Biden administration has?
Donald Trump is the most unpredictable US president in memory, I find the Idea that people feel they can predict his behaviour with any certainty bizarre. Varoufakis's suggestion that Trump isn't interested in backing Netanyahu's drive for a regional war which might drag in the US in further, in a way that Biden/Harris probably would (and remember up until now they have done absolutely nothing to stop him) because Trump wants to focus on China is as feasible as any other crystal ball gazing.
Biden/Harris have totally supported Trump's first term decision to recognise the annexation of East Jerusalem and the Golan Heights, there is absolutely no evidence that they would oppose the annexation of "Judea and Samaria", aka the West Bank. They are currently sitting back and doing absolutely ****-all as Israel is actively annexing northern Gaza.
Trump is imo an narcissist with no commitment to anything or anyone other than himself, which is what makes him so unpredictable. Biden on the other hand has a very clear, deep, and genuine, commitment to zionism, Harris I suspect also although probably one notch down. And that imo is the main differences between the two camps.
Btw Varoufakis is certainly not unique in believing that Trump won't be any worse for Palestine than Biden. Here is a detailed analysis by someone who seems to know what they are talking about:
It turns out that the "special relationship" is alive and well!
Donald Trump advisor warns UK to prioritise US above 'socialist' European Union if it wants trade deal
"It would make sense to me … I think we do have a special relationship with the Brits more than we do with the Germans and the French and the rest of Europe.”
It's a tricky one though. Starmer's government wants more growth but do we want more growth hormones in our beef?
And it's tricky for Trump too as he claims that the UK government is "far-left", so prioritising socialist Europe would make more sense for the UK.
And what would Elon Musk say?
My 7 year old sometimes comes home from school complaining her best friend doesn't want her to talk to her other friends.
Good training to be a world leader it seems.
Well I am struggling to think how it might possibly become any worse, how would you suggest it might?
Wait a couple of months and you'll find out
Come on Ernesto. You're not being creative enough. Bibi doesn't have any problem with his imagination when it comes to performative cruelty and genocidal intentions. How many aid trucks are they letting in each day? A couple of hundred? They could cut that down to zero for a start. Do you honestly think they wouldn't if given the nod?
How about Trump saying 'feel free to bomb Irans oil production and nuclear facilities if you like'? That could liven things up in the region. Who's to say America wouldn't join in the fun, given that the man in charge of the armed forces is from Fox News? Not an organisation known for its diplomatic credentials
How about Trump saying ‘feel free to bomb Irans oil production and nuclear facilities if you like’? That could liven things up in the region. Who’s to say America wouldn’t join in the fun, given that the man in charge of the armed forces is from Fox News?
Varoufakis makes an interesting point. Most people see Trump as a classic Republican non-interventionist, and certainly his first term in office backs up that claim. However Varoufakis challenges that concept to an extent when he suggests that Trump is perfectly prepared to engage America in war, indeed even risk nuclear war, but not over the Middle East which would be the "wrong war". Trump's sights are on China.
Varoufakis isn't the only one who claims that Trump sees Ukraine and Israel as a drain and distraction from focusing on China. Furthermore US disengagement from the Middle East is a bipartisan issue, Democrats have long wanted the US to disengage from the region, hence so much emphasis on the normalisation of Saudi-Israel which would bring enhanced security to the region without US involvement.
I repeat that imo Biden/Harris ideological commitment to zionism is far stronger than Trump's, in fact I don't believe that Trump has any. Netanyahu very clearly exploits this deep Biden/Harris commitment, everyone can see that, and Israel's attack on Lebanon is just part of that strategy - Netanyahu is betting on a reluctant US acting against their better judgement and getting further involved in the Middle East. Trump's reaction is much harder to predict although I think further US involvement in the Middle East under his presidency highly unlikely.
When I ask on here for suggestions in which ways could Israel behave under Trump that it isn't currently behaving the only example I have seen given is the annexation of the West Bank. Israel has been actively annexing the West Bank during Biden/Harris, have you seen the amount of new colonial settlements the Israeli parliament has approved of recently? It has never been higher! And now Israel is in the process of ethnically cleansing northern Gaza in preparation of its colonisation and and annexation.
Joe Biden is doing absolutely ****-all about it, in fact he is supplying them with a tools and vast amount of weapons to do so.
Saw this and felt it should be here
This is two days old but I have only just seen it. I very strongly recommend watching the video, especially the second half, it is really excellent.
When I ask on here for suggestions in which ways could Israel behave under Trump that it isn’t currently behaving the only example I have seen given is the annexation of the West Bank
I’ve just given you another 2 examples
1. stopping all aid or reducing it yet further into Gaza
2. Allowing or even encouraging them into escalating the direct conflict with Iran, maybe giving them the nod to target nuclear or oil facilities
Thats just for starters.
If you think this can’t get massively worse under Trump very, very quickly then you’re absolutely delusional
you’re absolutely delusional
You say after suggesting that Trump might encourage Israel to escalate a direct conflict with Iran.
Firstly Israel could not possibly engage in a full-scale war with Iran without huge US support and involvement. There is no evidence that Trump and his supporters want greater US military involvement in the Middle East, non-interventionism was at the heart of his election campaign.
And secondly how would this full-scale war between Israel and Iran be bad for Gaza? It sounds to me that it would be excellent news for Gaza, it would certainly relieve the pressure on Hamas and the Palestinians in Gaza.
Israel cannot defeat Hamas, in fact both the IDF and Israel's economy have suffered very significantly as the consequence of a war against this small and barely armed opponent over the last year, how do you expect Israel to manage against Iran? And how much would US aid to Israel have to increase by?
I asked for suggestions in which way the situation for Gaza could be worse under a Trump presidency compared to under Biden, not better.
And the suggestion of stopping of all aid into Gaza is a weird one. It is you I fear who is absolutely delusional if you believe that the president of the United States gets to decide how much aid goes into Gaza. Netanyahu decides, and he frankly couldn't give a toss what Joe Biden says should be allowed, as he has proved over and over again. In fact Netanyahu knows with complete certainly that Joe Biden will support him one hundred percent no matter how little aid is allowed into Gaza.
And Trump? Well yes like Biden he will probably continue to support Netanyahu no matter what he does, but Trump lacks that unwavering commitment to anything and anyone, unlike Biden's commitment to zionism, for anyone to be completely sure. Especially if there are financial cost involved.
Benjamin Netanyahu has been given a carte blanche by Joe Biden to do whatever he wants, and Netanyahu does. If he isn't currently using that carte blanche to instantly and simultaneously starve to death 2 million Palestinians in Gaza it isn't because Trump isn't yet US president. It is that he knows public opinion, Israeli and global, wouldn't allow it, and the consequences for Israel, eg total isolation, countries breaking off diplomatic relations, trade sanctions, boycotts, etc, would be devastating.
"Aid to Gaza falls to lowest level in 11 months despite US ultimatum to Israel"
AJ have a piece on that topic if anyone wants a read of some selective quotes from Trump picks regarding Israel/Palestine.
I dont have a crystal ball, but my guess is Israel will be, in practise, allowed/green lit to continue until it runs out of will domestically.
& to complete the line up to Trumps idiots - we have a climate change denier in charge of energy.
& to complete the line up to Trumps idiots – we have a climate change denier in charge of energy.
Sorry to be boring, but President-Elect Trump doesn't get to appoint senior posts without Senate approval. The question is whether every Republican Senator will vote with him.
The other question is why he's made choices that might not be waved through by Senators
On the subject of bombing Iran's nuclear facilities, they're well and truly underground after previous attacks. Israel doesn't have the kit, but the US does, as demonstrated when US B2 bombers struck Yemen in October https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cx2kzy2klyko
Sorry to be boring, but President-Elect Trump doesn’t get to appoint senior posts without Senate approval. The question is whether every Republican Senator will vote with him.
The other question is why he’s made choices that might not be waved through by Senators
I think it's to do with being an unhinged wannabe dictator.
AJ have a piece on that topic if anyone wants a read of some selective quotes from Trump picks regarding Israel/Palestine.
I am not sure why anyone should focus too much on what Donald Trump says........ his word is his bond?
Trump has also made deeply anti-semitic comments, some quite recently. I would focus more on what Trump does and has done than what he has said. And I wouldn't worry too much about what his appointees have said, it won't be them that decide policy, not even Elon Musk who he is willing to publicly humiliate.
Here is another AJ piece which suggests another angle:
No, Trump will not be worse than Biden for Palestine and the Middle East
https://www.aljazeera.com/opinions/2024/11/11/no-trump-will-not-be-worse-than-biden-for-palestine-and-the-middle-eastblockquote >Like I said… absolutely delusional
Well I consider anyone who believes that Joe Biden, the US president who has been unconditionally giving away vast amounts of weapons to a far-right apartheid regime, so that it can slaughter Palestinian men, women, and children, and destroy their homes, schools, and hospitals, as someone who has provided any sort of protection to the people of Gaza, as delusional.
Although personally I like to expand beyond simple insults.
The USA doesn't "give away" weapons to anyone.
Sorry to be boring, but President-Elect Trump doesn’t get to appoint senior posts without Senate approval. The question is whether every Republican Senator will vote with him.
It's the start of the loyalty tests. You say he can't do these things without senate approval but his question to the three people who were jockeying to lead the senate was 'would you let me do this without Senate approval?' and all of them answered 'yes'. They all see letting Trump get his way as a prerequisite to getting the job. There is a mechanism - Recess Appointments- that facilitates appointments being made during periods when the Senate aren't sitting.
You could see this as some sort of arch attempt by Trump to cleverly subvert democracy, or you could see it as him too lazy to do the work. It seems his underlying strategy in recruiting cabinet members is for anyone who wants a job tells him they want the job. Musk did it most brazenly by doing it live on air. Gaetz actually did it in the air. He managed to get in a room with Trump on Airforce 1 and hey presto - Attorney General. Trump's chief of staff was in the the next room, unaware she'd been sidelined in the whole process. (so Susie Wiles for your resigned / fired-by-tweet bingo card)
Theres no strategy to any of this- theres just a gaggle of people with their own personal motivations all thinking they can advance their cause if they can get Trump's ear. What Trump announces publicly tends to be whatever last person said to him before he spoke, (or if it's before lunch time it tends to be whatever he's just seen on Fox and Friends). So all these people are going to be fighting amongst themselves to be that last word in his ear.
It's been quite noticeable for a while now when he speaks now how the people around him are clamouring to do that. In his rallies he's increasingly been using phrases like 'People are tell me...' 'They're telling me a have to......' even 'They're making me......'. But he's also playing off what he's being 'told' against what his crowd want to cheer and boo
binners
If you think this can’t get massively worse under Trump very, very quickly then you’re absolutely delusional
Like I said… absolutely delusional
Come on binners, you're at your best when you use a bit of good natured humour to get a point across, not using words like delusional.
I disagree with Ernie's opinion on this particular subject and he certainly doesn't need me to to stand up for him (I think Ernie would agree) but why use words like "delusional" to get your point across?
If you'd called Trump delusional or psychotic id likely agree but most importantly, he's not a member of our wonderfully dysfunctional (I know but generalised term and not seeking to undermine a poster...) little forum. Likely many agree with your points so why undermine them with with words like that.
Anyway, I'm not the forum police thank God and I'm likely to be deemed a snowflake to raise this but it's just my 2p's worth.
Sorry to go wildly ot peeps!
maccruiskeen
Full MemberThere is a mechanism – Recess Appointments- that facilitates appointments being made during periods when the Senate aren’t sitting.
Id skim read about that on CNN I think but does it evade any type of approval being needed at a later date? Honest question, I don't know.
Apologies Ernesto. I didn’t mean to be insulting. I know this is a subject close to your heart so sorry if I was dismissive.
I just don’t think the orange monkey is about to ride to anyones rescue, least of all the Palestinians.
With Trump, everything is transactional and they’ve absolutely nothing to offer him.
Anyway… this seems to have become yet another utterly depressing thread about Gaza and I fear the worst as I envisage what little restraint the Israelis have shown so far will go completely out of the window in January
The process for cabinet is here... https://constitutioncenter.org/blog/the-constitution-and-the-cabinet-nomination-process
The last sentence includes, "...the success rate of cabinet nominees in the Senate has been very high."
To clarify, I'm not against religion I'm against "people killing each other because they don't agree with what I say God is."
That said, how do people resolve what trump is relation to what the Bible teaches?
It baffles me but scared me far more.
'Anointed by God': The Christians who see Trump as their saviour
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c20g1zvgj4do