https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/jan/22/kkk-immigrants-flyers-kentucky
And so it starts. Well, continues, but with governmental sanction.
Judging by his well documented previous experience, I assume the Chief of Police in Bellevue has everything in hand
Trumponomics 2.0 Shirley?
You say Tomato I say potato, you slap 25% tariffs on them
Low tax and low regulation seem to be his core themes.
Last time around a lot of people paid a lot less tax and / or got large stimulus cheques. Obviously that's not sustainable without lots of growth but it' was an easy sell to a lot of middle-America (both demographically and geographically).
I’ve just been perusing Trumps executive orders and they look pretty good to me.
Which ones appeal to you?
Last time around a lot of people paid a lot less tax and / or got large stimulus cheques. Obviously that’s not sustainable without lots of growth
His tax cuts were only really meaningful if you earned over $400k, curiously/ironically most of the people in that income bracket vote democrat. And in sustainability terms the cuts added somewhere between $7trillion and $9trillion to the US national debt. By the time he left office he'd approx ten US defence budgets or three and half UK annual economies to their debt.
You say Tomato I say potato
There's a tad more difference than pronunciation.
Liz Truss never got a chance to put her economic theories into practice, she was gone in a matter of days.
Trump on the other hand dictated US economic policies for 4 years.
It would be fairer to compare his economic policies 2.0 with the economic policies which he previously implemented rather than economic policies which someone else never implemented, Shirley?
His tax cuts were only really meaningful if you earned over $400k,
And when the dems put stimulus into the economy and didn't rectify the tax cuts, it meant the money flooded up to the wealthiest in society. It was a tag team grift that benefited a very few.
By the time he left office he’d added roughly three and half UK annual economies to their debt.
And yet in the final stages of the presidential election campaign Trump played his trump card and asked voters "are you better off than four years ago?"
That question, rightly or wrongly, probably clinched it for him.
They really are crawling out the woodwork to show their true colours
Rapist and cocaine enthusiast Conor MacGregor just posted this
We need more "so-called" Bishops prepared to speak out. Humanity writ large. I'm no Christian, but she sounds very much like someone who lives, and speaks, as one. Unlike "saved by god to be President" Trump.
They really are crawling out the woodwork to show their true colours
Rapist and cocaine enthusiast Conor MacGregor just posted this
Holy shit, that's grim reading. Judge a fellow by the company he keeps. Not sure which one comes out looking worse from that.
Does that last paragraph about mentally unwell people entering Ireland his way of saying he's staying in the states?
Does that last paragraph about mentally unwell people entering Ireland his way of saying he’s staying in the states?
Nah he clearly intends to return as he states that only foreign criminals aren't welcome...home grown ones are fine apparently
What a ****..
A couple of unlikely heroes for speaking out in the last couple of days.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cvged988377o
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/jan/22/trump-bishop-mariann-edgar-budde
No doubt, especially being female, they can expect a load of online abuse in the next weeks.
Does that last paragraph about mentally unwell people entering Ireland his way of saying he’s staying in the states?
Given how many turds have gone over to the USA to celebrate I do think the EU plus us should think about cancelling all US flights.
Sure plenty of innocents will be caught up in it but it might be worth it.
Some interesting stuff in this post:
https://www.meidasplus.com/p/today-in-politics-bulletin-54-12225
My big picture take is that the MAGA agenda is not widely popular and Trump was elected because of dissatisfaction with inflation, etc. Trump will burn any goodwill he has if he actually tries to implement the stuff that MAGA demands. The mass deportation scheme will be a disaster if stuff like this happens:
The president of California Citrus Mutual said that 25% of their workers did not show up for work on Tuesday and 75% did not show up yesterday. He said new raids “have sent shockwaves through out community. People aren’t going to work, kids aren’t going to school.” He said that the new Trump ICE raids are not targeting people suspected of committing crimes - they are racially profiling and looking for anyone.
My own opinion is that, while they are not directly to blame for trumps dreadfulness, "the left" bear lots of responsibility at just how easily he has been able appeal to the concerns of the majority of voting Americans.
It's easy to scoff at the stupidity of the American voter - but Trump has been so successful in "harvesting" their votes because he's tailored one of his 10,000 messages to something that person is worried about. And Trump's soundbite on the matter (I'm reluctant to call it a policy) is more appealing than the dems plan for the same thing - if they even have one.
Take DEI and gender issues - most of America are conservative in nature - even those who regard themselves as liberals are still quite conservative by global standards. Whether you agree with their stance or not, there are clearly whole swathes of the US who have been left-behind on these issues, and haven't bought-in to the pace of change that they perceive.
Whereas the Democrats haven't adopted particularly radical policies on this kind of issue, nor have they effectively distanced themselves from activists who's sole purpose is to push the debate further and further - delighting in how uncomfortable what they are saying/suggesting makes middle America. It's so easy for right-wing pundits to point at one of these people and say: "look at the crazy shit these lefties are pushing! You want more of that?!?"
I think a great example of this is the whole absurd debate about drag-queens going into schools and reading to kids. Firstly: I have no issue with this at all. However, I also don't really understand why this is happening in the first place. Whereas I'm sure that drag-queen advocates are really supportive of this idea (see above re: activists), if you are a primary school teacher in America, surely you would think twice about allowing this, knowing that at least 50% of the parents would be absolutely livid. Again: I would have no issue with this at all.... but I'm not an average American. It would have been SO easy for the dems to acknowledge that this could be confusing to young children, and those small number of schools engaged in this program would be contacted by the DoE to discuss how its being done to ensure parents are given the choice etc...... But instead of that, the right are give free reign to bleat-on about indoctrination of their children in schools.
Again, it's not that the democrat's are adopting/endorsing these viewpoints that are very worrying to joe American - but they are TOO EASILY allowing themselves to be associated with them.
However, having said all that - I also don't think it was possible for the democrats to successfully do this against trump for all issues. He's just so comfortable lying, saying whatever he wants to get somebody's vote - the dems (or anyone) just can't react fast enough, and even if they did, the truth isn't as interesting as whatever bullshit Trump has come up with.
My ONE hope in all of this, is that the world views this as a cautionary tail, and echews the creep towards proto-trumps like Farage et al - that we've had our brush with populism with Bojo, and have moved past it. What do you recon? Nah, me neither.
My own opinion is that, while they are not directly to blame for trumps dreadfulness, “the left” bear lots of responsibility at just how easily he has been able appeal to the concerns of the majority of voting Americans.
Depends on what you mean by "the left". Slogans like "Defund the police" are really stupid. You have a small group of university educated people talking about complex issues in terms that alienate most people. "Reform the police" is sensible, there'd be lots of support for that, so spending money on programs to reduce crime are a great long-term policy. However, if that's what you mean, say that, don't express it as a dumb slogan like "Defund the police." When serious crime does happen, people want the police to catch the criminals and put them in prison, that's the short-term thing you have to keep doing until your long-term program starts to reduce crime. Burning down police stations is pure idiocy, it just alienates any sensible person and makes "the left" easy to attack. If MAGA wanted to run a false-flag operation to discredit the left, it would probably look like militant Antifa.
Similarly with race issues. Nonsense like "people of colour" (POC) tries to lump all non-white people (whatever that means) into one single group of oppressed people. Then you have tankies twisting themselves into pretzels trying to explain why it's fine for the Syrian or Chinese government to commit atrocities, but dark-skinned Jews who originate from the Middle-East should actually be considered to be European, and hence held to the standards of behaviour we demand from White people. Normal people see nonsense like that and want nothing to do with "the left". They aren't racists, they just aren't idiots. That's why Biden and Harris criticized the stupid stuff that the fringe left did and tried to steer a centrist line. (Don't burn down police stations, but also cops don't choke people to death, etc.)
I've seen reports that as well as putting DEI employees on 'administrative leave' for now (before rounding them up and sending them on ....sorry, I mean presumably making their positions redundant) the acting director of the Office of Personnel Management (Fed Employees HR Department) has given employees 10 days to grass up anyone in a DEI role that isn't immediately identifiable as such / whose role may have been changed subsequent to Trump's win. And if they don't, 'adverse consequences' may result.
I'm sure I've heard of similar stuff happening before. Maybe rather than sending an email informing on them, they could - I don't know - put a coloured asterisk on their record and desk?
https://www.rawstory.com/trump-dei-policies/?utm_source=smartnews
I’ve just been perusing Trumps executive orders and they look pretty good to me. I’m feeling hopeful that he’ll manage to do some good stuff over the coming years.
Do you want the folk in the UK who rioted last year and attacked the Police also pardoned?
One of the big problems is the tone of the media. Every single outlet is falling over itself trying to be more strident than the next - because they need to sell their output. This results in basically mass hysteria.
I think a great example of this is the whole absurd debate about drag-queens going into schools and reading to kids. Firstly: I have no issue with this at all. However, I also don’t really understand why this is happening in the first place. Whereas I’m sure that drag-queen advocates are really supportive of this idea (see above re: activists), if you are a primary school teacher in America, surely you would think twice about allowing this, knowing that at least 50% of the parents would be absolutely livid. Again: I would have no issue with this at all…. but I’m not an average American. It would have been SO easy for the dems to acknowledge that this could be confusing to young children, and those small number of schools engaged in this program would be contacted by the DoE to discuss how its being done to ensure parents are given the choice etc…… But instead of that, the right are give free reign to bleat-on about indoctrination of their children in schools.
I wonder how many drag-queen school readings have actually occurred, and a 5-min Google is giving me an impression that it's "not a lot". Feels to me like yet another bit of culture war crap, blown out of all proportion.
A long but interesting read:
https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2022/05/social-media-democracy-trust-babel/629369/
That’s why Biden and Harris criticized the stupid stuff that the fringe left did and tried to steer a centrist line.
Which spectacularly didn't work.
There is no point pretending that Trump's victory represents a unique United States phenomenon. It is part of a global political development which is having a profound effect across Europe, including in the UK.
Blame the Left as much as you like, and of course Centrists always do, but it won't change the fact that the current global political crisis is caused by the failures of both neoliberalism and bourgeois democracy.to deliver.
Obviously it is difficult for Centrists to accept that undeniable fact because they back both. So they have little choice other than to blame the Left and the spectre of socialism.
Then you have tankies
Oh give over with the tankie bullshit. People who oppose atrocities either in the middle east or the Ukraine are not authoritarian communists (I had to look the term up after seeing it many times on here, mostly from you), they're people who abhor war and violence because it results in the death and suffering of the working class and innocent civilians.
Donald Trump and his far right acolytes are a direct result of the failure of your sensible, grown up, centrist approach to politics and economic management. The simple fact is that 'grown-up' politicians gave up trying to support working people to have a decent life because they didn't have the courage to challenge the greed of the rich, and instead embarked on a patronising mission to force them to speak and behave in ways which are alien to them. That's why we have Trump, not because 'tankies' waved a banner with slogans like 'defund the police'.
I also don’t think it was possible for the democrats to successfully do this against trump for all issues. He’s just so comfortable lying, saying whatever he wants to get somebody’s vote – the dems (or anyone) just can’t react fast enough, and even if they did, the truth isn’t as interesting as whatever bullshit Trump has come up with.
100% this.
How’s this DEI thing work?
Are people specifically hired as DEI people, or is it a program to promote diversity in the workplace? If the latter, then who exactly is getting sent home on paid leave? How do you untangle a DEI hire from any other hire who may happen to be other than a white man?
There're departments in large organisations who're in charge of promoting equality. They will have influence over the HR department and will introduce measures to increase diversity both inside and outside the organisation.
These departments will now be shuttered. It doesn't necessarily end DEI, but will stop additional measures meant to increase it.
There’re departments in large organisations who’re in charge of promoting equality.
Got nothing against diversity and inclusion, but it's very illustrative that companies and organisations (like the one I work for which has DEI 'champions') don't also champion economic equality. It's perfectly fine for people to be unequal in terms of wealth, in fact it's positively encouraged. In every other respect though we are 'equal'. Is it just me or does this not make sense?
Conor MacGregor
Ah yes, the old 'tenderhooks' 🙂
I also don’t think it was possible for
the democratsRemain to successfully do this againsttrumpLeave for all issues.He’sLeave were just so comfortable lying, saying whateverhe wantsthey wanted to get somebody’s vote –the demsRemain (or anyone) just can’t react fast enough, and even if they did, the truth isn’t as interesting as whatever bullshitTrumpLeave has come up with.
It's nothing new.
Just saw a clip of the ‘Qanon Shaman’ being handed his ass by Victoria Derbyshire, on Jimmy Kimmel of all places. I’ll have to search out the full interview to see how it ended now.
https://thehill.com/policy/technology/5102654-trump-criticizes-eu-tech-fines/
For those of is that think the big USA tech companies are too able to dodge taxes and regulations outside the USA, this is a worry. Not a surprise though.
Whether you agree with their stance or not, there are clearly whole swathes of the US who have been left-behind on these issues, and haven’t bought-in to the pace of change that they perceive.
Whereas the Democrats haven’t adopted particularly radical policies on this kind of issue, nor have they effectively distanced themselves from activists who’s sole purpose is to push the debate further and further – delighting in how uncomfortable what they are saying/suggesting makes middle America. It’s so easy for right-wing pundits to point at one of these people and say: “look at the crazy shit these lefties are pushing! You want more of that?!?”
Depends on what you mean by “the left”. Slogans like “Defund the police” are really stupid. You have a small group of university educated people talking about complex issues in terms that alienate most people. “Reform the police” is sensible, there’d be lots of support for that, so spending money on programs to reduce crime are a great long-term policy. However, if that’s what you mean, say that, don’t express it as a dumb slogan like “Defund the police.” When serious crime does happen, people want the police to catch the criminals and put them in prison, that’s the short-term thing you have to keep doing until your long-term program starts to reduce crime. Burning down police stations is pure idiocy, it just alienates any sensible person and makes “the left” easy to attack. If MAGA wanted to run a false-flag operation to discredit the left, it would probably look like militant Antifa.
Yes - "defund the police" is a much better example of what I was talking about - it's idiotic, and isn't really even a good description of what they themselves were proposing. It was a slogan who's sole intention to sound as radical as possible - and in being so, turned-off many more people than it turned-on. I know Biden rejected it as a concept, but it was very much locking the stable door after the horse had bolted. If you asked the average Trumpist whether the Dems were planning to defund the police - they would tell you they were.
So maybe this is a coms issue? Maybe the Dems need to find a way of countering this lie, lie, lie approach taken by the "new" republican party, and find a way to effectively react to this tsunami of bullshit, but without allowing Trumps minions to dictate the entire news cycle.
I wonder how many drag-queen school readings have actually occurred, and a 5-min Google is giving me an impression that it’s “not a lot”. Feels to me like yet another bit of culture war crap, blown out of all proportion.
Precisely. I have no doubt that it was probably a single organization running these, at a relatively small number of schools. So how was the right able to so effectively weaponize this against the democrats/biden/harris? I've searched to try to find Biden's response, but I can't find one. Now either that's because a) there wasn't any meaningful response, b) there was a response but it didn't get any coverage because it wasn't as salacious as the original story, c) the right's social media "machine" amplified their commentary of the issue so much that whatever the response was, it was never going to get any penetration.
I suspect it was C - which is a real problem, because now his control of social media is virtually absolute.
I wonder how many drag-queen school readings have actually occurred, and a 5-min Google is giving me an impression that it’s “not a lot”. Feels to me like yet another bit of culture war crap, blown out of all proportion.
That reminds me of the kitty litter situation. Covered well by Jon Ronson:
Things Fell Apart - S2. Ep 5: Things Weren’t Going Back to Normal - BBC Sounds
I have no doubt that it was probably a single organization running these, at a relatively small number of schools.
Maybe, but there's an organisation running that's at least 10 years old and looks to have 'chapters' all over the US and beyond.
I can certainly see how in certain areas of the USA there would be plenty of parents that are keen. It's hardly like schools would have had it forced upon them, though.
5 things to know about Drag Queen Story Time (theconversation.com)
If you want an insight into the mindset of the January 6th insurrectionists for Trump then I’d recommend watching ‘King of the Apocalypse’ that’s just come on Sky Documentaries. They must have been waiting for the election result and the pardons to release it
Its a frankly terrifying account of the life of Stewart Rhodes, the leader of The Oathkeepers, as told by his estranged ex-wife and adult children, who all despise him after a lifetime of being terrorised by him.
Its a story of a man who bought fully into the paranoid, tinfoil-helmeted, Alex Jones worshipping, redneck, squirrel eating, gun toting, conspiracy theory bullshit so beloved of Trump supporters.
It’s completely nuts. The whole culture of these people who seem to be living in some weird far-right alternative universe that has no grounding in reality. At one point one of them states - as if we needed telling - that these people will ‘forgive Trump anything’ because he’s ‘on their side’
Guys… take a look at the row of the richest men on the planet who were stood next to him at his inauguration… you think he, or Musk or Zuckerberg or Bezos gives a shit about you and your stockpile of tinned food and assault rifles in your shack in Shitsville, Montana? Really?
But they all worship him. Trump has pulled off the most effective marketing campaign in history. He’s not just got turkeys voting for Christmas, he’s got them begging him to bring it forward to June
Really. I dont like Trump or what he is doing. But I dont give it much thought as it goes under the heading of things I can do nothing about. I will just buckle up for the ride and hope we come out the other side relatively unscathed.
Good luck with trying to breath with your head stuffed into a hole in the ground, then; Elonia, trump’s new First Lady, is already doing their damedest to stir up shit against our government, or are you as unaware of that as everything else going on that might well affect you?
I’ve just been perusing Trumps executive orders and they look pretty good to me. I’m feeling hopeful that he’ll manage to do some good stuff over the coming years.
I’m sure you’ll be dropping him a line on Truth Central congratulating him on the speed he’s managed to build all the concentration camps out in the Nevada desert, using all the free labour available from the people who’ll soon be imprisoned in them.
No surprise to hear Trump has been bashing the bishop
She's a brave woman
Guys… take a look at the row of the richest men on the planet who were stood next to him at his inauguration… you think he, or Musk or Zuckerberg or Bezos gives a shit about you and your stockpile of tinned food and assault rifles in your shack in Shitsville, Montana? Really?
Yes, really. They can't even join the dots on why Weasel Zuckerberg jumped through hoops to remove moderation (such as it was) from Facebook.
Cletus and Billybob haven't got the grey matter for critical thinking. Morons cheering their own destruction.
Ah well at least we didn’t have to wait long to see how this is going to pan out, the release of the ‘patriots’ and the rewriting of history and more evidence that Trump believes his own fantasy of the vote being stolen last time.
Cletus and Billybob haven’t got the grey matter for critical thinking. Morons cheering their own destruction.
Do you really think this is going to eb contained to the US? What is happening is clear and they are exporting it to europe, our leaders are still ass kissing Trump, we need to be isolating the US not following their trajectory.
our
leadersgrifters are still ass kissing Trump.
There was definitely an invite for every far right party leader in the EU so it’s not a great thing they want to export/influence.
