Donald! Trump!

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 wankpuffin. 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

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.

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.

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

https://www.rawstory.com/matt-gaetz-attorney-general-2669889050/?utm_source=flipboard&utm_content=RawStory/magazine/Top+Stories
Tee hee!

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

The Psycho-Social-Techno Politics of ‘MAGA’ Trumps Democracy – And the Liberal Left Has No Answer

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:

https://www.aljazeera.com/opinions/2024/11/11/no-trump-will-not-be-worse-than-biden-for-palestine-and-the-middle-east

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

https://www.standard.co.uk/news/politics/donald-trump-stephen-moore-us-uk-trade-deal-eu-keir-starmer-b1194419.html

“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

given that the man in charge of the armed forces is from Fox News?

This guy in fact

A joke that provides his own boom and tish.

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.

https://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/entry/lawrence-odonnell-spots-twisted-way-trump-just-humiliated-elon-musk-in-public_uk_6735eb28e4b07b3c5948d094

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”

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2024/nov/11/aid-gaza-trucks-food-lowest-level-year-despite-us-ultimatum

Like I said… absolutely delusional

AJ have a piece on that topic if anyone wants a read of some selective quotes from Trump picks regarding Israel/Palestine.

https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2024/11/17/what-have-trump-administration-nominees-said-about-israel-and-its-wars

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.