Trump’s America

[Hmbre97 6292]

5 minutes ago, Macanudo said:

I was talking to a family member last night about this last night.  If Selma happened today on live TV, a significant portion of Americans would be very, very OK with the dogs and fire hoses being turned loose on the marchers. 

 

Hell, the Springfield Haitian situation proves this. Or the fact that they want to deport ALL illegal immigrants. You want to deport the violent criminals and gang members? Go for it. But how do you justify deporting people that came to this country seeking asylum and have integrated themselves into our society, have steady jobs, pay taxes, etc if not for just out-and-out racism?    

[Hank Kingsley 20507]

4 minutes ago, David Dennison said:

Donald Trump didn't win because most people agree with him. That's just his base. Donald Trump won because they wanted something different from the Biden administration. Any Republican nominee would have won on Tuesday.

Nonsense. 

 

[Hmbre97 6292]

10 minutes ago, David Dennison said:

Here's the good news. More people would be not OK with it.

Donald Trump didn't win because most people agree with him. That's just his base. Donald Trump won because they wanted something different from the Biden administration. Any Republican nominee would have won on Tuesday.

Yeah but you can't vote for someone doing those things and then take the moral high ground because "well, I don't support them doing THAT". The GOP had a primary, they had an opportunity to shed themselves of Trump. They get to own it now. 

 

I think a large part of the country would be a lot less worried about our future had Kamala lost to a Nikki Haley or Vivek ticket. 

Edited 4 hours ago by Hmbre97

[GTX Horn 1707]

1 hour ago, Gandalfish said:

A Comprehensive List of my Fears/Anxieties Regarding Trump 2.0:

These are organized based on my estimation of their probability.

1. Foreign Policy - I fundamentally disagree with Trump on most all foreign policy issues, the chances of me being disappointed by the next 4 years of foreign policy are near 100%. (I will give credit to Trump for not being a Neocon war hawk)
   1. Ukraine - Ukraine will not exist as an independent country by 2026. Their only chance is Europe stepping up big, on their own. (98%)
   2. NATO - I don't think he could manage to withdraw us from NATO, but it's possible. I'm more concerned with just a general sabotaging of the alliance with the way he treats our democratic allies. (weakening NATO 95%, leaving NATO 10%)
   3. Authoritarians - Trump has well established his respect for leaders such as Putin, Orbán & Kim Jong Un. The US cozying to these regimes is bad news for the world (95%)
   4. Taiwan - As commander if chief, I don't see Trump deciding to support Taiwan if it came to invasion. I suspect there is a good chance this remains untested, as I'm not sure China has the stomach for that right now. (40%)
   5. The Middle East - I see Trump as a bit of a wild card here. This is a mess, and no president has ever done that great of a job with it. I just don't trust Trump's judgment. (I think there is a 90% chance he will really annoy me with his policy, and a 30% he really fucks something up)
2. Climate Change - Donald Trump isn't responsible for Climate change, but he sure as hell isn't going to help matters. He's promising to get rid of climate regulations and I believe him. (99.9%)
3. Racism - Trump's language encourages and empowers the worst racists in the country. If we've made 10 steps forward on the issues of racism in this country since the 1950's, prepare to take a few back. (99%)
4. Economic Policy - Trump has never seemed super key on cutting benefits (unlike many of his Republican brethren) But he does love cutting taxes, most of those benefits will go the wealthy. (The chances of his annoying me with his Economic policy in some small/medium way are 95%)
   1. The Tariffs - He has said he will do this. Will he? Who knows. It's bad policy that will disproportionately affect the poorest Americans, and poorest people in general, globally. I'm not exactly a doomsayer on Tariffs. The entire Global Economy is a pretty resilient creature, it will bounce back. My point is, why shock it with bad policy? (This is hard to call, I say it has a 75% of happening in one form or another - probably smaller than feared)
   2. Mass deportations - He has said he will do this. Will he? Who knows. This would be a lot more difficult to actually pull off. I'm obviously against it from a humanitarian standpoint. However, I'm putting it in the economic policy category because if you actually managed to Deport 18 million people who are all either desperately seeking work, or working their asses of and spending nearly every penny they make on food, shelter and necessities, it would be disastrous for the US economy. Again, the US economy is pretty resilient, but why enact terrible policy and make everyone's lives worse? (Odds at 40%)
5. Revenge Tour - He has issued lots of vague (some less vague) threats against various people or groups that have wronged him in some way over the years. There has been ominous talk about the "enemy within". He certainly has the power to "weaponize" the justice department. If you think the Justice department has already been "weaponized", does that make it ok? I think a lot of Democrats really go off the rails with this category of fears (Don't take that as an attack, your fears are valid). I suspect that the odds of some of this happening are near 100%. The question is the degree. I just don't think it will rise to the level many Democrats fear.
6. Degradation of democracy - This is a man that actively fought the results of the 2020 election, has continued to call it stolen despite not having any credible evidence to support it. It's a mantra, a dogma. This is man that frequently makes a lot of "jokes" and cute comments about being a dictator or running for third terms. I personally liken his re-election to smearing shit on the face of democracy. It's extremely unpleasant, not good for you, but you'll likely survive and really just need to take a bath.
   1. Further corruption of the judicial system - They will continue to place extremely partisan judges, and I don't just mean conservative, I mean people that will "play ball" for Trump, and give him what he wants. Members of the cult of personality. It's possible a supreme court spot could open up, but not super likely they would be replacing a liberal justice. (100%)
   2. Gerrymandering - This is a fundamental flaw in our democracy. Both sides have taken advantage of it. I'd argue Republicans have used it more effectively in recent history. It is wrong for the party in power to manipulate how elections are done in order to maximize/extend their power. It will be full speed ahead again. (100%)
   3. Voter suppression - This can take all kinds of forms, some overt, most more subtle. (Subtle, less dramatic forms 100%. Extreme, overt suppression 25%)
   4. Actual structural changes to our government - This could take the form of passing anti-democratic laws, or executive order power-grabs that go uncontested by a Republican congress. The purpose of these would be to solidify Republican control of the government to be permanent. (10%)
   5. Boldly become a dictator - In this scenario, the US either no longer has elections or some kind of sham/one-party elections like Russia. I certainly understand why Democrats fear this. I think it's probably overblown. (1%)\

 

Anyway, that is the sum of my fears. It's not pretty, I'm not happy about it, but life goes on. I have shit to do.

One thing I’d add here is the ramifications of having RFK Jr in any position related to public health. Giving him any kind of power to limit vaccine availability or at bare minimum spread vaccine misinformation is horrifying. And the dangerous part here is that this affects a lot more people than just those who refuse to get the vaccine. My dad is severely immunocompromised from cancer treatment, so more antivaxxers running around spreading preventable diseases to people whose bodies aren’t capable of handling those infections is just going to cause unnecessary and preventable pain, suffering, and death.

And that’s not even getting into ramifications of his proposal to remove fluoride from water or any other health issues that he’s in no way qualified to oversee.

[Incredulity 11324]

1 minute ago, David Dennison said:

Any Republican nominee would have won on Tuesday.

Hard disagree.

Romney or McCain lose.  I do agree inflation was a gigantic headwind.  
 

Trump pitched everywhere and that is a significant part of the pick ups he made in demographics the professional campaigners would have said were ungettable.

[linux 1551]

7 minutes ago, David Dennison said:

Here's the good news. More people would be not OK with it.

Donald Trump didn't win because most people agree with him. That's just his base. Donald Trump won because they wanted something different from the Biden administration. Any Republican nominee would have won on Tuesday.

They might not be OK with it but they will never connect the dots, only personal suffering is the cold water, a selma like event with actual cold water will just be quietly asking him to pull back at best.

 

[Chuckie Finster 22542]

4 minutes ago, Hank Kingsley said:

Nonsense. 

 

He's right.  This map is a "we want change" map, not a referendum on a specific candidate.

[Pam Cummings 9469]

16 minutes ago, Hmbre97 said:

Hell, the Springfield Haitian situation proves this. Or the fact that they want to deport ALL illegal immigrants. You want to deport the violent criminals and gang members? Go for it. But how do you justify deporting people that came to this country seeking asylum and have integrated themselves into our society, have steady jobs, pay taxes, etc if not for just out-and-out racism?    

They are the people who tell us everything in the government is corrupt and we can't trust them, but also oh wait, nevermind, trust them to round up and deport criminals and rapists without fucking it up massively and causing a lot of harm to people who aren't actually here illegally.

Edited 3 hours ago by Pam Cummings

[Gourmand 7770]

14 hours ago, HellesBier said:

Do us all a favor, get a man in your life so he can tell you when youre allowed to access the computer. 

goddamn you're a real piece of shit. i hope bad things happen to you just for that comment. fuck off forever. 

[C-Man 26884]

[elguapo 4570]

9 minutes ago, Incredulity said:

Hard disagree.

Romney or McCain lose.  I do agree inflation was a gigantic headwind.  
 

Trump pitched everywhere and that is a significant part of the pick ups he made in demographics the professional campaigners would have said were ungettable.

Oh yeah, trump is a genius campaigner. He probably picked up a bunch of votes when he jacked off and deepthroated that mic.

[Willfully Horn 7904]

My most pressing worries are the protests that, as in 2016, will spring up across the country.

The women in my life are passionate about their rights, and will be attending these rallies.

They are all committed, because they believe in non violent, constitutionally protected  speech. Turnip has already said that he will arrange a terrible and violent response to such protests.

I will be cautioning my family, but my concern is real. I will likely feel obliged to go with them. Herding cats amidst tear gas, batons, metal shot filled “beanbags” and horses hooves.

Edited 3 hours ago by Willfully Horn

[closetohumping 17322]

1 hour ago, Hate said:

It’s like I said when Trump was elected the first time…spite is a hell of a drug. Trump is a direct result of spite. I don’t like it. I wish Trump had just stayed on TV so I could very easily choose to ignore him, but that’s not the case. I just want some sense of decorum and class to return to politics, but that isn’t likely in my lifetime. 

If Hilary had just gone to Wisconsin.....

[Gandalfish 332]

20 minutes ago, GTX Horn said:

One thing I’d add here is the ramifications of having RFK Jr in any position related to public health. Giving him any kind of power to limit vaccine availability or at bare minimum spread vaccine misinformation is horrifying. And the dangerous part here is that this affects a lot more people than just those who refuse to get the vaccine. My dad is severely immunocompromised from cancer treatment, so more antivaxxers running around spreading preventable diseases to people whose bodies aren’t capable of handling those infections is just going to cause unnecessary and preventable pain, suffering, and death.

And that’s not even getting into ramifications of his proposal to remove fluoride from water or any other health issues that he’s in no way qualified to oversee.

This is a good point.

if I were to insert it into my list, I’d probably make it broader and just call it “Cronyism”. Putting unqualified people in charge of things isn’t good. The chances of this happening are 100%. However the machine of government, our institutions and society have a lot of inertia. I feel like the cronies will absolutely annoy Democrats and give us all something to rage about. I put the odds of them actualizing really damaging change at about (20%)

[Balcones 427]

4 hours ago, Captainant said:

https://www.thedailybeast.com/listen-to-the-jeffrey-epstein-tapes-i-was-donald-trumps-closest-friend/

I already know there are no photos of this guy and Bill Clinton, so I’m not even going to search. And there are definitely no photos of Joe Biden being a pedo.  And the staffer that accused Biden of sexual assault? Just a disgruntled former employee. No evidence (at least none we are going to look for in his files).

[aggie08 21068]

Feeling pretty stoked right now. Just got an email that my 4 year old daughter gets to participate in her first ever lockdown drill today! I'm so proud, they grow up so fast.

[bolverk 29147]

1 minute ago, Gandalfish said:

This is a good point.

if I were to insert it into my list, I’d probably make it broader and just call it “Cronyism”. Putting unqualified people in charge of things isn’t good. The chances of this happening are 100%. However the machine of government, our institutions and society have a lot of inertia. I feel like the cronies will absolutely annoy Democrats and give us all something to rage about. I put the odds of them actualizing really damaging change at about (20%)

What you should be concerned about the incoming administration actually fires 75,000 lifetime, professional civil servants who will be replaced by people who have to pass a loyalty test to Trump, as outlined in Project 2025.

[GenXer 2671]

5 minutes ago, Balcones said:

I already know there are no photos of this guy and Bill Clinton, so I’m not even going to search. And there are definitely no photos of Joe Biden being a pedo.  And the staffer that accused Biden of sexual assault? Just a disgruntled former employee. No evidence (at least none we are going to look for in his files).

Have I missed something here? Were bill or joe on Tuesday’s ticket?

[Balcones 427]

2 minutes ago, aggie08 said:

Feeling pretty stoked right now. Just got an email that my 4 year old daughter gets to participate in her first ever lockdown drill today! I'm so proud, they grow up so fast.

Nice! I remember my first Global Warming tornado and earthquake in elementary school. Good stuff.

[Frank Drebin 5473]

3 minutes ago, bolverk said:

What you should be concerned about the incoming administration actually fires 75,000 lifetime, professional civil servants who will be replaced by people who have to pass a loyalty test to Trump, as outlined in Project 2025.

Don't know anything about Project 2025, but 75,000 fired bureaucrats is a good start. 

[Balcones 427]

2 minutes ago, GenXer said:

Have I missed something here? Were bill or joe on Tuesday’s ticket?

Good catch. No, these were rapists and pedos from years past.

[Guadaloopy 10862]

28 minutes ago, Chuckie Finster said:

He's right.  This map is a "we want change" map, not a referendum on a specific candidate.

I’ll reform you, ya soft-headed sonuvabitch.  How we gonna run reform when we’re the damn incumbent?

[Hmbre97 6292]

1 minute ago, Frank Drebin said:

Don't know anything about Project 2025, but 75,000 fired bureaucrats is a good start. 

Bro, he won the election. You can stop with the act now.

 

 

 

 

[aggie08 21068]

6 minutes ago, Frank Drebin said:

Don't know anything about Project 2025, but 75,000 fired bureaucrats is a good start. 

Sincerely asking, is there anyone currently closely positioned in Trump world--who meets all necessary MAGA purity tests--who you'd trust to change a lightbulb?

Because they'd be the ones getting those jobs.

Edited 3 hours ago by aggie08

[Biff Tannen 45381]

4 minutes ago, Frank Drebin said:

Don't know anything about Project 2025, but 75,000 fired bureaucrats is a good start. 

You’re a fucking liar and a piece of shit. I hope they come for you. 

[Balcones 427]

8 minutes ago, aggie08 said:

Feeling pretty stoked right now. Just got an email that my 4 year old daughter gets to participate in her first ever lockdown drill today! I'm so proud, they grow up so fast.

I also remember my first nuclear bomb drill. Thanks, Truman! You made me grow up so quickly and I feared for my life all during the Cold War!

[CooterBrown 17806]

Just now, aggie08 said:

Sincerely asking, is there anyone currently closely positioned in Trump world--who meets all necessary MAGA purity tests--who you'd trust to change a lightbulb?

Come on.  Johnny will wait to do that until he can buy a slave when the 13th Amendment is abolished.

 

[Frank Drebin 5473]

1 minute ago, aggie08 said:

Sincerely asking, is there anyone currently closely positioned in Trump world--who meets all necessary MAGA purity tests--who you'd trust to change a lightbulb?

Elon Musk seems pretty damn competent.  He busted up Big Tech's Democrat monopoly with his Twitter passion project.  Paypal.  Tesla.  SpaceX.  Starlink.  Delivered Pennsylvania.

JD Vance is a star.  Best Republican communicator since Reagan.

His campaign manager this time did a fantastic job.

3 minutes ago, Biff Tannen said:

You’re a fucking liar and a piece of shit. I hope they come for you. 

I am sorry this is happening to you.

[Balcones 427]

1 minute ago, Frank Drebin said:

JD Vance is a star.  Best Republican communicator since Reagan

Let’s be honest. He’s no Tim Walz.

[aggie08 21068]

1 minute ago, Frank Drebin said:

Elon Musk seems pretty damn competent.  He busted up Big Tech's Democrat monopoly with his Twitter passion project.  Paypal.  Tesla.  SpaceX.  Starlink.  Delivered Pennsylvania.

JD Vance is a star.  Best Republican communicator since Reagan.

I was referring to the kind of people that would be inserted into those bureaucratic jobs.

[wildcat09 29058]

3 minutes ago, Frank Drebin said:

JD Vance is a star.  Best Republican communicator since Reagan.

Hell yeah, put JD out there more. Go for it.  

[linux 1551]

11 minutes ago, Frank Drebin said:

Don't know anything about Project 2025, but 75,000 fired bureaucrats is a good start. 

Exactly full austerity now, fire everyone, end all subsidies, crash the economy to pay back the debt, cold water for all.

[Macanudo 12906]

Trump reinstating Schedule F should worry any sane person.  

But then Tuesday happened.

[aggie08 21068]

Just now, wildcat09 said:

Hell yeah, put JD out there more. Go for it.  

Also, this. I hope Trump's campaign manager got a hefty raise for putting Vance into the witness protection program over the last month and the they/them ads. I have no questions whatsoever about their competence.

[wildcat09 29058]

2 minutes ago, Macanudo said:

Trump reinstating Schedule F should worry any sane person.  

But then Tuesday happened.

Johnny dying of food poisoning would be pretty funny, though.

[royiv 9094]

39 minutes ago, C-Man said:

To be fair, I hope Trump does follow through on his promise to decrease gas prices. It will be hilarious to watch the country go from energy independence to flooding the market with foreign oil and the ensuing cratering of the American oil industry.

[Pancho 43961]

57 minutes ago, David Dennison said:

Here's the good news. More people would be not OK with it.

Donald Trump didn't win because most people agree with him. That's just his base. Donald Trump won because they wanted something different from the Biden administration. Any Republican nominee would have won on Tuesday.

 

You’re giving the people who voted for him too much credit. He won because dems have no pushback on the amount of disinformation/misinformation that are in right wing online echo chambers about Harris vs turnip. 

 

[Frank Drebin 5473]

2 minutes ago, aggie08 said:

Also, this. I hope Trump's campaign manager got a hefty raise for putting Vance into the witness protection program over the last month and the they/them ads. I have no questions whatsoever about their competence.

Vance took on all comers with hostile interviews.  There was stark contrast with him and that wannabe Walz.

[nbmishoid 911]

18 hours ago, tx 3 putt said:

leopard eats face, this will pass jan 21 

 

Glad I cashed mine out 12 frickin years ago.  My first Ss payment is to start this month.  

[Frank Drebin 5473]

Just now, Pancho said:

 

You’re giving the people who voted for him too much credit. He won because dems have no pushback on the amount of disinformation/misinformation that are in right wing online echo chambers about Harris vs turnip. 

 

Poor democrats.  They don't have any popular media, mainstream media, or Big Tech platforms to help them.

You people really are delusional.

[Guadaloopy 10862]

14 minutes ago, Frank Drebin said:

Don't know anything about Project 2025, but 75,000 fired bureaucrats is a good start. 

This is breathtakingly ignorant.  I will admit that I used to be like you until I actually worked in the belly of the beast for two years inside the beltway.  Firing the bureaucrats won't make the bureaucracy go away.  It will just completely stall the bureaucracy, and nothing will ever get done.  You think the system is inefficient now?  Wait until you get a bunch of people trying to run it who have no clue how to work the mechanisms of bureaucracy.

[GenXer 2671]

14 minutes ago, Frank Drebin said:

JD Vance is a star.  Best Republican communicator since Reagan.

Okay

[bolverk 29147]

2 minutes ago, Guadaloopy said:

This is breathtakingly ignorant.  I will admit that I used to be like you until I actually worked in the belly of the beast for two years inside the beltway.  Firing the bureaucrats won't make the bureaucracy go away.  It will just completely stall the bureaucracy, and nothing will ever get done.  You think the system is inefficient now?  Wait until you get a bunch of people trying to run it who have no clue how to work the mechanisms of bureaucracy.

And who have declared political loyalty to a blustering and irrational autocrat.

[aggie08 21068]

1 minute ago, Frank Drebin said:

Vance took on all comers with hostile interviews.  There was stark contrast with him and that wannabe Walz.

Never loved the pick. Understood it--"Hey, let's get the guy who loves football and trucks and eats too much comfort food! That'll attract the working class"--but thought the should have gotten a gifted orator to fight back against propaganda/misinformation deluge from the right. Since we haven't seen a truly great, sharp orator on a Presidential nominee ticket since 2012.

[Pancho 43961]

Oofff, Elmo is already tweeting proposed policy and it’s not good.

[Biff Tannen 45381]

4 minutes ago, aggie08 said:

Never loved the pick. Understood it--"Hey, let's get the guy who loves football and trucks and eats too much comfort food! That'll attract the working class"--but thought the should have gotten a gifted orator to fight back against propaganda/misinformation deluge from the right. Since we haven't seen a truly great, sharp orator on a Presidential nominee ticket since 2012.

There was nothing wrong with Walz or Harris. They ran a great campaign that any sane person would have embraced. The problem is the American people. They are broken and stupid. This is who we are. 

[Hmbre97 6292]

22 minutes ago, Frank Drebin said:

JD Vance is a star.  Best Republican communicator since Reagan.

 

 

I wonder what Reagan's donut order was?

[DigglerontheHoof 20896]

1 hour ago, David Dennison said:

Here's the good news. More people would be not OK with it.

Donald Trump didn't win because most people agree with him. That's just his base. Donald Trump won because they wanted something different from the Biden administration. Any Republican nominee would have won on Tuesday.

45% votes f the population would cheer on a Selma type aggression.

We’re a nation of Johnny Sacks AKA Christians.

And far right Christians would not only cheer it on, they’d beg to participate.

[aggie08 21068]

6 minutes ago, Frank Drebin said:

Poor democrats.  They don't have any popular media, mainstream media, or Big Tech platforms to help them.

You people really are delusional.

Mark Cuban isn't right about much, but you're delusional if you don't think the right now controls the message in what is now mainstream media. Fox News, the bro and right-wing podcast clan, Facebook, Twitter, and Sinclair-owned local news (about the only dedicated "news" that normal people still regularly watch) draw far more eyeballs/earholes than Rachel Maddow or whoever the fuck.

That's why your incessant whining about the "MSM" always rings so hollow.

 

[linux 1551]

5 minutes ago, Pancho said:

Oofff, Elmo is already tweeting proposed policy and it’s not good.

Cliff notes?