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Posted (edited)

This is what he has a mandate for.

 

https://www.nytimes.com/2025/02/14/us/politics/mar-a-lago-trump-grass-rose-garden.html

 

Quote

President Trump has been busy upending the federal government, reorienting U.S. foreign policy, threatening trade wars and winning confirmation for his Cabinet choices.

But he has managed to find time for a project closer to home: He has told associates that he wants to rip up the grass in the Rose Garden, one of the White House’s most iconic and meticulously maintained spots, and replace it with a hard surface to resemble a patio like the one he has at Mar-a-Lago.

 

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Designers have drafted options for how to remake the surface of the Rose Garden, which sits just outside the Oval Office and the Cabinet Room. Mr. Trump has discussed whether it should be limestone or an easily interchangeable hard surface, with the possibility of installing hardwood floors for dancing, according to four people briefed on the discussions, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to describe private conversations.

 

 

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Mr. Trump has other plans for the West Wing. He wants to hang a grand chandelier from the ceiling of the Oval Office, the people briefed on the matter said.

He has already covered almost every free inch of the walls and mantle space in the Oval Office with portraits of presidents, among other images; one frame includes the New York Post front page photo of Mr. Trump’s mug shot when he processed after being indicted in Fulton County, Ga.

There are also gold vases and statuettes and at least one gold figurine embedded in an elevated wall molding. The figurine was screwed into the wall by Carlos De Oliveira, the property manager at Mar-a-Lago, who traveled to Washington to perform the task, the people said.

Mr. Trump has also privately revived an idea he first pitched to Mr. Obama’s advisers when the former president was in office: to build a ballroom at the White House, “like I have at Mar-a-Lago,” which Mr. Trump says would cost $100 million.

But the ballroom idea is notional so far; the Rose Garden patio space is not, and it has been the subject of almost daily discussions.

A White House spokesperson did not respond to an email seeking comment.

Mr. Trump has made clear to associates that he wants to recreate the patio experience at Mar-a-Lago, his members-only club and home in Palm Beach, Fla., creating a better space for entertaining guests. When he is at Mar-a-Lago, Mr. Trump spends hours of his evenings on the patio, with club members and other V.I.P.s dropping by his table to pay their respects. He often holds an iPad, controlling the playlist and blasting Luciano Pavarotti and James Brown at earsplitting volumes.

It is unclear what the first lady, Melania Trump, thinks of his patio plans. During his first term, she redesigned the Rose Garden. The revamp stirred controversy in part because it required an update of the irrigation system, among other items, and in part because everything involving the Trumps at the time drew criticism from some quarters. Nonetheless, she took pride in it. A spokesman for the first lady declined to comment.

The White House has, over centuries, gone through many renovations, and it often fell into disrepair. Jacqueline Kennedy established the White House Historical Association, a private advisory entity that created guidelines for changes to the physical building that have generally been adhered to.

“I think that’s one of the greatest accomplishments of any first lady, to put those safeguards in place,” said Katherine Jellison, a professor at Ohio University who has closely followed first ladies.

Timothy Naftali, a historian at the Columbia University School of International Public Affairs, noted that the building’s residential spaces are out of view and presidential families often make changes there. But he said that first families have usually had an understanding “that the White House is a museum that belongs to the American people” and that “you have an obligation not to step too far outside of tradition in the public spaces.”

The White House Historical Association has no statutory authority over the premises, and the Rose Garden is outside of its mission because it is outdoors. The group’s only involvement with Mrs. Trump’s renovation in the first term was the acquisition of a sculpture from the White House arts collection that was placed in the garden.

It is the National Park Service, which is controlled by the Department of the Interior, that maintains the grounds, including the Rose Garden.

The first version of the Rose Garden was created by Ellen Wilson, President Woodrow Wilson’s wife, in 1913.

Many modern presidential families have put a stamp on the grounds, such as President Gerald R. Ford’s directive for an outdoor swimming pool, President Barack Obama’s basketball court and Michelle Obama’s South Lawn food garden.

But remodeling the Rose Garden to take away the grass, even while apparently preserving the plantings that give it its name, would be a jarring change from tradition.

Mr. Naftali said that the approach was consistent with Mr. Trump’s ethos as a public figure.

“The whole Trump approach to leadership is to blow up existing national elites of any kind, whether that elite is defined by taste, or money, or aesthetics,” said Mr. Naftali, saying those elites are often called the “uniparty” by Mr. Trump’s advisers. “But they mean it for not simply elected officials, but they mean in terms of national aesthetics or national traditions or norms.”

 

Edited by Francisco 2.0
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Posted
Just now, Horn Under a Bad Sign said:


Holy fucking shit.  Poor people starving but at least Anastasis gets to score some political points. 

Send me the receipt with memo line in memory of YGIFS and I will match. 

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Posted
1 hour ago, Pig Bellmont said:

Hundreds fired, and then attempts to get them to temporarily come to work to man our nuclear strike capabilities… just real genius stuff 

And never mind the lack of congressional authority or oversight for any of these actions. Incompetent cowards

 

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Posted
3 hours ago, Goofyboy said:

Tax the shit out of churches. You shouldn’t be beholden to someone’s god for help.

For the record, Catholic Charities in Dallas will help anyone, including Muslim immigrants (as an example of a more or less diametrically opposed faith).  Most mainstream-church-funded social services outfits are the same.  Can't speak for fundagelicals, but there usually isn't some litmus test you must pass to receive services.

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Posted

If all the good lawyers quit, then they aren't going to accomplish shit in federal courtrooms.

Well, I guess at least until they get to the Supreme Court, but in theory they'll need a record. 

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Posted
2 hours ago, Chad Fuck said:

Well, yeah because no one wants to go freeze their ass off no matter the cause. 

 

That's an even better song than I thought it was. I had the lyrics all fucked from my youth and never thought to look them up. I've got to say the video is rather brilliant as well. I was so dumb that it didn't occur to me that the street fighting man was a rioter.

Thanks!

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Posted (edited)
11 minutes ago, Bookman said:

If all the good lawyers quit, then they aren't going to accomplish shit in federal courtrooms.

Well, I guess at least until they get to the Supreme Court, but in theory they'll need a record. 

This is what seems inevitable.  While the number of lawyers willing to trash the system for Trump is alarming, I think on the grand scale, more of even the federalist-y lawyers like Danielle Sassoon and that Hagen guy are going to be mainstream in their legal views and only the nutbars will be left to do their bidding.  And the nutbars haven't shown themselves to be very good lawyers so far, even if they once were.

I wonder if Blanche is going to be a fucktoady like Bove.  Although Bondi is a piece of shit, I imagine she's getting a bit nervous about what's being exposed about her DOJ.

And, I think even the insane loyalists he seems to be appointing are going to wind up leaving or getting fired just like the Tillersons, Sessions, and Boltons etc.

Edited by TwiceHorn
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Posted
9 minutes ago, Bookman said:

If all the good lawyers quit, then they aren't going to accomplish shit in federal courtrooms.

Well, I guess at least until they get to the Supreme Court, but in theory they'll need a record. 

We're dealing with this in Texas.

The quality of the lawyering at the Attorney General's office has declined.

But it doesn't matter, because Ken Paxton primaries any appellate judges who dare rule against him, so the legal standard in courts is becoming "whatever Ken Paxton wants, you better do."

While our Federal judges are appointed, the political theme is the same.  They'll get there.  Why does position X win?  Because it's MAGA.  Screw the existing law, evidence, pleading standards, etc.

Posted (edited)
6 hours ago, 'stache said:

Shit like this is why I hate this country. Yeah, we fucking remember. We're being led by people with no compass whatsoever, they are just for what the other side is against and make shit up as they go. Absolutely fucking pathetic.

May be an image of 1 person and text that says 'Vivek Ramaswamy @VivekGRamaswamy Bring back the presidentia fitness test in schools. Serve healthier food in the cafeteria & start physical education earlier in school. The best way to save on health costs in the long run is to create a healthier population in the first place. Mike Ne... @MikeNellis Yeah, no shit shitMichelle Obama tried to do this and Republicans called her a radical communist.'

I will not have murderous thoughts. I will not have murderous thoughts. Think of the shrugging clown girl. Do not have murderous thoughts.

 

6 hours ago, wood said:

Why in the actual fuck do we have Pete Hegseth of all fucking people publicly speaking to foreign dignitaries on sensitive Foreign Policy matters, and JD fucking Vance talking about war with got damn Russia?

O.J.T. They're the future.

6 hours ago, 956 Worldwide said:

The lawyers are the first to show the most courage.  Thank you SDNY Assistant Attorney General.

image.thumb.png.124a90218b7141f89c9b03452d434c84.png

Thank goodness we've educated our electorate to comprehend the elegance of the language and courage of the move. This will have great impact.

 

 

38 minutes ago, 956 Worldwide said:

Hannity is going to get a “joint” interview with Musk and Trump from the White House. Has a sitting POTUS EVER done a “joint” interview with another American? 
 

I am struggling with my historical analogy.  Am I watching Diocletian create the tetrarchy? Am I a Russian titular councillor trying to understand why Rasputin is speaking for the Tsar?

 

Regardless, I think any historian will have to write that in 2025 the U.S. experimented with a dual executive system.

https://thehill.com/homenews/administration/5146248-trump-elon-musk-hannity-fox-news-doge/amp/

Musk owns Trump one way or the other. I speculated that he'd bought all of Trump's debt a few months ago. Maybe that's not it, but he has Trump in a vice. No telling what Musk could have turned up with all of his resources.

Trump seems to be a front man in the tradition of Ronald Reagan but without the avuncular charm. 

I hope Trump does tackify the Rose Garden and anything else about the White House that attracts his whimsy. Defile it. Make it what it's supposed to be: the image of America at its best. Paint it gold and put some statues out on the lawn. Do it!

Edited by RomaVicta
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Posted (edited)

Disagree or agree. We can certainly hash it out on some of the details. But tell me the prior admin and in particular the candidate the Democrats tried to hot swap from VP to POTUS is capable of this presentation. Just give it the whole watch. 

 

 

Edited by Anastasis
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Posted
4 minutes ago, Anastasis said:

Now we are talked about elder abuse? Holy god. Nobody knows who was running the country for the last couple years. 

Even if that were true, you know Joe endorsed whatever was happening and provided his input.

Dotard doesn't have valid coherent governmental thoughts on his best days.

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Posted (edited)
4 minutes ago, Anastasis said:

Disagree or agree. We can certainly hash it out on some of the details. But tell me the prior admin and in particular the candidate the Democrats tried to hot swap from VP to POTUS is capable of this presentation. Just give it the whole watch. 

 

 

No one would contend that JD Vance, or whatever his fucking name is, is whip-smart.

The problem is that he's not a vertebrate.  His talking points vary with his audience.  And I don't just mean "code switching."  

Edited by TwiceHorn
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Posted
1 minute ago, TwiceHorn said:

No one would contend that JD Vance, or whatever his fucking name is, is whip-smart.

The problem is that he's not a vertebrate.  

Come on Twice. Let's be real. Imagine Kamala trying to deliver that message in Munich. We all saw Biden. We all know it was elder abuse. It was clear during the debate. Shit, 10 minutes into that one and I said that they were going to have to hot swap their candidate. 

Understand that we are going to disagree on policy. And personality. But I am not sure that the attack frame here should every in any way consider using the term "elder abuse" without expecting to get laughed out of the rhetorical room. 

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Posted

https://www.theverge.com/news/613567/trump-youtube-videos-cfpb

 

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Nearly 400 videos that were posted on the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s YouTube page have been removed, as the Trump administration continues to pare back the agency, including its team of skilled technologists.

The CFPB YouTube page, which has 15,000 subscribers and was created in 2011, has had every one of its videos removed as of Friday. An archived version of the page shows that as recently as February 8th, it hosted 386 videos. The archived page shows videos with titles like “Five tips for when you can’t pay your bills,” “How do I dispute an error on my credit report?” and “How can I improve my credit scores?”

 

 

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Facebook and X accounts for the agency have also been taken down, although it’s unclear when. The homepage of the CFPB website delivers a 404 error message, though other pages on the site are still active.

The removals seem to be part of a larger dismantling of the agency, which oversees consumer protection issues in financial service. That’s an area that’s increasingly come to include tech players, including X; X is owned by Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) head Elon Musk, who’s been leading the charge on slashing the federal workforce. About 20 technologists in the bureau were suddenly terminated on Thursday evening, The Verge reported, ravaging a team that provided deep expertise to help hold companies accountable for their financial technology services.

 

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Across several agencies, the government has hurriedly removed webpages to comply with President Donald Trump’s flurry of executive orders at the start of his term. Many pages that hosted health information were brought back online this week to comply with a court order. Later, the Trump administration updated those pages with a disclaimer against “gender ideology,” noting it was forced by a court to restore the information.

There could be a brief reprieve for the CFPB after a new court order. On Friday evening, a judge put a pause on further firings of CFPB staff without cause, and ordered the agency not to delete agency records or data at least until a hearing on March 3rd.

 

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Posted

I’m halfway through ABC Nightly News and I had to stop watching. Stories about laying off thousands of federal workers willy nilly, including essential medical professionals at the CDC and National Nuclear Security Administration, and Vance overseas upbraiding European allies (calling them the enemy within) for resisting the far right Nazi lite Party in Germany, is just too much. How can anybody watch what’s being done to our country and not be enraged, is beyond me.

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Posted

I’m sure there are plenty of private sector jobs for all of these people being laid off around the country. 
 

Make bread lines and soup kitchens great again!

Posted
16 minutes ago, Mileslong said:

At what point during this Orange idiots term is he going to put forth the idea of putting him on Mount Rushmore?

There's always tomorrow.  

Hell, I expect an EO mandating it.

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Posted
6 minutes ago, DDD Dad said:

I’m sure there are plenty of private sector jobs for all of these people being laid off around the country. 
 

Make bread lines and soup kitchens great again!

Watch the next several jobs reports be negative, unemployment rising, and these clowns will be claiming it's a benefit to tax payers because they are saving money.

They will have an explanation for the upcoming recession, caused by unnecessary tariffs and trade wars, and point to it as a good thing. Nerds will point out the massive private sector layoffs as a large part of his policy, unexpected cancelling of government contracts, deportation of cheap immigrant workers and the general retraction of the economy due to his dumb policies, but he and his media apparatus will spin it as good for the country. It's gonna be great.

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Posted

https://arstechnica.com/health/2025/02/the-country-is-less-safe-cdc-disease-detective-program-gutted/

 

Quote

The cadre of elite disease detectives at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is expected to be left in ruin today as the Trump administration continues to slash the federal workforce.

Many members of the CDC's Epidemic Intelligence Service, EIS—a globally revered public health training program—were informed earlier Friday that they were about to be fired, according to reporting from Stat News. Multiple sources told CBS Newsthat half of EIS officers are among the ongoing cuts.

The Trump administration is ousting thousands of probationary federal workers in a wide-scale effort to dramatically slim agencies.

 

 

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The EIS is a two-year program filled with competitively selected, highly educated and trained experts. EIS officers are the ones deployed in critical public health situations, such as deadly outbreaks or bioterror attacks. The program has a long, rich history since its establishment in 1951, which includes contributing to the eradication of smallpox, among other achievements.

The deep cuts to the program have horrified those in the public health sphere.

"The country is less safe," Dr. Anne Schuchat, a former top-ranking CDC official and alumna of the program, told CBS News. "These are the deployable assets critical for investigating new threats, from anthrax to Zika."

 

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"It’s almost beyond belief," former CDC director Bill Foege told Stat. He noted that the EIS trainees were critical to stopping the spread of the disastrous West Africa Ebola outbreak of 2014–2016.

The cuts to EIS are just some of those that CDC is facing. CBS News reports that around 1,270 are being cut from the agency, which is around 10 percent of its staff.

 

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Posted
1 hour ago, Anastasis said:

Now we are talked about elder abuse? Holy god. Nobody knows who was running the country for the last couple years. 

Do you honestly think that the Trump regime is pretty much business as usual or are you just finding ways to stick pins in people for neglible hypocrisy? Your posts the last few days don't read like the usual you.

As I mentioned earlier, it wouldn't surprise me if you're just fed up with the wall you always face here. I think the instant dismissal of anything you write is unfortunate. 

I think your point about the wealth of the Catholic Church is valid, btw. Your antagonistic voice muddies your point.

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Posted
19 minutes ago, Dutchrudder said:

Watch the next several jobs reports be negative, unemployment rising, and these clowns will be claiming it's a benefit to tax payers because they are saving money.

They will have an explanation for the upcoming recession, caused by unnecessary tariffs and trade wars, and point to it as a good thing. Nerds will point out the massive private sector layoffs as a large part of his policy, unexpected cancelling of government contracts, deportation of cheap immigrant workers and the general retraction of the economy due to his dumb policies, but he and his media apparatus will spin it as good for the country. It's gonna be great.

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Posted
12 minutes ago, RomaVicta said:

Do you honestly think that the Trump regime is pretty much business as usual or are you just finding ways to stick pins in people for neglible hypocrisy? Your posts the last few days don't read like the usual you.

As I mentioned earlier, it wouldn't surprise me if you're just fed up with the wall you always face here. I think the instant dismissal of anything you write is unfortunate. 

I think your point about the wealth of the Catholic Church is valid, btw. Your antagonistic voice muddies your point.

Nah, he’s just a cunt. 

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Posted
37 minutes ago, Dutchrudder said:

Watch the next several jobs reports be negative, unemployment rising, and these clowns will be claiming it's a benefit to tax payers because they are saving money.

They will have an explanation for the upcoming recession, caused by unnecessary tariffs and trade wars, and point to it as a good thing. Nerds will point out the massive private sector layoffs as a large part of his policy, unexpected cancelling of government contracts, deportation of cheap immigrant workers and the general retraction of the economy due to his dumb policies, but he and his media apparatus will spin it as good for the country. It's gonna be great.

You're thinking way too much.   They will just blame Biden.

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Posted
2 minutes ago, d2o said:

You're thinking way too much.   They will just blame Biden.

Obama imo, it's always been about the black guy that broke half the country's brains.

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Posted
1 hour ago, Anastasis said:

Disagree or agree. We can certainly hash it out on some of the details. But tell me the prior admin and in particular the candidate the Democrats tried to hot swap from VP to POTUS is capable of this presentation. Just give it the whole watch. 

 

 

There are any number of politicians who can deliver a speech that pisses off our allies. What Vance did was unremarkable and predictable. That was SDE.

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Posted
1 minute ago, Surly Bevo said:

Obama imo, it's always been about the black guy that broke half the country's brains.

True

 

1 minute ago, Biff Tannen said:

And it will work 

Its their greatest hit

Posted
34 minutes ago, RomaVicta said:

Do you honestly think that the Trump regime is pretty much business as usual or are you just finding ways to stick pins in people for neglible hypocrisy? Your posts the last few days don't read like the usual you.

He has snapped, or he is deep in the throes of addiction.  Stop responding to him, he is not worth the effort.  I hope he gets help.

Posted (edited)
8 minutes ago, Goofyboy said:


If you’re not a racist, misogynistic twit, you’d realize that VP Harris can give any presentation Vance could.

She may not be quite as smart as Vance, or maybe even as versed on foreign affairs, such that her ad libbed answers to interview questions aren't super-polished.  Then again, Vance pretty regularly inserts his foot in his mouth, deeply, while speaking extemporaneously.  Far more than Harris.

But that was a prepared speech that most politicians could give.

Edited by TwiceHorn
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Posted
11 minutes ago, TwiceHorn said:

She may not be quite as smart as Vance, or maybe even as versed on foreign affairs, such that her ad libbed answers to interview questions aren't super-polished.  Then again, Vance pretty regularly inserts his foot in his mouth, deeply, while speaking extemporaneously.  Far more than Harris.

But that was a prepared speech that most politicians could give.

Twice, do you think those present came away thinking how smart Vance is? I just hope we don’t “Ted Cruz” him explaining away odious behavior that ostensibly belies his brilliance.

Posted
1 hour ago, Satchel said:

I’m halfway through ABC Nightly News and I had to stop watching. Stories about laying off thousands of federal workers willy nilly, including essential medical professionals at the CDC and National Nuclear Security Administration, and Vance overseas upbraiding European allies (calling them the enemy within) for resisting the far right Nazi lite Party in Germany, is just too much. How can anybody watch what’s being done to our country and not be enraged, is beyond me.

Just to be clear, there are no federal workers being laid off.  No one has implemented the federal version of that yet, a RIF.

All these probationary employees are being told they’re released for unsatisfactory performance. That’s because even in a probationary role, indiscriminate mass firings are illegal.  
 

But it is easy to release a “poor performer” in that period with less documentation and no appeal rights.  So they just lie and say everyone was a poor performer.  
 

It’s a super shitty thing to do. 

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Posted (edited)
7 minutes ago, 956 Worldwide said:

Despite what Americans may believe, Europeans are actually rather less alarmist about America and more inclined to think we will ultimately be normal and it is shocking to see a representative of the superpower behave like Viktor Orban because deep down they still think we are a serious country.  

Are we sure about this?

I have a good friend from Norway and I dated a woman from Spain.  They both indicated that the general opinion in their home countries is that the United States lost its mind somewhere around the first time we elected Trump, if not going back to when we elected W.  And I was in London and Paris a couple of years ago, and cabbies were chatting me up with questions that amounted to, "Is the US as batshit crazy now as it seems?"

 

Edited by TexArcher
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Posted
30 minutes ago, TwiceHorn said:

She may not be quite as smart as Vance, or maybe even as versed on foreign affairs, such that her ad libbed answers to interview questions aren't super-polished.  Then again, Vance pretty regularly inserts his foot in his mouth, deeply, while speaking extemporaneously.  Far more than Harris.

But that was a prepared speech that most politicians could give.

Every GOP politician in America is fully capable of giving a speech that boils down to “they say we need to worry about Russia and China, but the real enemy is Woke.” 
 

I will concede that even now most of the GOP that is worldy enough to travel abroad resist giving that speech to a room full of the CHODs and Defense Ministers we hope might help us fight Russia or China if needed. 

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Posted
2 minutes ago, TexArcher said:

Are we sure about this?

I have a good friend from Norway and I dated a woman from Spain.  They both indicated that the general opinion in their home countries is that the United States lost its mind somewhere around the first time we elected Trump, if not going back to when we elected W.  And I was in London and Paris a couple of years ago, and cabbies were chatting me up with questions that amounted to, "Is the US as batshit crazy now as it seems?"

 

I was mostly talking about the people at MSC, who for decades have gotten our private assurances that we don’t mean the batshit things we tweet. 

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