Donald Trump

[pipbarber]

Well, looks like Trump win, this is bad, very bad, it's a miracle now for Harris to win, and I don't believe in miracles.

In the end though I don't think it is Trump we need be worried about, he's gone down so much over the last week months I don't think he will be there long, it's the people he will surround himself with...like Musk, they're the real danger.

And JD Vance...

I reckon it's the movement that's the worry. It's Christian nationalism, it's the potential for full blown fascism. But the most devastating aspect, as Stylo mentioned, is the end of any pretense to care about climate change, ecological protection and non human life (and a good proportion of human life). That will impact the whole world.

It's too early to say if democracy has ended in the US. We won't know that for at least 2 years, at the mid-terms, but it would be prudent to monitor developments in that direction.

As for the neo-liberal loving Dems, fuck them! Seriously, fuck the democrats for not pushing Bernie's agenda 8 years ago. Fuck them for not openly rejecting neoliberal economic theory. They must share the blame. I don't mean that on an individual level, Kamala did well, she did her best but she was pushing an ideology that just fucks people over, it doesn't work anymore. I hope albo is watching and the ALP machine is taking some lessons from this...but i fucking doubt it.

[stevebrooks]

Be lucky if Trump makes it to the inauguration, they will be crowning Vance the King, and all those people who voted for abortion in states where there were polls on it, but voted for Republicans for power, they are going to have their vote ignored because it will be made a Federal abortion ban, and Federal law, where the two conflict, overrides state law! You Fucking Idiots!

[pipbarber]

I slept like shit last night. That giant orange head was tormenting my mind. Welcome to 1933 was the first thing i thought this morning. Well, we'll see.

Upon reflection, polling is henceforth to be ignored, as are youtube pundits. The betting markets were actually accurate, that may have been by chance but this is not an outlier case, it's happened a lot. Celebrity endorsements are useless.

Compared to Trump, Dutton suddenly looks like a totally reasonable guy, even centrist. I'm feeling unwell about our next election. I think we're entering a very right wing phase and I know i sound like a broken record but you can't run on a more of the same platform and expect to win against a party running on identity or pseudo (or real) authoritarianism or anything that promises something different and the left adjacent parties have nothing different to offer, at least atm.

Sorry, just unloading my anger....

[nibble]

Yeap, the result is like a punch in the guts. I cannot fucking believe it. America is truly broken. My heart goes out to those who voted blue and are going to have to live with the consequences.

[stevebrooks]

Yeap, the result is like a punch in the guts. I cannot fucking believe it. America is truly broken. My heart goes out to those who voted blue and are going to have to live with the consequences.

The consequences are already here, Florida had a poll on abortion rights along with the election, 57% of voters voted yes for abortion rights, but apparently they also voted yes for DeSantis so he won...again. Well guess what? Yep, DeSantis threw out the abortion rights ballot and declared not enough people voted for abortion right, 57% was not enough of a majority so it just doesn't count and he is going to ignore it. I mean people in Florida, what did you fucking expect? Authoritarians will do exactly that, you basically voted against abortion rights when you voted yes for DeSantis!

[stevebrooks]

Yeap, the result is like a punch in the guts. I cannot fucking believe it. America is truly broken. My heart goes out to those who voted blue and are going to have to live with the consequences.

I think the major mistake was assuming the large number of women coming out to vote yes for abortion rights were also going to vote democrat, but what it actually did was pull out a lot of Republican women voters who wanted to vote yes for abortion rights, and while they were there they also voted for the Republicans. The assumption that women voting yes for abortion right were democrats was flawed, they were simply republicans voting yes for one single issue.

[stevebrooks]

Here's an interesting thing, there's been a lot of buzz about bitcoin since Trump won, apparently it's going crazy, people reckon it's because Trump was elected and he and Elon Musk are going to be big pushers of digital currency. But you see, there's this thing, happens every time, that when things start looking like they are going to go really bad people start pulling money out of regular banks and investing in alternative currency, in the past it was gold, because, well, can't get more solid and reliable than actual gold right?

Investing in Gold: Is Gold Still a Good Inflation Hedge in a Recession?
One of history’s most enduring commodities, gold has long been touted as the world’s safe-haven metal, helping to protect investors against inflation and economic downturns. But as we enter a fresh recession, how can traders use gold as an effective hedge?

https://sponsored.bloomberg.com/article ... recession-

Of course these days gold is not so useful because you need traders to turn gold into currency before people will accept it, still useful for rich people, but not so much for poor people, but anyone can invest in bitcoin et al, so the buzz on digital currencies may not be the good thing some people are suggesting, it could very well be a sign people are spreading their wealth out so it all doesn't vanish from one pot! Things are going to go bad on the economic side, so people are panic buying bitcoin et al.

[pipbarber]

I have a lot of time for Nathan J Robinson. (His critique of Jordan Peterson still stands as the most devastating i've ever read). His analysis of the shit show that has just happened is excellent, imo.

https://www.currentaffairs.org/news/onc ... led-us-all

[stylofone]

I have a lot of time for Nathan J Robinson. (His critique of Jordan Peterson still stands as the most devastating i've ever read). His analysis of the shit show that has just happened is excellent, imo.

https://www.currentaffairs.org/news/onc ... led-us-all

I blamed the American people for Trump in 2016, and for the higher number of Trump votes in 2020, and for Trump 2024. That's the luxury I have of not living there. It makes sense to call on Americans to find a better version of themselves, which that author does.

I've had a lifelong anti-American streak, I think it started when my Mum would say "don't watch that American rubbish!" and she would change the channel to Play School or Adventure Island with Clown and Flower Pots.

The prediction which I look forward to in a disaster porn sort of way is that Americans will swiftly move on from the fuck about phase, and into the find out phase. Trump's policies, if his administration is competent enough to implement them, will be very unpopular because they are Dennis Moore policies. To quote Monty Python: "robs from the poor, gives to the rich, stupid bitch, stupid bitch, stupid bitch."

[stylofone]

Timothy Snyder: What Does It Mean That Donald Trump Is a Fascist?

https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/disp ... -a-fascist

Also here: https://archive.is/LySUC