Donald Trump

[stevebrooks]

Trump was holding a pres conference the other day at Mar A Lardo and a reporter asked him if he would rule out using the military or economic coercion to take over the Panama Canal and Greenland, and guess what, he said no, he wouldn't rule out using the military or commercial coercion to take over, this is literally a declaration that he will be using force to invade other countries;



Now let's wait and see how his sycophants swing this!

[pipbarber]

An opinion piece connected to that press conference, by David Smith.

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/202 ... s-normalcy

I'm not sure entirely that the 'muted' nature of the Trump opposition is just a fatigue related phenomena, nor because Trump 1.0 was far less cataclysmic than expected. I think the writer of the article might be missing the element of fear in play?

Trump is a dipshit, as we all know, but his worshipers include psychopathic christians, billionaires and nazis. Hell of a crowd to make an enemy of, especially given guns and more guns combined with a sense of Trump bestowed legal immunity.

It wise to be cautious right now, it is wise to be 'muted,' at least until the lay of the land is clear, and what precautions critique will require.

[stylofone]

I'm also finding this sort of vicious, inhumane opportunism to be in a higher gear than the first Trump term. It's going to be very bad for minorities. Trump is also blaming California state government's water management for the destruction. During the campaign the orange clown effectively promised there would be no more droughts if he becomes President again.

https://www.smh.com.au/world/north-amer ... 5l3im.html

https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/tr ... rcna187219

[pipbarber]

Well, here we are then. Just a few dozen hours before the putrid orange pustule plunges the world into chaos (which let's be honest is a change from the steady but slower descent into ecocide, climate apocalypse and global impoverishment that neoliberalism provides, so there's that!)

100 executive orders on day 1? I don't want to sound doomist, or preclude pleasant surprises, but i'm quietly confident that every one of those 100 executive orders will be retrogressive, discriminatory, advance global heating toward 2C and generally just fucking terrible for anyone who doesn't happen to have a billion dollars to hand.

I say go hard and quickly, i'm cheering for the most terrible two months imaginable in the selfish hope that it will be some kind of prophylactic against Australians voting for Dutton. The descent into climate hell and impoverishment that the ALP is selling is, unbelievably, still better then whatever the fuck Dutton is going to inflict on us all. So the silver lining to the triumph of ignorant bigotry about to unveil itself in the US may just be a slight reduction in Dutton's chances.

Always looking on the bright side i am...

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/202 ... an-day-one

[stylofone]

The dictator on day one pulls the US out of the Paris accords; declares an "energy emergency", which seems designed to supercharge the extraction of fossil fuels; and cancels electric vehicle targets introduced by Biden.

Pardoning the Jan 6 mob is another shocker. Obviously mass violence and vandalism are OK if it's done under the protection of a MAGA flag.

There's so much more, but they are the ones which stuck out for me.

[two dogs]

The dictator on day one pulls the US out of the Paris accords; declares an "energy emergency", which seems designed to supercharge the extraction of fossil fuels; and cancels electric vehicle targets introduced by Biden.

Pardoning the Jan 6 mob is another shocker. Obviously mass violence and vandalism are OK if it's done under the protection of a MAGA flag.

There's so much more, but they are the ones which stuck out for me.

I wonder what his fuckwit mate (Leon, as he once called him) thinks of him reversing Biden's electric vehicle policies?

[pipbarber]

I wonder what his fuckwit mate (Leon, as he once called him) thinks of him reversing Biden's electric vehicle policies?

He's going to offset the upset by granting Leon rights over the electric chair contracts, no doubt.

[stevebrooks]

Let's have a look:

establishing the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE)

Can't be done by executive order, congress is given the power to create government departments, not the President.

enhanced screening for foreign terrorists entering the country

If you have terrorists entering the country you have already failed, enhanced screening? This man is a terrorist, let's screen him extra hard, wtf?

‘unleashing’ Alaska’s natural resources

The US already produces more oil than it uses, unleashing exactly how? The oil companies aren't going to want to drill if they have nowhere to send the oil. The US imports oil from Canada because the oil they have isn't suitable for refining in the refineries they have built.

exiting OECD global tax deal

Yeah this is a strange one, the tax deal mandates that corporation pay a minimum of 15% tax no matter in what country they operate, the other countries will still be in it, this will only affect the US since US companies operating outside of the US will stay pay the same tax. It's a way to reduce tax on large companies that operate in the US, so a tax deal for his oligarchs!

ending birthright citizenship

14th Amendment, executive orders can't trump the constitution, all this will do is tie up lawyers, government workers and private citizens in endless lawsuits.

eliminating the electric vehicle ‘mandate’

Will effectively do nothing, by now the EV changeover is so far ahead of where this would have had an effect it is essentially to late, will slow it down slightly sure, but won't change anything in the long run.

beginning process of enacting tariffs, establishing External Revenue Service

Department of customs and and border protections is a thing already, they do tariffs and other customs duties such as collecting taxes, this is just a duplicate of that, so just a waste of money unless the close the Department of Customs and Border Protection, and I can't see them replacing that in 4 years if it is closed down, a disaster if they even tried!

withdrawing US from World Health Organisation

Yeah well, Covid right, nuff said, don't count em and they don't exist!

moving to save TikTok from US ban with 75-day reprieve

Flip Flop Trump, he was the one pushing to ban it in 2020, suddenly it's fine? Lol!

So that's a all hunky dory then!

[pipbarber]

In my view, it's slightly dangerous to rely on constitutional law, precedent and convention. Don't forget the languid repose after 2020. Trump will go to jail, it's all over for him, the law.....and the law....

I am far from certain that US institutions will survive the next 12 months. Maga have control of the legislature, the judiciary and the executive and that control is dominated by an anti-democratic cohort. They could abolish themselves unanimously, if they wanted. All they'd need to do is prevent democrats from entering the building on voting day, right? Can't do that? Why not?

The system is weak. But who knows how far maga will go? I just can't take any comfort in relying on 'congress' to block anything.

I reckon the only thing actually standing in the way of an undemocratic autocracy of violence sweeping over the most powerful military and economic nation on the planet is not it's institutions but rather, basic human decency - and looking at this bunch of people, i'm not confident.

[wolty]

In my view, it's slightly dangerous to rely on constitutional law, precedent and convention. Don't forget the languid repose after 2020. Trump will go to jail, it's all over for him, the law.....and the law....

I am far from certain that US institutions will survive the next 12 months. Maga have control of the legislature, the judiciary and the executive and that control is dominated by an anti-democratic cohort. They could abolish themselves unanimously, if they wanted. All they'd need to do is prevent democrats from entering the building on voting day, right? Can't do that? Why not?

The system is weak. But who knows how far maga will go? I just can't take any comfort in relying on 'congress' to block anything.

I reckon the only thing actually standing in the way of an undemocratic autocracy of violence sweeping over the most powerful military and economic nation on the planet is not it's institutions but rather, basic human decency - and looking at this bunch of people, i'm not confident.

Yep. I'm thinking they will push and push and push constantly to find where they can't push anymore. And I don't think anything can stop them.