The Trump Presidency, Season 2

[Free]

I agree. The central reason I'd take Vance over Trump is because Vance doesn't have the weird, voodoo, "cult" appeal to get away with half the shit Trump can.

Vance has a potential puppet master that could be just as dangerous as Trump on a vindictive crime spree.

 

[GoblinCampFollower]

Vance has a potential puppet master that could be just as dangerous as Trump on a vindictive crime spree.

I'm aware of his connection to Thiel and I do not trust Thiel or Vance at all. I'm not saying they wouldn't do bad things, I'm saying they lack the charisma to get away with it in the weird ways Trump can. ...or at least I hope. Trump has a weird command over his cult that most fascist politicians can only dream of.

 

[Kamilah Hauptmann]

I agree. The central reason I'd take Vance over Trump is because Vance doesn't have the weird, voodoo, "cult" appeal to get away with half the shit Trump can.

I'm sure he'd last as long as Quintillus.

 

[Casey Pelous]

Salt Spring Island in the Strait of Georgia has a history of being a safe haven for American refugees.

Other than that, some European countries - like Portugal, Greece and Norway - offer visas for digital nomads.

Portugal in particular offers a low cost of living, great climate and a solar eclipse on August 12th 2026. The Azores and Madeira are also part of Portugal and deserve a visit.

Or maybe check out the Netherlands. It's probably one of the best countries to live in.


Edit to add: Oh, some countries - like Italy - make it easy for descendants of emigrants to become citizens. So if you can prove that one of your grandparents came from Italy, then you've got a ticket to a European passport.

Just to add another country: by my information New Zealand has been busy marketing itself as sane progressive alternativer lately for Americans willing to emigrate.

They've been even running a campaign to get the attention of Americans.

Issue is if probably not looking for a job more rich Americans tend to go there. It's also not a cheap place to live either.

https://www.nytimes.com/2024/06/07/world/australia/new-zealand-american-emigrants.html

Thanks so much guys. I really do appreciate the thoughts, but the object of the game here is to stay as close to the grandchildren (4 of them now!) as possible. So Canada would be the best, then Mexico, then Costa Rica or Panama. Even those last two are a long trip, but the kids regularly make the trip to Hawaii, so it isn't unimaginable.

If it was just me, yeah, Portugal, Greece, or New Zealand would be very appealing. Norway, maybe a bit less, just because I have experienced Finland in February and I have to believe it would be a similar experience.

 

[Free]

https://x.com/ACLU/status/1856498913793974547

No worries, the Republicans will keep at it.

 

[Cindy Claveau]

 

[Innula Zenovka]

The British commentator David Allen Green suggests things may (stress "may") not be as bad as they look.

New stories for old – making sense of a political-constitutional rupture

14th November 2024 * LAUNCELOT: I will send help as soon as I have accomplished a daring and heroic rescue in my own particular… CONCORDE: Idiom, sir? LAUNCELOT: …idiom! – Monty Python …

davidallengreen.com

In 2019 in the United Kingdom, of course, the gods punished Boris Johnson by granting him what he wanted – a huge majority and a general election mandate. The “big dog” caught the car.

And soon Johnson was gone, not only from Downing Street but also from Parliament.

What happened in 2016 [Brexit] had created an opportunity for the populists – and 2019 was when that opportunity was flunked.

*

Could 2024 be the 2019 of the United States?

In the United States, Trump and the Trumpites are generally oppositional – grievance-mongers and complainers about the Washington elite and so on.

It is not a mindset that adapts well to actual government.

 

[Noodles]

Bad pics of Trump aside, what feels really telling here and in almoat every Putin/Trump shot isnthat Putin's eyes look actually happy. Like he knows he has won this schmuck and owns him. He also has that slight "smirk but trying to keep a straight face."

He doesn't look angry, or stern, or like he is fake happy for the photo op.

 

[Free]

I would fully support the appointment of George Santos to head a newly created Department of Propaganda. Who's with me?!

 

[Noodles]

I would fully support the appointment of George Santos to head a newly created Department of Propaganda. Who's with me?!

Minister of Truthyness

 

[Innula Zenovka]

Gwyneth Paltrow to run the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases.

 

[GoblinCampFollower]

You know it's bad when the WSJ Editorial Board blasts a Trump decision:

https://www.wsj.com/opinion/matt-gaetz-attorney-general-nominee-donald-trump-b07d3a4f

 

[Khamon]

The courts and economy are lost. We know that already. Healthcare, Social Security, and various welfare programs may be damaged, or eliminated, but the people will restore those if we retain our Democracy. My concerns are control of the media and the military. Media is a crazy free for all, and that's a good thing, until it is crushed and reduced to a national broadcast channel. The military can make the Reich our reality.

 

[Cristiano]

Gwyneth Paltrow to run the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases.

I would rather have her than RFK.

 

[Veritable Quandry]

Despite all of his bluster, the media were carrying water for Trump all through the election cycle. Remember all the coverage of Biden is Old? Remember all the coverage of Trump is Old? The many articles that repeated "Harris has no plan" despite her releasing multiple policy statements while Trump had a "concept of a plan"? Attacking Harris' speaking without showing Trump's many tangents that swerved into nonsense?

The media was already lost. Let them survive their victory. Best of luck to them.

 

[Noodles]

I would rather have her than RFK.

You get a brain worm, and you get a brain worm, and you get a brain worm!

(Pretend this is edited to have RFK's head overlayed on Oprah)

 

[Cindy Claveau]

About half or more of Americans never vote. This is how you kill your democracy.

 

[WolfEyes]

Social Security

I just retired this past September. They can have my SS and SSI when they pry it from my cold, dead fingers.

 

[Noodles]

I just retired this past September. They can have my SS and SSI when they pry it from my cold, dead fingers.

Well, they can help push that along by repealing Medicare and the ACA.

 

[Free]

Getting caught up in Trump's necessary display of dominance. Poor Leon.

Trump Completely Humiliates Elon Musk in Front of House Republicans

Elon Musk joined Trump on Capitol Hill for a meeting with Republicans—and the president-elect used the opportunity to ridicule the richest man in the world.

newrepublic.com

Donald Trump is wasting no time making a punch line out of some of his key allies, including Elon Musk.

During his first meeting with Republican lawmakers on the Hill as president-elect, Trump asserted his power over Musk, mocking the tech billionaire for sticking around for so long.

“Elon won’t go home. I can’t get rid of him,” Trump said Wednesday. “Until I don’t like him.”

MSNBC’s Lawrence O’Donnell argued that Trump’s comments about Musk were an assertion of his dominance, played before a room that has to play along.

“Everyone laughed,” said O’Donnell. “They laughed that uncomfortable laugh. But they laugh when Donald Trump makes a joke about someone on his team, a joke that everyone knows is true, a joke that paints that person as pathetic, as Donald Trump’s personal sense of superiority demands that he do.”