The Trump Presidency, Season 2

[Free]

It's actually a look they're demanding...

DC plastic surgeons see more Trump insiders getting ‘Mar-a-Lago face’

One surgeon even turned patients away after they asked for “a more done look, like that Mar-a-Lago face.”

www.the-independent.com

After President Donald Trump returned to office in January, plastic surgeons across Washington, D.C., have seen a spike in patients seeking bolder, more obvious cosmetic work, to achieve what one doctor called a “Mar-a-Lago face,” according to Axios.

 

[Isabeau]

Any men asking for the orange Mar-ma-Lade look?

 

[Beebo Brink]

This guy is one of the best Trump mimics I've heard. LOL!

⁠I’m super shy in Korean 🥺🎀 We got Trump in China @trumpbyryanofficial

Enjoy the videos and music you love, upload original content, and share it all with friends, family, and the world on YouTube.

www.youtube.com

 

[Cindy Claveau]

Google Has Chosen a Side in Trump's Mass Deportation Effort

Google is hosting a Customs and Border Protection (CBP) app that uses facial recognition to identify immigrants, and tell local cops whether to contact ICE about the person, while simultaneously removing apps designed to warn local communities about the presence of ICE officials. ICE-spotting app developers tell 404 Media the decision to host CBP’s new app, and Google’s description of ICE officials as a vulnerable group in need of protection, shows that Google has made a choice on which side to support during the Trump administration’s violent mass deportation effort.

Google removed certain apps used to report sightings of ICE officials, and “then they immediately turned around and approved an app that helps the government unconstitutionally target an actual vulnerable group. That's inexcusable,” Mark, the creator of Eyes Up, an app that aims to preserve and map evidence of ICE abuses, said. 404 Media only used the creator’s first name to protect them from retaliation. Their app is currently available on the Google Play Store, but Apple removed it from the App Store.

 

[Cindy Claveau]

In the wake of this election, it occurs to me that political power is useless if you don't use it.

Chuck.

 

[detrius]

In the wake of this election, it occurs to me that political power is useless if you don't use it.

Chuck.

"I think democracy is the most revolutionary thing in the world, because if you have power, you use it to meet the needs of you and your community." - Tony Benn

 

[Katheryne Helendale]

Google Has Chosen a Side in Trump's Mass Deportation Effort

So much for "don't be evil."

 

[Lexxi]

So much for "don't be evil."

That hasn't been it's moto since October 2015. It has been actively evil since that time. *nods*

 

[Beebo Brink]

I don't think anyone has posted this yet. Very interesting comments from psychologist Dr John Gartner, an expert in malignant narcissism.

 

[Innula Zenovka]

The Economist: A historical guide to surviving and thriving in the court of Trump

Lessons from Thomas Cromwell and Niccolò Machiavelli about winning friends and influencing people in the White House

 

[Free]

Activity around the Epstein Files are starting to heat up. Need to start wagging that military dog! DEFLECT! DEFLECT!

US announces ‘Southern Spear’ mission as forces deploy near South America

US reportedly carries out 20th attack on a vessel in the Caribbean and Pacific, killing four people with 'no survivors'.

www.aljazeera.com

United States Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has formally announced the launch of a US military operation to target so-called “narco-terrorists” as Washington’s large-scale build-up of troops, warships and fighter jets continues in Latin America.

“Today, I’m announcing Operation SOUTHERN SPEAR. Led by Joint Task Force Southern Spear and @SOUTHCOM, this mission defends our Homeland, removes narco-terrorists from our Hemisphere, and secures our Homeland from the drugs that are killing our people,” Hegseth said in a post on X.

 

[Katheryne Helendale]

Activity around the Epstein Files are starting to heat up. Need to start wagging that military dog! DEFLECT! DEFLECT!

US announces ‘Southern Spear’ mission as forces deploy near South America

US reportedly carries out 20th attack on a vessel in the Caribbean and Pacific, killing four people with 'no survivors'.

www.aljazeera.com

Hundreds of millions of dollars being spent blowing up boats in international waters, but not a dime toward drug and mental health treatment in the US, which would go so much farther to curb drug addiction here. Priorities, I guess.

 

[Katheryne Helendale]

 

[CronoCloud Creeggan]

These fascist fuckers are OBSESSED with the term "Homeland". Every time I see it used in place of the proper "The United States", I'm thinking it might have sounded better for them in the original German and is yet more performative masculinity fascists like. If this Administration actually had a superhuman working for them provided by technology acquired via Operation Paperclip, they would most certainly nickname him Homelander.

 

[Free]

Trump's redistricting push hits roadblocks in Indiana and Kansas as Republican lawmakers resist

Republicans in Indiana and Kansas are resisting pressure from President Donald Trump to redraw congressional districts.

apnews.com

For most of President Donald Trump’s second term, Republicans have bent to his will. But in two Midwestern states, Trump’s plan to maintain control of the U.S. House in next year’s election by having Republicans redraw congressional districts has hit a roadblock.

Despite weeks of campaigning by the White House, Republicans in Indiana and Kansas say their party doesn’t have enough votes to pass new, more GOP-friendly maps. It’s made the two states outliers in the rush to redistrict — places where Republican-majority legislatures are unwilling or unable to heed Trump’s call and help preserve the party’s control on Capitol Hill.

Lawmakers in the two states still may be persuaded, and the White House push, which has included an Oval Office meeting for Indiana lawmakers and two trips to Indianapolis by Vice President JD Vance, is expected to continue. But for now, it’s a rare setback for the president and his efforts to maintain a compliant GOP-held Congress after the 2026 midterms.

Interesting. I wonder if they honestly don't think they have the votes necessary, or if they're starting to find enough backbone to refuse Trump's monarchical demands. Time will tell.

 

[Veritable Quandry]

The problem is if they have a blue wave, the redistricting has spread out the Republican votes. If you try to take a R+8 district and a D+3 district and redraw the lines to get two R+3 districts, then a D+7 election takes both seats instead of just 1. State officials know that.

 

[Beebo Brink]

The problem is if they have a blue wave, the redistricting has spread out the Republican votes. If you try to take a R+8 district and a D+3 district and redraw the lines to get two R+3 districts, then a D+7 election takes both seats instead of just 1. State officials know that.

Bingo! The recent Dem election wins are a warning shot of just that possibility. It wasn't just that Dems won, it's that they won by a larger margin than predicted, along with record turnouts. That high level of voter engagement means people are really riled up; when people are happy with situations, they tend to get complacent.

Reading the tea leaves isn't that difficult: people are pissed off, and the conditions that have pissed them off are not going away between now and the mid-terms. Quite the contrary, they are going to get worse. And increasingly, everyone is blaming Trump for what is happening (as they should).

 

[Dancien]

They're going to regret the redistricting here in Texas. The Trumpers were heavily counting on the same level of Hispanic support they had last election, and that doesn't exist anymore.

 

[Free]

President Trump and Marjorie Taylor Greene (MTG y'all) have apparently broken up. It's all over the social medias. Some say it'd due to MTG's recalcitrant behavior, or her recent lack of appreciation for Trump honoring her with his glory, or maybe her attachment to Jewish space laser. But mostly it's because she's voting to release the Epstein Files™ and refuses to back down (and only partly due to the other stuff).

Meanwhile, regular people are asking, what's been going on with MTG lately?

Some are even wondering: has MTG seen the light? I guess it is possible, but not quite the light we see.

 

[Katheryne Helendale]

Interesting. I wonder if they honestly don't think they have the votes necessary, or if they're starting to find enough backbone to refuse Trump's monarchical demands. Time will tell.

I'm hoping it's the latter - and, indeed, there have been signs that Trump is starting to lose his grip on the GOP - but I'm not holding my breath.