Election Thread 2024

[Hydra009]

USAID was soft power, but Trump only cares about hard power, such as the US military.

US soft power is incredibly important.  Especially its economic power and its network of alliances -  the soft power of the West is vital for the maintenance of a rules-based international order and the US is the West's lynchpin.  If I were some sort of foreign puppet deliberately trying to weaken America and its associated rules-based international order, that's what I'd go after first.  Hypothetically.

[Unbeliever]

What's the difference between Greenland and Donald Trump?


Greenland is not for sale.

[Hydra009]

It's real.  I wanted it to be satire but here we are.  Complete with God replaced by Trump.  The jokes write themselves, but it's a lot less funny with people suffering under his misrule.

[Blackleaf]

Are we still pretending Trump is a Christian man, Republicans?

Edit: What did I say about us living in an Onion article? Life is a satire of itself now. Somebody take me out. This is too stupid.

[Unbeliever]

It's real.  I wanted it to be satire but here we are.  Complete with God replaced by Trump.  The jokes write themselves, but it's a lot less funny with people suffering under his misrule.

Is that a golden calf in your pocket, or are you glad to see me? 🤣

[Blackleaf]

I feel like we're going to be saying this a lot in the coming 4+ years, so to save time, we should condense it into an acronym.

RYAT

Remember, you asked for this.

[Dark Lightning]

I never asked for this, any of the three times.

[Hydra009]

USAID was investigating Starlink incidents in Ukraine and Musk tries to shut it down

USDA inspector general who was investigating Neuralink got purged (Neuralink was investigated in 2022 for animal testing concerns and the investigation was still ongoing)

Musk partners with Visa to inroduce X-brand credit card
Musk moves against Consumer Financial Protection Bureau

"We'd be back to the wild, wild west for financial services that affect families all over the country in terms of what their terms would be on their credit cards, on their mortgages, and other products. There would be no oversight of that," Richard Cordray, who first led the CFBP when it was established in 2011 after the Great Recession to help prevent another financial crisis

[Gawdzilla Sama]

The inmates have the keys.

You'll hear this again, I suspect.

[SGOS]

I can't remember any presidents or staff that were marketing their own products while in office. I've recently been getting ads for Trump Whiskey glasses. And then there are the Bibles, Trump model trains in HO scale, and occasional T shirts, hats, and watches. I guess it's OK, but it's degrading to the office when the president becomes a pitch man for gimmicks. What comes next? A shopping channel for Trump/Musk products?

[Dark Lightning]

Get you flaming gold Tesla with the chump's stolen coat of arms on the roof! Step right up! Only 100 chump bit coin per ticket!
I see where Felon Musk's car sales are dropping. Funny, all the blue-leaning people buying them "to save the planet" don't like him enough to pass on one of those things. Quelle surprise.

[Unbeliever]

It seems that our Fearless Leader is going to completely ignore anything the courts have to say.

[Hydra009]

Judge orders HHS, CDC, FDA to restore information deleted by Trump regime

Trump says it's about getting rid of "gender ideology" (whatever that means, ask Musk's daughter) but like almost everything he says, that's not really accurate:

The pages that are now set to be revived include information for patients about HIV testing and HIV prevention medication, guidance on contraceptives, datasets that show vulnerability to natural disasters and emergencies, and an action plan for improving enrollment of underrepresented populations in clinical trials.

This is relevant information that is definitely within the public's interest.  Literally lifesaving.  The judge is correct to restore it and Trump's infantile boundary-testing behavior (among other, much less savory behaviors) is unsuitable for an adult, let alone a POTUS.

In the wake of these middling attempts by the judiciary to reign in a chaotic, reckless, and deeply unwell executive branch, Vance once again floated the idea that the Presidency shouldn't abide by the judiciary.  Checks and balances, what's that?  For the time being, it looks like Vance isn't getting his way...yet.  But it's concerning enough for John Roberts to be alarmed:

Roberts added that "violence, intimidation and defiance directed at judges because of their work undermine our Republic, and are wholly unacceptable."

What are the odds that a guy who led a mob of violent insurrectionists would direct violence against judges who defy him?  Something that Americans should've asked themselves before election day, so they wouldn't have to ask it after.

[Hydra009]

Republican ghoul plans on "investigating" JFK assassination a mere 61 years later (they'll get around to climate change any day now) and naturally, plans on talking to the Warren Commission, who are all dead now because of how time works



Only the best people are in charge.

You know it really galls me that these people say they're against DEI because they're into merit-based promotions.  If that were actually true, none of y'all would be anywhere near political office!

Why this topic and why now?  Apparently the brainworm guy is a really into it and if our masters are into something, it jumps up to high priority, as we have already seen with the Gulf of Mexico.  Grocery prices?  Nah, too difficult.  Housing crisis?  Boring!  Healthcare crisis?  Unexpectedly complicated.  Some 60-year-old conspiracy theory?  Urgent!

[Unbeliever]

"Trump is kind of like the movie Snakes on a Plane. Sure the idea is entertaining. But an actual snake on your plane would be terrifying. And that's what's happening now. The plane is American democracy. And the snake is Trump."
Seth Meyers