Les jeux sont faits, rien ne va plus
All’s well that ends. Period. I’ve got sick of this planetary tumult and whining about what could happen, what would happen, what’s going to happen to poor us, non-Americans, if Trump wins. The Fates have decided.
In the last 48 hours, or maybe 72, I’ve got an assiduous bombardment with “news” reports, analysis, articles, and just about any possible word vomit from all the news outlets, including the idiotic Euronews app that notified me about 200 times that “there are elections in America, and this, and that, and what if, and here’s how, and oh-my-god-we’re-soon-going-to-die!” Fucking retards. Also, everyone and their mother (not counting the dog) has sent correspondents to Washington, DC, to witness the end of the world. WTF? We’re in a globalized world, with satellites, Internet, gazillions of news sources! Who the fuck needed every single news TV channel on planet Earth to go there to do… what, exactly?! 121M Americans are using TikTok: here’s a momentous source of genuine shit, if you, a mainstream overseas journalist, don’t trust any mainstream American counterpart. As for myself, I decided to skip watching the live TV channels that broadcast on YouTube—as I said, too much is too much.
American Presidential elections are a scam, anyway. They’re designed in and for those times when electors were supposed to reach Washington, DC, by stagecoach, while being in danger of being attacked by those Redskins that they failed to exterminate. No way to just count a total of votes, nationwide. (No women and no Negros, as they weren’t truly “we, the people.”) Also, voting cannot be done on Saturdays and Sundays, because a nation of farmers has to accommodate the various specific tasks of such people, so the Tuesday after the first Monday in November is the most propitious day.
This is why in 2016, after having had 2.9M votes more than Trump, Hillary Clinton lost because of the bloody electors: only 227 vs. 304. Democracy, right?
Also, when in 48 of the 50 states (Maine and Nebraska partially split electors, but not truly proportionally to the votes) the electors are allocated by the “winner-takes-all” principle, so that it doesn’t matter if one candidate got 50.1% or 99% of the votes, the elections are practically decided by the so-called “swing states”—those were the voters are so split, that you never know which candidate will get the majority this time. The swing states are changing with time, but traditionally the list included: Florida, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Michigan, Wisconsin, Iowa, Nevada, North Carolina, New Hampshire, sometimes also Colorado and Virginia. However, Arizona and Georgia are now the kinkiest swingers, and other states are safer bets. So this year, the swing states were: Arizona, Georgia, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Michigan, Wisconsin, and Nevada. Or something like that. Fucking stupid, America.
I fail to understand how people can be so distinctly Red or Blue, elephants or jackasses, when both parties have proposed only garbage candidates in the last five elections. Obama was a non-persona, yet he got elected twice. Hillary was a catastrophic choice. Biden is too old. Kamala Harris was one of the worst possible choices, except for Trump, who became the oldest US President in history and the most senile after Biden.
OK, he’s not senile, but he’s also not the same person as in 2016. He’s now spreading much more disinformation than before. He’s much more disconnected from reality. He brags like a sixth-grader who’s proud of his erection, the biggest of all. He sees huge crowds where there are none. He doesn’t answer the questions, ranting randomly about his pet peeves. He’s the most boorish person I’ve ever seen, declaring his opponent to have a low IQ. Factually, Donald Trump is the most incompetent, the least intelligent, and the least educated president in the history of the United States! The greatest negotiator of the planet has almost zero abilities to negotiate. His business expertise mostly consists in the ability to have bankrupted six of his companies: Trump Taj Mahal in Atlantic City (1991); Trump Plaza Hotel in Atlantic City (1992); Trump Castle Hotel & Casino aka Trump Marina in Atlantic City (1992); Plaza Hotel in New York (1992); Trump Hotels and Casino Resorts (2004); Trump Entertainment Resorts (2009). When you learn that Donald Trump has received, over his lifetime, around $413 million (adjusted for inflation) from his father’s real estate empire, you cannot help but think that you shouldn’t let such a guy manage not even a laundromat.
But people had hopes from this guy in 2016, myself included. Being a maverick, practically not a politician, and even less of a diplomat, he was the only US President to have said out loud truths in the line, “But the Emperor has no clothes!” Unfortunately, his acuity was limited by his mediocre education and poor understanding of the world’s phenomena. Furthermore, his eagerness wasn’t enough to move things forward, even when it wasn’t about stupid fixations.
Remember the “red tape initiative” of December 2017? “In 1960, there were approximately 20,000 pages in the code of federal regulations. Today there are over 180,000 pages. We’re getting back below the 1960 level, and we’ll be there fairly quickly.” So he put out an executive order requiring that two regulations be eliminated for every one regulation that is issued. Later, he declared, “I am proud to announce that we beat our goal by a lot. Instead of eliminating two old regulations, for every one new regulation, we have eliminated 22.” That’s a blatant impossibility, but the worst is not in his monumental exaggerations. The problem is that some crucial, long-awaited regulations were ditched, in the detriment of public safety. Public Citizen, a consumer advocacy group, stated: “I don’t think any Americans are nostalgic for burning rivers, haze you can’t see through, exploding cars and cars with no seat belts. But apparently President Trump is.”
In my opinion, not the Federal regulations are America’s problem, but its 50 sets of different rules, even if sometimes they state almost the exact same thing in different terms. Sometimes they differ not by much. In either case, you need different lawyers and different accountants from state to state. The retarded Americans cannot agree on a common set of rules, values, and legislative and regulatory framework. Why are they part of a Union, then? For instance, just like in Germany, the Federal Government and the Congress of the United States cannot dictate on matters of education—it’s each state’s prerogative. But this is beyond dumb: if anyone wants to be professionally competitive in a country, a unified curriculum and educational standards should exist, otherwise people from some states would be disadvantaged.
A stupidly understood federalism is the reason the Congress will never be able to adopt an act on human reproductive rights, to use a euphemism for abortion rights. That bunch of brainwashed Americans would insist that each state should decide on the matter. As if the moral rules were different once you drive a couple of hours while still being in the same country. As if each state had its own interpretation of the Ten Commandments. Or maybe the rules of physics, chemistry, and biology are not consistent across the United States. Again, what does “United” stand for? (Just now, voters in Arizona chose to enshrine abortion rights in the state’s constitution, and Missouri voters approved a constitutional amendment expanding abortion access, but voters in Florida, Nebraska and South Dakota rejected proposed amendments that would have done the same, so better use a good condom there. I really don’t know why there aren’t 50 independent countries instead of a fake union!)
The US constitutional system is less perfect than those 330 million brainwashed, illiterate nincompoops believe it to be. When the federal laws prohibit and criminalize marijuana, but a number of states adopt legislation to the contrary, there are two issues. One is that such states are enclaves, and no business with a presence in any other state can deal with marijuana. Even so, I suspect that they could only use local banks, and even such banks should observe some federal regulations. Two, that the federal government should act to enforce the federal laws, but this is one of the cases when it chose not to. I’m sorry, but this is not the “Rule of Law,” but randomness! And this weakens even more the authority of federal institutions.
For now, there are two problems that I see with the second Trump administration. One is Elon Musk, and the other one is Robert F. Kennedy Jr.
Elon Musk is the most retarded genius of the last 50 years. He used to have some good or great ideas in the past, and he’s certainly a good businessman (ruthless, sure, but Steve Jobs was also a huge asshole). Over time, he started to believe he understands more than he does (almost like Trump!), and so he sank a lot of money into the Hyperloop, for instance. He believes he understands what free speech means (he doesn’t) or how society works (he also doesn’t have a clue, being a heartless individual).
This individual must certainly recognize Trump as having half of his IQ (but roughly the same EQ), but he’s a huge supporter of him for a very simple reason: he needs federal funding for his SpaceX thing, and he needs some deregulation for his other businesses, such as Tesla.
And yet, this Dennis the Menace might be put in charge with the crazy plan of cutting $2 trillion from the federal budget under a Department of Government Efficiency (or Doge, like the Dogecoin)! “We have to reduce spending to live within our means. And, you know, that necessarily involves some temporary hardship, but it will ensure long-term prosperity.” Yeah, sure, like Ronald Reagan brought the Heavens on Earth, only worse.
This would hurt terribly. Anyway, this guy might have bigger plans, and we don’t know yet what his Muskonomics means. He might even become sort of a “shadow president” (sorry, JD, you’re not a genius!). If he were born in the US, Musk would certainly want the presidency for himself!
The funny thing is that Trump, who doesn’t believe in climate change (“When I hear these people talking about the threat of global warming … Not that the oceans gonna rise in 400 years an eighth of an inch. And you’ll have more seafront property, right? If that happened. I said, isn’t that a good thing? If I have a bit more property, I have a little bit more ocean.”) and who used to oppose EVs, is now pro-Tesla (“I’m for electric cars. I have to be, because Elon endorsed me very strongly. So I have no choice.”).
Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is, and this is not related to the brain-eating worm episode, a semi-retarded individual. He’s a notorious vaccine skeptic and a conspiracy theorist, which makes him the perfect choice for a a leadership role at the FDA, CDC or the Department of Health and Human Services. Trump promised he’ll be allowed to “go wild on health.” His three enemies: fluoridated water, vaccines and the Affordable Care Act (Obamacare).
As usual, Trump failed to understand that the federal administration has no authority over some of the issues on RFK Jr.’s agenda. Well, that’s Trump to you.
I’d like to express an opinion on fluoridate water. Even if at the current dosages (in the states and cities where the water is fluoridated) there seems to be no risk, I believe that cumulating it with the fluoride from the toothpaste can be dangerous. I’ve seen (in Europe) a toothpaste brand that had this warning: “Wash no more than 2 times a day.” But what if I want and need to wash my teeth three times a day? And the mouthwash is also fluoridated! And the tap water too! (Not here, but just saying.) Once there are limits regarding the safety of a certain chemical, the only way to observe them is to stop adding it everywhere! It is absolutely dictatorial to mandate shit to be added to tap water! The nanny state should care about the things that fucking matter!
An example of a similar stupidity: since 1943, by law, wheat flour must be fortified with specific nutrients in the UK. Currently, in Britain, one cannot purchase bread whose flour was not enriched with calcium carbonate, iron, and the vitamins B1 and B3, unless wholemeal wheat flour is used. How cretinous and undemocratic is that? In contrast, the French law does not allow the addition of additives to wheat flour, despite France being considered “more socialist.”
When will the US become “less socialist” by stopping the addition of fluoride to tap water? (But again, the federalism principle currently doesn’t allow the federal authorities to decide on this matter.)
As for health care, I’ll quote from a previous comment of myself. Health care in the US is an unsolvable problem. Obamacare wasn’t the right solution. No decent solution has been proposed so far.
First, the law should mandate unique fees. A health care provider shouldn’t be able to bill $1,000 to Medicare/Medicaid, $3,000 to an insurer, and $6,000 to an uninsured individual. Not only is this discrimination and a highway robbery, but it leads to second-degree discrimination: some people pay the bills, whereas others declare personal bankruptcy and are ordered by a judge to pay $50/mo for the rest of their lives. This is unfair to those who struggle to pay the entire bill. (A similar situation: college debts that are wiped out vs. those that are paid.) The huge bills the uninsured are facing are sort of a lottery: the hospital expects many to be unable to pay, but it also hopes that some would pay, which means some pay for others, too!
Secondly, health care insurances cannot work well unless they’re mandatory, especially when preconditions should be ignored. Civil liability insurance for cars, even if mandatory, must take into account the risks coming from the driver. All kinds of optional insurance also take various specific risks into account. If health care coverage is optional but uniform across the preexisting medical conditions, only very sick people and those with chronic diseases would opt in. This cannot work. Human life is not a car or a house. Health care insurance is, at least in Europe, solidarity-based, not risk-based. But this can only work if it’s mandatory. Even better coverage should be available for those wanting to pay more, but basic coverage should be mandatory. The healthier people should contribute with their premiums towards the bills of the sicker ones.
This is purely arithmetic. But I’m pretty sure that RFK Jr. doesn’t have this in mind—should anything be left there.
People have complained about Trump’s propensity toward authoritarianism ever since 2016. To me, the fact that the constitutional checks and balances might not be comprehensive enough is not the major issue in the US.
The major issue to me is that the US is, to the extent of my knowledge, the only democracy (if this is what it is) where a president or a prime minister gets to establish the composition of the cabinet as they wish. (Trump won’t get any opposition from the Senate, especially not this time.) In any other country, the government reflects the parliamentarian majority. Only in the US, you vote for a person, and what you get is an entire government, regardless of the composition of the House of Representatives. Wow, atta democracy!
So, while the US President can’t decide, not even through Executive Orders, on trivial matters such as education and water fluoridation, he otherwise possesses tremendous powers. And I didn’t even mention the various three-letter agencies.
But this is a problem for the Americans and Americans only.
Speaking of Americans, they seem to have a mystical relationship with their Constitution. They regard the first ten Amendments as if they were the Ten Commandments, meaning they can’t be changed. They’re from God. Oh, there is a constitutional way to add and repeal Amendments. The 18th Amendment prohibited alcohol. The 21st Amendment repealed the 18th Amendment, but the Mafia created by the insanely absurd Prohibition couldn’t be annihilated.
But they claim to venerate their Constitution, because they’re taught in school that it’s the best constitution under the sun. And the USA is the best country in the world. This explains why everyone is sending their rapists in the US—not only to eat cats and dogs, but surely because it’s the nec plus ultra, the best of the best. Mutatis mutandis, people in the DPRK are told the very same thing—that it can’t be any better anywhere else on Earth.
And yet, in the 1950s and 1960s, in the Klan’s heydays, who were the first to shit on the Constitution? The local sheriffs! The law enforcement itself! Anyway, it must have been the greatest Constitution on Earth as long as it required several Amendments to clarify that the people concerned by all those equal rights included the colored ones and women too. That “separate but equal” was the supreme bullshit of a doctrine. But without the Civil Rights Act of 1964, the worshipers of the greatest Constitution on Earth were still unable to interpret what it says.
The 2nd Amendment is the one that divides an entire country. You can’t find anywhere on Earth a mass of people so polarized. It’s like the Shia vs. the Sunni, in a way.
Who the fuck cares what the Founding Fathers might have wanted 235 years ago? Democracy means that what should matter is what today’s people want! Why don’t they decide what they want now regarding the right to bear arms?
Because they’re too stupid, that’s why. You don’t challenge God. You don’t challenge the 2nd Amendment, you low-IQ, cat-eating, Communist bastard!
Look, they couldn’t even correct its grammatical flaws! There are two errors here: “A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms shall not be infringed.” First, it should have read “well-regulated”; then, the comma after “Militia” creates an anacoluthon, a disruption in grammatical structure. Because if you remove the text between the two commas, which can be considered an optional parenthetical explanation, what you get is nonsensical: “A well regulated Militia the right of the people to keep and bear Arms shall not be infringed.” Why not this way? “A well-regulated Militia being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms shall not be infringed.” Because they were stupid and still are stupid. They prefer to waste decades of thinking and millions of words of debate instead of clarifying what that nation actually wants and what that Amendment was supposed to mean.
What is a well-regulated militia? Nobody knows. The claims that people should be armed to oppose a tyrannical government are baseless. Who decides who’s a tyrant? And who should organize such a popular militia against the federal government? Should any armed crowd oppose the constitutional order, they can expect the State Police, the FBI, and the National Guard to take decisive action against them (the Army, in theory, can’t intervene). Back in the day, the 2nd Amendment was supposed to ensure that people got weapons because the government couldn’t provide them. But the “well-regulated” part is still bollocks.
To oversimplify, there are three modern interpretations of the 2nd Amendment:
- The historical context interpretation: That the 2nd Amendment established the right to bear arms for a particular purpose that made sense back in the day when there was no standing army, but not anymore. Therefore, there shouldn’t be a blanket right to the unhindered possession of weapons.
- The originalist interpretation: That even if the 2nd Amendment context is no longer applicable, since the Founding Fathers wanted to enshrine this right in the Constitution, it should be honored.
- The contemporary relevance interpretation: That the 2nd Amendment conditions are still met, and the right to bear arms is necessary, except for the wording that doesn’t seem adequate nowadays. Some regulation might be required, but only as long as the right to bear arms is not affected in itself.
Obviously, no scholar said, “But let’s ask today’s people what they really want, because we are a democracy!” For most scholars, the debate centers on interpreting the original intentions or on how to adapt a fixed constitutional right to evolving societal needs, rather than polling public opinion directly or indirectly by the means of the Congress. Have you ever seen a lawyer pleading for the simplification of the laws? They’re not suicidal!
But even if they were asked, what would the Americans say, knowing that they generally lack any judgment?
To most Americans, regulating means banning. They assume that, without the 2nd Amendment, all weapons would be forbidden, which is as absurd as it gets, and it shows their complete “head-in-the-ass” approach: they don’t know absolutely anything about the rest of the world!
Sure thing, there are countries where the right of the population to bear arms is practically denied. But in some cases they aren’t needed; think of how low the violent crime rate is in Japan. There are also countries where arms can be legally obtained rather easily, by completing a form, passing a medical exam, proving that you know how to use it, and not having a criminal record. Pretty much like you’d get a driver’s license. But the majority of the countries consider the possession of weapons as requiring a reasonable justification. Are you particularly vulnerable for being a personality, a wealthy person, or, on the contrary, for living in a risky area where the crime is rife, or the law enforcement would be slow to arrive? Even so, can you be trusted not to go on a killing spree?
Either way, let’s think of this. Would you want your aircraft’s pilot to be someone who just wanted to fly a plane, or rather someone who’s been thoroughly checked and trained? How about your doctor? Heck, even to drive, you have to pass a test! Similar to the situation in Europe, some US states impose limitations on driving for individuals convicted of violent crimes or felonies that pose a threat to public safety (at least California, Texas, Florida). Why would weapons be treated as less harmful than cars?
If anything, the US Constitution should consecrate the right to drive a motor vehicle. Bar a few major cities, in America you’re dead without a car! And yet, you don’t have the constitutional right to drive a car! But you can bear weapons, if that suits you.
I stopped trying to understand the American mindset.
This is the country where some people swear by “my home is my castle,” whereas others invent dozens of genders and non-existent pronouns. It is the country where the ultraconservatives want to ban some books, whereas the woke want to censor or modify them. Either you should stop exposing children to the gender theory, or you should ban Snow White because she was kissed by the prince without her consent.
It’s a country where people believe in chemtrails, in pedophile Democrats, and in the ability of the government to direct the hurricanes over the states that vote Red. Because this is the country where the costs of higher education, health care, and housing have increased in the last 40 years much more than the wages (not counting the CEOs, that is). So many people just skip college, and they’re happy to be dumb. Not that they’d be using the excellent network of public libraries to become more educated. If God wanted them to be educated, it would have said so in the Bible, right?
Back to our sheep(le). What will it mean to America to have Trump again as President?
I don’t know and I don’t care. I don’t live there.
But I should care, actually. The 1929 Great Depression and the 2008 Global Financial Crisis are only two landmarks that prove how much the world sneezes when the US gets the flu. Marx didn’t stress enough in Capital: Volume 3 the impact of the stock exchange over the economy. Nobody reads this third volume, anyway, as the first volume is the one that gets reprinted, and that recently even got a new translation, despite being the most irrelevant today. But in 1865, when the book was written, the stock exchange was still a secondary element in the capitalist system. The joint-stock banks, which were already predominant, were not that important in England. So the Left was left (sic!) with all the crap about the surplus value and shit, and virtually nothing on the maleficence of the stock exchange. Even less for the modern financial instruments.
We’ll see what gets. It’s the fault of our Western Europe that we allowed ourselves to be so dependent on the United States.
Before the invasion of Ukraine, I used to joke that, in the fight between Hitler and Stalin, the winner was Uncle Sam. That’s because the US troops kept being deployed in Western Europe even after the disbanding of the USSR and the retreat of Russian troops from Eastern Europe. Nice, eh?
We should have had a European Joint Army instead of NATO. Being chaperoned by the US is pathetic and humiliating. If that were the case, then maybe, just maybe, Putin wouldn’t have considered Ukraine’s westward shifting as a threat, and maybe we’d never have had to know how much of a Stalin can Putin be.
Also, if our greedy capitalists weren’t so keen to mimic the Americans and to adopt the Anglo-American economic dogmas, we’d now still have a strong Continental economy instead of relying on China.
We did have a strong presence in electronics and computers in the 70s and 80s, and not just in Britain, France, the Netherlands, Germany, and Italy; the entire Europe was producing everything. Nowadays, we don’t even have relevant software! There’s no European OS and no European searching engine, to start with. The global, open-source Linux has its supremo, Linus Torvalds, moved from Finland to the United States (follow the money!), and he’s even a US citizen now. Europe is a huge museum of the decrepitude of a former civilization.
So we shouldn’t blame the US for our fears, weaknesses and bleak prospects. We shouldn’t blame Russia and China, either. Let’s blame ourselves.
As for the Americans, it is what it is, and it’s happening again. It was bound to happen, folks. Wake up, you retards! Your politicians are the root cause of what’s going to happen. And that includes Brussels. Stop licking America’s ass, and stop embracing dogmas! America can’t, doesn’t want, and won’t save you. It’s gonna be fun.
Oh, yeah, Ukraine is dead, alright. Taiwan, well, when “strategic ambiguity” can’t help anymore, we’ll see. The world is a castle of cards, and the wind is blowing. As I said, we’re going to have lots of fun.
We might even die.
Very good reading again!!
“Who the fuck needed every single news TV channel on planet Earth to go there.” This has been for 2 decades already for journalism; to go to the very same hotels to be glued to the laptop all day, go to some party held in another luxury hotel at night, maybe talk to a couple of people walking outside between those two hotels and back home. If any journalist had visited a swing state just for one day and went to grocers and ride in some 3 neighborhoods a week a go, like in 2016, would have known Trump would win! Newspapers could save hundreds of millions in pointless surveys, that, when you claim one side being dumb, racist and deplorables, many simply won’t take your surveys (or lie)!
You did mention some of the main flaws of American democracy but, today I missed one, the lack of democracy within the parties. Duopoly is bad, monopoly is worse, but most of it can be mitigated when they are democratic within themselves, even China has far more democracy within the CCP than the Democratic National Committee in recent memory ever had… This year the DNC orchestrated no to allow any vote, debate and even minor alternative voices were aggressively silenced. People may be a bit dumb, but not that much to see the DNC from the dictatorship it has become.
With Musk, I don’t see much good coming from him. His hyperloop and dogecoin shows how he utilizes his enormous market power to disrupt the market to his gain… actually, he has been a genius on that market control! Tell me now that his Twitter purchase was a mistake! He completely dominates the global discourse platform! I hope his hate for Google and Amazon, at least pushes for antitrust regulation… but I doubt it since he is there too.
On Kennedy, like Trump, depends on what he actually will focus to do; if he goes reduces pharmaceuticals having almost full control of published research papers, CDC and FDA, only good things can happen; that is his public appeal! The rest, is what people are willing to put up with to address the first. No one has hope on fixing the health insurance.
You were spot on on the nanny states on fluoridating waters.
On 2nd amendment, it is pointless, I don’t even go there; the reality is what it is and with the estimated 393 million guns with civilians, what is the point? Imagine you can willingly and forcefully get back what, 40%, 50%, 60% of those, you think we will be more secured now with 170 million guns in the hands of, now, disproportionately far more criminals? What needs to change is the gun-culture not the arm possession. You are doing the right interpretation of the 2nd amendment, but also, this country was intended with the idea of personal freedom over being a policed state… if one thing that stopped the CDC from mandating lockdowns like in Europe, it was those 393m guns and even me, an anti-gun guy, recognizes and appreciated that.
Now, I want to be positive that Trump will get surrounded by different people than last time, where he chose the most hackish Bush era people but that he later detested them. He would be vengeful against the Democrat leaders, they deserve it, but if goes with his true instincts, unlike most Dems and Reps, of being anti-war, he will be already far better than Biden for the world.
As previously stated, this situation presents a chance for Europe to stand on its own and cease relying on whatever emerges from the swamp of Washington’s regime, which only serves its own interests, disregarding the well-being of American citizens, let alone Europeans or the global community.
This is also an effect of the duopoly. When a 2-party system is barely democratic (two being, as the French would say, “le minimum syndical”), it forces the public to choose the lesser evil. There’s no real choice. But the same works internally: what could a dissident do—quit and join the other party?
It’s for the third time in a row that the Republican Party wasn’t able to come with a different candidate. And it was also obvious that Biden, then Harris, were set to be candidates; no opposition allowed.
“Internal Party democracy” is a phrase that sounds weird to my ears because Nicolae Ceaușescu used to utter it. Make no mistake, there’s no such thing in China, either. Xi won’t be challenged as long as he’s alive and not senile, or at least this is what’s most probable.
But we’ll see what this second Trump administration brings us. Only time will tell.
I am not going to even dare to dispute you on Ceaușescu, but in China I do see dissidence and criticism within the CCP, of course, then, they have to get onboard or “corruption” charges appear and they disappear from the public scene. But what is that different in any company? I may suggest a different opinions to that of the CEO or Board’s, but, once a consensus is decided, you get fully onboard.
Of course, China with amazing continuous growth, it is unlikely to see Xi unchallenged, but don’t think if China’s economy turned shower, he would not be kicked out. China’s CCP, with 99.2 million members, rather than individual’s vendettas, or a particular lobbies, works more as tectonic movements within and, as earth’s tectonics, sometimes unpredictable leaders emerge…. It is really different in China!
Looking at the EU, I see the Chinese model more representative, and if not, tell all those tens of millions of Europeans that dramatically demanded change to end up with Von der Leyen again, and with even much more votes than in 2019! At least, in Europe people just don’t disappears out of the blue off the public scene, I give you that!
A company is not supposed to be democratic.
You are right, I should not have taking a corporation to raise a point on democracies; I meant how similar the leadership dynamics are.
(Sorry for the multiple grammatical mistakes in my posts… I am highly dyslexic! Not an good excuse, specially now with spell checkers, but still. AI would fix it all, but I refuse it, unless I installed it locally, I may do it one of these days…)
There is a browser add-on called LanguageTool. It works.
How you dare using a Chrome based browser! Not that Mozilla is much better, but Firefox forever!… unless Ladybird Browser takes flight soon, that is.
It’s 100% Firefox.
About Uncle Sam’s having won the war between Hitler and Stalin, two small clarifications:
1. American troops left French territory in 1967, following a request by President Charles de Gaulle. Subsequently, NATO’s headquarters were relocated from Paris to Brussels.
2. Soviet troops withdrew from Romania in 1958, following Gheorghe Gheorghiu-Dej’s successful attempt at persuading Nikita Hruschkev.
Very glad we agree on the empowerment of European economic and defense vision! It is so hard to create a truly defensive pact without doctrines of “fighting them there so we don’t need to fight here”!! Switzerland’s and Finland (1950-90s) was a great model!
Talking about autonomy, Mexico and Canada, let alone Cuba, are going to have a bad time with Trump; unlike Europe, they cannot just ignore him much. For Canada, maybe the huge influx of latin (and anglo!) migrants from its southern neighbor can propel its ailing economy!
“It’s not just us outsiders who are puzzled…”
Then what the fuck are you doing there, you tards? It must be expensive to stand on that roof…
FT: Kamala Harris and Donald Trump have together spent $3.5bn in their race for the White House, making the 2024 presidential campaign the most expensive US general election in history.
Oh, my, they’re stunned. What went wrong? Of course the reasons for Harris’ defeat were many! https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/2024-election/democratic-voters-wrestle-harris-loss-trump-went-wrong-rcna178914
Well, apparently she lost mostly Latinos, Blacks and young people.
1) For Latinos (and many more else really) Kamala just looked false… Biden’s handlers thought if they were able to pretend Biden was in charge the last 3 years, so they could make project a Kamala’s appeal too; they pathetically did not, specially when she was without the teleprompter. Marketing teams can propel a mediocre candidate, but it has to have something one can grab on; she is just miserable and phony on that arena.
2) For Black people… well when she was asked what she would change from Biden’s tenure in office, she replied ‘not a thing comes to mind’. That was it! Let’s not forget when Kamala was really campaigning in 2020 she did not appeal to 5% of Democrats.
3) Many Young people are very sensitized by Twitter images of Gazans. For them, simply, there is no choice. (By the way, you think Musk would have the platform publish most of Gazan’s horrors if it was the other way around… I bet he would even suggest Trump to switch off internet on Gaza before spring.)
For young people also were very turned off at the way the DNC placed her on the top ticket without any exposure to debate; to the young voters, eager to participate in the democratic system, their democratic experience was “Brussels sprouts” or “liver”?
PS: Oh better the irony that many felons cannot vote but can become the President, I like better the irony Trump was barred from owning a gun, but now he will have the Nuclear Football exclusively at his disposal. Yet, why I find him less likely of resorting to it than Kamala? Not to mention, he will be far, far more scrutinized by those around him!
The media continues to behave as if the apocalypse were imminent. Lift the toilet seat up, and you’ll hear the same crap. Oh, look what just happened! Satan won! How was it possible? We were the good guys, the best choice for America! (Kamala, pretend you’re having an economic program.) We admired ourselves so much in the mirror and mocked Trump so much, so how could that guy win? What do you mean we lost? We are democracy itself! (Hint: look at the name of our party.)
And then there come the jokers, like the Australian ambassador, who quickly deleted his tweets in which he mocked Trump. “I don’t think like that anymore; I look forward to working with him.” (This one should hold hands with Vance. JD too once compared Donald to Adolf.)
On the “right” side, Giorgia Meloni persisted that Italy and the US are “Nazioni sorelle” and also posted a picture of herself with Elon.
Zelensky? I don’t know who he’s been talking to when he said he had a great chat with Trump. Maybe he talked to ChatGPT.
I’m curious what lame duck Joe is going to do before he hands over the baton. Blinken will probably worry seriously a couple more times about the Middle East, and Ukraine will be promised accelerated output from a constipated America.
In anticipation of a wave of tariffs from the States, Scholz has decided to sink Germany preemptively, in advance, so he pulled the rug out from under Lindner’s ass, as he wasn’t giving him enough money. It’s not clear what this money would have been used for, but in the spring, Olaf will get the Kamala treatment. Imbecility knows no bounds.
Blacks, Latinos, and other ordinary low-income people failed to be seduced by Kamala’s sham of an economic program. Bernie Sanders couldn’t have been more pathetic.
Not that Trump offered anything sound. Especially if import tariffs are generalized, inflation will only soar. And we know that Donald lacks empathy. But Kamala thought it’s enough to come with a big smile and uncontained confidence but zero substance and win. Well, not this time, colored girl.
Trump will have the excuse that, by January 20, the ethnic cleansing in Gaza will have succeeded. Even if he reproves Bibi, it will be too late. Of course, the West Bank, Lebanon, Iran, the problems are still there, but the Dems have lost face forever.
Nobody cares about “they eat cats and dogs”; it’s not blatant lies like this one that made Trump win or, actually, that made Harris lose.
Obviously, in America, the end justifies the means, and Trump never cared about the truthfulness of his sayings. Like in courts, when an attorney knowingly utters crap only to have the judge dictate to the jury to disregard what they just heard; but one cannot unhear or unsee. Even if rationally one knows something to be untrue, the effects cannot be completely reversed. The bias remains. And Trump has successfully exploited this phenomenon since 2015.
Kamala was a poor VP choice back in 2020, so how was she expected to win now, especially after such a short campaign after giddy Joe eventually found the exit door?
It’s their righteous condescendence that made the Dems lose, not the credibility of Trump’s program.
Anecdotal story involving a street cleaner. To him, Obamacare was a bad solution, and Biden failed to address its shortcomings. Trump may kill it completely, but maybe something will be fixed eventually. Because, even if part of the medical costs would be covered by the insurance, the ambulance bill might not, and the street cleaner said he cannot afford to pay $1,000 for an ambulance! It happens that I know a case in 1995, when someone in Reno, Nevada, was billed $600 for an ambulance. So it must be much more expensive now.
Apparently, if transportation by ambulance is required, Medicaid might cover it, but the absolute necessity needs to be proven or prior authorization obtained (Medicare Part B might also cover up to 80%, after the annual deductible is met). But when 911 is called and an ambulance arrives but transportation to a hospital or medical facility is not necessary, coverage can be tricky. I can’t tell what private insurance might cover, but Medicare would definitely not cover it if the ambulance arrives, provides medical assistance, but does not transport you. With Medicaid, it varies by state, but that street cleaner seems to have had a point: health care in America is beyond dreadful.
The part about “a convict can’t vote, but they can be elected President” is surrealism à l’américaine.
I just asked ChatGPT: “In most countries (definitely in Europe), jailed people can vote; there are arrangements for that. Not so in the US. How was this not challenged in courts?” Surprisingly, I was given quite a few good pointers.
1. The U.S. Constitution doesn’t explicitly grant an automatic right to vote for all citizens; rather, it protects against discriminatory restrictions (e.g., based on race, gender, age). Go figure: your right to bear arms is guaranteed, but not the right to vote! (Also, the pursuit of happiness seems crucial.)
2. A major legal basis for disenfranchisement is the Fourteenth Amendment, which implies that states can deny voting rights “for participation in rebellion, or other crime.” Courts have upheld that states have authority to decide whether people convicted of certain crimes should lose their voting rights, including while incarcerated. (In Europe, such disenfranchisement or any temporary loss of a civil right must be part of a sentence; in the States, if you’re in jail*, that’s usually enough.)
*Note that one doesn’t need to have been sentenced to be unable to vote. They might be in pre-trial detention, when the presumption of innocence still applies, yet they are disenfranchised. And they call the US a democracy?!
3. U.S. federalism allows each state to set its own rules regarding voting. (What a surprise!) Some states allow incarcerated people to vote (like Maine and Vermont, yay!), while others bar not only those in prison but also some who are on parole or probation. Because voting laws are state-driven, challenges have been upheld on the basis of states’ rights.
4. There have been attempts to challenge felon disenfranchisement laws on the basis of the Equal Protection Clause. However, the SCOTUS has upheld these laws as constitutional, in part due to the Fourteenth Amendment language. See Richardson v. Ramirez (1974).
5. International human rights bodies and the European Court of Human Rights advocate for the right of incarcerated individuals to vote, viewing it as fundamental to democratic participation. The U.S., however, has resisted, arguing that its domestic laws take precedence over international treaties.
It’s a good thing, then, to have a felon President; to quote John Waters, “I don’t trust anyone who hasn’t been to jail once.”
Good posting!
As a reference, just staying a night in a hospital for “observation”, no treatment or anything else, just staying is $3000/night. We had a premature kid and out bill was north of $20000.
The incarcerated population of US is at any giving time some 2 million; Forget about lesser states like Vermont or Alaska, those 2 million votes would have make them more powerful than voters from states like West Virginia, Kansas, New Mexico or Hawaii! It will never be allowed! Of course, the big problem is not so much their vote right, it is the 2 million incarcerated!
Isn’t America great?
OTOH, I’m bugged by people who think that EVERYTHING is Biden’s fault. The inflation isn’t entirely the government’s or the Congress’ fault! This is not the Soviet Union!
“A fajita used to cost $2.99 during Trump’s Administration, and now it’s $8.99 or $9.99.” Well, this isn’t a Socialist economy!
During Trump 1.0: when something went wrong, it was just God’s will.
During Biden: when something went wrong, it’s Biden’s fault, being it about prices, weather, or whatever else.
Some people should grow up. Americans, esp. Republicans, generally want LESS interference from the Federal Government. But when the Dems are at the helm, they’re like, why didn’t you DO something?
Oregon ambulance struck cyclist, then billed him $1,800 for ride to hospital.
Lógica negativa.
When people do sense they are far worse off than their parents ever did, economically and socially, and Kamala replied to what would you have changed from Biden’s administration with a ‘Nothing comes to mind’ that did it, even for a bulk of her own supporters.
One thing I have noticed in the 2020s from 2010s is that people are far more tolerant to flaws like messy personal lives, egos, narcissism, unable to communicate effectively, even some corruption… but not with plain corporate/elitist BS. People demand to being heard for once. Of course, once in the presidency, Trump will care as much as Kamala does today, but at least he did express to the masses “I hear you!” Although few had been fooled he would change their lives for the better.
Now, the evidence confirms that he is appointing exactly the people that won’t solve any of the problems, but for sure, at least, there will put a show for everyone. With Kamala there would have been just quite demise and probably a reintroduction of drafts while the social movements like anti-wars, anti-monopolies, pro-single-pay healthcare, the unions and even the European leaders would have been all silent again in other not to disturb the Democrat US presidency. Trump promised Americans at least a show, and he will deliver! Meanwhile, the social movements (and Europe) should use this time for working in something transformational and independent of leaderships of Trump’s or Kamala’s. The Democrat party is beyond help now, any change it may be seen it will go through would just be a mirage and people should not fall for it.
It’s not necessarily that they worship the 2nd amendment, but a huge part of the population are simply unhinged gun nuts. They don’t give a shit about constitutional law or law in general, they just want to be able to shoot and kill people without consequence and that’s why they have fetishized guns. For them, law is something that’s better in ever decreasing amounts. Some of those nuts actually dream of widespread social unrest, just so that there will be an opportunity for them to shoot at groups of people they don’t like. As much as they despise the left, I’d say these are some pretty anarchic tendencies.
I didn’t know that Americans can be that much of a snowflake! Spiked: No, you don’t have ‘post-election depression’ – When did the liberal left become so dominated by overgrown children?
Plenty of links in the original article.
Don’t Cry, Cryo! 😂 Need a Break from Trump’s Term? Freeze Yourself for 4 Years!
Chris Cuomo: “Focus less on who is woke and more on who is broke.”
I said I’ll stop watching shit on this topic, including The Daily Show, but the providence (not that in RI) made me watch this segment (at about the 8th minute) within this video where Jon Stewart says, “There’s one theory that a lot of people seem to be coalescing around.” The clips he used to illustrate that theory were of people saying such things: