Can We Now Consider America To Be An Enemy of Western Political Thought ?

[Tommy Chong]

I'm 100% preparing for a recession. And here's why

The lunacy of tariffs are one thing. Taking away safety nets for large swaths of people are another. And ultimately chaos in the market is the death knell.

There are many reasons, but one could argue the most important reason the US economy/markets are what they have been historically is because of stability. Stay the course, don't do anything rash, your money is safe here, etc, etc, etc.

Trump blows all that up. Investors with big pockets have no idea what he's going to do from one day to the next. We all saw this coming, but The Wall Street Bros that are acting shocked about what he's doing is because they really did believe through it all that Trump wasn't 1) this stupid and 2) this much of a vengeful egomaniac. Because successful people on Wall Street are typically not the first, and to the second point, they don't want vengeance unless it directly positively enhances their accounts. Trump apparently doesn't care about that.

Trump could take away all the tariffs tomorrow, but now that the big money has awoken to the lunacy of the Mad King, I think they are going to be more cautious with him in charge. Then you start to add up what he's doing to unemployment by slashing government jobs indiscriminately, taking away safety nets for people, etc, etc, I don't see how anyone can think this isn't going to cause a recession

Agreed mate...

Remember this chart:

I wanted to know how he got the numbers for the 'Tariffs charged to the USA' column, as they made no sense to me.

So I did some research, only to find out that I wasn't the only one confused. Eventually someone cracked it.
The formula they used is: (Exports - Imports)/Imports... That makes absolutely no f'ing sense!

Add to that:

US defends tariffs on remote island of penguins and seals

A group of islands, occupied only by penguins and seals, has been swept up in Trump's trade war.

www.bbc.com

An island with thousands of penguins on it, and almost no human population...
If you told me 10 years ago that in a decade, Trump would be president and that he'll be engaging in an international trade war with an island full of penguins, I'd laugh and say you're putting me on! Sounds more an SNL comedy skit than actual life, FFS.

God help you, mate. In fact, this affects us all, so God help us all!

 

[Pittsburgh Footy]

Agreed mate...

Remember this chart:

I wanted to know how he got the numbers for the 'Tariffs charged to the USA' column, as they made no sense to me.

So I did some research, only to find out that I wasn't the only one confused. Eventually someone cracked it.
The formula they used is: (Exports - Imports)/Imports... That makes absolutely no f'ing sense!

Add to that:

US defends tariffs on remote island of penguins and seals

A group of islands, occupied only by penguins and seals, has been swept up in Trump's trade war.

www.bbc.com

An island with thousands of penguins on it, and almost no human population...
If you told me 10 years ago that in a decade, Trump would be president and that he'll be engaging in an international trade war with an island full of penguins, I'd laugh and say you're putting me on! Sounds more an SNL comedy skit than actual life, FFS.

God help you, mate. In fact, this affects us all, so God help us all!

No doubt. This guy is doing irreparable damage not only to our economy, but to our reputation on the world stage.

And my blame for this ultimately is on the rise of right wing media that really started in the late 80s/early 90s. What we are seeing with Trump is the end result of all of that.

There's no magic fix to this, it's too ingrained in that rather large subset of people

 

[SerenityNigh]

It's ironic really, previous to him the two places american weapons were being used were Ukraine and Palestine, since he's come in he's picked a fight with everyone else, except putin and netanyahu. He's even gone so far as to provoke an island full of penguins and seals. So this arms massing correlates with his rhetoric. I'm not sure how another trillion onto national debt measures up with efficiency targets, but then, maybe space karen is branching out into further explosive fields. makes michelle mone look like small fry.

he's a bully and needs a robust military to get his way with international partners, both through threats of aggression and threats of withdrawal; the other worry is that by removing competent leaders and replacing them with loyalists he'll do turn threats directly into oppression and war

 

[SerenityNigh]

Sadly, I don't think MAGA has yet. Things will need to get really bad for his base before that happens, if ever.

The rest of us are fed up. But that really hasn't changed much

I think there's definitely a cracking in MAGA, but no doubt there's still strong support among the true believers and most devout sycophants. but the coalition of conservatives may be over, if you've lost even AEI:

 

[Tommy Chong]

No doubt. This guy is doing irreparable damage not only to our economy, but to our reputation on the world stage.

And my blame for this ultimately is on the rise of right wing media that really started in the late 80s/early 90s. What we are seeing with Trump is the end result of all of that.

There's no magic fix to this, it's too ingrained in that rather large subset of people

So, to put it mildly: We're up sh.t's creek without a paddle.

Then the only hope is that the democrat's win back the house and senate majority in the midterm elections?
That's what, two and half years to wait and hope he doesn't completely screw everything up?
And even so, what are the chances of them winning those back?!?

 

[SerenityNigh]

So, to put it mildly: We're up sh.t's creek without a paddle.

Then the only hope is that the democrat's win back the house and senate majority in the midterm elections?
That's what, two and half years to wait and hope he doesn't completely screw everything up?
And even so, what are the chances of them winning those back?!?

volatility is the norm in economics and politics; you should expect Dems to regain power in Congress, then cede gain to Trump/MAGA/hard core right wing in the future. the path forward that is hopeful is one that has no real pathway at the moment; the reemergence of bipartisanship and/or functioning centrists with actual political gamesmanship.

it's the same in the UK and Europe as well, no different than what you see in the US

 

[Pittsburgh Footy]

volatility is the norm in economics and politics; you should expect Dems to regain power in Congress, then cede gain to Trump/MAGA/hard core right wing in the future. the path forward that is hopeful is one that has no real pathway at the moment; the reemergence of bipartisanship and/or functioning centrists with actual political gamesmanship.

it's the same in the UK and Europe as well, no different than what you see in the US

Bingo

 

[NeilMorepies]

DHS ends ban on intelligence activities targeting people for sexual orientation, gender identity​

DHS ends ban on intelligence activities targeting people for sexual orientation, gender identity

The policy manual change emerged after President Donald Trump called to eliminate diversity, equity and inclusion practices at federal agencies.

www.snopes.com

 

[NeilMorepies]

Donald Trump’s disastrous tariffs policy is based on a book his son-in-law saw on Amazon​

Donald Trump's disastrous tariffs policy is based on a book his son-in-law saw on Amazon

Donald Trump's tariffs policy, which has managed to tank the global economy, is largely based on a book his son-in-law found on Amazon.

www.thelondoneconomic.com

 

[Rook]

I think there's definitely a cracking in MAGA, but no doubt there's still strong support among the true believers and most devout sycophants. but the coalition of conservatives may be over, if you've lost even AEI:

Every republician in congress got voted in on a platform of "I will support Donald Trump wholeheartedly"

They aren't changing.

 

[Tommy Chong]

Every republician in congress got voted in on a platform of "I will support Donald Trump wholeheartedly"

They aren't changing.

What scares me the most is the Democrat's blasé approach to the radical right-wing, MAGA, Trump supporters.

One phrase I've heard been thrown around by them, since the early days of the Obama administration in fact, is: 'It's just a fever, and it'll break.'
Well, it's 2025, Trump's the president, and they're well in making ground implemented 'Project 2025'.

So tell me, when exactly is this 'fever' supposed to break?

 

[Pittsburgh Footy]

What scares me the most is the Democrat's blasé approach to the radical right-wing, MAGA, Trump supporters.

One phrase I've heard been thrown around by them, since the early days of the Obama administration in fact, is: 'It's just a fever, and it'll break.'
Well, it's 2025, Trump's the president, and they're well in making ground implemented 'Project 2025'.

So tell me, when exactly is this 'fever' supposed to break?

The Democrats are in a bind for a variety of reasons.

One of them is they have no idea, still, how to combat Trump and his minions. Right wing media has so completely taken over 40-45% of the populace that Democrats still have no chance until there are breadlines. And then perhaps only maybe they'll have a chance.

Add to this the accepted view, even among Democrats, that they are out of touch smarty-pants types that can't talk to normal people and it's a recipe for disaster.

We also can't forget that there is literally nothing Democrats can "do" at this point, from a practical sense. What they need to be doing is finding the next generation of leaders that can toe that line of 1) doing something intelligently while 2) seeming like a normal person.

The last person to really do that was Bill Clinton. Obama to a degree, yes, but Clinton was the type that could truly speak to these people

 

[Rita_Poon]

increased tariffs on Chinese goods, 104%

 

[Tommy Chong]

The Democrats are in a bind for a variety of reasons.

One of them is they have no idea, still, how to combat Trump and his minions. Right wing media has so completely taken over 40-45% of the populace that Democrats still have no chance until there are breadlines. And then perhaps only maybe they'll have a chance.

Add to this the accepted view, even among Democrats, that they are out of touch smarty-pants types that can't talk to normal people and it's a recipe for disaster.

We also can't forget that there is literally nothing Democrats can "do" at this point, from a practical sense. What they need to be doing is finding the next generation of leaders that can toe that line of 1) doing something intelligently while 2) seeming like a normal person.

The last person to really do that was Bill Clinton. Obama to a degree, yes, but Clinton was the type that could truly speak to these people

Lol, the ageing liberal hippie academic cliché comes to mind...

Yes, I have heard this before, a democratic US senator (can't remember which one) was making this exact point.

He was saying how they need to more structured like the Republicans have been, and the next generation of leaders need to be more direct, have more initiate, and the WHOLE party needs to be united, and stand for something that's simple to comprehend. They need to back a candidate and get behind a message, like Trump's Make America Great Again.

 

[Gwladys St. Glory]

So, to put it mildly: We're up sh.t's creek without a paddle.

Then the only hope is that the democrat's win back the house and senate majority in the midterm elections?
That's what, two and half years to wait and hope he doesn't completely screw everything up?
And even so, what are the chances of them winning those back?!?

He's only been in office 4 months and look how badly he's f'ed it...you're really hoping on hope there.