Gave me a good chuckle

Goose, bear, Trump (below Vance) - has Benny Hill audio, too :D

More fun - Trump march :D

My apologies for the spam, please delete if found inappropriate

Is Trump that simple/unprincipled?

I know a little something that so many do not appreciate about Donald, but that those of us who worked with him in the financial services game have known for many decades—LONG before he ever made a run at politics.

His stated motives rarely reveal his true agenda. His showmanship and charisma bedazzles the uninformed, which is exactly how he likes it. He never signed a contract or met an agreement he wouldn’t violate or wriggle out of if it suited his hidden agenda. He never met an investor whose purse he didn’t consider his own in some strategic way. And he never met a human being he wouldn’t screw in order to advance or satisfy himself.

If you want to understand his beef with Panama, don’t look at the canal to which he now points. Look at Trump enterprises and their fraught financial and criminal relationship with Panama, and look to the Russian oligarchs who bought condos in his Panama Tower.

If you want to understand his fixation with Gaza, don’t look at the Palestinian or Israeli people; look at the real estate value he now perceives that Gaza holds, and he’d like to unlock.

If you want to understand his insane, obsessive beef with energy renewable windmills, don’t look at the wind energy aspect; look at his beef with Scotland over his golf course and the nearby windmills that damaged his idea of its aesthetics.

If you want to understand his irrational hatred of Obama, don’t look at the policies of the Obama administration; look to the annual press corp dinner where Obama poked fun at him and bruised his ego.

If you want to understand his demonization of Democrats, look not to Democratic social policy, but to the fact they didn’t want him to run under color of their party.

If you want to understand his hatred of “immigrants” don’t look to the actual contributions and challenges related to immigration, but to his own germophobia and personal disgust for all things “dirty and brown.”

What he does SO masterfully, as many sociopaths do, is figure out how to align, however temporarily, his own personal agenda with the drives of those he can then USE to help him execute it.

And the GOP fell right in line with that abusive strategy. The GOP now looks much like a battered wife who would LOVE to quit Trump, but who also knows their financial security, personal comfort, and social status would collapse if they ran away. And they fear they won’t get much sympathy or support from the people who tried to warn them not to marry the dude—a serial, liar, cheater, thief, sadist, and a generally Bad Person.

Many of the GOP politicians today are busily masking their own abuse from the general public; at some point, however, as they watch their power continue to erode, their reputations get smashed, and themselves get blamed for the extensive abuse they now suffer, something’s gonna give.

I don’t know what it is, but every bone in my body FEELS an energetic convergence heading toward a massive, MASSIVE explosion—coming soon. — Eileen Workman · Feb 13, 2025

:D

, the point was just that there hasn't been unconditional support.
Right, the deeds of the supporters haven't been on par with their words.
And then governments change, and things go up in the air (again).

Why did the U.S. shift focus from Ukrainian elections to changing Ukraine’s Constitution?

Maybe because they finally read the Constitution of Ukraine.

Previously, the thinking was: Zelensky is bad because he refuses to sign a capitulation. So, let’s replace him with a “good” candidate — Zaluzhnyi, Poroshenko, Tymoshenko, or someone else. That would require elections.

Then it became clear that no current political figure is willing to sign a capitulation either because it goes against the Constitution of Ukraine. So, the new plan: find a candidate willing to change the Constitution.

But that scenario won’t work either. Only the parliament, which represents the Ukrainian people, can amend the Constitution — and only one-third of Ukrainians are even considering the possibility of territorial concessions.

So what’s left for the Americans to do? Increase political pressure on Ukraine — which is exactly what they’re doing.

And the russians? Step up attacks at the front, intensify airstrikes and the information war — anything to trigger collapse.

But there’s one fundamental contradiction here: Russia’s strategy is to drag things out. More attacks. Delayed negotiations. More visits by Witkoff. Trump portraits, and so on. They have time until the end of the year — and they intend to use it to either break Ukraine or seize more territory.

Meanwhile, the U.S. needs speed. The “best negotiator” and “great peacemaker” has promised to end the war in 24 hours. Now, it’s becoming clear that his capitulation plan isn’t working, and he has to come up with new excuses daily — in front of the cameras and the American people.

What’s the outlook?

Once the U.S. realizes that pressure on Ukraine isn’t working, they’ll either start pressuring Russia — or walk away and dump the problem on Europe. — Валерій Пекар via Roman Sheremeta · Mar 23, 2025

Don't know if this was posted already, but here goes anyway.

And to be honest with you, Canada only works as a state. — Trump · The White House · Mar 13, 2025

I’ve covered a lot of Donald Trump press conferences over the years. I’ve seen him lie, deflect, and embarrass himself in countless ways. But what I just witnessed in the Oval Office may have been the most off-the-rails, unhinged display yet.
Trump sat down with NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte — a serious figure there to talk about security and alliance unity — but Trump wasn’t interested in that. No, Trump used the opportunity to fantasize about annexing Canada. He actually said, “Canada only works as a state,” and gushed about how the U.S. would look on a map if we just erased the border and took Canada as our own. This wasn’t satire. This wasn’t a joke. This was the president rambling about absorbing another sovereign nation — while the NATO secretary general sat there watching this clown show unfold.
And it didn’t stop there. Trump started pushing the idea of conquering Greenland too, saying NATO might need to get involved in helping the U.S. take it over — as if it’s a game of Risk. He literally said we "need it for international security" and tried to rope NATO into his imperial fever dream. The look on Rutte’s face said it all.
Then, Trump pivoted to his usual bigotry. Instead of talking about defense cooperation or global security, Trump bragged about how he uses transgender people as political pawns to rile up his base before elections — saying Republicans should “bring it up a week before the election” to win votes. In other words, he openly admitted he sees cruelty and manufactured culture war nonsense as a campaign strategy. Despicable.
When asked about American small businesses hurting from tariffs, Trump did what he always does: lie and bluster. “You’re going to be so much richer,” he said. Meanwhile, Medicaid is being gutted, Social Security is under threat, and Trump’s billionaire cronies are cheering as the safety net burns.
Oh, and then Trump suggested we start sending drug dealers to the Netherlands — yes, you read that right — in a bizarre attempt at humor that landed more like a diplomatic insult, especially considering the NATO secretary general used to be the prime minister of the Netherlands.
He kept rambling about how the U.S. doesn’t need anything from Canada, said the European Union is “very nasty,” claimed we can’t sell cars in Europe (not true), and then told an utterly deranged story about how he “invaded Los Angeles” to turn on the water — another lie pulled from his fantasyland. What actually happened was that he diverted water from Northern California, destroying farmland and hurting his own voters in the process.
To top it off, he said our allies shouldn’t worry about Putin, brushing off any concerns about Russian aggression with a shrug.
Let me be blunt: This is not normal. This is not politics-as-usual. This is a dangerous, unstable person with authoritarian fantasies, spewing nonsense in front of our closest allies while the world watches. — White House reporter via Ben Meiselas

Doesn't seem normal to me either, but that by itself isn't as objectionable + serious + putrid as much of what he said.

The decision to support them or not, and under what conditions, is ours. The idea that we should just follow them, wherever that may lead us, is insane considering what is at stake. — ChatteringMonkey

The Ukrainians haven't been supported unconditionally. (Imagine if someone like Utkin had been at the helm in Kyiv. :gasp:) Actually, there's been so much caution that some of it amounted to tip-toeing — which is playing Putin's game; recall, the Kremlin says what they want others to hear regardless; they're not omnipotent.
The Ukrainians, the victims, have said "No"; most of the world concurred. :shrug:
As mentioned, expect responses. (Do you really want to see the Ukrainians being shιt all over (again), plus open expansion of anti-democracy?)
Putin can be deterred if the Ukrainians want to. Non-appeasement + discouragement also mean wider impact.
(Meh Why do the re-re-repetitions (have to) keep coming?)

, I was referring to washrooms alone; sure there are...challenges.

Can almost hear Putin speaking here ...

Vance: Denmark, which controls Greenland, is not doing its job and it's not being a good ally (— ONEST NETWORK · Mar 24, 2025 · 20s)


JD Vance warns Denmark 'not a good ally' & hints Trump could invade Greenland (— The Sun · Mar 24, 2025 · 2m:25s)


The Greenlanders should just repeat "Thanks, but no", and send them home, but they're more diplomatic than so.

The Thule base has been around since World War 2. Cooperation between Greenland/Denmark and the US. Extending the cooperation should be easy enough. Land grabbing is a whole other matter. Trump/Vance are lying (again).

Of course they will use what they have against us — ChatteringMonkey

The sanctions were reactionary. It's not customary to impose sanctions out of the blue. :D Getting into re-re-repetition here.

The Kremlin invaded annexed assimilated. While being bombed, Ukraine has been in the process of reforms (with results). Putin's Russia has regressed longer (press + media freedom, freedom of assembly, democracy + free fair certified elections, gone; industrialized manipulation + propaganda, implemented). Expect reactions.

, you know there are public places with only one kind of washroom, yes? Works just fine. All this crap makes the "anti-woke" appear suspicious.

Just some guys babbling

Ukraine is not even a state — Putin (2006)

There is no Ukraine — Surkov (2020)

Canada is not a real country — Musk (Feb 24, 2025)

:D Thought there was something familiar here

^{Musk got unlucky, various onlookers grabbed his post before he deleted it}

More of the same ...

Homeland Security makes cuts to offices overseeing civil rights protections
^{— Rebecca Santana · AP · Mar 21, 2025}

And Russia isn't going to attack Europe on its own, because they can't.

Non of this is real. — ChatteringMonkey

They already have...

doppelganger, matrioska, 2019, 2022, 2023, 2024, 2024, 2024, 2024, 2024, 2024, 2024, 2024, 2025, 2025, ... (plus they invaded Ukraine)

And then...

Pete Hegseth Orders US Cyber Command to Stand Down on Russia: Reports (— Brendan Cole · Newsweek · Mar 3, 2025)

Are people in the US more interested in entertainment than facts/ethics?



Can't help but think about who benefits. Foreign adversaries come to mind.

,

apparently has no particular understanding of the situation/environment.

By the way, it's not the EU in particular here, but Europe.

They have national independence, are diverse, you find all kinds of haggling and bureaucracy. There's been hesitance, for example that Germany should rise again, and Hungary is...out on the side. Just watch, someone will start yelling that von der Leyen (the EU), or whoever, is going for a power grab. Whatever.

I guess Macron tried to start cutting through all that with some success. Whatever happens, the situation/environment at hand benefits Putin's Russia, and disadvantages Europe's nations, hence the attempt to...do something.

Europe's contribution to NATO is higher than the US'. By GDP %, some individual nations are lower, some higher, and it's a legitimate enough complaint that those lower should carry more weight.

Sanders and Ocasio-Cortez drew a crowd, I guess the opposition is alive:

34,000 People. Biggest Political Rally in Denver Since 2008. (— Bernie Sanders · Mar 22, 2025 · 2m:3s)


AOC and Bernie Sanders draw thousands of people at 'Fighting Oligarchy' rally in Denver (— Sudiksha Kochi · USA TODAY · Mar 22, 2025)

Ehm...

French scientist denied US entry after phone messages critical of Trump found
^{— Robert Mackey · Guardian · Mar 19, 2025}

that reflect hatred toward Trump and can be described as terrorism

Might be called propaganda (or counter-propaganda), yet the footage and circumstances look genuine:

Russia tried to jail me for making this video in Kursk (— Caolan Robertson · Mar 20, 2025 · 13m:26s)



, shouldn't that be over in the Trump thread?

, hence we fight the good fight. :wink: (wanted to type something profound here, but ehh nothing came to mind :smile:)

, dumbassery indeed.

Senators Justin Eichorn, Eric Lucero, Steve Drazkowski, Nathan Wesenberg, Glenn Gruenhagen take creepiness to another level (Mar 18, 2025):
SF 2589 as introduced - 94th Legislature (2025 - 2026)

The conspiracy of greed runs deep in the human soul. — Pantagruel

I'm thinking it goes further.
Among some 8 billion people, for just about any idea, you can find someone that somehow believes so, or defends the idea.
Diversity/plasticity is both a strength and a weakness.
Education might help.
Well, then again, someone will then say "education is indoctrination" or whatever.
And so ethics get relativized, along with whatever else.
:shrug:

, the theories, speculation and available evidence sure have pointed in whatever directions over time. Fifty/fifty seems as good a guess as any. Or 33% with a third possibility.

A good couple of weeks ago, the Trump team more or less assaulted Zelenskyy at the White House, and now ...

‘No one has been played as hard as Trump’: Reaction to Trump and Putin’s phone call (— MSNBC · Mar 18, 2025 · 10m:45s)


But, OK, the 10-minute clip didn't have Trump to comment. Starting to feel sorry for the guy.

Have they shιt all over Ukraine yet (again)? Reports a couple of months apart:

Donald Trump Said He'd End Ukraine War in First 24 Hours. He Hasn't
^{— Brendan Cole · Newsweek · Jan 23, 2025}
We've never been closer to a Ukraine peace deal, White House says ahead of Trump-Putin talks
^{— Johanna Chisholm et al · BBC · Mar 17, 2025}

I guess it turned out differently. Well, he was just "a little bit sarcastic".

The Alien Enemies Act: What to know about a 1798 law that Trump has invoked for deportations
^{— Tim Sullivan, Elliot Spagat, Regina Garcia Cano · AP · Mar 17, 2025}

Consolidating more powers? (With his flock cheering in the background?)

The power’s gone to his head now. Looks like it’s going to crash and burn.
https://bsky.app/profile/50501movement.bsky.social/post/3lkkkrvu5as2r — Punshhh

Yeah. Kind of what you might expect from a petulant child. His followers apparently don't care.

No evidence for Trump claim about 'void' Biden pardons and autopen
^{— Lucy Gilder, Tamara Kovacevic, Shayan Sardarizadeh · BBC · Mar 17, 2025}

Trump White House has asked U.S. military to develop options for the Panama Canal, officials say
^{— Courtney Kube, Gordon Lubold, Carol E Lee · NBC · Mar 13, 2025}

Given that you say some of the stupidest things on this forum, and can barely keep up in this conversation without making up diversions, I’d be weary of accusing anyone of stupidity. — Mikie

?

, some protests in the US also:

https://www.usatoday.com/picture-gallery/news/nation/2025/03/14/va-veterans-cuts-doge/82418660007/

None reported in Russia, though. That'd be dangerous or illegal.

We simply can't be outsourcing all of our metals production overseas because it's just too big of a national security risk. There must be some amount of domestic production. — BitconnectCarlos

A great opportunity for Trump to build some plants. In the name of National Security. :up: For that matter, there's a crowd of very rich folks right behind him.

A couple of months old:

Musk examines how to oust Starmer as UK prime minister before next election
^{— Anna Gross, Joe Miller, Lucy Fisher · Financial Times · Jan 9, 2025}

Yet, kind of telling. Seems like Musk's efforts haven't paid off.

On another note, in late Feb, Macron and Starmer gently corrected Trump in public on separate occasions. I guess no one really cares any longer.

Shouldn't come as a surprise:

Russia is conducting ‘state-sponsored terrorism’ against Europe, EU chief diplomat warns
^{— Antoaneta Roussi, Laurens Cerulus · POLITICO · Mar 12, 2025}

Furthermore, European diversity makes it easier to attack.

Impact?

, you believe so?

Trump's trade war timeline 2.0: An up-to-date guide (PIIE)

An overview of the lot suggests differently.
There goes the AUSFTA as well...

https://www.youtube.com/live/nNJOUy_luDM?si=Fl5VVUb-z_XgFcFN — Mikie

Lavrov is just trotting out the same old bυllshιt that everyone has heard and taken into consideration already, more than once.
Right, so, Russia is a fine democracy, and he tops it off with the old Ukraine is ruled by the Nazi Kyiv regime.
Maybe an old dog can't be taught new tricks? :) He should catch up on Shevchenko, ol' influential Ukrainian symbol or folk hero.
Stalin killed the most Slavs in the 20th century. Putin has killed the most Slavs in the 21st century. :death:

By the way, my impression is that the invasion of Iraq doesn't have many defenders, maybe I'm wrong.
Notably after the nuclear weapons threat was shown false?
One of Bush's supposed rationales was plain bυllshιt.

Markov and Kosachev comments:

Russia's answer to the proposal for a truce may not be "No", but "Yes, But". That is, to agree to the proposal for a truce for 30 days, on the condition that an arms embargo on arms supplies to Ukraine will be introduced for the same period. Moreover, the embargo must be signed by all 52 countries members of the Ramstein group. And first of all, by the countries of Europe.
Europe must support the truce in Ukraine not with words, but with deeds - an embargo on arms supplies to the conflict zone is a well-known formula in diplomacy.
More energy is needed! — Sergei Markov · Mar 11, 2025

The results of the American-Ukrainian talks in Jeddah show only one thing: the "tail wags the dog" plot performed by Zelenskyy with Trump, unlike Biden, definitely does not work.
The conditions are American, not Ukrainian. The Ukrainians agree to what they are told. And at the same time they bow and fawn - what is the formula alone worth "we will sign an agreement on resources when it is convenient for Washington"! Zelensky is in deep defense. Or, as the State Department representative put it, "Trump put Zelensky in his place."
Russia is advancing, and therefore it will be different with Russia. Any agreements (with all the understanding of the need for compromise) - on our terms, not American. And this is not boasting, but an understanding that real agreements are still being written there, on the front. Which should be understood in Washington too.
In the meantime, the most important thing is not to interfere with Russian-American negotiations with third-party comments. Let the negotiators do their job. Victory will be ours. — Konstantin Kosachev · Mar 11, 2025

If the U.S. has other agenda in mind and if war is what the U.S. wants, be it a tariff war, a trade war or any other type of war, we’re ready to fight till the end. — Lin Jian · Mar 4, 2025

Hate to admit it, but the Chinese foreign ministry seems to be more or less right about the fentanyl accusations. They did take the opportunity to raise threats.

Investors spy the dawn of a tectonic shift away from US markets
^{— Dhara Ranasinghe, Amanda Cooper, Yoruk Bahceli, Tom Westbrook, Samuel Shen, Elisa Martinuzzi, Richard Chang · Reuters · Mar 6, 2025}

I suppose something like this might happen. Who would Trump blame, then?

To Republicans, Conservatives, and all great Americans, Elon Musk is “putting it on the line” in order to help our Nation, and he is doing a FANTASTIC JOB! But the Radical Left Lunatics, as they often do, are trying to illegally and collusively boycott Tesla, one of the World’s great automakers, and Elon’s “baby,” in order to attack and do harm to Elon, and everything he stands for. They tried to do it to me at the 2024 Presidential Ballot Box, but how did that work out? In any event, I’m going to buy a brand new Tesla tomorrow morning as a show of confidence and support for Elon Musk, a truly great American. Why should he be punished for putting his tremendous skills to work in order to help MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN??? — Donald J. Trump · Mar 11, 2025

How many in his audience will buy that one can boycott illegally? When someone in his position rants like so, there will be people who buy it (sort of seeding/feeding the crap), so maybe a better question is what effects it will have.

As far as I can tell, Putin switched Russia to a wartime economy some time ago, in part anyway.
Maybe someone can correct/confirm or offer insights?


Russia’s War Economy
^{— András Rácz, Ole Spillner, Guntram Wolff · DGAP · Feb 14, 2023}
The Russian economy on a war footing: A new reality financed by commodity exports
^{— Yuriy Gorodnichenko, Iikka Korhonen, Elina Ribakova · CEPR · May 2, 2024}
Russia’s Wartime Economy isn’t as Weak as it Looks
^{— Richard Connolly · RUSI · Jan 22, 2025}
Exclusive: Putin growing concerned by Russia’s economy, as Trump pushes for Ukraine deal
^{— Darya Korsunskaya, Guy Faulconbridge, Gleb Stolyarov, Andrea Shalal, Frank Jack Daniel · Reuters · Jan 23, 2025}
Economic impact of the Russian invasion of Ukraine
^{— Wikipedia}

Just FYI, someone summarized Trump's Canada talk. Feb 24, 2025 remains a favorite among readers.

Is this Project 2025 Tracker legit? Anyone know the details?

, well, you know what they say: "Don't like the USA? Leave." ;)