So next absolutely loyal sycophant yes-man Trump wants to head (read demolish) an US institution is Kash Patel to head the FBI. Here's (from three months ago) a short clip why the NSC staffer that Trump wanted to put into CIA and FBI leading positions. Before being the yes-man of Trump, basically Patel was a layer in Florida and that's basically it.



And this just tell what's it going to be like. Trump wants to go after people he doesn't like and minions like Kash Patel will go after them ...and figure out on the way how, as Kash himself states.

The issue with these conspiracy theorists and people around Trump that talk about the "Deep State" is that they don't give a fuck about strengthening the democratic institutions against a "Deep State", they simply want to run it, embrace it and expand it for the service of Trump. Total devotion to Trump is the key.

If he would be given the FBI, the end result would be that FBI likely would be less functioning and worse performing institution. True reforms are done by people who are devoted in improving an institution, not having their only objective to serve the whims of the President and having likely a personal vendetta against the department they will be running.

But of course, for one @NOS4A2, it's the best pick. Because of course the US doesn't need an FBI. Should it be demolished?

You can tell people are scared of getting exposed by Patel. The best part is the writer for that rag cannot even name something Kash has done wrong, just that deep-state stoolies like Barr and Haspel were scared of him. Good.

It’s just not true that Patel has no plan, because he wrote a whole book describing it. I can list for you some of his ideas for reform if you like, at least so you don’t continue through life spreading deep-state misinformation.

For the FBI in particular, his plans consist of the following.

• move the FBI office out of Washington.
• Cut the general counsel office

For all such agencies:

• Aggressive congressional oversight.
• prosecute leakers
• Civil service reform.
• seek trials outside of DC
• Reform the FISA court.
• Create a permanent declassification office

There’s much more, and I can expound on them if you like. Then we can discuss the merits and demerits of these ideas should you be interested.

But keeping you ignorant, blind and loyal is how these people control you, ssu. Venture outside the bubble now and again.

Once again we see what Trump means by MAGA, a return to the time of his mentor Roy Cohn and McCarthyism, a campaign of fear and repression, with the "deep state" now taking the place of communism as the enemy within.

“If I am to be denied any rights in the next four (or more) years, I will not give them up without a fight,” said Lydia Echols, 28, a Texas woman making plans for a bilateral salpingectomy — a procedure in which her fallopian tubes will be removed.

An unidentified 39-year-old who had just gotten the procedure told the outlet that she felt she had no choice after the election results.

“I am not happy that I felt forced into a surgery I did not want to alter my body, I feel like the election tied my hands and forced me to be sterilized — that is horrible.”

You can tell people are scared of getting exposed by Patel. — NOS4A2

I don't care a Goddamn fuck what Patel "exposes". It's not the director of the FBI that's job is to "expose" people. It's his job to lead a 37 000 person organization. How could some Patel make differences, really? He hasn't lead any kind of organization, has basically worked three years in the Trump administration and is a simple Floridian lawyer who has a personal grudge against the FBI. He is total political appointee. He'll just cripple the effectiveness of the department and sink it's morale.

It’s just not true that Patel has no plan, because he wrote a whole book describing it. — NOS4A2

Oh yes, he did!!!! :rofl:



Ohhh... King Trump is confronted by the evil woke Deep State. And HILLARY!!! (And seems like Kash Patel himself is in the book as the friendly magician helping king Trump) :lol:

And really @NOS4A2, you think that this yes-man of Trump really wants to "reassert self government"? What you said is simply that he's going to bog down the department by a needless moving of the department somewhere else (which will cost much and disrupt ordinary work) and then go against people that he or Trump deems to part of "the Deep State", corrupt law enforcement personnel, in retaliation of prior inquiries on Trump.

And that's fucking it. Really, if you believe that it's something else than retaliation against those who made the inquiries of Trump, and need of "aggressive congressional oversight", that's really naive. Trump doesn't give a fuck about "aggressive congressional oversight". Isn't Kash actually going after those politicians who should "aggressive congressional oversight" in January 6th.

Once again we see what Trump means by MAGA, a return to the time of his mentor Roy Cohn and McCarthyism, a campaign of fear and repression, with the "deep state" now taking the place of communism as the enemy within. — Fooloso4

Then it was the McCarthy hearings against the US armed forces that ended McCarthyism. For those who don't know, it's very telling what happened to McCarthy and Roy Cohn, as they imploded on live television. Would that happen today, no?



Yet now the idea of going against "the Deep State" is simply absurd. Yet this is the line that Trump goes on again and again: that the real enemy is inside the US, not China and, heaven forbid, not Russia. It is absurd and illogical as Trump is the head of the executive branch. And he should be the law and order President. Of course this is easy for Trump: anyone who is loyal to him is a "warrior" and anyone that opposes or simply doesn't go with all of what he wants is part of the "Deep State".

Yet now the idea of going against "the Deep State" is simply absurd. Yet this is the line that Trump goes on again and again: that the real enemy is inside the US, not China and, heaven forbid, not Russia. It is absurd and illogical as Trump is the head of the executive branch. — ssu

Biden is currently the head of the executive branch but here in the US we know he's not running the show. Who is? Beats me. But certainly not Biden who has spent much of his time on vacation and barely seems coherent at times. What I can tell you is that intelligence agencies have access to massive amounts of data and that men are not angels. I'm convinced that one of the forces behind Trump's victory is that so many Americans just weren't sure whose been running the government for the past few years.

Would that happen today, no? — ssu

If Trump was asked : "Have you no sense of decency?" he would just smirk and say: "I have the most decency, the best decency. They say no one has more decency than me." It is, of course his complete lack of decency and his shamelessness that shields him from even being bothered by the accusation.

Dismissing Patel because of his lack of experience is silly because his experience includes serving as a U.S. National Security Council official, senior advisor to the acting Director of National Intelligence, and chief of staff to the acting United States secretary of defense.

Besides, all of your experienced directors like McCabe and Comey have been proven by investigations to be wildly incompetent, biased, and unable to abide by a strict fidelity to the law. The organizations and investigations they ran displayed “gross incompetence and negligence”.

The author of the Atlantic article, too, tried to make fun of him for writing a children’s book, implying he ought to have used government as a springboard to jobs at Raytheon and Boeing. I’d rather a man who wrote a children’s book to have control of these decrepit agencies than any number of the career, unelected bureaucrats using their office to further their own financial future.

At any rate, I’ll do as I always do and save your predictions for when they undoubtedly miss the mark.

Biden is currently the head of the executive branch but here in the US we know he's not running the show. Who is? Beats me. — BitconnectCarlos

Oh, Biden is running the show at least to pardon his son. Yes, he is inept and corrupt. But that doesn't change things for the next administration. Why should it also be inept and corrupt?

You see, it's not the idea of a FBI director to be a purely political position. You do have the political appointment to supervise the FBI, the Attorney General. That's the "democratic oversight", usually. Just as in my country, there's a minister for Justice. But it would be questionable if a President of Finland would start putting his minions to be the head of the Finnish Security and Intelligence Service (which is something equivalent to the FBI). That the guy wouldn't be a policeman and someone with intel work background would raise immediately eyebrows in our democracy.

Above all, it was Trump himself that appointed the current FBI director when he fired Comey. This is simply a power grab: Trump wants a loyal yes-man to the position to act as his personal investigative bureau. And if you look at what Kash Patel did in the White House, that's what you are getting.

If Trump was asked : "Have you no sense of decency?" he would just smirk and say: "I have the most decency, the best decency. They say no one has more decency than me." It is, of course his complete lack of decency and his shamelessness that shields him from even being bothered by the accusation. — Fooloso4

Yes, many things have changed. You see, back then people respected the system, even McCarthy. But for people who see the United States government itself as the enemy, why would they care? The ENEMY is the United States government. You fight your enemy in any way possible.

Dismissing Patel because of his lack of experience is silly because his experience includes serving as a U.S. National Security Council official, — NOS4A2

Yes, at least Fox News makes him to be well suited for the job. He also sells Trump shirts, btw.
So he was a NSC staffer there, but I think his breakthrough, if I remember correctly, was writing or assisting on writing the Nunes memo. Interestingly it was Carter Page that made me first surprised, because Page was the first American ever to say that Ukraine was an artificial state (and hence talked the Kremlin line). Then Patel was active in Ukraine when Trump was looking ways to get Biden. So basically he's a minion that Trump wants to have around.

Besides, all of your experienced directors like McCabe and Comey have been proven by investigations to be wildly incompetent, biased, and unable to abide by a strict fidelity to the law. — NOS4A2

So what failure did Trump do with the current FBI director, that he himself appointed? Comey or McCabe aren't replaced here, but Christopher Wray, a Trump appointee.

What is his wild incompetency? That he didn't deliver an "October Surprise" like Comey did with reopening the Hillary Clinton investigation and didn't go after Biden, his boss, with similar investigations? Not MAGA enough for you?

This is just bullshit. You really think you are rooting for someone like Patel to "drain the swamp", go against the Deep State? Nothing like that is happening here. Everything is just partisan politics and a power grab disguised in "fighting the Deep State". But people fall for it, just like they have fallen over every time to think that Republicans will make the Government smaller. Trump made it very clear what kind of a FBI director he really wants: a loyal Herbert Hoover that will go after Trump's own enemies.

(And correction, Kash has written at least three books about King Donald)

If he would be given the FBI, the end result would be that FBI likely would be less functioning and worse performing institution. — ssu

He'll just cripple the effectiveness of the department and sink it's morale. — ssu

... to the silent cheers of a few that don't have the US' best interest at heart.
All their "deep state" "swamp" enemies ... crap sells, especially to a certain demographic, again to the silent cheers of...
Well, maybe they can turn the cheers into discouragement or indifference, we'll see.

Joe Biden pardons his son, despite claiming many times he never would. Every time he uttered “no one is above the law” was a lie. What a legacy.

... to the silent cheers of a few that don't have the US' best interest at heart.
All their "deep state" "swamp" enemies ... crap sells, especially to a certain demographic, again to the silent cheers of...
Well, maybe they can turn the cheers into discouragement or indifference, we'll see. — jorndoe

It's basically quite logical. When you see your own government as the enemy, then you will parrot similar narratives as those countries truly hostile at you. And people don't understand just how detrimental this is when these kind of people really get into power.

When you aren't singling out the corrupt actors, just like Biden and his lies about not pardoning his son, but paint with a large brush over entire departments and institutions, the damage will be serious. Conspiracy theorist don't go after individuals, but think there's a larger organization behind everything. First and foremost, conspiracy theorists don't believe that their own government has done anything positive. Hence there's no understanding about the reality, that the alliances and the Pax Americana has actually benefited the US hugely.

So next absolutely loyal sycophant yes-man Trump wants to head (read demolish) an US institution is Kash Patel to head the FBI. — ssu

John Bolton, who has become embarrasingly sensible post-Trump. says he is Trump's Lavretia Beria. The one consolation is that Beria was executed by firing squad.

His confirmations hearing will be the acid test for whether the democracy will survive.

Or Trump wants Patel to be his Lavrenti Beriya. But of course, when it's John Bolton commenting, conspiracy theorists will be enthusiastic that someone like Bolton is against Patel. For them it's just shows the "credibility" of Patel.

Yet one has to remember, that the FBI hasn't been manned from the start out of revolutionary serial killers as the Cheka / NKVD was. The organization Berija lead, just as the KGB, saw itself as the forefront figthers of the revolution. Whatever we can think about the Hoover years, the FBI, just as the US judicial system, isn't the tool of the President. FBI agents think of themselves as policemen, not servants to a revolutionary cause, who have to take care of the ugly hard work. Just as the US military sees itself as defending the Republic, not as the tool of the President.

What do you think that FBI agents will think about a director that thinks they themselves, the people he ought to lead, are the gangsters and the enemy to the American that have to be purged? This is the real issue here: this will just make the FBI weaker and ineffective. Someone like Kash Patel will enthusiastically try to fulfill every whim and vagary that Trump tells him to do. You think that will work?

And if Trump wants to deport every thirty third person living in America, guess who are then put to do this job? Already Trump has talked about using the Army, but likely all security agencies will be put into this effort, which Trump has control over. It's about many millions of people who should be deported. You think someone like Kash Patel would complain that this isn't what the FBI should do? That it isn't one the top priorities of the FBI? Heck, for a Trump minion like Patel, the mission statement of the FBI, to "protect the American people and uphold the Constitution of the United States" is simply a carte blance for doing anything that Trump wants. His real actions in the previous Trump administration show what a sycophant he is, so it's whimsical to believe that his mission is to fight the Deep State. Previously he was part of the infant "Deep State" of Trump himself!

No, it simply won't work. Trump is no Hitler, no Stalin. Without Stalin, there's no Berija. The great populist orator lacks the essential leadership abilities that are needed to overthrow democracy in the US. And hence Patel will be just this laughing stock and afterwards Americans will ask just what happened to the FBI.

And hence Patel will be just this laughing stock and afterwards Americans will ask just what happened to the FBI. — ssu

Even if that best case scenario comes to pass, he will be able to do a great deal of damage along the way. He threatened to release all the national security documents Trump illegally possessed, claiming that it would expose the "deep state" conspiracy against Trump (the same conspiracy that Durham investigaged, but found no evidence of). He claimed he could do this because Trump had made a blanket declassification of all the documents before leaving office. Even if it were true that Trump had done this, doing so would have violated the Espionage Act (which involves any documents pertinent to nation defense, irrespective of classification). So, Patel was either planning to break the law, or he's ignorant of it. Either possibility implies he's no qualified to have a position of authority in the DOJ. The risk is high that he'll put national security at risk if he's FBI director.

Yes, at least Fox News makes him to be well suited for the job. He also sells Trump shirts, btw.
So he was a NSC staffer there, but I think his breakthrough, if I remember correctly, was writing or assisting on writing the Nunes memo. Interestingly it was Carter Page that made me first surprised, because Page was the first American ever to say that Ukraine was an artificial state (and hence talked the Kremlin line). Then Patel was active in Ukraine when Trump was looking ways to get Biden. So basically he's a minion that Trump wants to have around.

The stupidest argument is that he is a “loyalist”, which implies an executive branch employee should be an insubordinate to his boss like Alexander Vindman and James Comey and Mark Milley. That’s not how a chain of command works in any functioning democracy, I’m afraid. The president is supposed to be the highest representative of the people, and if his staff are disloyal to him they are disloyal to the people.

So what failure did Trump do with the current FBI director, that he himself appointed? Comey or McCabe aren't replaced here, but Christopher Wray, a Trump appointee.

What is his wild incompetency? That he didn't deliver an "October Surprise" like Comey did with reopening the Hillary Clinton investigation and didn't go after Biden, his boss, with similar investigations? Not MAGA enough for you?

This is just bullshit. You really think you are rooting for someone like Patel to "drain the swamp", go against the Deep State? Nothing like that is happening here. Everything is just partisan politics and a power grab disguised in "fighting the Deep State". But people fall for it, just like they have fallen over every time to think that Republicans will make the Government smaller. Trump made it very clear what kind of a FBI director he really wants: a loyal Herbert Hoover that will go after Trump's own enemies.

It’s an absurd assessment. “Nothing like that is happening here”? Of course not, they’re not even in power yet.

Your unmitigated fears are not based on much, ssu. Again, your experienced directors have been proven incompetent, and numerous investigations and whistleblowers has proven the FBI in need of serious reform. What defenders of these institutions keep falling for is that these agencies are above reform, above the law, in no need of systemic change. That has proven to be false.

Again, your experienced directors have been proven incompetent, and numerous investigations and whistleblowers has proven the FBI in need of serious reform. — NOS4A2

Again you fail to answer what wrong Christopher Wray has done. Perhaps the reason is that Wray got the highest DOJ reward for public service in 2005, which obviously makes him part of the Deep State. Trump said Wray was "a man with impeccable credentials" when he picked Wray. The Wray's tenure I guess would basically last until 2027.

Your unmitigated fears are not based on much, ssu. — NOS4A2

That the Trump team won't deliver, but just create a mess is for me the most probable outcome just by comparing how things went during the last years of the previous Trump administration. Likely what they can be successful is simply moving the FBI out of Washington DC, which isn't something like "destroying the Deep State". If you think that is an "unmitigated fear", then you are funny in your blind faith in Trump.

But it's the typical way that Americans totally devote to one side or the other and in doing so, totally throw out any critical thinking they have and simply become supporters of their side. I saw this happening first when Obama got to be President: when Bush was around, those liberals and Democrats were Oh so against the excesses of the War on Terror, against the Patriot Act, against GITMO, yet once Obama came into power and things continued totally the same, they were totally silent. Patriot Act wasn't repealed, GITMO is still open, and the War on Terror actually continues in places like Iraq. Even today, even if it's said that the US troops would withdraw from Iraq in 2025. Upholding human rights or the values of the Constitution only when it's convenient simply shows that people really don't care about those values, they are just issues that are used as means to get to the goal of having power. Anybody with some understanding of philosophy would notice how hollow this is.

And now the Republicans are against the Deep State, against big Government and will be in a similar denial as they always have been when the GOP won't deliver them the smaller government they have promised now for many decades. And the likely outcome is that the Intelligence/Security complex will get far more mercurial, less controlled by Congressional oversight and more "Deep State" like during the Trump administration. The exact opposite what these people promoting it to be. Just like the idea of a smaller government last time.

The Trump administration came into office with the expressed intention of shrinking the size of the federal government and its workforce.

However, our latest analysis shows that the number of full-time, civilian federal employees increased throughout the former president’s term, and despite some exceptions, several trends in demographics, seniority, career focus, and agency size also held steady during this time.

Overall, the federal workforce increased by an average of 0.9% per year between December 2016, just before the start of the Trump administration, and December 2020, just before the president left office. This increase compares with a 0.3% average increase during the second term of the Obama administration.

No wonder he couldn’t get everything done that he wanted to. It’s difficult to run a country with the ceaseless disruptions from all branches of government and the fourth estate. His own DOJ believed in a conspiracy theory that embroiled the government in insubordination, from top to bottom, for years. The impeachments, the insubordination, the riots, a once-in-a-lifetime pandemic, hindered and stifled the efforts of the executive branch throughout his entire administration. So I forgive any and all failures.

It was Patel’s work on the so-called Nunes memo that broke the scandal wide open, and was later confirmed by the Inspector General’s report and the Durham investigation. The DOJ, along with Ray, claimed the release of the memo to be “reckless”. It turns out it was right all along; the FBI was reckless, incompetent, grossly negligent. They failed to uphold their one mission, to maintain a strict fidelity of the law, and it’s clear they just didn’t want anyone to find out the truth.

No wonder he couldn’t get everything done that he wanted to. It’s difficult to run a country with the ceaseless disruptions from all branches of government and the fourth estate. — NOS4A2

No @NOS4A2, just stop and think about this one for a while: It's impossible for ANY President to perform at the same time of 1) tackling all the crises that land on the desk of the POTUS daily, 2) of doing the obligatory functions of the executive, 3) leading foreign policy, 4) leading trade and economic policy (and the trade wars), 5) leading all other policies and 6) implement radical reforms. And then is the work of getting all the contributions to the next elections.

The system is far too much any single person can handle, and that's the key point! It cannot be handled by one single person. In other countries you have a division of a President and a Prime Minister where the President isn't a ceremonial position, like in France. If there's a political crisis, the prime minister goes and in comes a new one, while the President stays. Now Project 2025 wants Trump to have more power. Come on, it's not going to work. Trump isn't a team leader and he just picks up the strangest people to surround him, but as long as their totally loyal and will do everthing he says, he's happy. Until nothing gets done and things just implode.

So I forgive any and all failures. — NOS4A2

Will you also forgive him for all the failures he will do in the future too?

It was Patel’s work on the so-called Nunes memo that broke the scandal wide open, and was later confirmed by the Inspector General’s report and the Durham investigation. — NOS4A2

Yes, and that's the kind of lawyer Kash Patel is and that's why he is Trump's pick. Doing lawyer stuff as an aide for Nunez etc. Yet Kash hasn't lead anything larger than a small team of lawyers and tried to find the "mole" inside the White House. Oh but you think Kash Patel will do fine by leading an organization of 37 000 policemen? Oh, any lawyer can do that, right? After all that rhetoric of going against the real gangsters inside the FBI.

It turns out it was right all along; the FBI was reckless, incompetent, grossly negligent. They failed to uphold their one mission, to maintain a strict fidelity of the law, and it’s clear they just didn’t want anyone to find out the truth. — NOS4A2

Nope. Comey simply couldn't handle Trump. Comey assumed he could avoid the political infighting in Washington DC, but he didn't, he failed miserably in it and created a mess himself. Starting from giving that "October Surprise" to Trump with restarting the probe on Hillary Clinton. Yet as Trump is so strange when it comes to his absolute love of Putin, that it just confused them (and actually, everybody). Even goddam Kash Patel said admitted in an interview that the FBI has to investigations are normal in the intel field. But then the Dems wanted to go further with the Russia link, just as they did all the time cried about what happened on the January 6th.

No, Comey's stupidity comes from not understanding what kind of person Trump is. When Trump asked him for loyalty, he would simply have said to be loyal to the President of the US and then veer the discussion to something like Trump likes, like how kick-ass FBI agents the bureau has and Trump should come to see them, it would be a perfect photo op for the Prez. Nope, he was so worried about the legal ramifications about the President asking for loyalty that was in shock about it. Even if it happened later, Comey should have taken example from the Secret Service: when Trump wanted to go to Capitol Hill on January 6th, the Secret Service just drove him back to the White House where he then watched everything happen from the television.

Actually Mike Pompeo as CIA director could handle Trump far better. He simply refused the position of the Director if he would have had to anything with what Trump saw as the witch hunt against the President. Hence Pompeo could run CIA perfectly easy and so well, that Trump picked him to be the secretary of state. Yeah, it was simply that simple.

Textbook case how the US gets into conflicts:

Donald Trump and his team are reportedly debating “how much” to invade Mexico once he takes office, a new report claims.

Trump and his transition team staff are discussing a “soft invasion” of the country, Rolling Stone reports. These conversations come after Trump promised to “wage war” on drug cartels in Mexico both during his first term and on the campaign trail.

“How much should we invade Mexico?” a senior Trump transition member told Rolling Stone. “That is the question.” This “soft invasion” would involve American special forces assassinating cartel leaders in Mexico, another source close to the president-elect told Rolling Stone.

Three sources familiar with those conversations told Rolling Stone that Trump said that the US has “tougher killers than they do” and is mulling a similar plot to that carried out when American forces killed ISIS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi in 2019. The deployment would be covert, the outlet reported, and would not rely on the Mexican government’s consent.

Or rely on the consent of the US Congress, likely. I can imagine drones hitting houses that may perhaps have organized crime members or simply unlucky innocent Mexicans. And then put the Trump stooges in control of this, it surely will work brilliantly. :vomit:

Nothing new under the sun. Yet a case example how the US gets sucked into quagmires then later blamed on the "Deep State" and the military industrial complex.

What else would be a better idea than bombing Mexico and having special forces running around the country without the knowledge of the Mexican Government? Or right, having also a trade war with them at the same time!

Hopes this doesn't come to be a reality. That it is just one of those fantasies that an incoming administration eager to do everything thinks about doing before the hard reality sets in.

No @NOS4A2, just stop and think about this one for a while: It's impossible for ANY President to perform at the same time of 1) tackling all the crises that land on the desk of the POTUS daily, 2) of doing the obligatory functions of the executive, 3) leading foreign policy, 4) leading trade and economic policy (and the trade wars), 5) leading all other policies and 6) implement radical reforms. And then is the work of getting all the contributions to the next elections.

If anyone can be close to doing all that it is a workaholic like Trump. His deluded haters just won’t give him a chance. I mean, this is a great opportunity for them: if he does horribly it will tarnish and discredit MAGA into the future.

Yes, and that's the kind of lawyer Kash Patel is and that's why he is Trump's pick. Doing lawyer stuff as an aide for Nunez etc. Yet Kash hasn't lead anything larger than a small team of lawyers and tried to find the "mole" inside the White House. Oh but you think Kash Patel will do fine by leading an organization of 37 000 policemen? Oh, any lawyer can do that, right? After all that rhetoric of going against the real gangsters inside the FBI.

I do indeed think he’ll do fine. There is no indication he’ll do otherwise except with the weird fortune-telling that goes on with appointments like these. He’s uniquely qualified. Many directors are lawyers. Hell, Rod Rosenstein, Gina Haspel, and Christopher Wray all work for the same incestuous lawfirm. Few of them were prosecutors, defenders, and intelligence officials.

No, Comey's stupidity comes from not understanding what kind of person Trump is. When Trump asked him for loyalty, he would simply have said to be loyal to the President of the US and then veer the discussion to something like Trump likes, like how kick-ass FBI agents the bureau has and Trump should come to see them, it would be a perfect photo op for the Prez.

His stupidity was Trump’s fault!!! Of course it was. Everything is Trump’s fault in anti-Trumpism. Just yesterday some press were saying Biden flip-flopped on Hunter’s pardon because of Trump. My guess is we’ll be studying this phenomenon well into the future.

Look, the administration could do horribly, and if that happens it will be obvious, but I’m not going to listen to the most deluded predictions from the press or otherwise.

If anyone can be close to doing all that it is a workaholic like Trump. His deluded haters just won’t give him a chance. — NOS4A2

Have you ever looked at how the Trump works and how the Trump team has worked? Have really followed how his prior tariffs/trade wars went in reality?

It's basically quite similar as to what the last year of the Trump administration was like, when Trump wasn't looking for the best, but looking for the most loyal.

And btw just look at that story above. Note the part where "a senior Trump transition member told Rolling Stone" and "Three sources familiar with those conversations told Rolling Stone". Yep, that's a Trump administration alright. Leaks like a faucet and is quite incapable of doing anything about it as one leaker will be the Television staring POTUS himself. I mean, the administration hasn't even started, and similar way how the Trump admin worked already can be seen. :razz:

Well, at least you have total transparency with a Trump administration. Having read a lot about the Trump administration, listened to interviews and so on, it's exactly the same story that everybody is talking. Everybody tells the same story. And when you listen to Trump, you notice exactly that person.

But of course you can have your rosy tinted glasses on and simply accuse everybody else of TDS.

I do indeed think he’ll do fine. — NOS4A2

If he's selected, then we'll see after few years.

The ENEMY is the United States government. — ssu

Trumpian "conservatives" sound like the sixties counterculture. Perhaps the most significant difference is that the sixties movement was progressive, but Trumpism is regressive.

In a way it is, yes.

Yet a counterculture cannot be the prevailing culture. If it's the dominant culture, then it's not anymore a counterculture. A counterculture needs some culture that it opposes. Otherwise it's meaningless or simply or becomes to be self-loathing. Think about it, could we have a "counter-culture" that opposes feudalism? It's silly, because this isn't a feudal society anymore. We then just have to invent that it's "feudal" in some way that simply isn't what feudalism means in history.

Hence when the US president claims to be "anti-establishment", it's simply illogical and absurd. How can he be that? When the "anti-establishment" people wield the power in the executive branch, in the legislative branch and some could argue also in the judicial branch and in the media, how can it not be the establishment itself? Populism simply has to create then this fictional entity that is the "Deep State" that they are fighting, which typically are any political opponents that they have. This is the structural problem that populism, or anti-elitism, has: when it achieves it's goal of getting into power, it loses it's original credibility and has to create fictional entities that it opposes. It can say it's defending the democratic institutions when it isn't. And when populism rallies around a "strong leader", it becomes just as hollow as the democracy of Marxism-Leninism, because a "strong leader" creates the new elite around himself.

This populism as a "counterculture" has other very detrimental effects. When the enemy is literally viewed to be your own government itself, this leads to then the anti-establishment populist to be very acceptable to the disinformation of the real enemies of the state, hostile foreign actors. They too promote the idea of your government being the origin of all evil. And hence this counterculture will relish the disinformation that hostile outside actors spread.

Thus to give an example, I think it's an error to accuse of a person like Tulsi Gabbard to be a Russian agent. The simply reason is that when you portray your own state as the enemy, you will, unavoidably, reurgitate the disinformation that enemies of the US spread. Hence Gabbard could spread the disinformation of US sponsored bioweapon labs in Ukraine. She walked that back, but I remember how this disinformation spread like wildfire. With the anti-establishment attitude, you will start to "understand" the actors that are against your country.