The Donald.

[EldonZ]

A President is only allowed to serve two terms whether consecutive or not.

Later,
Eldon

 

[drdoom]

That is until the Constitution is overridden by special decree, ya know, urgent need to fight the Commie horde at the gates. I repeat, Trump's team is working from the '30's Nazi playbook.

[C8RKH]

20 minutes ago, drdoom said:

Trump's team is working from the '30's Nazi playbook

Someone needs to burn that book.

 

[ramjet]

How can it be that a person that is in court for potentially breaking the rules of the country he lives in and is meant to abide by, be allowed to potentially hold a public office (the highest I might add) in the very same country?

Hasn't he also said that he wants to change, I believe The Constitution, so that a person can hold the Presidency for more than two terms, be it consecutive or not?

As far as MAGA goes, one of his supporters was asked, "Shouldn't Trump move all his manufacturing business out of Asia and back to America?" Answer from a supporter? "Why would he? That's just smart business." If you aren't going to do what you espouse, you should not be put in a position of power. It should be 'Do as I do.' not ' Do as I say.' Maybe I'm just ignorant.

If he gets in again, I believe that he will do everything within his power to not be able to be removed. Can the Senate or Congress pass a motion of 'No Confidence'? Would they?

[EldonZ]

@ramjet That is the $20 question. This is why some have started to refer to him as a cult leader. His supporters/followers will over look things and still pick him. When his followers are questioned and reminded of the things that he has done or said, they make excuses for him. As we like to say, They have drunk the coolaid.

Later,
Eldon

[Bibs]

Seems about right! 

 

[C8RKH]

2 hours ago, Bibs said:

Seems about right! 

For so many who get appointed to, the screw up, CXO jobs in the public AND private sectors. It seems there is a reward for being shit at your job, but only when you get high enough.

[Chillidoggy]

On 20/01/2024 at 04:17, ramjet said:

How can it be that a person that is in court for potentially breaking the rules of the country he lives in and is meant to abide by, be allowed to potentially hold a public office (the highest I might add) in the very same country?

 

Perhaps it's because they haven't had anyone remotely like Trump as president until now, and their current laws don't take into account characters like him even making it out of the starting gate. Sadly, those laws now appear to be inadequate.

[drdoom]

General education has failed to yield adequate understanding of the strengths and weaknesses of democracy, true in America and I fear here in Canada as well. News media have long been obliged to make sensational content due to business imperatives in the digital era, true everywhere in the free world but highly polarised and partisan in America. America's further malign cultural distinctions are massively outsized religious influence, to the extent of it being a huge corporate/political system, and an overly high sense of its own innate glory. As human nature is eternally immutable we must be suitably equipped to support what has over time been contructed ( generally at great cost in terms of human suffering ) to lay down a path to a future which does not bring more of the same widespread misery. It's all there in TicToc . . . . .

[pete]

The courts have ordered him to pay 83 million dollars to the woman he defamed while president. 

[C8RKH]

For 83 million dollars you can defame me all you like.

[pete]

With that body! 

[exeterjeep]

surely some brave soul in the US would take him out of the game - permanently - for less than that.

[drdoom]

For some reason it's been the good guys assassinated in America. 

[mdw]

20 hours ago, exeterjeep said:

surely some brave soul in the US would take him out of the game - permanently - for less than that.

It would certainly do humanity a favour.   I don't really have much faith in the American electorate as he has got in once already.

[C8RKH]

5 hours ago, mdw said:

I don't really have much faith in the American electorate as he has got in once already

And of course the UK electorate has performed so much better with our wise choice in Leaders over recent years.

I'm no Trump supporter, but, I can see why his messaging will resonate with a lot of voters.

America is a mess. If you are reasonably wealthy you have a great life in America, supported by your private medical insurances and what not. But, if you are a part of that significant group, who are not wealthy, and not covered by the health insurances etc then fook me, life is hard. Really hard. The contrast between the wealthy middle classes and the poorest classes is as stark as countries like India, and yet America is where the "dream" is supposed to be born.

So, "make America great again", focus on "built/made in America, focus on "fixing America, not the world", and tackling the explosion in unskilled immigration - you can see how all of this would resonate with disaffected voters who have seen the billions spent overseas whilst in America they are sick, cannot get treated, are unemployed, cannot get jobs, etc etc.

We might not like his Politics, but he is playing right out of the Hitler playbook in the early 1930's, who transformed Germany's economy and brought work and jobs to the masses etc.  By the way, this is not a comparison of Trump to Hitler, in any way possible. But the play book has been well used, and indeed, we are seeing it being used in Hungary, Italy, and a few other EU countries.

People need work. Work generates tax income. Tax income pays for stuff - a simple message people can easily get behind. Something that my government here in little old Scotland, sadly, does not seem able to grasp!

[mdw]

1 hour ago, C8RKH said:

And of course the UK electorate has performed so much better with our wise choice in Leaders over recent years.

I didn't say that although I would not disagree with you. However with trump in charge I wouldn't rule out us all ending up in another major conflict.   

[EldonZ]

@C8RKH Actually, we have low unemployment levels and the economy is recovering nicely. Gas prices are continually dropping and household prices have leveled off but they are not going to come back down. US is exporting the highest levels of oil and NLG. The issue is that the media still focuses on the negatives.

The issue with the border and immigration is a major problem. The White House and Senate have put together a bill that addresses immigration that hasn't been seen since the Regan era. The House still refuses to get behind it even though it has most of the items that they want. Why won't they get behind it? Because Trump doesn't want the issue solved until he is in office. He wants it to be an issue for the next year so it is a constant talking point. Currently, this is the biggest issue as far as the general electorate is concerned. We elect these people in to office and they care more about power than they do about doing the right thing for the country.

Later,
Eldon

[Bibs]

5 minutes ago, EldonZ said:

We elect these people in to office and they care more about power than they do about doing the right thing for the country.

I think this had been the case for many centuries now. 

[C8RKH]

1 hour ago, mdw said:

I didn't say that

I never said you did, I was merely pointing out that "our" performance was equally woeful.

[drdoom]

Worth a thought about how prosperity is divided generationally, if that's a word. Canada appears to exhibit pretty much the same spectrum of social and financial realities as do the U.K. and U.S. and, as the highly insightful Prof. Scott Galloway recently remarked, our 30 year olds generally find themselves worse off financially than were their parents at the same age, a first since the end of WW2. I consider this much more relevant than the broad statistical indicators on GDP and unemployment so doggedly touted by both business and government types.

Further to the Canadian situation last year's record immigration number nearing 500,000 has exacerbated an onerously costly housing market, compounded the already overloaded roadways, and added strains to all aspects of infrastructure, including medical and education. What does the chorus sing in regard to addressing this, simply let the building industry have its head! In other words the answer to our problems is more of what got us here in the first place.

[C8RKH]

18 hours ago, EldonZ said:

Actually, we have low unemployment levels and the economy is recovering nicely.

Yup, but the issues I raised were specifically about health insurance, as access to healthcare is still a huge issue unless you (usually) work for a large national US company where you get it. A lot of the smaller employers just cannot afford to provide it. However, happy to be proven wrong.

Oh, and the media only ever focuses on the negatives.

Last time I was in the US was last January. Every underpass we went through seemed to be full of "rough sleepers" and there was a lot of poverty on display, which was a dark mirror to the light of the wealth that was also on show.

Extremes exist in all countries though for sure, and people will believe what they think is best for them. Hence, made in America, make America great again, being such populist slogans with those who have little and want more. The view would be it will give them more jobs, better jobs etc. The reality, well.....

Same BS is fed to us hear in the UK - Make Britain Great again, Take back control, etc. A lot of people swallow it whole.

[C8RKH]

10 hours ago, drdoom said:

our 30 year olds generally find themselves worse off financially than were their parents at the same age

I think this is manipulated bull shit to be honest. My daughter is 30 in March, she's doing as well as I did at that age. Has her own house (no partner). Her own car. Savings in the bank. Holidays a lot (working for BA helps there a lot!).

My son turned 26 in December. Has his own house (no partner), a three bed whereas all I had managed by them was a 2 bed terraced!. Has his own car. Savings in the bank. Regularly buys Lego sets at £200+ per pop etc.

One of my old team  is 31, has a working partner, just bought an £800k house in Balam, London. The mortgage he has would literally keep me awake every night. I guess horses for courses.

 

[exeterjeep]

Old man looses his mind.... No not Biden but.....

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-68266447

Donald Trump has said he would "encourage" Russia to attack any Nato member that fails to pay its bills as part of the Western military alliance.

A White House spokesman said the former president was "encouraging invasions of our closest allies by murderous regimes", and labelled the comments "appalling and unhinged".

[Bibs]

'You've got to pay your bills'

Isn't he in court at present for financial fraud? Beggars belief.