I'm high functioning autistic. I reckon I know if I'm about to give a Nazi salute. I was socialized that way. It's called masking and is learned behaviour. However. My folks weren't owners of an Apartheid diamond mine. So it's probably a different kind of socialisation altogether.
To my eye Trumpism now meets all the points of academic definitions of fascism.
Except it's Bullshit Fascism. Most of the executive orders are pointless Bullshit, I very much doubt whether many people even inside the US are going to stop calling the Gulf of Mexico, the Gulf of Mexico for example. Even leaving the WHO and the Paris accords is just gesturing. As for the substantive policy stuff- like the new tariff policies (not the subject of executive orders, noticably)- where they are likely to be effective they will tend to hurt the US more, and where they are likely to hurt US trade partners more, they are not likely to be effective. Seems like Trump 2.0 is going to be posturing and gesture politics. Arguably Reagan was similar, but Reagan had a high vision whereas Trump's transactional grifting is just tawdry and corrupt. Sure the Right wing nutters will get fat on the tears of the left, and gestures can really piss people off, but Trump was and is a weak poser with no ideas beyond those of an old man shouting at clouds.
To my eye Trumpism now meets all the points of academic definitions of fascism.
Except it's Bullshit Fascism. Most of the executive orders are pointless Bullshit, I very much doubt whether many people even inside the US are going to stop calling the Gulf of Mexico, the Gulf of Mexico for example. Even leaving the WHO and the Paris accords is just gesturing. As for the substantive policy stuff- like the new tariff policies (not the subject of executive orders, noticably)- where they are likely to be effective they will tend to hurt the US more, and where they are likely to hurt US trade partners more, they are not likely to be effective. Seems like Trump 2.0 is going to be posturing and gesture politics. Arguably Reagan was similar, but Reagan had a high vision whereas Trump's transactional grifting is just tawdry and corrupt. Sure the Right wing nutters will get fat on the tears of the left, and gestures can really piss people off, but Trump was and is a weak poser with no ideas beyond those of an old man shouting at clouds.
Trump’s inauguration was the lead item on the TV New Zealand evening news as you might expect. Their poor correspondent was reporting live from Washington just after midnight US time outdoors with the temperature -8 and hypothermia beckoning.
The TVNZ US political commentator is one Todd Muller who @HYUFD will remember was briefly and disastrously leader of National during the pandemic and the Jacinda Ardern administration.
He’s no longer in Parliament but made a couple of useful points in his analysis of Trump’s first day. First, the USA is NZ’s third largest export market taking 12% of NZ exports after China (26%) and Australia (13%). NZ is an export oriented country so tariffs and protectionism are potentially very bad news for the NZ economy and Muller said the Luxon Government should be looking at how this can be mitigated.
Second, he made the point the likes of Musk, Bezos and Zuckerberg are cozying up to Trump to try to stop the strengthening of antitrust legislation which could threaten them all.
My take on the Trump rhetoric and the volume of Presidential Orders, which I believe he can only maintain until Congress comes back into session, is a lot of it was settling of personal scores and vendettas. As for “taking the Panama Canal”, will he order the 82nd Airborne to drop at both ends and in the middle? Where is the evidence of China running the Canal?
This stems back to original American conservative hostility to the Torrijos-Carter treaty on the basis since America built and paid for the Cansl they should run it and moreover American shipping should be able to use it gratis.
In truth, this is more an economic policy aim than a serious military objective as part of Trump’s plan to get the American economy moving forward as he sees it.
Trump’s inauguration was the lead item on the TV New Zealand evening news as you might expect. Their poor correspondent was reporting live from Washington just after midnight US time outdoors with the temperature -8 and hypothermia beckoning.
The TVNZ US political commentator is one Todd Muller who @HYUFD will remember was briefly and disastrously leader of National during the pandemic and the Jacinda Ardern administration.
He’s no longer in Parliament but made a couple of useful points in his analysis of Trump’s first day. First, the USA is NZ’s third largest export market taking 12% of NZ exports after China (26%) and Australia (13%). NZ is an export oriented country so tariffs and protectionism are potentially very bad news for the NZ economy and Muller said the Luxon Government should be looking at how this can be mitigated.
Second, he made the point the likes of Musk, Bezos and Zuckerberg are cozying up to Trump to try to stop the strengthening of antitrust legislation which could threaten them all.
My take on the Trump rhetoric and the volume of Presidential Orders, which I believe he can only maintain until Congress comes back into session, is a lot of it was settling of personal scores and vendettas. As for “taking the Panama Canal”, will he order the 82nd Airborne to drop at both ends and in the middle? Where is the evidence of China running the Canal?
This stems back to original American conservative hostility to the Torrijos-Carter treaty on the basis since America built and paid for the Cansl they should run it and moreover American shipping should be able to use it gratis.
In truth, this is more an economic policy aim than a serious military objective as part of Trump’s plan to get the American economy moving forward as he sees it.
Are you sure it has nothing to do with the fact that the Panamanian government is suing the Trump Organisation for $85m in unpaid taxes and penalties?
BREAKING: Donald Trump has signed an executive order withdrawing the US from the World Health Organisation
Ah. That's the first surprise. Damn. I worked with the WHO once, albeit briefly and with a peripheral organisations. It was one of the few moments in my life when what I did mattered on a global scale. Due to financial pressures I had to go work in the private sector instead, a source of some regret.
WHO is a horrifically political and corrupted organisation.
Why didn’t they provide Taiwan with any assistance or guidance on the spread of the COVID pandemic?
Also why did they swallow Chinese bullshit about the origins of COVID?
Why did they give it a neutral name, while happily referring for decades to German measles and Spanish influenza, amongst others?
And why did they back lockdowns and travel restrictions when China did, despite clearly thinking before the pandemic that both were pointless and counterproductive?
The WHO has long been more obsessed about lifestyle issues than anything practical.
Trump is right on this
He is wrong.
The WHO will have saved millions of lives through its various projects and schemes - the Smallpox eradication programme alone (launched in the late 50s) will have saved millions.
Trump has put an anti-vaxxer at the heart of his government, involved with medicine.
Is the WHO perfect? No. Would the world be better if they did not exist? Hell, no.
Plus without the US onboard, it will be 100% taken over by the Chinese. Xi is not nice.
BREAKING: Donald Trump has signed an executive order withdrawing the US from the World Health Organisation
Ah. That's the first surprise. Damn. I worked with the WHO once, albeit briefly and with a peripheral organisations. It was one of the few moments in my life when what I did mattered on a global scale. Due to financial pressures I had to go work in the private sector instead, a source of some regret.
WHO is a horrifically political and corrupted organisation.
Why didn’t they provide Taiwan with any assistance or guidance on the spread of the COVID pandemic?
Also why did they swallow Chinese bullshit about the origins of COVID?
Why did they give it a neutral name, while happily referring for decades to German measles and Spanish influenza, amongst others?
And why did they back lockdowns and travel restrictions when China did, despite clearly thinking before the pandemic that both were pointless and counterproductive?
The WHO has long been more obsessed about lifestyle issues than anything practical.
Trump is right on this
He is wrong.
The WHO will have saved millions of lives through its various projects and schemes - the Smallpox eradication programme alone (launched in the late 50s) will have saved millions.
Trump has put an anti-vaxxer at the heart of his government, involved with medicine.
Is the WHO perfect? No. Would the world be better if they did not exist? Hell, no.
Plus without the US onboard, it will be 100% taken over by the Chinese. Xi is not nice.
Trump will argue that that already happened, five years ago.
My conclusion from Trumps first day is that he is playing the presidency for ratings, It was all for show and showbiz, not government. That’s the unifying theme. Politics as entertainment.
Doesn’t matter if you support him or not. Pantomime. Boo Hiss is just as engaging.
The difficulty for the the US and the world is that good governance is also boring.
It's hard to see the pardoning of the January 6 rioters as anything other than an endorsement of their crimes.
One feature of fascism is the government condoning paramilitary violence against their internal enemies.
Trump isn't fascist. He could be, but he isn't, yet.
In some ways it's irrelevant. Leaving aside the difficulties in the various fascism definitions, you can not be a fascist and still do as much harm as a fascist or other extremist would.
BREAKING: Donald Trump has signed an executive order withdrawing the US from the World Health Organisation
Ah. That's the first surprise. Damn. I worked with the WHO once, albeit briefly and with a peripheral organisations. It was one of the few moments in my life when what I did mattered on a global scale. Due to financial pressures I had to go work in the private sector instead, a source of some regret.
WHO is a horrifically political and corrupted organisation.
Why didn’t they provide Taiwan with any assistance or guidance on the spread of the COVID pandemic?
Also why did they swallow Chinese bullshit about the origins of COVID?
Why did they give it a neutral name, while happily referring for decades to German measles and Spanish influenza, amongst others?
And why did they back lockdowns and travel restrictions when China did, despite clearly thinking before the pandemic that both were pointless and counterproductive?
The WHO has long been more obsessed about lifestyle issues than anything practical.
Trump is right on this
He is wrong.
The WHO will have saved millions of lives through its various projects and schemes - the Smallpox eradication programme alone (launched in the late 50s) will have saved millions.
Trump has put an anti-vaxxer at the heart of his government, involved with medicine.
Is the WHO perfect? No. Would the world be better if they did not exist? Hell, no.
No, he is right.
The WHO may have been fit for purpose once but that was a long whole ago. The late fifties and sixties fine, but they need reform and if the Trumpdozer's actions help bring that about all well and good.
Damned if he does, damned if he doesn't.....I'd have got the Home Secretary to do it.....
Starmer is to address the nation re Southport from behind the podium at 8.30. I cannot overstate how unwise this is. He either takes questions afterwards and appears defensive, or he won't take questions and appears defensive. There is no need for him to do this. Don't do it.
BREAKING: Donald Trump has signed an executive order withdrawing the US from the World Health Organisation
Ah. That's the first surprise. Damn. I worked with the WHO once, albeit briefly and with a peripheral organisations. It was one of the few moments in my life when what I did mattered on a global scale. Due to financial pressures I had to go work in the private sector instead, a source of some regret.
WHO is a horrifically political and corrupted organisation.
Why didn’t they provide Taiwan with any assistance or guidance on the spread of the COVID pandemic?
Also why did they swallow Chinese bullshit about the origins of COVID?
Why did they give it a neutral name, while happily referring for decades to German measles and Spanish influenza, amongst others?
And why did they back lockdowns and travel restrictions when China did, despite clearly thinking before the pandemic that both were pointless and counterproductive?
The WHO has long been more obsessed about lifestyle issues than anything practical.
Trump is right on this
He is wrong.
The WHO will have saved millions of lives through its various projects and schemes - the Smallpox eradication programme alone (launched in the late 50s) will have saved millions.
Trump has put an anti-vaxxer at the heart of his government, involved with medicine.
Is the WHO perfect? No. Would the world be better if they did not exist? Hell, no.
Plus without the US onboard, it will be 100% taken over by the Chinese. Xi is not nice.
Trump will argue that that already happened, five years ago.
You mean when he pulled out of the WHO in ?2020?
Yes, the way to stop an organisation falling into the hands of the 'enemy' is to withdraw from that organisation.
Meanwhile, putting Kennedy into government is going to directly harm the health of millions of Americans.
Damned if he does, damned if he doesn't.....I'd have got the Home Secretary to do it.....
Starmer is to address the nation re Southport from behind the podium at 8.30. I cannot overstate how unwise this is. He either takes questions afterwards and appears defensive, or he won't take questions and appears defensive. There is no need for him to do this. Don't do it.
Good evening all you Trump sane washers. Can you please explain Elon's authentic Nazi salute?
This circus is not going to end well is it?
The chumps are struggling because they can't blame a slip of the hand when he did it twice.
Doesn't look like a Hitler salute to me.
It wasn't a Hitler salute.
And it's pretty dumb that we're debating whether or not it was.
Musk could tweet a clarification saying it wasn’t a Nazi salute, he’s sorry for any similarity and, of course, he abhors everything the Nazis stood for.
But it’s not clear that he does abhor everything the Nazis stood for.
On the Nazi salute furore. If it was intended to be a Nazi salute it wasn’t a very good one. He screwed it up - twice.
Someone said it was an ultra salute - yeah, much closer to what he did. The nazis co-opted old fashioned Roman salutes when seeing what the Italian fascists were doing. As the Ultras at various football clubs still do. Much closer to one of those.
Look, if he’d clicked his heels together and rigidly stood as shooting the arm up at 45 degrees then maybe. But he didn’t. The chest thump then the arm out and leaning at a weird angle like half a dab? You ever seen footage of Nazis doing that?
He’s an arsehole. But he wasn’t doing a Nazi salute.
No he wasn’t. It’s bizarre people think he has but after the return of Trump people have various stages on the grief cycle. They’ll get to acceptance eventually
How long will it take you to make that progress? You are in utter denial.
I've accepted Trumps Presidency already.
I don't like it, but I'll have to go along with it.
Good evening all you Trump sane washers. Can you please explain Elon's authentic Nazi salute?
This circus is not going to end well is it?
The chumps are struggling because they can't blame a slip of the hand when he did it twice.
Doesn't look like a Hitler salute to me.
It wasn't a Hitler salute.
And it's pretty dumb that we're debating whether or not it was.
Musk could tweet a clarification saying it wasn’t a Nazi salute, he’s sorry for any similarity and, of course, he abhors everything the Nazis stood for.
But it’s not clear that he does abhor everything the Nazis stood for.
Indeed, he's happy for people to think that the Nazis were Communists...
Trump’s inauguration was the lead item on the TV New Zealand evening news as you might expect. Their poor correspondent was reporting live from Washington just after midnight US time outdoors with the temperature -8 and hypothermia beckoning.
The TVNZ US political commentator is one Todd Muller who @HYUFD will remember was briefly and disastrously leader of National during the pandemic and the Jacinda Ardern administration.
He’s no longer in Parliament but made a couple of useful points in his analysis of Trump’s first day. First, the USA is NZ’s third largest export market taking 12% of NZ exports after China (26%) and Australia (13%). NZ is an export oriented country so tariffs and protectionism are potentially very bad news for the NZ economy and Muller said the Luxon Government should be looking at how this can be mitigated.
Second, he made the point the likes of Musk, Bezos and Zuckerberg are cozying up to Trump to try to stop the strengthening of antitrust legislation which could threaten them all.
My take on the Trump rhetoric and the volume of Presidential Orders, which I believe he can only maintain until Congress comes back into session, is a lot of it was settling of personal scores and vendettas. As for “taking the Panama Canal”, will he order the 82nd Airborne to drop at both ends and in the middle? Where is the evidence of China running the Canal?
This stems back to original American conservative hostility to the Torrijos-Carter treaty on the basis since America built and paid for the Cansl they should run it and moreover American shipping should be able to use it gratis.
In truth, this is more an economic policy aim than a serious military objective as part of Trump’s plan to get the American economy moving forward as he sees it.
Are you sure it has nothing to do with the fact that the Panamanian government is suing the Trump Organisation for $85m in unpaid taxes and penalties?
That may be a happy coincidence but I suspect it is largely due to China shipping goods through the canal to get to the East Coast of the USA.
Good evening all you Trump sane washers. Can you please explain Elon's authentic Nazi salute?
This circus is not going to end well is it?
The chumps are struggling because they can't blame a slip of the hand when he did it twice.
Doesn't look like a Hitler salute to me.
It wasn't a Hitler salute.
And it's pretty dumb that we're debating whether or not it was.
Musk could tweet a clarification saying it wasn’t a Nazi salute, he’s sorry for any similarity and, of course, he abhors everything the Nazis stood for.
But it’s not clear that he does abhor everything the Nazis stood for.
The tragedy for the world is that climate change crosses national borders. Trump hopes to gain economic benefits from drill baby drill. Regardless of whether he succeeds, we all bear the costs. Whatever else he does, that alone deserves a comeuppance.
On the Nazi salute furore. If it was intended to be a Nazi salute it wasn’t a very good one. He screwed it up - twice.
Someone said it was an ultra salute - yeah, much closer to what he did. The nazis co-opted old fashioned Roman salutes when seeing what the Italian fascists were doing. As the Ultras at various football clubs still do. Much closer to one of those.
Look, if he’d clicked his heels together and rigidly stood as shooting the arm up at 45 degrees then maybe. But he didn’t. The chest thump then the arm out and leaning at a weird angle like half a dab? You ever seen footage of Nazis doing that?
He’s an arsehole. But he wasn’t doing a Nazi salute.
No he wasn’t. It’s bizarre people think he has but after the return of Trump people have various stages on the grief cycle. They’ll get to acceptance eventually
How long will it take you to make that progress? You are in utter denial.
I've accepted Trumps Presidency already.
I don't like it, but I'll have to go along with it.
Why 'go along with it'? If you genuinely think it's wrong, argue against it.
Trump’s inauguration was the lead item on the TV New Zealand evening news as you might expect. Their poor correspondent was reporting live from Washington just after midnight US time outdoors with the temperature -8 and hypothermia beckoning.
The TVNZ US political commentator is one Todd Muller who @HYUFD will remember was briefly and disastrously leader of National during the pandemic and the Jacinda Ardern administration.
He’s no longer in Parliament but made a couple of useful points in his analysis of Trump’s first day. First, the USA is NZ’s third largest export market taking 12% of NZ exports after China (26%) and Australia (13%). NZ is an export oriented country so tariffs and protectionism are potentially very bad news for the NZ economy and Muller said the Luxon Government should be looking at how this can be mitigated.
Second, he made the point the likes of Musk, Bezos and Zuckerberg are cozying up to Trump to try to stop the strengthening of antitrust legislation which could threaten them all.
My take on the Trump rhetoric and the volume of Presidential Orders, which I believe he can only maintain until Congress comes back into session, is a lot of it was settling of personal scores and vendettas. As for “taking the Panama Canal”, will he order the 82nd Airborne to drop at both ends and in the middle? Where is the evidence of China running the Canal?
This stems back to original American conservative hostility to the Torrijos-Carter treaty on the basis since America built and paid for the Cansl they should run it and moreover American shipping should be able to use it gratis.
In truth, this is more an economic policy aim than a serious military objective as part of Trump’s plan to get the American economy moving forward as he sees it.
Are you sure it has nothing to do with the fact that the Panamanian government is suing the Trump Organisation for $85m in unpaid taxes and penalties?
We’ll see if this is, as @Cicero suggests, all part of the performance or whether it’s a tactic to get rid of the litigation after which it’ll be quietly forgotten.
On the Nazi salute furore. If it was intended to be a Nazi salute it wasn’t a very good one. He screwed it up - twice.
Someone said it was an ultra salute - yeah, much closer to what he did. The nazis co-opted old fashioned Roman salutes when seeing what the Italian fascists were doing. As the Ultras at various football clubs still do. Much closer to one of those.
Look, if he’d clicked his heels together and rigidly stood as shooting the arm up at 45 degrees then maybe. But he didn’t. The chest thump then the arm out and leaning at a weird angle like half a dab? You ever seen footage of Nazis doing that?
He’s an arsehole. But he wasn’t doing a Nazi salute.
No he wasn’t. It’s bizarre people think he has but after the return of Trump people have various stages on the grief cycle. They’ll get to acceptance eventually
How long will it take you to make that progress? You are in utter denial.
I've accepted Trumps Presidency already.
I don't like it, but I'll have to go along with it.
Indeed.
He’ll do good stuff, and bad stuff, but he isn’t Hitler or a Nazi, and neither are most of his supporters.
Some of his ideas will work, others won’t work, and in 2028 there will be another election for the Americans to choose someone different.
Allowing oneself to be consumed by madness every waking hour for four years isn’t good for anyone.
On the Nazi salute furore. If it was intended to be a Nazi salute it wasn’t a very good one. He screwed it up - twice.
Someone said it was an ultra salute - yeah, much closer to what he did. The nazis co-opted old fashioned Roman salutes when seeing what the Italian fascists were doing. As the Ultras at various football clubs still do. Much closer to one of those.
Look, if he’d clicked his heels together and rigidly stood as shooting the arm up at 45 degrees then maybe. But he didn’t. The chest thump then the arm out and leaning at a weird angle like half a dab? You ever seen footage of Nazis doing that?
He’s an arsehole. But he wasn’t doing a Nazi salute.
No he wasn’t. It’s bizarre people think he has but after the return of Trump people have various stages on the grief cycle. They’ll get to acceptance eventually
How long will it take you to make that progress? You are in utter denial.
I've accepted Trumps Presidency already.
I don't like it, but I'll have to go along with it.
Indeed.
He’ll do good stuff, and bad stuff, but he isn’t Hitler or a Nazi, and neither are most of his supporters.
Some of his ideas will work, others won’t work, and in 2028 there will be another election for the Americans to choose someone different.
Allowing oneself to be consumed by madness every waking hour for four years isn’t good for anyone.
Right, time for another covfefe before lunch.
Well there are the Brexit obsessives here, our very own version of that clown with the Top Hat, who have been consumed by it ever since I have been posting here. So some people are happy like that.
On the Nazi salute furore. If it was intended to be a Nazi salute it wasn’t a very good one. He screwed it up - twice.
Someone said it was an ultra salute - yeah, much closer to what he did. The nazis co-opted old fashioned Roman salutes when seeing what the Italian fascists were doing. As the Ultras at various football clubs still do. Much closer to one of those.
Look, if he’d clicked his heels together and rigidly stood as shooting the arm up at 45 degrees then maybe. But he didn’t. The chest thump then the arm out and leaning at a weird angle like half a dab? You ever seen footage of Nazis doing that?
He’s an arsehole. But he wasn’t doing a Nazi salute.
No he wasn’t. It’s bizarre people think he has but after the return of Trump people have various stages on the grief cycle. They’ll get to acceptance eventually
How long will it take you to make that progress? You are in utter denial.
I've accepted Trumps Presidency already.
I don't like it, but I'll have to go along with it.
Indeed.
He’ll do good stuff, and bad stuff, but he isn’t Hitler or a Nazi, and neither are most of his supporters.
Some of his ideas will work, others won’t work, and in 2028 there will be another election for the Americans to choose someone different.
Allowing oneself to be consumed by madness every waking hour for four years isn’t good for anyone.
Right, time for another covfefe before lunch.
Our task is to ensure the UK doesn’t go down the same path.
On the Nazi salute furore. If it was intended to be a Nazi salute it wasn’t a very good one. He screwed it up - twice.
Someone said it was an ultra salute - yeah, much closer to what he did. The nazis co-opted old fashioned Roman salutes when seeing what the Italian fascists were doing. As the Ultras at various football clubs still do. Much closer to one of those.
Look, if he’d clicked his heels together and rigidly stood as shooting the arm up at 45 degrees then maybe. But he didn’t. The chest thump then the arm out and leaning at a weird angle like half a dab? You ever seen footage of Nazis doing that?
He’s an arsehole. But he wasn’t doing a Nazi salute.
No he wasn’t. It’s bizarre people think he has but after the return of Trump people have various stages on the grief cycle. They’ll get to acceptance eventually
How long will it take you to make that progress? You are in utter denial.
I've accepted Trumps Presidency already.
I don't like it, but I'll have to go along with it.
Indeed.
He’ll do good stuff, and bad stuff, but he isn’t Hitler or a Nazi, and neither are most of his supporters.
Some of his ideas will work, others won’t work, and in 2028 there will be another election for the Americans to choose someone different.
Allowing oneself to be consumed by madness every waking hour for four years isn’t good for anyone.
Right, time for another covfefe before lunch.
Our task is to ensure the UK doesn’t go down the same path.
Make sure people have no reason to go down that route then. Make sure left behind areas are given something. Make sure prosperity is not focussed in one area. Give people no reason to rather than when it happens blaming the voters.
My conclusion from Trumps first day is that he is playing the presidency for ratings, It was all for show and showbiz, not government. That’s the unifying theme. Politics as entertainment.
Doesn’t matter if you support him or not. Pantomime. Boo Hiss is just as engaging.
The difficulty for the the US and the world is that good governance is also boring.
To my eye Trumpism now meets all the points of academic definitions of fascism.
Except it's Bullshit Fascism. Most of the executive orders are pointless Bullshit, I very much doubt whether many people even inside the US are going to stop calling the Gulf of Mexico, the Gulf of Mexico for example. Even leaving the WHO and the Paris accords is just gesturing. As for the substantive policy stuff- like the new tariff policies (not the subject of executive orders, noticably)- where they are likely to be effective they will tend to hurt the US more, and where they are likely to hurt US trade partners more, they are not likely to be effective. Seems like Trump 2.0 is going to be posturing and gesture politics. Arguably Reagan was similar, but Reagan had a high vision whereas Trump's transactional grifting is just tawdry and corrupt. Sure the Right wing nutters will get fat on the tears of the left, and gestures can really piss people off, but Trump was and is a weak poser with no ideas beyond those of an old man shouting at clouds.
I'll give you that Trump is a washed up, narcissistic, congenitally lying career criminal whom the USA have been moronic enough to make President (who I've compared to Kaiser Bill). That's the baseline.
I don't buy the idea that it will be gesture politics. It's about what he actually does, which he may do because he has believed one of his own (or a courtier's) fabrications. I'd want an eye on the people around him, and him being manipulated for their interest.
Not do I buy that things like WHO withdrawal, and cancelling the Paris Accords membership are minor. Such will undermine the influence of the USA.
For one amongst the blizzard of Executive Orders, if I have it right, he has already rolled back Biden's initiative to reduce the price of prescriptions drugs. For another, he is targeting civil servants who made decisions or comments he did not like. We also have Mexico / Canada tariffs on the menu.
It will all be fascinating to watch; in a week or so I'll be wanting analysis of how what he has done compares with Project 2025.
My conclusion from Trumps first day is that he is playing the presidency for ratings, It was all for show and showbiz, not government. That’s the unifying theme. Politics as entertainment.
Doesn’t matter if you support him or not. Pantomime. Boo Hiss is just as engaging.
The difficulty for the the US and the world is that good governance is also boring.
Social media has a lot to answer for.
Mainstream media has a lot more to answer for, going down the clickbait and opinion route, rather than informing the audience and sticking to facts. Thankfully much less of an issue in the UK, especially with OFCOM rules around elections.
To my eye Trumpism now meets all the points of academic definitions of fascism.
Except it's Bullshit Fascism. Most of the executive orders are pointless Bullshit, I very much doubt whether many people even inside the US are going to stop calling the Gulf of Mexico, the Gulf of Mexico for example. Even leaving the WHO and the Paris accords is just gesturing. As for the substantive policy stuff- like the new tariff policies (not the subject of executive orders, noticably)- where they are likely to be effective they will tend to hurt the US more, and where they are likely to hurt US trade partners more, they are not likely to be effective. Seems like Trump 2.0 is going to be posturing and gesture politics. Arguably Reagan was similar, but Reagan had a high vision whereas Trump's transactional grifting is just tawdry and corrupt. Sure the Right wing nutters will get fat on the tears of the left, and gestures can really piss people off, but Trump was and is a weak poser with no ideas beyond those of an old man shouting at clouds.
I'll give you that Trump is a washed up, narcissistic, congenitally lying career criminal whom the USA have been moronic enough to make President (who I've compared to Kaiser Bill). That's the baseline.
To my eye Trumpism now meets all the points of academic definitions of fascism.
Except it's Bullshit Fascism. Most of the executive orders are pointless Bullshit, I very much doubt whether many people even inside the US are going to stop calling the Gulf of Mexico, the Gulf of Mexico for example. Even leaving the WHO and the Paris accords is just gesturing. As for the substantive policy stuff- like the new tariff policies (not the subject of executive orders, noticably)- where they are likely to be effective they will tend to hurt the US more, and where they are likely to hurt US trade partners more, they are not likely to be effective. Seems like Trump 2.0 is going to be posturing and gesture politics. Arguably Reagan was similar, but Reagan had a high vision whereas Trump's transactional grifting is just tawdry and corrupt. Sure the Right wing nutters will get fat on the tears of the left, and gestures can really piss people off, but Trump was and is a weak poser with no ideas beyond those of an old man shouting at clouds.
I'll give you that Trump is a washed up, narcissistic, congenitally lying career criminal whom the USA have been moronic enough to make President (who I've compared to Kaiser Bill). That's the baseline.
Yet they chose him over Kamala.
Doesn't say much for her.
I'd say it says less for the voters, and more for Musky Baby's $250 million.
My conclusion from Trumps first day is that he is playing the presidency for ratings, It was all for show and showbiz, not government. That’s the unifying theme. Politics as entertainment.
Doesn’t matter if you support him or not. Pantomime. Boo Hiss is just as engaging.
The difficulty for the the US and the world is that good governance is also boring.
Social media has a lot to answer for.
Mainstream media has a lot more to answer for, going down the clickbait and opinion route, rather than informing the audience and sticking to facts. Thankfully much less of an issue in the UK, especially with OFCOM rules around elections.
OFCOM Rules will become less relevant in the UK. To some extent Youtube will prevent the greatest excesses. But the blatant partisan treatement of GBNews has not done OFCOM any good in the medium term. Election Rules will soon be unenforceable in the UK. So you ban any party that over-uses Youtube, Twitter, Tumblr, Reddit, Rumble, XHamster ? Then you just post loads of messages of the "No Brainer with Angela Rayner" or Silver Fox types praising your opponents. Unworkable.
TalkRadio and GBNews are gaining viewers all the time along with Sky Australia, TVNZ all much better than anything the Beeb even wants to offer.
Whatever he is right or wrong about, Donald Trump is spot on with Free Speech. We will do the same in the UK, and before long. But our outdated Subjudice laws will have to be swept away. Sorry, if you want a trial with jurors that don't think you are a child rapist, then probably best not to be a child rapist. The courts will have to assume jurors have encountered everything that is in the public domain, and that should be everything. Nowadays everything is everywhere so all the subjudice rules achieve is a jury of people who are specially selected BECAUSE they are too thick to watch TV News once a day, how is that a fair trial ?
To my eye Trumpism now meets all the points of academic definitions of fascism.
Except it's Bullshit Fascism. Most of the executive orders are pointless Bullshit, I very much doubt whether many people even inside the US are going to stop calling the Gulf of Mexico, the Gulf of Mexico for example. Even leaving the WHO and the Paris accords is just gesturing. As for the substantive policy stuff- like the new tariff policies (not the subject of executive orders, noticably)- where they are likely to be effective they will tend to hurt the US more, and where they are likely to hurt US trade partners more, they are not likely to be effective. Seems like Trump 2.0 is going to be posturing and gesture politics. Arguably Reagan was similar, but Reagan had a high vision whereas Trump's transactional grifting is just tawdry and corrupt. Sure the Right wing nutters will get fat on the tears of the left, and gestures can really piss people off, but Trump was and is a weak poser with no ideas beyond those of an old man shouting at clouds.
I'll give you that Trump is a washed up, narcissistic, congenitally lying career criminal whom the USA have been moronic enough to make President (who I've compared to Kaiser Bill). That's the baseline.
Yet they chose him over Kamala.
Doesn't say much for her.
I'd say it says less for the voters, and more for Musky Baby's $250 million.
That's sunk cost, however.
Yes. Blame the voters. That's the right idea. Not the choice offered them.
To my eye Trumpism now meets all the points of academic definitions of fascism.
Except it's Bullshit Fascism. Most of the executive orders are pointless Bullshit, I very much doubt whether many people even inside the US are going to stop calling the Gulf of Mexico, the Gulf of Mexico for example. Even leaving the WHO and the Paris accords is just gesturing. As for the substantive policy stuff- like the new tariff policies (not the subject of executive orders, noticably)- where they are likely to be effective they will tend to hurt the US more, and where they are likely to hurt US trade partners more, they are not likely to be effective. Seems like Trump 2.0 is going to be posturing and gesture politics. Arguably Reagan was similar, but Reagan had a high vision whereas Trump's transactional grifting is just tawdry and corrupt. Sure the Right wing nutters will get fat on the tears of the left, and gestures can really piss people off, but Trump was and is a weak poser with no ideas beyond those of an old man shouting at clouds.
I'll give you that Trump is a washed up, narcissistic, congenitally lying career criminal whom the USA have been moronic enough to make President (who I've compared to Kaiser Bill). That's the baseline.
Yet they chose him over Kamala.
Doesn't say much for her.
I'd say it says less for the voters, and more for Musky Baby's $250 million.
That's sunk cost, however.
THat Scottish bloke would have beaten me at Tennis every time we went on court against each other. That doesn't mean he was ever any good at tennis. Rachel Reeves would probably beat me at Chess but I'm pretty sure I would have made an order of magnitude better Chancellor than her even lacking as I do a cervix.
To my eye Trumpism now meets all the points of academic definitions of fascism.
Except it's Bullshit Fascism. Most of the executive orders are pointless Bullshit, I very much doubt whether many people even inside the US are going to stop calling the Gulf of Mexico, the Gulf of Mexico for example. Even leaving the WHO and the Paris accords is just gesturing. As for the substantive policy stuff- like the new tariff policies (not the subject of executive orders, noticably)- where they are likely to be effective they will tend to hurt the US more, and where they are likely to hurt US trade partners more, they are not likely to be effective. Seems like Trump 2.0 is going to be posturing and gesture politics. Arguably Reagan was similar, but Reagan had a high vision whereas Trump's transactional grifting is just tawdry and corrupt. Sure the Right wing nutters will get fat on the tears of the left, and gestures can really piss people off, but Trump was and is a weak poser with no ideas beyond those of an old man shouting at clouds.
I'll give you that Trump is a washed up, narcissistic, congenitally lying career criminal whom the USA have been moronic enough to make President (who I've compared to Kaiser Bill). That's the baseline.
Yet they chose him over Kamala.
Doesn't say much for her.
American voters chose hatred over kindness basically. Uncomfortable point about human psychology. By a tiny margin - many didn't although you wouldn't know it from the current triumphalism - but by enough.
To my eye Trumpism now meets all the points of academic definitions of fascism.
Except it's Bullshit Fascism. Most of the executive orders are pointless Bullshit, I very much doubt whether many people even inside the US are going to stop calling the Gulf of Mexico, the Gulf of Mexico for example. Even leaving the WHO and the Paris accords is just gesturing. As for the substantive policy stuff- like the new tariff policies (not the subject of executive orders, noticably)- where they are likely to be effective they will tend to hurt the US more, and where they are likely to hurt US trade partners more, they are not likely to be effective. Seems like Trump 2.0 is going to be posturing and gesture politics. Arguably Reagan was similar, but Reagan had a high vision whereas Trump's transactional grifting is just tawdry and corrupt. Sure the Right wing nutters will get fat on the tears of the left, and gestures can really piss people off, but Trump was and is a weak poser with no ideas beyond those of an old man shouting at clouds.
I'll give you that Trump is a washed up, narcissistic, congenitally lying career criminal whom the USA have been moronic enough to make President (who I've compared to Kaiser Bill). That's the baseline.
Yet they chose him over Kamala.
Doesn't say much for her.
I'd say it says less for the voters, and more for Musky Baby's $250 million.
That's sunk cost, however.
Yes. Blame the voters. That's the right idea. Not the choice offered them.
It seems quite reasonable to expect voters to do a bit of thinking, to me.
To my eye Trumpism now meets all the points of academic definitions of fascism.
Except it's Bullshit Fascism. Most of the executive orders are pointless Bullshit, I very much doubt whether many people even inside the US are going to stop calling the Gulf of Mexico, the Gulf of Mexico for example. Even leaving the WHO and the Paris accords is just gesturing. As for the substantive policy stuff- like the new tariff policies (not the subject of executive orders, noticably)- where they are likely to be effective they will tend to hurt the US more, and where they are likely to hurt US trade partners more, they are not likely to be effective. Seems like Trump 2.0 is going to be posturing and gesture politics. Arguably Reagan was similar, but Reagan had a high vision whereas Trump's transactional grifting is just tawdry and corrupt. Sure the Right wing nutters will get fat on the tears of the left, and gestures can really piss people off, but Trump was and is a weak poser with no ideas beyond those of an old man shouting at clouds.
I'll give you that Trump is a washed up, narcissistic, congenitally lying career criminal whom the USA have been moronic enough to make President (who I've compared to Kaiser Bill). That's the baseline.
Yet they chose him over Kamala.
Doesn't say much for her.
American voters chose hatred over kindness basically. Uncomfortable point about human psychology. By a tiny margin - many didn't although you wouldn't know it from the current triumphalism - but by enough.
To my eye Trumpism now meets all the points of academic definitions of fascism.
Except it's Bullshit Fascism. Most of the executive orders are pointless Bullshit, I very much doubt whether many people even inside the US are going to stop calling the Gulf of Mexico, the Gulf of Mexico for example. Even leaving the WHO and the Paris accords is just gesturing. As for the substantive policy stuff- like the new tariff policies (not the subject of executive orders, noticably)- where they are likely to be effective they will tend to hurt the US more, and where they are likely to hurt US trade partners more, they are not likely to be effective. Seems like Trump 2.0 is going to be posturing and gesture politics. Arguably Reagan was similar, but Reagan had a high vision whereas Trump's transactional grifting is just tawdry and corrupt. Sure the Right wing nutters will get fat on the tears of the left, and gestures can really piss people off, but Trump was and is a weak poser with no ideas beyond those of an old man shouting at clouds.
I'll give you that Trump is a washed up, narcissistic, congenitally lying career criminal whom the USA have been moronic enough to make President (who I've compared to Kaiser Bill). That's the baseline.
Yet they chose him over Kamala.
Doesn't say much for her.
I'd say it says less for the voters, and more for Musky Baby's $250 million.
That's sunk cost, however.
Yes. Blame the voters. That's the right idea. Not the choice offered them.
It seems quite reasonable to expect voters to do a bit of thinking, to me.
Perhaps they did and went for the least worst option in their view.
To my eye Trumpism now meets all the points of academic definitions of fascism.
Except it's Bullshit Fascism. Most of the executive orders are pointless Bullshit, I very much doubt whether many people even inside the US are going to stop calling the Gulf of Mexico, the Gulf of Mexico for example. Even leaving the WHO and the Paris accords is just gesturing. As for the substantive policy stuff- like the new tariff policies (not the subject of executive orders, noticably)- where they are likely to be effective they will tend to hurt the US more, and where they are likely to hurt US trade partners more, they are not likely to be effective. Seems like Trump 2.0 is going to be posturing and gesture politics. Arguably Reagan was similar, but Reagan had a high vision whereas Trump's transactional grifting is just tawdry and corrupt. Sure the Right wing nutters will get fat on the tears of the left, and gestures can really piss people off, but Trump was and is a weak poser with no ideas beyond those of an old man shouting at clouds.
I'll give you that Trump is a washed up, narcissistic, congenitally lying career criminal whom the USA have been moronic enough to make President (who I've compared to Kaiser Bill). That's the baseline.
Yet they chose him over Kamala.
Doesn't say much for her.
American voters chose hatred over kindness basically. Uncomfortable point about human psychology. By a tiny margin - many didn't although you wouldn't know it from the current triumphalism - but by enough.
Well look at the triumphalism from SKS and Labour with 1 in 5 voters supporting them.
Comments
It was an emerald mine.
As for the substantive policy stuff- like the new tariff policies (not the subject of executive orders, noticably)- where they are likely to be effective they will tend to hurt the US more, and where they are likely to hurt US trade partners more, they are not likely to be effective.
Seems like Trump 2.0 is going to be posturing and gesture politics. Arguably Reagan was similar, but Reagan had a high vision whereas Trump's transactional grifting is just tawdry and corrupt.
Sure the Right wing nutters will get fat on the tears of the left, and gestures can really piss people off, but Trump was and is a weak poser with no ideas beyond those of an old man shouting at clouds.
Trump’s inauguration was the lead item on the TV New Zealand evening news as you might expect. Their poor correspondent was reporting live from Washington just after midnight US time outdoors with the temperature -8 and hypothermia beckoning.
The TVNZ US political commentator is one Todd Muller who @HYUFD will remember was briefly and disastrously leader of National during the pandemic and the Jacinda Ardern administration.
He’s no longer in Parliament but made a couple of useful points in his analysis of Trump’s first day. First, the USA is NZ’s third largest export market taking 12% of NZ exports after China (26%) and Australia (13%). NZ is an export oriented country so tariffs and protectionism are potentially very bad news for the NZ economy and Muller said the Luxon Government should be looking at how this can be mitigated.
Second, he made the point the likes of Musk, Bezos and Zuckerberg are cozying up to Trump to try to stop the strengthening of antitrust legislation which could threaten them all.
My take on the Trump rhetoric and the volume of Presidential Orders, which I believe he can only maintain until Congress comes back into session, is a lot of it was settling of personal scores and vendettas. As for “taking the Panama Canal”, will he order the 82nd Airborne to drop at both ends and in the middle? Where is the evidence of China running the Canal?
This stems back to original American conservative hostility to the Torrijos-Carter treaty on the basis since America built and paid for the Cansl they should run it and moreover American shipping should be able to use it gratis.
In truth, this is more an economic policy aim than a serious military objective as part of Trump’s plan to get the American economy moving forward as he sees it.
Honestly this feels a bit like Liz Truss - it might all come crashing down rather sooner than we think.
One feature of fascism is the government condoning paramilitary violence against their internal enemies.
https://www.nytimes.com/2025/01/20/us/politics/trump-executive-orders-list.html
Doesn’t matter if you support him or not. Pantomime. Boo Hiss is just as engaging.
The difficulty for the the US and the world is that good governance is also boring.
In some ways it's irrelevant. Leaving aside the difficulties in the various fascism definitions, you can not be a fascist and still do as much harm as a fascist or other extremist would.
And he will. (This is a prediction...)
The WHO may have been fit for purpose once but that was a long whole ago. The late fifties and sixties fine, but they need reform and if the Trumpdozer's actions help bring that about all well and good.
I will judge RFK JR by what he does as well.
Starmer is to address the nation re Southport from behind the podium at 8.30.
I cannot overstate how unwise this is.
He either takes questions afterwards and appears defensive, or he won't take questions and appears defensive.
There is no need for him to do this.
Don't do it.
https://x.com/QcWynter/status/1881602123009569039
Yes, the way to stop an organisation falling into the hands of the 'enemy' is to withdraw from that organisation.
Meanwhile, putting Kennedy into government is going to directly harm the health of millions of Americans.
But it’s not clear that he does abhor everything the Nazis stood for.
I don't like it, but I'll have to go along with it.
NEW THREAD
Look who showed up at the White House to congratulate Trump!
This is so hilarious! [VIDEO}
https://x.com/leslibless/status/1881495166659498009
He’ll do good stuff, and bad stuff, but he isn’t Hitler or a Nazi, and neither are most of his supporters.
Some of his ideas will work, others won’t work, and in 2028 there will be another election for the Americans to choose someone different.
Allowing oneself to be consumed by madness every waking hour for four years isn’t good for anyone.
Right, time for another covfefe before lunch.
I don't buy the idea that it will be gesture politics. It's about what he actually does, which he may do because he has believed one of his own (or a courtier's) fabrications. I'd want an eye on the people around him, and him being manipulated for their interest.
Not do I buy that things like WHO withdrawal, and cancelling the Paris Accords membership are minor. Such will undermine the influence of the USA.
For one amongst the blizzard of Executive Orders, if I have it right, he has already rolled back Biden's initiative to reduce the price of prescriptions drugs. For another, he is targeting civil servants who made decisions or comments he did not like. We also have Mexico / Canada tariffs on the menu.
It will all be fascinating to watch; in a week or so I'll be wanting analysis of how what he has done compares with Project 2025.
Doesn't say much for her.
1. Circumvented US law to enable dangerous gain of function virology at Wuhan - no one questions this
2 Quite likely - but we cannot be certain - therefore enabled the deaths of 20 million people
3. Instituted a cover-up of the possibility of a lab leak (thereby disguising his own involvement) - again, like point 1, this is not disputed
In comparison to the PRE EMPTIVE pardon given to fauci for all this, pardoning a few drunken MAGA rioters is small beer indeed
That's sunk cost, however.
TalkRadio and GBNews are gaining viewers all the time along with Sky Australia, TVNZ all much better than anything the Beeb even wants to offer.
Whatever he is right or wrong about, Donald Trump is spot on with Free Speech. We will do the same in the UK, and before long. But our outdated Subjudice laws will have to be swept away. Sorry, if you want a trial with jurors that don't think you are a child rapist, then probably best not to be a child rapist. The courts will have to assume jurors have encountered everything that is in the public domain, and that should be everything. Nowadays everything is everywhere so all the subjudice rules achieve is a jury of people who are specially selected BECAUSE they are too thick to watch TV News once a day, how is that a fair trial ?
Kamala 226 electors