Yes, there is a big problem conflating message with messenger. I wonder, though, how much of what Trump is doing is radically different from what others have done in the past. Clinton fired tens of thousands of federal workers (but then they became contractors). Churchill radically restructured trade and currency (but during a global dep…
Yes, there is a big problem conflating message with messenger. I wonder, though, how much of what Trump is doing is radically different from what others have done in the past. Clinton fired tens of thousands of federal workers (but then they became contractors). Churchill radically restructured trade and currency (but during a global depression).
Is the problem Trump’s manner and tone? Is the problem *how* he does them or is the problem the actions themselves? Is his open vindictiveness wrong or are his efforts to restructure things wrong? Is he truly an enemy of the rule of law or is he an enemy of bad laws? Or both? It amazes me that ten years into the Trump era I’m still unsure.
Those are false equivalencies fed to you by Trump apologists. Clinton didn't fire entire departments, or half of departments, with no notice. He didn't shut down all foreign aid programs and leave their employees stranded in conflict zones with no access to their email. Nobody ever suddenly cut off the AIDS treatment of people in Africa, or ended studies of experimental vaginal inserts so abruptly the women couldn't even get the devices removed.
No president has ever pardoned a whole group of violent offenders who committed those violent offenses in his name. No president has abruptly revoked the security clearances and security details of former officials who had crossed him in the past, leaving them without protections from the violent offenders he just freed and others who may want to take revenge in his name.
No president has publicly humiliated the president of a foreign country that is currently under attack by what used to be a US adversary, or called into question our commitment to Article 5 of NATO (which, if I may remind you, was only ever invoked to help the US defend itself against attack). No vice president has ever given a speech as arrogant, ignorant and obnoxious as Vance did at the Munich Security Conference, leaving the audience "frozen" (but also painfully amused at the absurdity of the spectacle), as one person I know who was there described it to me. No president has ever abruptly cut off intelligence sharing with an ally as Trump did with Ukraine. No president has ever installed someone as DNI who has in the past demonstrated support for genocidal foreign dictators, and could never get a security clearance under a normal administration.
No president has ever revoked the security clearances of major law firms just because their lawyers crossed him in the past, in an effort to destroy their business and undermine their work on public corruption cases.
I could go on. There is so much that is unprecedented, and it's not just a matter of style. Many of his actions are illegal and will be reversed by the courts, including his "own" Supreme Court (which he has now, predictably, taken to maligning as well). It's really not that hard to see, even if one has lost trust in the mainstream media. Don't fall prey to the nihilism MAGA supporters are trying to foster.
People forget, I haven’t. I’m grateful you took the time to remind everyone here. This administration is all about inflicting trauma and Vought who wrote Project 2025 is all about doing that to the world.
The problem is that the people in charge of the cuts are straight-up dumb. Whatever good or bad intentions they may have, they're too dumb to pursue them effectively. They're also too cowardly to mess with the really big stuff, like healthcare, social security or defense. So all they can do is fire some "bureaucrats" and cut various small-potato grants.
This would all be setting up a perfectly-normal swing back to the Democrats in 2/4 years, except for...you know...the commitment to child castration...which is getting to be such an issue that no one even wants to lead this party.
The real "scandal" with Biden wasn't some cover-up -- it was that, whatever the state of his faculties, nobody wanted to run against him in the actual primary. It should've been easy, if he really "wasn't all there." But no one wanted to, because running for the Democratic nomination now means defending the indefensible, or being swarmed. Ms Harris had to try to carry the torch because she was VP -- but in four years, someone will actually have to stand up of their own accord. So far, it's looking like literally no one wants to. Maybe Elissa Slotkin will. I'm hanging my hat on that hope for now.
Yes, there is a big problem conflating message with messenger. I wonder, though, how much of what Trump is doing is radically different from what others have done in the past. Clinton fired tens of thousands of federal workers (but then they became contractors). Churchill radically restructured trade and currency (but during a global depression).
Is the problem Trump’s manner and tone? Is the problem *how* he does them or is the problem the actions themselves? Is his open vindictiveness wrong or are his efforts to restructure things wrong? Is he truly an enemy of the rule of law or is he an enemy of bad laws? Or both? It amazes me that ten years into the Trump era I’m still unsure.
Those are false equivalencies fed to you by Trump apologists. Clinton didn't fire entire departments, or half of departments, with no notice. He didn't shut down all foreign aid programs and leave their employees stranded in conflict zones with no access to their email. Nobody ever suddenly cut off the AIDS treatment of people in Africa, or ended studies of experimental vaginal inserts so abruptly the women couldn't even get the devices removed.
No president has ever pardoned a whole group of violent offenders who committed those violent offenses in his name. No president has abruptly revoked the security clearances and security details of former officials who had crossed him in the past, leaving them without protections from the violent offenders he just freed and others who may want to take revenge in his name.
No president has publicly humiliated the president of a foreign country that is currently under attack by what used to be a US adversary, or called into question our commitment to Article 5 of NATO (which, if I may remind you, was only ever invoked to help the US defend itself against attack). No vice president has ever given a speech as arrogant, ignorant and obnoxious as Vance did at the Munich Security Conference, leaving the audience "frozen" (but also painfully amused at the absurdity of the spectacle), as one person I know who was there described it to me. No president has ever abruptly cut off intelligence sharing with an ally as Trump did with Ukraine. No president has ever installed someone as DNI who has in the past demonstrated support for genocidal foreign dictators, and could never get a security clearance under a normal administration.
No president has ever revoked the security clearances of major law firms just because their lawyers crossed him in the past, in an effort to destroy their business and undermine their work on public corruption cases.
I could go on. There is so much that is unprecedented, and it's not just a matter of style. Many of his actions are illegal and will be reversed by the courts, including his "own" Supreme Court (which he has now, predictably, taken to maligning as well). It's really not that hard to see, even if one has lost trust in the mainstream media. Don't fall prey to the nihilism MAGA supporters are trying to foster.
You're right. I undersold his horrors. Some of it is easy to see!
People forget, I haven’t. I’m grateful you took the time to remind everyone here. This administration is all about inflicting trauma and Vought who wrote Project 2025 is all about doing that to the world.
Okay, good points! Thanks for the detailed response.
The problem is that the people in charge of the cuts are straight-up dumb. Whatever good or bad intentions they may have, they're too dumb to pursue them effectively. They're also too cowardly to mess with the really big stuff, like healthcare, social security or defense. So all they can do is fire some "bureaucrats" and cut various small-potato grants.
This would all be setting up a perfectly-normal swing back to the Democrats in 2/4 years, except for...you know...the commitment to child castration...which is getting to be such an issue that no one even wants to lead this party.
The real "scandal" with Biden wasn't some cover-up -- it was that, whatever the state of his faculties, nobody wanted to run against him in the actual primary. It should've been easy, if he really "wasn't all there." But no one wanted to, because running for the Democratic nomination now means defending the indefensible, or being swarmed. Ms Harris had to try to carry the torch because she was VP -- but in four years, someone will actually have to stand up of their own accord. So far, it's looking like literally no one wants to. Maybe Elissa Slotkin will. I'm hanging my hat on that hope for now.
The problem is not Trump's tone, no; the problem is he's illegally impounding federal funds.