US US Politics General 2 - Discussion of President Trump and other politicians

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Should be a wild four years.

Helpful links for those who need them:

Current members of the House of Representatives
https://www.house.gov/representatives

Current members of the Senate
https://www.senate.gov/senators/

Current members of the US Supreme Court
https://www.supremecourt.gov/about/biographies.aspx

Members of the Trump Administration
https://www.whitehouse.gov/administration/

 

[LiquidKid]

Yeah, but Mary Wilson really couldn't carry them without Diana Ross.

You say that, but in 1983 at the Motown 25th anniversary taping, Mary had such a large cheering that Diana Ross chimped out and they had to do an emergency all hands on deck ensemble to save the evening. Which was coincidentally cut from the broadcast.
To be fair though, Diana was already stressed to have to follow Michael Jackson debuting the moonwalk and ushering in a new generation of pop culture

Sounds like Marilyn was just vulnerable and patriotic at the time. What a damn shame. She was set up from the very beginning.

She was Frank Sinatra’s sloppy seconds, plus she had just gotten divorced to Arthur Miller, the commie cuck behind the crucible play.

 

[Captain Chromosome]

Ventured back into the Zuckercaves and found a few amusing spergouts.

Spoiler: ESPN Writer Michael James is mad people got what they voted for. WARNING: LONG POST

OK, HELLO WORLD...
For most of my adult life, I worked as a journalist in this country and credibly, factually, told the public thousands of stories at the Detroit News, New York Daily News and as head writer for a TV show on ESPN. None of the stories I have ever written is more important than the one I am writing now.
If you will indulge me a lack of brevity this one time, I will explain.
It begins with the three times I realized that the safety and security we so prize here in the United States of America is an illusion. It's not and never was true. It doesn't exist. We only believed it did.
The first time I realized it was in the aftermath of 9/11. After I witnessed the World Trade Center towers crumble before my eyes little more than a mile from my New York City apartment, authorities posted police with automatic weapons and huge American flags at the entrance to every bridge and tunnel in the city.
We felt safe seeing those images, but each time I ventured through those tunnels and over those bridges, I had a question:
"What's stopping that truck in front of me from being laden down with fertilizer and explosives? Who knows what's in the trunk of every car in front and back of me?"
We weren't safe at all. Terrorists just didn't decide to blow us all to hell.
The second time I realized there is no such thing as safety and security came when Donald Trump promised building a wall at the Southern border to keep illegals out.
I thought, "Mexicans are renowned for building tunnels from Mexico directly to homes on the U.S. side in Texas and California to smuggle in people and drugs. How can a wall prevent that?"
A wall could not make us safe at all. We only believed it could.
The third time I realized safety and security is an illusion was on January 6th, 2021, when Donald Trump's MAGA supporters overran the United States Capitol - the seat of power of the US government - injuring law enforcement officers and defacing the offices of cowering, terrified duly elected lawmakers.
The ease with which they penetrated our most sacred symbols of the rule of law and order in America showed me that if this could be done by only a few thousand mostly-unarmed citizens, there really is no such thing as safety and security in this country.
We only believed there was.
The final time I realized there is no safety and security in the United States of America has come in the last three weeks, or rather, since Donald Trump returned to The White House.
Under the guise of weeding out corruption and with South African-born Elon Musk as the tip of the spear, Donald Trump and his Republican confederates have turned every facet of American government upside down, installed inexperienced and unqualified loyalists in positions of power in every sector of government and thrown thousands of hard-working Americans - many of whom voted for him - out into the streets.
While stunned, outnumbered Democrats were frozen to inaction, Trump, through executive order, made laws, changed laws and ignored orders from courts to stop in his tracks.
While those of us who opposed him screamed that his actions and those of Elon Musk were tantamount to creating a fascist government and a dictatorship, we were only partially right.
See, people, Trump's dictatorship has already begun. It is HERE. It is NOW.
For those who don't believe this is true, what we all missed while focusing on the flood of executive orders and bizarre musings of taking over the Gaza Strip, annexing Canada as the 51st state against their will, purchasing Greenland to rename it Red, White and Blueland and taking over the Panama Canal is this:
Trump was merely testing the waters to see how much power and authority he truly had. The final step in his plan will be to ignore any and all court challenges aimed at stopping him.
What should be clear to you now is that there was really only one barrier to Donald Trump taking over this country and remaking it in his image:
The fact that the only thing that has kept our democracy in place since it was written in 1787 is a piece of paper called the U.S. constitution.
That constitution only works if our politicians RESPECT the power within, the rule of law.
Donald Trump clearly does not respect the constitution as have all other United States presidents before him.
Worse, without respect for the constitution and our laws, THERE IS NO AUTHORITY LEFT TO STOP HIM.
There is no police force who can rein Trump in.
There is no military to rein Trump in.
There are no lawmakers or judges to rein Trump in.
And soon, as Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayer declared recently during a speech at Miami Dade College, Donald Trump will refuse to comply with all orders of the court - and his takeover will be complete - for there is no authority remaining to police him.
Like Sotomayer, the American Bar Association just released a statement declaring that, “Trump is not following the rule of law.”
Now, the reason why the ABA sounds like a kid screaming, “Charlie hit me!” is because they’ve reached the conclusion that there is nothing they can do about Trump not following the rule of law. This has never happened before in the history of this country, but it IS happening now.
Hey, America, hey World, you can call it a monarchy, or fascism or a totalitarian government or a dictatorship, but whatever you call it, Donald Trump and Elon Musk are the law of the land now.
Don't believe me?
The 1,500 January 6th rioters who were tried and convicted in federal courts?
Trump freed them. On Day 1.
New York City Mayor Eric Adams, who was brought up on corruption charges after a decade-long investigation?
He cozied up to Trump, who ordered his Department of Justice to drop the charges.
If that's not enough, I think Donald Trump has one more trick up his sleeve, as I predict he is being lobbied at this very moment to grant clemency to an old friend who has been accused of pedophilia, drugging and raping male and female victims, physically assaulting others and possibly sanctioning numerous murders over the past 30 years.
So what, pray tell, will you say when Donald Trump pardons Sean Diddy Combs?
The lyrics to that song you sang in grade school has changed, folks:
This land is NOT your land.
This land is NOT my land.
NOT from California.
NOT to the New York Islands.
NOT from the Redwood Forest
NOR to the Gulf of America waters
This land belongs to Trump and E.
In less than a month back in office, all of the checks and balances have been removed. Republicans control the house and the senate. Every cabinet pick Trump proposes will be confirmed. No decision he makes, whether it's instructing the Treasury Department to stop making the penny or bringing back the plastic straw, is being denied.
While his supporters cheer his every move, they have yet to see the cost cuts Elon Musk and his team of hackers make under cover of darkness are hurting American farmers, American workers and those in the poorest red states in the country who voted for him.
For them, and us, it's already too late to realize it's too late.
If you saw Musk recently in the oval office with his young son holding court while Trump sat idly by, you should have realized the richest man in the world controls the supposed most powerful man in the world.
Only Elon Musk is holding Elon Musk accountable and Trump - who is likely paying Musk back for whatever he did to help him take the 2024 election - is allowing it to happen.
As you read these words, it is likely that Elon Musk has already had his hackers place back doors into every major computer system across the US government, which gives him the power to shut down any program he chooses at any time on an app while sitting in the driver's seat of his Tesla.
For those in the back or in the nosebleed section or under a rock, let me say it again:
Elon Musk and Donald Trump are the law of the land. Today. Right now.
The United States of America is no longer a democracy. We are now a dictatorship.
In closing, let me say that I don't believe in presenting problems without offering solutions. There IS something we can do to fight this takeover and resist this bloodless coup that has stripped away the sense of freedom we have known all of our lives - but it will require of us a resolve and action most of us have never known or shown.
It will require us to unite, fight, stand up, risk our lives and our liberty - because one thing dictators have never fully understood is that THE PEOPLE truly are the power.
Think of it this way: if we don't want the price of an automobile in America to be $50,000, well, if nobody buys those cars, there won't be a $50,000 car in America.
With that in mind, should Elon Musk and Donald Trump try to dump hundreds of thousands of federal employees out into the streets, simply refuse to leave. If forced from your offices, show up to work en masse the next day - and every day after - and make sure NOBODY goes into those offices.
If Trump's new Department of Defense head Pete Hegseth makes a demand of the 3.5 million workers he now oversees, what can he possibly do if they disobey in the name of American democracy?
The same goes for new national security director Tulsi Gabbard, who has never worked in security or run a department of ANY kind. The same goes for new secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem, new Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. - or any other Trump appointee.
None of these figureheads - not even Trump himself - can do anything without our complicity.
Lastly, this battle is only just beginning. You must protect your physical and mental well-being.
You don't have the time or energy to fight meaningless squabbles on social media against Trump's MAGA sycophants who believe every narrative they sell.
No matter if they are friends or family or casual acquaintances on social media, SILENCE THEIR VOICES and influence. Block, snooze, delete or ignore them.
For me, the purge begins TODAY! I’d love to tell the people going away that it isn’t personal, but their blind belief system is a direct threat to me, my friends, family, neighbors, fellow Americans, Canadians, Palestinians, and, well, you get the picture.
Trust what your eyes and ears are telling you. Hope that they will catch up and join our fight against this power virus threatening our country and the world.
Lastly, remember the words of philosopher Bertrand Russell, who said roughly this of how fascism begins:
"First they fascinate the fools. Then they muzzle the intelligent."
If you've gotten this far, it's because you're not a fool.
We got here because all of our lives we believed in that concept devised by our founding fathers of "We The People."
Well, the only way out from under the megalomania of Donald Trump, Elon Musk and their collaborators is to make every day January 6th.
If you feel so moved, please share my post. If not, please act in some way. We need all hands on deck.
If we want our democracy back, starting today, starting now, we must BE THE PEOPLE.
#DonaldTrump #elonmusk #resistance #democracy

One more long rant. This time, from Shawn Okpebholo, Composer-in-Residence at the Lexington Philharmonic and a Music Theory Professor at Wheaton College.

Spoiler: Shawn's Rant. TEXT JUMPSCARE WARNING

When I Was a Republican
When I was a Republican, white people loved me. I was their model example, the Negro who had “made it”—the one who proved their points for them. I was the embodiment of the American Dream, a living disproof of systemic inequality. My story was their shield: “See? Shawn did it. He pulled himself up by his bootstraps. We don’t need DEI initiatives or affirmative action. And hey, I can’t be racist—he’s my Black friend, and he’s a Republican too!”
And you know what? I believed it too. I believed that a strong mother, the church, and especially hard work alone had paved my way from the projects to the professoriate. I, too, erased the realities of my journey—the uncomfortable truths that didn’t fit neatly into the narrative of self-made success.
Yes, thanks to my mother, I worked hard. Yes, the church helped me. But the government helped me even more.
I grew up in public housing. My family often relied on government assistance—food stamps, free lunch, etc. I attended public schools. I could not be a composer or a professor if I were hungry, homeless, or couldn’t read or write.
But those parts of my story were swept under the rug, invisible to those who preferred their bootstrap tales clean and unblemished.
When I was a Republican, I convinced myself that I got my job at Wheaton College solely because of my qualifications. But looking back, I’m pretty sure that 15 years ago, I was, at least in part, a diversity hire, and rightly so. Yes, I was qualified, but my value went beyond my scholarship and creative pursuits. And, at the risk of sounding arrogant, my being a DEI hire strengthened Wheaton. I was able to excel as a composer beyond my wildest dreams, help grow our studio, and contribute meaningfully to the understanding of what it means to be Black in America at a predominantly white institution, helping others see beyond their limited perspectives, nudging them toward a deeper, more honest understanding of race and equity.
When I was a Republican, I performed mental and theological gymnastics to align my beliefs with the party line. When Obamacare passed, for example, I argued against it and thought it was one of the worst things our country could have done. I twisted logic, I bent scripture, I contorted my faith to fit a narrative that, at its core, made no sense. Why would I, a follower of Jesus, oppose people getting healthcare?
When I was a Republican, I wasn’t entirely intellectually dishonest. I believed in climate change. But I was dishonest in still finding ways to prioritize economic interests over our planet’s survival. As a person of faith, shouldn’t I prioritize God’s creation as sacred? But I rationalized my inaction—as long as I didn’t litter, surely I was doing enough.
When I was a Republican, it was easy to focus solely on the life of the unborn while ignoring other critical life issues after birth: poverty, immigration of refugees, systemic violence in underserved communities, climate change, healthcare, and more. After all, I was a nice, caring person—surely that was enough.
What Changed?
I grew up. I read. I thought critically. I experienced. I started to believe what was actually in the Bible—not the distorted, cherry-picked versions handed to me by Christian nationalists.
What changed? I became a father to Black daughters. I looked at them and knew the world I wanted for them wasn’t the one I was helping to shape.
What changed? Despite my doctorate, despite my achievements, I still faced discrimination and was treated as the lowest in society. I realized that even my “success” did not exempt me from the realities of systemic injustice. To be clear, status should not play a role in how anyone is treated.
What changed? I went to a church with a large Latino population. I didn’t know their immigration status (I honestly didn’t care). What I did know was that none of them were rapists and murderers.
What changed? I experienced the criminal justice system up close. A close family member spent two years in jail for an offense far less severe than offenses white people in the news skated away from. I witnessed the inequities of our justice system—not as a talking point but as a lived experience.
What changed? I saw hypocrisy, blatant and unashamed. People who had once preached character and morality during the Clinton years suddenly found endless excuses for a man devoid of both. The dissonance between what they said and what they did became impossible to reconcile.
What changed? The ignoring of real-world consequences of words and policies. Even this week, a young Latina girl took her own life because bullies threatened to call ICE on her family. That is not abstract. That is not policy. That is a “life” issue.
Just Pause.
When I was a Republican, I often saw things in black and white, ignored nuance, allowed my story to be simplified and whitewashed to prop up harmful policies, and, in a way, made people comfortable with their racism.
Believe it or not, I am not saying no one should be a Republican. I am saying that if you have to perform mental and spiritual contortions to justify something as good, right, and just, perhaps it’s time to pause. I see you—yes, people I love dearly—still bending logic to justify your conservatism: now, all of a sudden, believing Putin is the “good guy”; now being okay with violence against the police, at least the ones who tried to protect the Capitol on January 6th; supporting abusers and morally bankrupt individuals in this new administration; and, anytime there is a mass shooting, ignoring the problem and blaming everything except, you know, the guns—only scratching the surface. It’s time to ask yourself: Is the story I am telling true, and am I being honest with myself?
Perhaps it’s time to see the world not in black and white but in the full spectrum of its complexity, its pain, and its promise.
Because it is only when we see clearly that we can act justly. And it is only when we act justly that we can truly live out the calling of our faith, our humanity, and justice.
Feel free to share.

Bonus post of crazy woman bemoaning the loss of government welfare queens.

 

[ChristianKiwi]

This is unironically the thing to do. Give it to some obvious non-MAGA outlet and they’d be happy to have it, and it’d be funny as hell. Hell, Teen Vogue might have an actual good question, like how the hell he keeps his hair like that.

I regret to inform you that Teen Vogue is currently a far left, hyper-sexual propaganda rag that softens the minds of young women to prep them before they enter the real indoctrination camp that is the US University system. It is more likely to ask Trump why he's killing young teen girls who want to experiment with their queer sexual curiosity than how he keeps his hair like that.

 

[Vyse Inglebard]

please ignore all of the times Biden went to the beach during his Presidency; ORANGE MAN BAD!

 

[ChristianKiwi]

View attachment 7012380
please ignore all of the times Biden went to the beach during his Presidency; ORANGE MAN BAD!

Who was he playing golf with and why? Perhaps a few foreign government officials and leaders of industry?

 

[Hunter Hearst Helmsley]

The president needs exercise. Golf is a way to exercise and work at the same time. Everybody should shut up about golf.

 

[nigel p poppycock]

This might not be worthy of discussion here, but what's the deal with mayors going to Ghana? Bass, and now this guy?

https://www.wsbtv.com/news/local/so...horized-purchases/TX35YBKH3RHNDMZWGY32K6BCYA/

He's on his way out--the city council has now banned him from being mayor, basically. Maybe I've missed the memo that Ghana is this huge political player, but I'm wondering why a mayor of a city not named Atlanta is going there?

 

[Korpon]

The president needs exercise. Golf is a way to exercise and work at the same time. Everybody should shut up about golf.

This, pretty much all businessmen and politicians play golf because it's where a lot of deals and discussions are made with the added benefit of not many people being able to listen in.

 

[Look--an Alien!]

View attachment 7012380
please ignore all of the times Biden went to the beach during his Presidency; ORANGE MAN BAD!

Biden took 577 days of vacation during his presidential tenure according to MSN, of all places:
https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/poli...on-days-in-office-for-a-president/ar-AA1z7PQr
40% of his presidency was vacation, more than any other president.

you really need to DO BETTER , Robert Reich

 

[ZMOT]

I regret to inform you that Teen Vogue is currently a far left, hyper-sexual propaganda rag that softens the minds of young women to prep them before they enter the real indoctrination camp that is the US University system. It is more likely to ask Trump why he's killing young teen girls who want to experiment with their queer sexual curiosity than how he keeps his hair like that.

which can be easily made fun of, especially compared to the "real" questions being asked.
the point is mainly to make AP look retarded (not that they need any help with that).

 

[LiquidKid]

This, pretty much all businessmen and politicians play golf because it's where a lot of deals and discussions are made with the added benefit of not many people being able to listen in.

The average game of golf lasts 4 hours.
During that time you’re mostly secluded and in a cart with the person you’re playing with. Deals and negations can be made while also getting fresh air and exercise. On top of that, it’s one of the safest sports possible. It’s highly unlikely you’ll be injured during a game of golf, which means the highly important executives aren’t at major risk like they would be lifting weights or playing a more involved sport like basketball or soccer.
But also, Trump is a unique president in that he refuses to take a salary, he’s cheaper than any other president we’ve ever had who would be using the same expenses

 

[PointOfNoReturnPoint]

Ventured back into the Zuckercaves and found a few amusing spergouts.

What a fucking loser. No evidence and a bunch of conspiracy theories he just doesn't like. Boohoo you were there for 9/11, you want a medal?

 

[XYZpdq Jr.]

THAT"S GOTTA BE KANE!

 

[Nuns with guns]

This is unironically the thing to do. Give it to some obvious non-MAGA outlet and they’d be happy to have it, and it’d be funny as hell. Hell, Teen Vogue might have an actual good question, like how the hell he keeps his hair like that.

Teen Vogue has been a literal communist outlet for the last nine years. It’s probably one of the most woke publications out there, and that’s saying something.

 

[Kari Kamiya]

It actually began back in the 70s. As the spoiled brats from the 50s grew up

Feminism got its start in the '50s because they had gotten a taste of "We can do it!" empowerment during the war. Though I suppose you could say women's suffrage could've been the start, though it's really interesting that feminism needed to start before the sexual revolution could rev up.

Though the Red Scare was also very prevalent during that time, too, as well as Mao Zedong's rise to power. And the rise of rock 'n' roll, and Marilyn Monroe becoming a sex symbol, oh, and Disney and Warner Bros., after making war propaganda cartoon shorts on government funds, began struggling financially. Post-war was an interesting time for revolutions to occur.

 

[WelfareNiggerQueen]

View attachment 7012380
please ignore all of the times Biden went to the beach during his Presidency; ORANGE MAN BAD!

He buck broke Columbia in one hour inbetween holes.
He earned his golf trips.

 

[Soycast Guy]

All the ills of the 90s can be traced back to the ills of the hippies in the 60s. The ills of the 60s can be traced back to WWII. The ills of WWII can be traced back to WWI. The ills of WWI can be traced back to the Congress of Vienna. And so on and so forth until we go all the way back to when Eve ate that gosh darn apple.

And then we can go back even further to when the devil rebelled against God. Truly bad things are just one big domino effect.

 

[LiquidKid]

Feminism got its start in the '50s because they had gotten a taste of "We can do it!" empowerment during the war. Though I suppose you could say women's suffrage could've been the start, though it's really interesting that feminism needed to start before the sexual revolution could rev up.

Though the Red Scare was also very prevalent during that time, too, as well as Mao Zedong's rise to power. And the rise of rock 'n' roll, and Marilyn Monroe becoming a sex symbol, oh, and Disney and Warner Bros., after making war propaganda cartoon shorts on government funds, began struggling financially. Post-war was an interesting time for revolutions to occur.

If we look beyond the feminism angle as the birth of wokeness, we have the White Man’s Burden, which was a common concept in the late 1800’s



The general belief was that it was up to white people to civilize the tribes of the world because they didn’t know any better. This was a contrast to the previous mentality of slavery, war, and colonization. And somewhat leads down the line to trying to make things accommodating to them.

 

[Kari Kamiya]

If we look beyond the feminism angle as the birth of wokeness, we have the White Man’s Burden, which was a common concept in the late 1800’s

View attachment 7012440

The general belief was that it was up to white people to civilize the tribes of the world because they didn’t know any better. This was a contrast to the previous mentality of slavery, war, and colonization. And somewhat leads down the line to trying to make things accommodating to them.

It's probably a direct correlation to teaching Christianity globally 'cause if we're all our brother's keeper, we should therefore be looking out for those less fortunate. It's the sad naïve nature of Christain thinking.

 

[TarragonRespecter]

Nonsense. Blacks (and other minority groups) are more than capable of sustaining protests and marches on a national level. Blacks also worked in tandem with whites during the civil rights movement, so much so that Gloria Steinem (who was a CIA agent) weaseled her way into and co-opted the civil rights movement, purposely splitting the push for black civil rights by working with black women to push for women's rights and was a key figure in white women gaining minority status to secure a lot of benefits and jobs that were supposed to be given to black men.

Working in tandem with whites doesn't mean you're anything more than useful idiots. If the civil rights movements was so easily infiltrated by a CIA agent how do you know more of it wasn't already government infiltrated. More over, if she subverted , my point is proven. Those ideas came down to them from a higher power.and although the movement may have originated with them they can't sustain them. They devolve into violence and infighting and break down.

Stable family structures increase and promote "brain power". The modern black population are products of broken families within poor environments that aren't conducive to promoting the development of brain power. Combine these factors with a tangle of pathology that rejects intellectualism and mars the academic success of young black boys to foster future leaders explains why many modern blacks do not reflect the level of intellectualism or leadership that you would see in the blacks of yesteryear who were just as informed and well-spoken as their white colleagues and counterparts.

I mostly agree but I think a lot of their stable family unit was due to being in western society. I wouldn't say modern blacks are solely like this due to "society" because if you like look at any society they're in 99% act the same and achieve the same level of civilization. For every Sowell or Thomas there's 99 sub 85 iq idiots that only function on primal urges and instincts.