What does the future hold for Donald Trump? - threadbans in OP

astrofool

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121533628#Comment_121533628

You're right, but it really speaks to how deranged the GOP has gotten that all of the rest are a trump lite, the dems really don't need to change anything until 2028 (I'd imagine you'll see Michelle Obama attempt a run then, driving the dribbling misogynists crazy, don't think she'd end up getting the nomination.

However, one of them is able to stand up straight without enhancements at the very least (again, making a mockery of the both sides arguments), though it's more of a storm in a teacup than anything major (unless trump starts denying or explaining it stupidly):

Trump’s ‘toe pads’ spark social media firestorm (msn.com)

Without enhancements:

with enhancements:

pixelburp

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121533628#Comment_121533628

And as you say, these are the choices. However, an ageing corporate democrat is not "as bad as" a man obviously circling the drain and openly speaking in racist, dictatorial terms - and backed by a powerful group espousing literal legislative authoritarianism. Drawing moral equivalence to maintain the patina of centrism reads tepid against reality. As Maya Angelou said: "When someone shows you who they are, believe them the first time"

Both Sides only goes so far before it reads like a fallacy when one side openly flirts with Project 2025, and the defacto Chosen One candidate repeatedly exclaims a decidedly anti-democratic intent. Handy thing about Trump, he talks a lot. Canny editing isn't required when he's a man whose says the quiet part loud as a default.

everlast75

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121533628#Comment_121533628

Both.. both.. both..

False equivalency yet again.

One is a despot, racist, rapist fraud fascist.

The other is a benevolent ould fella who should have retired.

Hardly the same ****ing thing, but then again, you know that.

fergiesfolly

If the US have to choose between the two old fogies, and it's looking that way, then at least Biden has the Democratic party behind him, who seem to want to improve the lot of the American people. Trump on the other hand, has the GOP. As corrupt, self serving and bigoted a political party as there has been since the demise of the Nazis.

A triumph for Trump is the final nail in the coffin for the American "great experiment".

briany

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121534101#Comment_121534101

It's interesting because at some point, the Republican base turned on the neo-con philosophy which had been central to the party platform since Reagan at least. I'm not sure when that changed - it was probably a gradual change of mood among voters - but it really crystallised in Trump's 2015 campaign launch speech when he announced that the American Dream was dead. Several key things which had been talking points left of centre for a couple of decades before that suddenly became the purview of the new right, like the loss of manufacturing bases, the cost of healthcare, and general distrust of big business. It strikes me that the right and left in the US missed each other by just a few years in terms of finding agreement on several things, and that would really have had the fat cats of the country worried.

Not to sound conspiratorial when I say there are greater forces than mere politics at work in the world - I just mean businesspeople who are interested in making as big a profit as possible and don't want that interfered with, and will use the considerable capital available to them to achieve that, principally through political lobbying. I think the division currently found in the United States is gold to the business class because it really paralyses the political system from making any large changes at a national scale in broad benefit of the public. The suspicion between the two main parties means that they'll tend to vote against what the other one is cooking up even if it's basically in the public interest, but big business can always make donations to enough legislators of each hue, if they want to make something happen. And on top of that, there's also business that profits directly off of the division in terms of social media companies and news networks. American news media really is something else - nightly sermons delivered to the faithful is what it amounts to. It's wall to wall editorial comment, broken up with ads for pills and fast food.

And this comes back to the reason why Trump is a terrible candidate - he directly feeds off this division. He utterly fúcking revels in it. I don't believe Biden does, but the division of the country is such that his very presence is offensive to the Republican base at this point. But Biden doesn't really have any great hopeful ideas - his platform in 2020 was pretty much, "Hey, remember when things used to be normal?", and that was definitely more attractive at that point than the flailing of Trump, who really failed on his big opportunity to lead the US through the crisis of COVID, but it's not a thing to really go forward with. Yes, the Republican platform is a lot of rage, but the Democrat platform is just kind of vanilla, 'more of the same' (in the main) and it's that inert, kind of tepid 'vision' is what contributed to the frustration that led to Trump in the first place. Round and round the U.S. goes, and right down the plughole.

America needs a unifier. Someone who can tell the ordinary people that their issues are largely the same, whatever side of the spectrum they lean to. Easier said than done, I know, but something has to happen to take America out of the whirly-go-round it's currently on. Don't go so hard on the identity politics, which may be well-meaning, but is just contributing to division as well at this point. It's going to take someone coming along with a new kind of thinking, but it won't be the two old men currently heading up their respective parties. That's for sure.

everlast75

https://twitter.com/thedailybeast/status/1077375011600678912?s=20

5 years ago.

What an imbecile.

Quin_Dub

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121534467#Comment_121534467

You just know he told his kids that Santa wasn't real when they were about 5.

No way that Narcissistic egomaniac could handle someone else getting credit for the gifts that an assistant bought for his kids.

Arsehole.

Flaneur OBrien

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121535211#Comment_121535211

No chance they lasted that long believing in Santa.

kowloon

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121533406#Comment_121533406

I remember someone didn't read from a teleprompter once:

https://youtu.be/oyDTzcSU2EA?si=gb6fzPqaCTqercMP&t=36

bucketybuck

I don't believe Biden does, but the division of the country is such that his very presence is offensive to the Republican base at this point.

Biden's presence is offensive to them, he is the devil and they think he should be hanged for treason.

But before Biden there was Hilary, and she was also the devil and should have been locked up. And before that it was Obama, who was definitely the devil!

These morons can't join the dots and see that it isn't actually about Obama, Clinton or Biden, its simply they have been brainwashed into believing that whoever the latest democrat is, is the devil.

So when somebody comes along after Biden they are immediately going to think that person is a devil and responsible for every bad thing that ever happened to them.

These people are genuinely thick as pigshit.

briany

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121535604#Comment_121535604

I forget exactly where I heard this, but the boiled-down version of it is that the Christian evangelical portion of the American right believes abortion to be a great evil, and because the Democrats largely support abortion rights, then the Democrats are the devil.

But in addition to this, a lot of bizarre conspiracy theories have proliferated on the Internet that have become folded into the American right's zealous and paranoid worldview. All of that truncated pyramid with a question mark at the top of it stuff. And the question mark is usually Satan in a roundabout way. Maybe shapeshifting reptilians who worship Satan, and many leading Democrat figures are somewhere on the totem pole, and they're taking part in shadowy rituals to gain power, which involve child sex and child murder. This has all been proliferated in the QAnon phenomenon, referring to the alleged individuals as 'The Cabal'. This, as we have seen, has gained huge influence on the Republican base. I actually watched Trump at a press conference say of QAnon, "I don't know much about them, but I do know that they like me, which I appreciate". That's the sitting U.S. President refusing to rubbish a bonkers conspiracy theory, and I think that's because he knows pretty well how popular its claims were with his followers.

Point being that you currently have a worryingly large proportion of the Republican base literally believing that they're part of an MMORPG to uncover a massive Satan-worshipping, child-molesting, child-murdering cult at the centre of which lies the Democratic party. The person heading up that party will no longer just be a person with whom they disagree politically, but the literal embodiment of evil. Try closing that Pandora's Box.

bucketybuck

I'm just always reminded of that old saying, to paraphrase, "If you run into assholes all day, then perhaps you're the asshole".

They hated Obama, they hated Hilary, now they hate Biden. Even the dumbest motherfucker would by now start to wonder why they seem to hate everybody.

briany

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121536017#Comment_121536017

The believe themselves to be righteous, and it's often through believing this that you can do and say some pretty heinous things.

everlast75

Happy Christmas 🤪

amandstu

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121536240#Comment_121536240

David Jason now has the advantage of us all with his anti weeping bionic eye parts.

https://www.google.com/amp/s/metro.co.uk/2023/08/26/only-fools-and-horses-sir-david-jason-bionic-eyes-19401665/amp/

briany

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121536240#Comment_121536240

I have this strange hunch that he *doesn't* actually wish Jack Smith a merry Christmas...

Trump basically uses the same segue for every single festive occasion to bitterly rant about his enemies.

pleasant Co.

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121536306#Comment_121536306

Doddery Donald, the name fits.

Loafing Oaf

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121536017#Comment_121536017

They hated Obama, they hated Hilary,

now they hate Biden.

Do they really though, to anywhere near the same extent they did the previous two, especially HRC? I got the impression last time Trump was struggling to whip up the same kind of frenzy against this bland establishment figure that he did with the 'lock her up' chants and all that against Hillary.

https://www.businessinsider.com/trump-struggles-to-find-better-biden-nickname-than-sleepy-axios-2020-6?r=US&IR=T

amandstu

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121536327#Comment_121536327

I can think of one (rather quickly) but I won't divulge it :-)

No guessing,either.

lumphammer2

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121533628#Comment_121533628

It is very clear that US politics is indeed a circus ... a total mess with these 2 ... if I was to vote and was American I'd vote Biden because he is the lesser of the 2 evils ... nothing against older people and it is not being old that is the problem ... Biden is too weak and bends over backwards to try and appease hardliners in the Republicans ... hence he backing that vile cretin Netanyahu ... and Trump is a charmless arrogant wannabe tyrant who fuses the worst elements of a Handmaid's Tale dictator, an opinionated know it all pub drunk and Dallas' Cliff Barnes ... is this really the choice America has ?? Are people really getting excited over that Trump creature ?? ... I worry for the future of America and the world in 2024 ...

pixelburp

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121536240#Comment_121536240

Deranged Florida Man Makes Deranged Tweet Calling Someone Deranged.

I am luridly curious about what "woke military" is supposed to relate to?

salmocab

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121536513#Comment_121536513

It doesn’t need to mean anything, jamming woke on things is like a red rag to conservatives. It doesn’t really mean anything, it’s like cancel culture, shout it and watch morons clap and cheer.

accensi0n

Think I'll steal that line for all my Christmas cards next year

"ROT IN HELL! Merry Christmas xxx"

pixelburp

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121536520#Comment_121536520

I mean sure, but you do wonder all the same. Given this demented near octogenarian has whittered on about windmills causing cancer, buying Greenland from Denmark and the myriad other "random shít in my head", there's probably something. Picking the military is new to me.

The way Trump, especially with his tirade against all things environmental, resmebles and sounds like a Captain Planet villain would be hilarious if it wasn't so tragic - and emblematic of the curent "well if the Democrats are for it" contrarian attitude of the GOP.

Quin_Dub

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121536240#Comment_121536240

All he has is hatred, paranoia and revenge.

There's nothing else there, nothing at all.

His entire life is built on that foundation.

Paranoia that Daddy wouldn't love him.

Hatred and revenge against wealthy NY society for the fact that they wouldn't accept him as one of their own (because he wasn't).

And that same hatred and revenge is what has fuelled his entire "Political" career.

Pathetic really.

bucketybuck

I see it has now been confirmed that Trump was a visitor to Epsteins island, on the Lolita express as it was known. His name is on the logs for the flights on multiple occasions.

Seems he is not just a rapist, but a peadophile as well. Hardly a shock to anybody who has ever heard him talk about his daughter.

Bill Clinton also on the flights, unlike Trump I suspect that such a thing will get held against him and he will now disappear from public life for good.

Igotadose

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121536912#Comment_121536912

Not sure this is a smoking gun as you're thinking. Epstein's plane used to transport people from Teterboro, NJ to Michigan, not that exciting. Tiffany Trump hitched a ride once. Supposedly, Clinton flew to Europe on Epstein's plane on Clinton Foundation business. All this seems legitimate.

And in no way do I condone, forgive or forget those who participated in Epstein's hideous pedophilia. But, let's wait to see a bit more about the flight logs.

https://lawandcrime.com/live-trials/ghislaine-maxwell/jeffrey-epstein-flight-logs-showing-detailed-passenger-lists-entered-into-evidence-at-ghislaine-maxwell-trial/

salmocab

this Epstein stuff is a pain, it became some weird anti elitist thing with all their guys being paedos whilst ours are hero’s. The reality is he was a scum bag with lots of ties to lots of rich and powerful people not all are paedos or were involved in it. The only odd thing about this regard Trump was the amount of dumb hicks who called anyone on the lists both real and made up paedos but were willing to ignore Trumps involvement with him.

Quin_Dub

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121536977#Comment_121536977

Reading the article, I'm not seeing anything there other than fairly typical flights and the US and a few overseas locations.

Epstein clearly was a horrible human, but a wealthy person flying on his plane from Florida or something to New York doesn't make them a paedophile.

But in QANON world 2+2 = 87 so they'll be calling for mass executions now, but not for Donald for some reason they won't be able to explain.

Flaneur OBrien

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121537120#Comment_121537120

They probably think that Trump was going undercover to take down the paedo ring