Donald Trump the Megathread part II - mod warnings in OP, Updated 18/03/25

I think you are failing to fully understand just how much control Trump, and the GOP, now exert.

The MSM has been completely hobbled. Anyone who raises even a hint of concern or criticism is labelled an enemy of the state. Most of the big networks are fully behind Trump (Fox) or accepted that they cannot get access and openly question so they have opted to ignore the lies and report as fact simply.

The new media, the one that was supposed to be the freedom from the previous biased MSM, has been completely taken over. Twitter is owed by the Second POTUS. Facebook has given in completely and gone fully behind Trump, and TikTok is soon to be taken over and controlled.

Newspapers are fully in line with Trump, the Washington Post is the best example of a once leading paper completely acquiescing to Trump.

Voting control and suppression is a major factor. The GOP put a huge effort after 2020 to ensure that they had the right people in the right positions to ensure that the voting, should it be required, could be easily manipulated.

The 'media' which now includes the MSM and new media, breathlessly reports on the EO's, the turning on of water pumps in California, the taking over of Greenland, a single military flight (turned back) with a few hundred immigrants is reported as if it was the greatest thing ever.

So the midterms are probably not going to go the way you might think, certainly from our POV over here. If prices haven't come down, for example, the admin will find somebody to blame. The cost of sending immigrants back, the cost of keeping them in camps, the tariffs just have to be raised higher to work better etc.

'Roll on the mid-terms'. Every accusation is a confession. In two years time he (ie the party, he personally may be a wreck) will be able to do whatever he wants with elections, you can be sure he will win them.

That must be why all the federal funding was paused, so they can start printing $7 trillion for the 127 million families in the US.

Such as shame she wasn't called out on it. Like when will these $55k cheques be mailed out. Or is that just $7 trillion less in regulation for companies to pocket it they choose to, like when the reduced corporation tax and that saving went on corporate bonuses and extra dividends.

RFK Jr. was asked about that. He replied "Hrrckkhhrr errckkhshk qckksckke cckkheukkk mrdckkrckk"

The rise of fascism or simply 'strong man' leaders doesn't happen in a vacuum. I don't believe that people want a tyrant, but when they feel failed by liberal democracy, when they feel like their economic situation and general society is getting worse, the attraction to someone charismatic who promises to cut through the red tape and take the country back from the nefarious interests who have hijacked their government overrides that reticence/fear. This was the situation in Russia, for example, before Putin took power, and it was the situation in Germany before Hitler got in.

But for some reason, the leaders of liberal democracies never learn the lesson. These governments can tolerate a certain amount of discontent by classifying these people as malcontents, cranks or even simply idiots, but that only works when it's a relatively small minority and times are prosperous. It doesn't work when you're coming off a disastrous recession and it's half the population or so, e.g. Hillary Clinton's 'basket of deplorables' remark. Then it just looks like they've no ability to read the room, which only hastens the fall in public trust they have.

So, I can understand why some people in Ireland would admire these so-called strong-man types. That doesn't mean I think that these types of leaders will truly make anything better, but we must understand how they rise in the first place if the cycle is ever to be broken in the future.

Trump's entire schtick is grievance politics, and is fuelled by Americans and those abroad, all of whom blame people either at their level or lower in terms of socio-economic groups or race.

They either believe that he will make things better for them (bullshit) or, if that fails, at least he will punish those they look down on.

They have a kid's mentality, a failure to see the bigger picture or a better world, where the "haves" pay their fair share, and instead get their kicks out of the "have nots" being slapped around.

Bullies, or bully sympathisers. Either way, they can go to hell.

Hopefully the Senate sees sense. Long shot, I know.

I have one friend in Ireland (I only go there twice a year) who loves Trump. Every single time I go home he has a litany of grievances about people he knows, family and the world at large.

The latest was that him and his wife always have to driver their kids around (17 & 19!!!!!!) because public transport is so unsafe these days,

I never really noticed his complaining so much until it was pointed out by 2 people to me.

What an absolutely petty, piece of crap, scrote this guy is.

An this is the type of person that some people want to follow?

Imagine if Biden had had the ability to remove Trump's security detail. July 13th 2024 may have turned out very differently.

The type of person who views Trump as a strong man are the type who use Rogan, Tate, Peterson et al as their primary source of what it is to be "masculine". An anti intellectual cave man view of the world. If you actually analyse any of these charlatans above they are filled with insecure energy.

I'm dumbfounded how they can view a silver spoon coward who never earned a thing in his life that wasn't handed to him, as a tough guy they should follow.

The more posts you read form the MAGA heads to more a more clear it becomes that it is a cult

TBF when Measles Magee gets in, guns will no longer be the main cause of death for children, this will rapidly shift to easily preventable diseases.

So a win for the NRA.

Not so much the dead children though.

1 of the January 6th fellas trump pardoned was killed the other day in a altercation with a traffic cop who tried to arrest him.

"the attraction to someone charismatic who promises to cut through the red tape and take the country back from the nefarious interests who have hijacked their government overrides that reticence/fear."

Charismatic is not a Word I would you use to describe Trump. I can think of a lot of other ones though but I will not say as they will get me banned.