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

I genuinely can't understand whether trump is just an overconfident ejet, or Putin has something on him. Must be some embaressing sh*ite to have him pull all this off.

I get that, although that is also the slippery slope fallacy too. What I'm finding difficult to understand is how Abrego Garcia was chosen (and it was a choice as hundreds were deported in similar circumstances) as the person to rally around to form an opposition.

I referenced how NACCP were far more strategic when they chose Parks. They chose her carefully because they knew the standard **** that would get thrown would not stick. That's how you win over the middle.

This man has not received due process, but at the same time I can't see middle America getting up in arms over him considering his background. In the oppositions rush to find a totem they have chosen poorly. The Trump Administration will be easily able to bat away concerns about Garcia and as you say shift the dial further along to what is acceptable now.

It does seem a bit slippery slope, but I reckon they'd ultimately like to be able to disappear political prisoners eventually. It's standard dictator's handbook stuff. The leaders Trump holds in high regard make good use of it.

This man has not received due process, but at the same time I can't see middle America getting up in arms over him considering his background. In the oppositions rush to find a totem they have chosen poorly. The Trump Administration will be easily able to bat away concerns about Garcia and as you say shift the dial further along to what is acceptable now.

Agreed, I can't see people getting up in arms about this particular guy, but action has to be taken when anyone doesn't get their fair trial. I'm not sure they can sit back and wait for the perfect poster boy to show up while planeloads of people are sent off to who knows what conditions. Al Capone got a fair trial despite the dogs on the street knowing what he was about, and famously, it was for tax evasion, a crime close to Trump's heart.

I don't think they are saying the MS13 are on his hand. They are putting that there to imply that each symbol means. But it is nonsense. MS13 do no have tattoos like that.

I've spent a lot of time in El Salvador after travelling there in my early twenties. I worked in a school and then got involved in volunteering there each summer. And I still go back at least once each year. I've come across all walks of life there from young kids getting mixed up in the gang life, to those actively involved, to ex members and helping with re-education programs.

And I have never come across any tattoos like that. They don't get tattoos where individual letters are like a code for something else. They are more literal and also generally more local to their barrio or set they are with. They will use a single symbol to represent something. The symbols used here just don't make sense. A majajuana leaf and a smiley face are not used as some code for MS. A cross is more so used by MM12 and a skull by 503s or 18RHLM.

I know next to nothing about the guy. All I know is that due process was not followed and should be very concerning. I also know there is no way they are MS13 tattoos. I've also been talking about this with friends from El Salvador and they thought it was hilarious that they would be considered gang tats. Anyone who thinks they are has obviously never seen any MS13 gang tattoos.

Since Trump was re-elected [his second term] to the presidency, he's done more damage in the 4 months since to the US than Biden did in his 4 year term. The truth is that 49.8% of the US voters did not vote for Trump, they voted for the "best" candidate the GOP gave to them. If the GOP voters had chosen one of the other GOP candidates, the US probably would not be in the mess it is currently in internally and internationally.

The "anyone but a democrat" also applied when the voting took place, the dislike for the other party factor. Anyone denying that the "dislike" for the other party was a factor in the vote result is in denial. The evidence of the "A.B.D" factor is from the era of Trump's first run for the office. The "lock her up" chant where Trump's intent to destroy the US became self-evident, forego the trial, down with the courts lead to the effigy of his V/P hanging from the scaffold at Trumps fanbase "peaceful" protest in 2021.

Being a political opponent of Trump in either party is dangerous to one's physical health and family and now is not the best time for those in the GOP.

My old mother in law who was a devout Catholic used to assert all the clerical abuse cases were made up and an a media invention. On nearly every other topic you could have a rational conversation, but say anything negative about the RCC and it was a personal attack.

I guess some people have personalized their vote for Trump.

Edit to add what will survive of a personality cult after he expires?

Throw enough **** long enough it'll stick [in peoples memories] for them to quote it as proof…. What it's proof of is lost in the argument Trump and Co want to happen.

What tends to work better is showing them how they've been conned or tricked, you'll see posters here run away or disengage when confronted with it as self-actualisation occurs (funny one right now for the posters using Maher as an evangelist for a trump character, Maher knows what he's doing to you).

He's just another grifter that happens to lean the same way as I do on DJT.

Churning out the 10min vids several times a day, all with less depth than a puddle is simply monetising frustration for his own benefit. Trump I suspect has been very profitable for them.

Nothing against online commentary but when it consists of a NYT headline followed by effectively the same rant to fill the ten minutes, doesn't make you feel informed or further opposition which he ostensibly supports. All the while doing so on a platform whose CEO backed Trump.

But got to get to 5m subscribers. Don't forget to like and comment and of course check out the merch store.

I reckon that's the way to go for governments now, private meetings as the Trump team can't be trusted not to make any meeting an ambush to sate the rabid true believers.

Anyone who can claim that the SC decision 9 - 0 against was a win is not going to be argued with. And the cult will believe it was a win. There is no way to prove anything to people who do not want to know.

One possibly encouraging thing is that Trump is an old man. If he was 45 or 50, he would arguably be much more dangerous as we could be facing into 30+ plus years of Trumpism.

I'm not sure I buy the idea that Vance will be Trump 2. He clearly is a personality vacuum and is uncharismatic - hard to see how he could ever have a cult like following.

It won't matter. Once Trump has effectively crossed the line of democracy the next leader is whomever the party decides it will be and the people will be told to like him. The likes of Fox etc will then flood the zone with stories about how amazing and normal Vance actually is and anyone that says otherwise is part of the Fake News.

Popularity or charisma has nothing to do with, apart from allowing one to climb the ranks within the party.

Trump has crossed that line. He is ruling without any input from Congress or the Senate and is ignoring SCOTUS. Nothing now to stop him for calling an emergency and doing an executive order to postpone the elections.

Hope he wore his best eyeliner for the occasion.

I know the feeling. Brother in US since late teens-now a citizen, retired law enforcement. As different in all aspects to me as can be imagined. When I visit,NO politics discussed and have to watch Fox News.

What floored me,on a FBook discussion my sister sent on to me—I am not on FB. Himself and his partner trashing DEI with all the usual lies, people should get jobs only on merit. Their daughter is mmm, I would say is mildly autistic. Has a part-time job bagging groceries at a local supermarket. Most certainly a candidate for a DEI hire and I applaud the supermarket, but Bro cannot see this. Does me head in!