The Trump presidency

[coley]

I think we need a new internet that doesn't have pricks on it. They should invent that.

While the internet has more than it's fair share of mentally disturbed people (and everyday pricks on it) I'm really concerned that one of his advisors might get the Buffoon interested in the 'dark web'

 

[CRI]

Aye and pollsters have been soooooooooo accurate recently, mebbes they should take a poll on the publics belief in pollsters accuracy?

I know some folks here find it hard to believe, particularly if they've not spent that much time in the US outside say major cities, but honestly, religion is a much, much bigger deal for people there than in the UK. It does have an impact on people's decisions and when it comes to the more fundamentalist end of the Christian spectrum, I'd say it's the most important factor. And, that fundamentalist end is divided by race, which is why an actual practicing Christian like Obama is rejected while they somehow rationalise that Trump is Christian "enough." Every time he mentioned God during his inaugural speech, fundamentalist white Christians let out collective sighs of glee. It doesn't take much to keep them onside.

 

[coley]

Sure, but then the question is: what effect does this have on extremist ideas or the dissemination of false ideas and beliefs?

I don't think the answer is obvious. Taking climate change, for instance, there is instant access to explanations from climate change scientists, much of it clear and accessible (the Hadley Centre here in the UK, for instance), laying out what they think is happening and why they think it. Anyone with an inquiring mind and a computer can find this stuff out.

Clearly there are people who don't want to engage with the science, will only read climate-change denialist opinions, and will have their preexisting prejudice confirmed. But that was equally true pre-internet, and today, at least, there are not people with inquiring minds and a computer who, simply due to lack of information, hold false beliefs re climate change. Pre-internet, that was not true.

Most people don't want to shift their lazy arses, and the thought that they might have to make a little effort, or pay, literally a few pence per day, in order to prevent a devastating climate catastrophe is the engine that drives the success of the denialist media.
This isn't a derail, the Buffoons moves to destroy the, admittedly modest, advances that Obama made are a much bigger danger (in the medium/long term) than most of his recent more 'media attention grabbing' EOs

 

[coley]

“You know what uranium is, right? It’s this thing called nuclear weapons. And other things. Like lots of things are done with uranium. Including some bad things.”

He said that

Wtf

FMS, haven't had the chance to listen to it yet, but did he really say that??

 

[twentythreedom]

FMS, haven't had the chance to listen to it yet, but did he really say that??

Yes he did

 

[two sheds]

It's all literally true, though. You can't argue with any of the individual statements can you? Eh? Eh?

 

[coley]

Maybe he's acquiesced to a briefing on "What are nuclear weapons?" I take it as a good sign.

Or, wow we have these yuuuge bangers? And I control them?? Seriously?
Just where is, waddayouallit, Iran? on this, waddayyoucallit 'targetrealisation' map? Waddaymean I have to consult?? Your fired.
Whimsical? .... I really fucking hope so.

 

[littlebabyjesus]

Watched a bit of that. As much as I could stand. He seems not to be able to maintain attention long enough to complete a thought, so starts drifting off half-way through, like he's bored with it already. So he bails out 'Right, so that's it, bad stuff, but we're going to sort it. We're right on it you know. Nobody is more on [insert topic here] than me.'

 

[CRI]

FMS, haven't had the chance to listen to it yet, but did he really say that??

Full thing and transcript here. Trying to work out if it will be weirder to see him speaking, or read the words.

 

[coley]

I know some folks here find it hard to believe, particularly if they've not spent that much time in the US outside say major cities, but honestly, religion is a much, much bigger deal for people there than in the UK. It does have an impact on people's decisions and when it comes to the more fundamentalist end of the Christian spectrum, I'd say it's the most important factor. And, that fundamentalist end is divided by race, which is why an actual practicing Christian like Obama is rejected while they somehow rationalise that Trump is Christian "enough." Every time he mentioned God during his inaugural speech, fundamentalist white Christians let out collective sighs of glee. It doesn't take much to keep them onside.

Fair enough, let's just say that normal people have difficulty in coming to terms with just how fucked up really large sections of the US seems to be!

 

[CRI]

Fair enough, let's just say that normal people have difficulty in coming to terms with just how fucked up really large sections of the US seems to be!

Amen, Brother!

 

[Maltin]

FMS, haven't had the chance to listen to it yet, but did he really say that??

The video clip is in that tweet above.

It's one of the most hilarious things I've heard. The whole news from this press conference has given me the most laughs in a long while.

 

[Maltin]

Full thing and transcript here. Trying to work out if it will be weirder to see him speaking, or read the words.

I think the delivery adds to the comedy. I imagine much of it is unreadable as a script and needs a special type of person to deliver it properly to give it justice.

 

[CRI]

I think the delivery adds to the comedy. I imagine much of it is unreadable as a script and needs a special type of person to deliver it properly to give it justice.

My sympathies go to the poor people who had to transcribe that incoherent shower of shit. I'm trying to read it but getting a migraine from my head shaking and my eyes popping out.

 

[coley]

Full thing and transcript here. Trying to work out if it will be weirder to see him speaking, or read the words.

Got pay walled no doubt it will be available on the BBC in the morn, at least if he hasn't done something even more incredibly stupid!

 

[coley]

My sympathies go to the poor people who had to transcribe that incoherent shower of shit. I'm trying to read it but getting a migraine from my head shaking and my eyes popping out.

I'm trying to work out how, someone as boring, ignorant, thick and frankly unintelligible as the Buffoon got as far as he has managed? It's not only beyond parody, beyond belief, it's beyond reason!
I might get hammered for this, but for many years I have worked with people wth learning disabilities, and most of them have a better grasp of the English language and levels of common sense, display a grasp of personal economics and have a sense of humour far in excess of the current "leader of the free world"

 

[CRI]

It took Trump less than 10 minutes to undermine his claim to be ‘the least racist person’

Yup, he asked a Black reporter if she as friends with the Congressional Black Caucus and could she set up a meeting with them for him.

Seems the CBC wrote to ask him for a meeting on 19th January, but he never replied. Ah well.

 

[CRI]

I'm trying to work out how, someone as boring, ignorant, thick and frankly unintelligible as the Buffoon got as far as he has managed? It's not only beyond parody, beyond belief, it's beyond reason!
I might get hammered for this, but for many years I have worked with people wth learning disabilities, and most of them have a better grasp of the English language and levels of common sense, display a grasp of personal economics and have a sense of humour far in excess of the current "leader of the free world"

Yup, I know. How can Alec Baldwin parody Trump any better than he does himself.

I know some of it's astroturfing, but there are quite a few people still defending him on social media - he's a strong leader, he's being honest, blah blah, the usual. How they do that without their noses growing by a foot a minute, I'll never know.

 

[Wookey]

I might get hammered for this, but for many years I have worked with people wth learning disabilities, and most of them have a better grasp of the English language and levels of common sense, display a grasp of personal economics and have a sense of humour far in excess of the current "leader of the free world"

I've got pot plants with a better grasp of English than Tweety McTangerine...

If I met this guy in the street and heard his thought-vomit, my internal monologue would be calling him a fake, an emotionally and intellectually subnormal chancer and, what's most annoying, really, really bad at hiding it.

 

[CRI]

Inside Donald Trump's White House Chaos

 

[Maltin]

I like the video clip in the link below with Trump getting called out on his bullshit about the size of his election margin being the biggest since Reagan and then trying to justify his claim by claiming it was actually the biggest republican victory and then having to flounder and say someone gave him false information and then not answering why anyone should trust him

No, Trump's electoral college win was not the biggest since Reagan

 

[stupid kid]

I like the video clip in the link below with Trump getting called out on his bullshit about the size of his election margin being the biggest since Reagan and then trying to justify his claim by claiming it was actually the biggest republican victory and then having to flounder and say someone gave him false information and then not answering why anyone should trust him

No, Trump's electoral college win was not the biggest since Reagan

And the right went off the deep end defending it. I read comments on Twitter and forums to the effect of "best press conference a president ever had", "Trump crushing it", "dominated CNN" etc.

He announced, by interrupting a question, that he had changed CNNs name from fake news to more fake news. I read reports that the reporters continued attempt to pin trump down was drowned out by laughter, but also that everyone laughing was friendly media and staff.

This hubris will not serve well if things go south.

Eta: but yeah I've read part of the transcript and just what the fuck. He's either a mastermind of trolling by throwing out obvious falsehoods while talking in gibberish like speech patterns, or he's losing his marbles.

 

[twentythreedom]

It's all literally true, though. You can't argue with any of the individual statements can you? Eh? Eh?

Are we sure he didn't say "nucular"

 

[CrabbedOne]

On The New Yorker BENJAMIN NETANYAHU’S ART OF AVOIDANCE

Or when Bibi met Trumpski. A pretty confused affair in which a very pro-Israeli Trump sent out mixed signals. All that's sure is there's gonna be a great big wonderful deal. Everybody gonna get along. Them Pals got hate in their hearts though. Not so many settlements. Hey you gonna love it... yada yada for the next four years.

Meanwhile artful Bibi appears to have finally torpedoed himself making deals for Kraut subs with interesting commission structures behind the IDF's back. Watch and learn Donald.

There's talk that the Septics have another clever plan to arrange a ME version of NATO where the Gulfies and their brave legions all get to hide behind the IDF in a mutual defence pact against Iran.

Israel has often been a backstairs ally to some Gulf powers but if I was an Israeli I'd be wondering what such an entangling alliance with erratically led and militarily ineffective powers brought them? I mean: the IDF taking Sanaa the next time the Houthis rocket the KSA no thanks. And isn't protecting the GCC's hydro-carbons the Americans' damn job? What's Israel all of a sudden: a charity? And who is this Trump schmuck? Isn't he the one always whining about Europeans not pulling their weight in NATO and it being a really bad deal for the US?

I suspect even in these changed times this idea might not exactly have the Arab Street out dancing in it neither. Last time the IDF and HA clashed seriously it wasn't Ehud Olmert's picture they were putting up.

 

[CrabbedOne]

...
The alliance would include countries such as Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates that are avowed enemies of Israel, as well as Egypt and Jordan, which have longstanding peace treaties with Israel, five officials from Arab countries involved in the discussions said. Other Arab countries could also join the alliance.

For the Arab countries involved, the alliance would have a NATO-style mutual-defense component under which an attack on one member would be treated as an attack on all, though details are still being worked out, the officials said.

The U.S. would offer military and intelligence support to the alliance, beyond the kind of limited backing it has been providing to a Saudi-led coalition fighting Iran-backed Houthi rebels in Yemen, the officials said. But neither the U.S. nor Israel would be part of the mutual-defense pact.

“They’ve been asking diplomatic missions in Washington if we’d be willing to join this force that has an Israeli component,” one Arab diplomat said. “Israel’s role would likely be intelligence sharing, not training or boots on the ground. They’d provide intelligence and targets. That’s what the Israelis are good at.”
...

I didn't think the Israelis would ever agree to a NATO like arrangement.

The big problem here is the most powerful military they want to commit to a mutual defence pact is the Egyptian one. Despite vast GCC bribes they've only agreed to a a very limited commitment in Yemen. An Egyptian army got badly mauled there in the 60s. Cairo also seems to be leaning towards supporting the regime in Syria.

I note its also caveated with GCC countries wanting concession from Israel on settlements and Trump not moving the US Embassy to Jerusalem. Likely to amount to little beyond the coalition that exists for Yemen.

What's behind this was probably Flynn & Mattis cooking up a rational for a bigger US involvement in the ill conceived war in Yemen. The idea that that distracting conflict would somehow create a regional force to balance Iran is not new. The Saudis have had that pipe dream for years.

 

[Miss Caphat]

I had a suspicion a few months back that Obama knew something...that some crucial information had been conveyed to him at some point after the election but before the inauguration. His demeanor seemed to change drastically almost overnight from deeply concerned and somewhat combative about Trump to "hey, whatever, he's going to be our president so let's work with him" ...it seemed fishy to me at that point and I wondered about the reasons for this shift.

I think we may be realizing what that was and why he's been so able to move on to some pretty hardcore relaxation, by the looks of things.

 

[Wookey]

I had a suspicion a few months back that Obama knew something...that some crucial information had been conveyed to him at some point after the election but before the inauguration. His demeanor seemed to change drastically almost overnight from deeply concerned and somewhat combative about Trump to "hey, whatever, he's going to be our president so let's work with him" ...it seemed fishy to me at that point and I wondered about the reasons for this shift.

I think we may be realizing what that was and why he's been so able to move on to some pretty hardcore relaxation, by the looks of things.

I haven't realised yet! What did he learn?

 

[Miss Caphat]

I think maybe you are.

I certainly agree that there is a very positive side to the internet - the wealth of information available.

But the easy communication is a double-edged sword. And I believe that the negative side of the internet is slowly causing irreparable harm to the society and the culture.

I agree completely. I don't know what it will take for people to realize that just because you can say (write) something and get a response, it doesn't mean that you should, or that means you should have the right to. Free speech has its place, but nobody is owed a platform to say whatever toxic, damaging shit they can come up with.
This seems like a very simple fact, but one that is escaping huge numbers of people.

 

[Miss Caphat]

I haven't realised yet! What did he learn?

All the Russian communications and such.

 

[Wookey]

All the Russian communications and such.

Ah, of course. Thanks babe.