[Bones McCoy]

Principles are an impediment - when you're a con artist.

[Watchman]

Trouble is, it’s other people’s principles, as I don’t have any

[Bones McCoy]

Principles are an impediment - when you're a con artist.

And if you don't like them, he has others.

[Crabcakes]

What it means is that no one went broke underestimating the gullibilty of the American public.
A man once put rocks in paper bags, called them a Pet Rock and sold them for a Dollar each. He became a millionaire.

What it also means is that anyone globally can now effectively give money to Trump via his memecoin in exchange for ‘favours’.

It’s so blatant, I almost admire it.

[kreuzberger]

The President-elect is literally doing a pump and dump right before our eyes and $trump seems to have moved more quickly than the press could comprehend.

It is financial rape, and whilst that sounds like it was his idea, I very much doubt that it was.

[kreuzberger]

Double post

[Youngian]

Assuming this isn't a fake video, its doubtful Musk knows anything about voting computers let alone rigging an election.
Just Trump messing with heads and watching his seal audience clap at anything.

https://x.com/David_Leavitt/status/1881 ... pbU9Q&s=19

[Watchman]

I’ll be generous and say that Trump, in his usual crack-handed way, was saying the he won without “rigged” vote counting machines, because that’s how Biden won

[Crabcakes]

Pretty much the sole reason I’m convinced Trump didn’t cheat with the actual machines is because Musk doesn’t know jack shit.

[Bones McCoy]

And never forget that plenty of Dems are conspiracy following, uninformed dream chasers.
Theirs are just less evil aligned than the Reps.

[Crabcakes]

So, predictions for the next 4 years of hilarity:

1. Trump does not make it through the full term. Maybe 2 years before dementia or another health issue takes him out. Vance will be the 48th president before the next election. If this happens before the mid-terms, the GOP infighting could potentially lose them both house and senate.
2a. Musk probably won’t make it to the end of 2025 as his buddy. There will be a falling out about something, because you can’t have 2 egos that big in a room. Plus Thiel will be applying pressure via Vance to get him out of the way as an influence.
2b. If Musk does last by simply avoiding clash issues and keeping the cash coming, he will try and pull some alpha tech bro shit on some/all of the other tech types to try and drive people to his hellsite by force, and in doing so make some powerful enemies who will suddenly be really interested in oversight and monopolies law.
3. Some really bad shit will happen - stupid tariffs, ICE raids, riots, inept responses to federal disasters, but the worst hit by it will be ordinary Americans. What this will do is immediately remind people how fucking desperate they were to be rid of Trump the first time on the one hand, and make it all the harder to pretend it *isn’t* Trump and the GOP this time given they have the house, senate and presidency. This is effectively their ‘Boris’ moment.

[Andy McDandy]

I hope so. I'm reminded that in his last incumbency he achieved very little, mainly due to his laziness and ineptitude (and those of the people around him). He seems to have discovered presidential decrees now, which goes against his states' rights message, but we know now that he has no principles aside from personal satiation.

[Youngian]

Trump is appointing political lap dogs to head up the institutions buy those below them that keep the cogs running and know their shit will still serve the constitution not Donald J Trump. So they'll be sacked and replaced with loopy Maga half wits. Maybe not Hulk Hogan or Lauren Broebart becoming a deputy director of the diplomatic service or the CIA but not far off.
Even before the mid-terms global allies could be planning to blank the US rather than lavish Trump with the Danegeld he demands. Not a place many Republicans in Congress want to see Uncle Sam in.

[Youngian]

Remember after Corbyn's second leadership victory or Johnson's GE2019 majority saying 'he has a clear mandate and it might not turn out to be a total shit show?' Me neither.

[Abernathy]

Remember after Corbyn's second leadership victory or Johnson's GE2019 majority saying 'he has a clear mandate and it might not turn out to be a total shit show? Me neither.

[Abernathy]

Remember after Corbyn's second leadership victory or Johnson's GE2019 majority saying 'he has a clear mandate and it might not turn out to be a total shit show? Me neither.

That is such a good point. After Corbyn first won the leadership, I was at least prepared to give him the benefit of the doubt, but it didn't take long for him to demonstrate that he really was a total dud of a leader, and I wanted him gone long before Owen Smith's challenge. I certainly didn't think it'd all be fine. I just resigned myself to the fact that he'd be gone after he inevitably led the party to a massive election defeat. It took a bit longer though, thanks to Theresa May.

[Abernathy]

Just a short observation of the tragic, tragic irony that the crooked felon Trump is being inaugurated on Martin Luther King Day.

[RedSparrows]

The same Martin Luther King whom is a regular target of denigration from the alt-right for 'being divisive and not that significant [being an uppity black dude fighting for what is right]'.

I'm curious, in the worst way, as to how bad racial vigilantism et al will be.

[Andy McDandy]

Or co-opted in that "Jo Cox stood for freedom of speech so any attempt to criticise my fascist burblings is wrong". MLK said he wanted people to be judged equally, so when you tell me my harmless cross burning is in some way offensive, that's just as bad as racism and that's literally how Hitler started.

[Abernathy]

Having a gander on the tellybox. Melania Trump seems to be doing a quite uncanny impersonation of Clint Eastwood in A Fistful of Dollars.