Bear Pit: now the sole domicile of politics at LuLa

[digitaldog]

Obviously Trump isn't dreaming up all these things himself.

He's had a lot of help during the Biden years. Project 2025 is an example.

[Frans Waterlander]

He's had a lot of help during the Biden years. Project 2025 is an example.

Excerpt from Project 2025:
"...put America back on track, including:
Secure the border, finish building the wall, and deport illegal aliens
De-weaponize the Federal Government by increasing accountability and oversight of the FBI and DOJ
Unleash American energy production to reduce energy prices
Cut the growth of government spending to reduce inflation
Make federal bureaucrats more accountable to the democratically elected President and Congress
Improve education by moving control and funding of education from DC bureaucrats directly to parents and state and local governments
Ban biological males from competing in women' s sports"

Oh yes, that's really bad.

[Robert Roaldi]

Excerpt from Project 2025:
"...put America back on track, including:
Secure the border, finish building the wall, and deport illegal aliens
De-weaponize the Federal Government by increasing accountability and oversight of the FBI and DOJ
Unleash American energy production to reduce energy prices
Cut the growth of government spending to reduce inflation
Make federal bureaucrats more accountable to the democratically elected President and Congress
Improve education by moving control and funding of education from DC bureaucrats directly to parents and state and local governments
Ban biological males from competing in women' s sports"

Oh yes, that's really bad.

Thanks for that. But you know, it's dead easy to write mission statements. Even I helped on one and that company went belly-up years ago. Here's a short 2 minute lesson on how to do so https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f1Xn0EUrQg0.

The old Soviet Union had a great sounding constitution. Mind you, so does the USA but it didn't prevent slavery, did it. You had to come up with a special amendment for that. All I'm saying is that talk is cheap.

What does Project 2025 say about eating pet dogs? Does it address that?

Say, so long as we're here, do you think Ukraine started the war?

Did you buy any of Trump's "meme coins"? Do you recommend them as an investment?

I was wondering something else that you might be able to help me with. After Musk finishes firing everyone in the civil service, is he going to Mars then? He promised to leave years ago, what's the holdup.

Are you comfortable with the idea that Musk has access to confidential government data given that he's a major government contractor? Is this how the "free market" should work, do you think?

I read this morning that the USA has not sent flu data to WHO for their annual flu surveys that aid in developing flu shots for next season. Does Project 2025 not "believe" in the germ theory of disease?

[digitaldog]

Oh yes, that's really bad.

How it is done IS really bad. But I don't expect you to have the ability to connect the dots in that concept while ignoring the rest of this awful list of want bumps.
What the orange fans ignore:

What is Project 2025?
It’s a wish list of right-wing policies, reflecting an extreme white Christian nationalist ideology, written by the Heritage Foundation and more than 100 other conservative groups as a blueprint for a potential conservative administration. It is an explicit effort to further empower the presidency, embed ideologues in nonpartisan civil service, and enable the executive branch to unravel the civil rights movement’s gains over the last seven decades.
https://civilrights.org/project2025/

Trump’s Project 2025 May Not Be What It Seemed. It’s Worse.
https://www.nytimes.com/2024/12/04/opinion/trump-patel-vought-project-2025.html

Proposals from Project 2025, discussed in detail throughout this guide, that they claim could be implemented through executive branch action alone — so without new legislation — include:
Cut overtime protections for 4.3 million workers
Stop efforts to lower prescription drug prices
Limit access to food assistance, which an average of more than 40 million people in 21.6 million households rely on monthly
Eliminate the Head Start early education program, which serves over 1 million children annually
Cut American Rescue Plan (ARP) programs that have created or saved 220,000 jobs
Restrict access to medication abortion
Push more of the 33 million people enrolled in Medicare towards Medicare Advantage and other worse, private options
Expose the 368,000 children in foster care to risk of increased discrimination
Deny students in 25 states and Washington, D.C. access to student loans because their state provides in-state tuition to undocumented immigrants
Roll back civil rights protections across multiple fronts, including cutting diversity, equity, and inclusion-related (DEI) programs and LGBTQ+ rights in health care, education, and workplaces.
https://democracyforward.org/the-peoples-guide-to-project-2025/

Even when people disregard them, the value of facts and evidence remains undeniable. While data can be fact-checked and verified, this author acknowledges that one reader’s confirmation bias can influence the acceptance of facts. This is why, in this forum, he is not taken seriously universally!

[digitaldog]

DOGE humor for today:

[Robert Roaldi]

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Cut overtime protections for 4.3 million workers
Stop efforts to lower prescription drug prices
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Interesting objectives. The Christian Taliban seems to align with the elites. Plus ca change...

[Robert Roaldi]

I see the FBI is in good hands now. I'm sure that organized crime, bikers, crypto grifters and Fintech con men are quaking in their boots. There's a new law man in town. Is DOGE going to layoff FBI staff?

All I ask is can you find a way to stop your illegal drug dealers from sending their damn fentanyl to Canada.

Also, where did Hunter's hard drive end up?

[Robert Roaldi]

"Meanwhile the oligarchs are looting the country." ,
'Splain that, Lucy.

Here's one article that starts to answer that, https://jacobin.com/2025/02/musk-doge-conflicts-interest-cfpb. You are free to use Google to search for others. Do your own research.

[Robert Roaldi]

My extremely cynical retired tax accountant cousin offered this tongue-in-cheek reason why many politicians are voting to ban mRNA vaccines. He figures they're just ticked off that Big Pharma didn't bribe them enough.

That may sound far-fetched but one week ago how many people would have guessed that Trump would side with Putin against Ukraine and western Europe?

[digitaldog]

You are free to use Google to search for others. Do your own research.

Let's help him: In Google, type F, then O, then X. Ignore the text "News" that's absurd. 

[Robert Roaldi]

This is about an episode of Trevor Noah’s What Now podcast. It is a really interesting interview with Robert Putnam, a social science researcher who has studied the effects of social isolation for decades. He wrote a book titled Bowling for One about the degradation of social life in the USA. People no longer join clubs and speak to each other in person. There is a surprising amount of statistical data about these issues, it’s not all fairy dust. He’s also an interesting speaker.

https://www.iheart.com/podcast/1319-what-now-with-trevor-noah-126066991/episode/join-or-die-with-robert-putnam-260492699/

The podcast is available on many platforms including video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=23SwzXdJQDg

[Robert Roaldi]

Came across this essay on Substack written by an Timothy Snider, an American on a train in Ukraine. (Audio is also available.) He describes some of the realities of daily life there.https://snyder.substack.com/p/crossing-a-line-audio-and-text

[Robert Roaldi]

I saw some bullshit online about Trump wanting to remove nuclear weapons everywhere. Do you there is anyone on earth who believes that he intends to abide by this himself? I might take this as a clear sign that other countries should develop nuclear weapons to protect against US/Russia aggression, or at least align themselves with countries that have them.

I am not sure that this insanity will end when Trump does.

Ok, so let me ask, would anyone now be surprised if Trump declared marshal law under some pretext and cancelled elections? I would not be at all surprised. He just fired the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs. Let's see who he replaces him with. He has his toadies everywhere else that matters.

I saw today that some GOP politicians were lambasted at town hall meetings. I predict that the outcome of this will be the cancellation of future town hall meetings.

I thought that Trump closing the JFK library was a nice touch.

Isn't it a bit unseemly for a billionaire to brag about firing people by brandishing a chain saw? If you want to trim fat, then trim fat, don't take glee in tossing people into the street. Whatever he is trying to fix was not caused by them. Seems to me the criminal cabal running the USA is deliberately taunting the population to rebel, be a good excuse to declare marshal law.

[Robert Roaldi]

This is a really interesting introductory chapter to Douglas Rushkoff's book Survival of the Richest, https://www.google.ca/books/edition/Survival_of_the_Richest_Escape_Fantasies/v_NhEAAAQBAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&pg=PT6&printsec=frontcover. In it he tells about an encounter with some silicone valley money men who were planning how to run their desert compounds and were seeking his advice as a sociologist. Their concerns are illuminating and it's worth reading. I read most of the rest of the book a few years ago but too much time has passed and I don't remember enough to tell you about that. The introductory chapter is disturbing enough. I remember that one of their concerns was how to guarantee the loyalty of their bodyguards when money doesn't mean anything anymore. Another way to ask that question is what is the relevance of tech bro venture capitalists after the apocalypse, that is, why would anyone take orders from them anymore. It's a big 'what if' discussion.

[digitaldog]

Trump's idea of History, yeah, that seems right:

[kers]

The new threat to the Ukraine is ; give us 50% of the minerals or we (Musk) stop your starlink internet connection.
Vital for the Ukraine at this point.

[Robert Roaldi]

The new threat to the Ukraine is ; give us 50% of the minerals or we (Musk) stop your starlink internet connection.
Vital for the Ukraine at this point.

Disgusting. At what point in this death spiral do countries start thinking about cutting off diplomatic relations with the USA, recalling ambassadors, expulsion of diplomats, closing borders, imposing sanctions? Do we wait till the USA starts supplying arms to Russia, is that the red line?

Even if Trump's heart gives out tomorrow, the rest of the crazies will still be around. It's beginning to look like the administration is deliberately ruining the economy. The rich can withstand any downturn, but others cannot. Maybe it suits the oligarchs' purpose to have an impoverished citizenry with bad health care, no jobs, no vaccines, no future etc. When people are desperate you can get them to do anything. Before all this insanity started, the US economy was doing well, there was no need for any of this, it's all self-induced. Trans people were not ruining the USA.

We outside the USA have been awash in American propaganda for years about "freedom" and "rugged individualism" and then we watch that repulsive spectacle of the governors bending the knee to Trump while only one lady has the fortitude to tell him to eff off. Nobody applauded, did they. The most pathetic bunch of gutless weenies ever, I hope they have a good supply of lube.

The conspiracy theories about Trump being Putin's bitch are maybe looking not so crazy at this point. What does QAnon think of that, btw. We don't seem to be hearing much about them anymore, wonder where they went.

Taking three years to get Ukraine to knuckle under isn't exactly a rip-roaring success though. Putin is no Alexander the Great, is he. Hard to imagine the US military doing much better under Trump/Musk/Hegseth. 

I'm being extremely dark, I know. If someone had told you a month ago that Trump would have said to a bunch of governors "I am the law", would you have believed that prediction. The evidence is in, no one should be surprised about anything at this point. Trump is openly violating everything the US has pretended to stand for.

[Rob C]

“Trump is openly violating everything that the US has pretended to stand for.”

I guess that when a country finds itself so divided into opposing factions that can’t even bear to speak with one another, it becomes easy for a head honcho to do the classical dance and conquer. Frankly, there appears no solution, no way of bringing this new, second-time-around leader under the control of the rules of law. He kinda saw to that when he stacked the Supreme Court in his favour, and as there appears to be no interest in doing so from within his own party, it’s gonna be a miracle if the country is freed of its elected time-bomb any time soon. A terrible time to be an American. I remember hearing that phrase repeated often, just a fistful of years ago.

It seems that Germany has, today, finally elected another fairly rightish party. Well, they imported thousands of Turks and southern Europeans, too, in order to fill the factories, do the lesser jobs, echoing immediate post-war Britain, if from different sources. Now, decades later, both these countries find themselves facing the wholesale change of their traditional national identity, one of the leading factors for Brexit, itself nor exactly any roaring success for anyone but the bureaucrats issuing travel forms nobody had needed whilst members of the European Community. If life has taught us anything, it’s that quick fixes have short lives.

I think of the idea that I, as a young person, used to hold about America: it was imagined as the place where all it took to reach the top was talent and hard work, the natural result being success. That idealistic notion, today, seems absurd. Mafia Rules seem far more appropriate. Maybe it was ever so; I just didn’t have the cynicism to think that way. The trouble is, there are no good alternatives, neither to the left, in the centre nor on the right. All of them are in it for themselves, the general population being nothing more but the route to getting the job: sell whichever “policy” you think will convince the population that you are the least bad choice.

[Frans Waterlander]

And more TDS in full view.

[Robert Roaldi]

And more TDS in full view.

Well then, perhaps you can answer this.

What is it that Putin/Russia can provide Trump/USA that could not be more easily obtained from trade with dozens of other friendly countries that would be all too happy to do business with the USA, as they have done for years, to everyone's mutual benefit? I think I understand what Putin hopes to get out of the relationship, but what does Trump get out of it?