Politicians pivot, criminals don’t. If you stop viewing him through the lens of an unconventional politician it all becomes very clear and predictable….
Voters shifted bc of Trump's cratering popularity but they're also quite aware and sick of Republican Senators relinquishing all their responsibility to their voters. We've had enough even those that "thought he'd be different."
As far as DJT morphing into any kind of sane leader, one whose toxic fumes doesn't kill coal mine canaries- to exploit the cliched phrase - don't hold your breath. That's not news to anyone here, of course. Because Donald Trump thinks that, within him, Roy Cohn lives. His criminally convicted lawyer/mentor. I think he must have a secret chapel in the WH, behind a movable bookshelf, where he goes to pray to Roy for guidance. At how to be the president who'd rather die on the field in his chest plate, before admitting he could help himself by doing a few things differently. Like things for the people, in the many ways Andrew suggests.
No, he's going to pivot to even worse than we've ever seen. We will suffer, but there does exist a field of ashes. Where after a few fitful attempts to fly, there is a Phoenix. Feels like a mythic tale worth believing in right now. Could be ours, when we exercise our power to fly him straight back to MAL, in his Corruption Airlines jet from Qatar. And with luck, maybe not too long from now.
Yes, we've now seen the post-election pivot, and it's not toward sanity:
• The Justice Department is going full bore on Tulsi Gabbard's conspiracy theory that a deep state cabal led by Obama criminally went after Trump. It's not just threatening talk. They're filing against John Brennan in (where else) Florida and recruiting prosecutors.
• Trump is demanding the new stadium for the Washington Commanders be named after him, or he'll cancel the funding approved by the Biden administration.
• The US Mint is being pressured to issue a one dollar coin with images of Trump on both sides. The "tails" side showing him with fist in the air under the words "Fight Fight Fight" around the edge.
• The real kicker, Trump is demanding states that have distributed SNAP benefits during the shutdown take the money back, or he'll cut all their federal funding. He wants to force states to actively take the food out of malnourished kids' mouths.
On Sam Stein's question in Cheap Shots, I fully expect the Gorsuch's of the Supreme Court to change their tune after Tuesday's landslide. Gorsuch and his ilk get to where they are not by having any convictions, but by being outstanding at reading early which way the wind is changing. I have run into these types often enough before (boomer here) and I have always lost big time in popularity stakes when challenging them one-on-one. Expect the Supreme Court to begin ruling as if they are no longer scared to death of what the President thinks, because that is the lesson we may all take from Tuesday. After all, the Gorsuch's are smart enough. Just have no integrity.
Andrew, seem to be wishing for these political changes from Trump. Not me. We have a bit of momentum for the first time in living memory. Keep the charge going. Don't let the Trumpians get anyone back. Every single district in Virginia moved against Trump. This indicates that for the first time we believe that it is not only the thinking and semi-thinking rejecting Trump, but it is also the Cletus's in Podunk County. While the country will never be the same (too much damage is already done), I am still hopeful of a future when we are debating the relative merits of presidential candidates Zohran Mamdani and Sarah Longwell, not of Marjorie Taylor-Green and Barron Trump.
Frankly I HOPE he won't make the changes suggested. Saner? I doubt that will ever be the case. Places I'd like to see Trump: Out of office, in a pine box, on a marble slab. One place I never want to see him: Laying in State in the Capitol!
I don’t know. I just remember in Trump’s first term when he gave a speech that didn’t meander off topic too much or made a decision that wasn’t batshit crazy (a technical term), various people declared that he was finally “acting presidential.” That only lasted as long as the next time he opened his mouth or trashed another norm. The chances of him making an about face in his actions going forward are extremely slim. Besides, who would believe it could last?
Not sure why Mr. Eggers thinks that Trump cares about doing things that are popular or that actually help anyone but his "friends" i.e., people who give him money, awards or gold gifts. He only cares about himself and money with hurting people who he hates or who oppose him a very distant third.
The shutdown gives him more power than ever with the bonus that there's no vote on releasing the Epstein Files. The cosplay Border Patrol/ICE raid and prisoner videos are literally made for Trump to see as are all of the sycophantic slobbering praise by his toadies in every interview. He loves tariffs because he alone wields them and can make foreign leaders kneel down and kiss his ass to gain his forbearance until he comes back with a new demand tomorrow. He does not care about regaining popularity for the 2028 election because he is confident that he can rig it or simply block anyone else from winning.
Please stop indulging even a fantasy that Trump is in any way normal like any other president or American politician. He no longer cares about being popular outside of his shrinking circle. He's now the big bully with his own police force, his own military and his own Supreme Court and he will not let anyone stand in his way. He will not leave voluntarily even if that means taking the whole world down with him. If you haven't figured that out by now, you haven't been paying attention.
Saner T. Rump? Saner T. Rump. Nope, cannot go there. Confidence tricksters tend to double down as they see their empires crumble. Next phase usually includes the deployment of golden parachutes and hordes of rats scuttling down the mooring lines. Ready for Phase II? Keep up the pressure. Think I will grab beer and head for the sofa to watch the show.
He knew enough about Fuentes to say: “I disagree with and even abhor things that Nick Fuentes says."
His later denial sounds much like Trump's claim that he hardly knew anything about Project 2025 - but he somehow knew it had some bad and ridiculous things in it.
Then Kevin Roberts, that pious Christian, praised Trump's strategic lie about it, offering up a logically incoherent and morally obtuse rationale.
It would be very hard to be a Trump apologist without having a high level of comfort with his conspicuous dishonesty - and seeing some advantage in his casual attitude toward truth.
In the short term Trump remaining Trump and ignoring the sane route will be painful, but long term it's the only way out of this insanity. We just have to figure out how to make sure it never happens again. That's the harder part.
Politicians pivot, criminals don’t. If you stop viewing him through the lens of an unconventional politician it all becomes very clear and predictable….
Voters shifted bc of Trump's cratering popularity but they're also quite aware and sick of Republican Senators relinquishing all their responsibility to their voters. We've had enough even those that "thought he'd be different."
As far as DJT morphing into any kind of sane leader, one whose toxic fumes doesn't kill coal mine canaries- to exploit the cliched phrase - don't hold your breath. That's not news to anyone here, of course. Because Donald Trump thinks that, within him, Roy Cohn lives. His criminally convicted lawyer/mentor. I think he must have a secret chapel in the WH, behind a movable bookshelf, where he goes to pray to Roy for guidance. At how to be the president who'd rather die on the field in his chest plate, before admitting he could help himself by doing a few things differently. Like things for the people, in the many ways Andrew suggests.
No, he's going to pivot to even worse than we've ever seen. We will suffer, but there does exist a field of ashes. Where after a few fitful attempts to fly, there is a Phoenix. Feels like a mythic tale worth believing in right now. Could be ours, when we exercise our power to fly him straight back to MAL, in his Corruption Airlines jet from Qatar. And with luck, maybe not too long from now.
Yes, we've now seen the post-election pivot, and it's not toward sanity:
• The Justice Department is going full bore on Tulsi Gabbard's conspiracy theory that a deep state cabal led by Obama criminally went after Trump. It's not just threatening talk. They're filing against John Brennan in (where else) Florida and recruiting prosecutors.
• Trump is demanding the new stadium for the Washington Commanders be named after him, or he'll cancel the funding approved by the Biden administration.
• The US Mint is being pressured to issue a one dollar coin with images of Trump on both sides. The "tails" side showing him with fist in the air under the words "Fight Fight Fight" around the edge.
• The real kicker, Trump is demanding states that have distributed SNAP benefits during the shutdown take the money back, or he'll cut all their federal funding. He wants to force states to actively take the food out of malnourished kids' mouths.
On Sam Stein's question in Cheap Shots, I fully expect the Gorsuch's of the Supreme Court to change their tune after Tuesday's landslide. Gorsuch and his ilk get to where they are not by having any convictions, but by being outstanding at reading early which way the wind is changing. I have run into these types often enough before (boomer here) and I have always lost big time in popularity stakes when challenging them one-on-one. Expect the Supreme Court to begin ruling as if they are no longer scared to death of what the President thinks, because that is the lesson we may all take from Tuesday. After all, the Gorsuch's are smart enough. Just have no integrity.
Andrew, seem to be wishing for these political changes from Trump. Not me. We have a bit of momentum for the first time in living memory. Keep the charge going. Don't let the Trumpians get anyone back. Every single district in Virginia moved against Trump. This indicates that for the first time we believe that it is not only the thinking and semi-thinking rejecting Trump, but it is also the Cletus's in Podunk County. While the country will never be the same (too much damage is already done), I am still hopeful of a future when we are debating the relative merits of presidential candidates Zohran Mamdani and Sarah Longwell, not of Marjorie Taylor-Green and Barron Trump.
Frankly I HOPE he won't make the changes suggested. Saner? I doubt that will ever be the case. Places I'd like to see Trump: Out of office, in a pine box, on a marble slab. One place I never want to see him: Laying in State in the Capitol!
Something is happening and you don't know what it is, do you, Mr Johnson?
OK, "pushing the pillow of tariffs down ever harder on the face of the economy" made me LOL!
I mean, I knew FIFA was corrupt to the bone but I still expected them to protect the brand. Doesn't most of Europe hate Trump?
I don’t know. I just remember in Trump’s first term when he gave a speech that didn’t meander off topic too much or made a decision that wasn’t batshit crazy (a technical term), various people declared that he was finally “acting presidential.” That only lasted as long as the next time he opened his mouth or trashed another norm. The chances of him making an about face in his actions going forward are extremely slim. Besides, who would believe it could last?
Not sure why Mr. Eggers thinks that Trump cares about doing things that are popular or that actually help anyone but his "friends" i.e., people who give him money, awards or gold gifts. He only cares about himself and money with hurting people who he hates or who oppose him a very distant third.
The shutdown gives him more power than ever with the bonus that there's no vote on releasing the Epstein Files. The cosplay Border Patrol/ICE raid and prisoner videos are literally made for Trump to see as are all of the sycophantic slobbering praise by his toadies in every interview. He loves tariffs because he alone wields them and can make foreign leaders kneel down and kiss his ass to gain his forbearance until he comes back with a new demand tomorrow. He does not care about regaining popularity for the 2028 election because he is confident that he can rig it or simply block anyone else from winning.
Please stop indulging even a fantasy that Trump is in any way normal like any other president or American politician. He no longer cares about being popular outside of his shrinking circle. He's now the big bully with his own police force, his own military and his own Supreme Court and he will not let anyone stand in his way. He will not leave voluntarily even if that means taking the whole world down with him. If you haven't figured that out by now, you haven't been paying attention.
Saner T. Rump? Saner T. Rump. Nope, cannot go there. Confidence tricksters tend to double down as they see their empires crumble. Next phase usually includes the deployment of golden parachutes and hordes of rats scuttling down the mooring lines. Ready for Phase II? Keep up the pressure. Think I will grab beer and head for the sofa to watch the show.
FIFA? Let's go with FAFO PEACE PRIZE
Kevin Roberts claiming to not know much about Nick Fuentes is either a liar or an idiot. I vote for liar.
He's taken lessons from Mike Johnson.
He knew enough about Fuentes to say: “I disagree with and even abhor things that Nick Fuentes says."
His later denial sounds much like Trump's claim that he hardly knew anything about Project 2025 - but he somehow knew it had some bad and ridiculous things in it.
Then Kevin Roberts, that pious Christian, praised Trump's strategic lie about it, offering up a logically incoherent and morally obtuse rationale.
It would be very hard to be a Trump apologist without having a high level of comfort with his conspicuous dishonesty - and seeing some advantage in his casual attitude toward truth.
“…pushing the pillow of tariffs down ever harder on the face of the economy…” is an all time sentence 👌
In the short term Trump remaining Trump and ignoring the sane route will be painful, but long term it's the only way out of this insanity. We just have to figure out how to make sure it never happens again. That's the harder part.