They had a judicial warrant to seize the Venezuelan tanker. Now, just show us the judicial warrants to blow up the drug boats so we can move on to other important issues...like the Epstein files.
Justin, I hope you’re not suggesting that blowing up boats and killing people without evidence is not an important issue? Do I misunderstand your note?
Today the Trump administration asked the ICC to not prosecute Trump under the threat of sanctions. Seems like strong evidence that even the administration knows that what it’s doing is illegal. While he is protected from domestic prosecution thanks to the Supreme Court, I imagine he has a significant fear of facing arrest and prosecution should he travel overseas after his Presidency. Observing all of this, it’s hard not to laugh at the ludicrous threat to prosecute Democrats for telling troops NOT to follow illegal orders.
I believe if he sets foot in a signatory country, he can be detained. Of course hopefully someone more familiar with the ICC will either confirm or correct my comment.
Richard, I dream that someday these cretins misstep, land on ICC-sanctioned ground, and get picked up and prosecuted. I know it is a long shot, but I can dream.
While we aren’t signatories, dozens of other countries are. Including countries where Trump owns property. My point was specifically about Trump being arrested and tried overseas.
He will be caught between a rock and a hard place if he lives to finish his term. If he goes to some country for refuge, he runs the risk of facing international courts, but if he stays in the US, then his immunity isn't viable anymore and he faces national courts. What is a crook supposed to do?
I don't feel a bit sorry for those farmers, about 80 or so % voted for Trump. Trump was very clear during the campaign he was going the tariff route. And it wasn't even their first rodeo - the farmers went through this in Trump 1.0.
And yet they say "I didn't vote for this!" Oh, yes you did. you knew what was coming and you pulled the lever for him anyway. You don't get to escape responsibility for the damage you helped inflict on the country by saying "No, it wasn't me!" Maybe you just are sorry you are experiencing some of the pain you were willing to inflict on others.
Absolutely. WAPO sent reporters into North Carolina to talk with farmers in the spring. Much was made of them saying, I didn’t vote for him.” My follow up question would have been, “Then who did you vote for?” Wasn’t asked in the article. I did ask it in the comments, but no one replied.
They could have voted for Harris or another candidate. A lot of people voted for Nixon in 1972 to “teach McGovern a lesson.” That worked out beautifully. If you don’t approve of a candidate vote for the other candidate. That teaches the lesson.
They don't care as long as they get their trumpian welfare, deny the sick healthcare, the poor assistance, and the hungry food. Deny allowing the LGBTQ+ community to live their lives how they want. They absolutely love ICE scumbags going after people of color because it gets them off better than porn. As long as the magat regime hates the same people they do, they're happier than a pig in shit.
Approval ratings falling from 42% to 36% is not a slight decline. That’s a 15% decking by my calculation. What is the AP talking about? That’s a huge decline in popularity.
They’re just riding along on a “Snow White” themed float in the Drumpf parade! I’m not sure which one of the seven dwarfs are depicted by the float, but I think it is supposed to be “Sleepy” - Karoline Leavitt is dressed as Snow White - instead of throwing flowers she just spits on parade viewers as the float ambulates along
Bless that judges heart. Didn’t the White House appeal to John Robert’s and the Supreme’s? It seems like an issue they would take up under “unitary executive” theory….
That’s Right! They must be permanently “walking on eggshells” around him. BTW - are they still banned from White House Press Briefings as punishment for their insult??
I studied and did polling back in the day when I was a PhD candidate.
What you are looking at are answers to different questions. The overall approval rating is mathematically and structurally (in the poll) unrelated to the distinct policy questions. They did not look at the policy answers/responses and run some math to get the overall rating.
The overall rating is, in a sense, the answer to the question do you like Trump. Keep in mind that the whole trump thing is more akin in many respects to a cult than to attitudes about a normal politician. Because of that cult aspect and because the answers to the question are essentially identarian and partisan, the overall rating is bound to be higher. I would actually be surprised if it WASN'T higher.
A partisan might think that Trump and his policies are massives PoS's, BUT it is MY side's PoS--that Other side would be even worse!! The answer to the question always, to a degree, has entrained in it the imagination of the alternative. This guy is bad, but that black communist woke woman would have been absolutely horrible.
Plus, if you share the guy's (displayed) beliefs, biases, attitudes--despite disagreeing with the specific practices--he can be quite likeable. Which (to my mind) does not say good things about you or your ability to think critically.
The other questions are more specific and focused and you are likely to get meaningful answers.
So….the respondents hate the economy, hate cost of living, hate the job market, are entirely pessimistic on the direction of the country- but they love them some bigotry, imprisonment without charge and deportation without due process!! Am I right?
You got it. We all want our pony... and we also want our pony to shit on other people. And if we can't have the pony -- as long as there IS a pony and it's defecating on someone else -- that's good enough!
They're his fans alright. So they can never disapprove of the man himself. They find it far easier to respond with disapproval on policy issues. Sort of like fans of a rock star. They may have problems with his most recent album, but they remain fans of the star.
Gallup had Trump at 36%. Almost all the polls have Trump higher than that. His average is 43.9%. It's important that we don't lie to ourselves. Trump is much lower than the overal approval rate when you look at individual issues. That is probably what is most signficant.
I'm generally not a big fan of opinion polls. They make for some tasty eye candy, but ultimately do not have much of a real world impact in this era of tribalism, especially on this administration, which routinely ignores them or debases them with the slightest of dismissals ("fake news," "Democrat poll," etc.).
Still, connect enough dots and a line begins to emerge. Connect enough lines and an image appears. It is increasingly a personal affront that That Man tells us that he knows better than we do about the economy and Affordability when he never has had to live on a budget in his entire life. His hubris in giving himself an A++++++ while the rest of us not named Donor Class are struggling to reach a grade of C- for our efforts to keep up is as remarkable for the tone-deafness of it as much as the intensely childlike nature of his reasoning and behavior. Each day the bus is being driven a little closer to the cliff. Those who empowered him feel too scared to seize the wheel before they take the plunge like the rest of us in the back. They seem to lack the ability to connect dots and see the picture. What could go wrong?
Those polls feel good. But not so much when we realize that they won't force the hand of the administration and its lackeys who simply refuse to change and evolve. The discontent of farmers and others who voted against their own best interests won't matter if they keep electing the same clowns who got us into this mess in the first place. And they have another three years to marinate in the toxic broth they created while the rest of us get cooked. Ho ho ho from Santa Don and happy holidays, if you can find the silver lining to it all.
Polls don't matter, but elections do. We all have to protect the midterm elections from the many cheat codes the Republicans will throw at us. They have already gone to court to protect the Texas redistricting, and now are going to court to fight the California redistricting. Also, there are many local and statewide elections happening before November that can help drive MAGA out of our communities and state legislatures. The People are waking up.
We need a new sign for maga. And anti-maga movement. I feel sorry for Texas women, if I lived there, I'd move if i were in childbearing years.
Because now that they are in office, they aren't doing anything to help the people, the only people happy right now already have money and are wealthy. Maga is trying to truly destroy our country and we need to get control of the house and senate and impeach this miserable president and his entire cabinet of racist liars with him.
The American people need a real leader, a good man or woman with morals. These people in the trump admin are sorry excuses for people. I watch bratty Karoline lie and lie and get nasty with reporters. I do not know how some of them hold their tongue, I am quite sure I'd punch her in the face on live television, and the whole country would cheer.
I remember my dad lamenting that farmers will keep voting against their economic interests and solidly voting Republican. And that was in the 60 s. Things haven't changed. It is not economics, as it is ideology they look at while voting.
And most of them have now absorbed decades of right wing GOP propaganda that Democrats and liberals are evil subhuman baby-killers out to destroy America. Voting for a Democrat is unthinkable for a great many of them.
Yes, I am always so shocked at their perception of who Democrats are. The constant right wing news cycle makes it sound as if we are evil and not even people. OMG everyone open their damn eyes, the only violent people are these right wing crazies. We had millions and millions of people protesting this fall and they were very peaceful. The right is trying so hard to divide the people even more. I don't understand how they think this strategy will work. Personally, I'd like to see Susie Wiles and Stephen Miller prosecuted. I think they are responsible for pushing much of the cruelty towards immigrants. It's deplorable that they sit where they are now.
The only hope opinion polls give me is that Congress DOES care about them and if his poll numbers get low enough with Rs and Independents then maybe Congress will grow a damn spine. It's a wild hope, but ya know, Christmas miracles and all that.
I haven't seen any sign that Congress cares about the polling. The possible exception is the ACA and probably only because they know their constituents have held attempts to kill it against them in mid term elections. My impression of the stances on Epstein File release is that it is related to their own interests in the files.
He doesn't. But Congress actually does have constitutionally granted power that even the SC cannot negate if they'd actually try to use it. Tariffs, blowing up boats in the Carribean, corrupting the DOJ....all of that can be stopped or drastically slowed by Congress if they had any interest at all in governing. The only thing that will prompt that is Rs fear of their own voters. Mike Pence of all people showed that even one R with a spine and a sense of patriotism can make a huge difference. The Epstein fight proved that it only takes a handful to join the Democrats to actually make something good happen.
Same. I also saw an ad last night on CBS breathlessly touting an "exclusive" interview with her and Bari Weiss on CBS this weekend. How can it be exclusive? The woman talks to anyone and everyone these days.
I guess the full Foxification of CBS News is underway.
She doesn't seem fake, she is fake. I believe if it wasn't for her, Kirk and TPUSA would have remained a fringe right wing group that would do the rounds at conservative schools because they were laughed off of every other campus, high school and college. I believe she was the true brains behind the scenes and now as the grifting widow she needs to milk that cash cow before it dries up. She used him for financial and political gain and now she's scrambling. Of course this is just my opinion.
TBH, I really knew nothing about either Kirk until he died because I work really hard to ignore these people (that's what I read False Flag for!). I try to allow that everyone handles grief differently and not judge anyone too harshly for how they react to something this horrific. And to be clear, Kirk's assassination was horrific.
That said I would be alot more sympathetic if she and her husband weren't a huge part of the problem she is now the target of.
some say, they had one child, and it be a 'mean' rumor, ( they've been asking for that, all this attention ) maybe purchased the other(s) . I just don't care, at all
Americans are terrible about having people and ideas "shoved down our throats." And yet right-wing media relies on that play all the time. Are some people just so oblivious they don't see when they are being led by the nose? And is MAGA just a movement to find those people? Like misspelling words in Nigerian Prince scams to make sure you only attract the less educated?
Yes. Some of my own family can't seem to see that they have been conned. Or they won't admit it. They watch more Faux Nooz to keep themselves warm and fuzzy.
I have a small glimmer of hope for us. The American People don't like things shoved down their throats. We've enjoyed a great amount of freedom and we're too feral with it. And both sides have So. Many. Guns. It's going to be a tough slog for them. Being incompetent doesn't help.
The agencies and targeted workers that sued were cut off at the knees by SCOTUS under the "Unitary Theory of the Executive" that all the conservatives think is just dandy—when it's a GOP president in office, that is.
How exactly does an agency of the US government fight? I am sure that whistle-blowers and informants working at the agencies have been a factor in the 500 plus lawsuits* filed to counter Trump actions, but the agencies themselves are helpless. It is up to us to fight for them.
*On the order of 10x more than were filed against prior administrations in a similar span of time.
EarthJustice, The Contrarian, Common Cause, to name some people sponsored groups have filed hundreds of lawsuits. This is the people at work. Everyday thousands of petitions go out, also people power. Phone calls and e-mails fill elected officials in-basket daily. Another No Kings March is planned. People are speaking up in peaceful protest because, 1. It gets results, and 2. Felon Trump can’t attack civilians who are not like the January 6th thugs. Oh wait. He did nothing to stop them. They were his people. We are not.
Which agencies are those? Only ones with suicidal top dogs need apply. The top dogs are either already "traded out" for loyalists, or have their heads to far down protecting their job and paycheck to see what is going on in the rest of their office.
Where to begin? OK, the current hotpotato seems to be this Misadministration's clear and presently dangerous intent to declare war (on defenseless motor boats in the Carribbean), thereby allowing them to murder without due process or due cause approximately 80 people with absolute no evidence that doing this was legal under any definition but that of the mercurious, fickle Felon in Chief. I guess I missed the Sharpie Executive Order declaring "If I say it, it must be true".
Why is this happening? Because he is convinced he can get away with it and desperately needs some visual flak to cover the incoming rounds from the Ghost of Sex Parties Past, the dreadful (roll the kettle and bass drums) "Epstein".
Of course, that is what the charges against Comey and James were supposed to do, too, and with Blondi Bondi at the control panel, what could go wrong? Only everything. Of course, now trying to clean up yesterday's descicating dung with new tissue paper charges and grand juries is going to wind up in the same place: Donald's Overflowing Dump.
Beam me up, Scottie. There's no intelligent life down here.
Of course you remember that statement. Nixon said it! Of course the Republican Party only had RHINOs in those days. Now they have real MAGAs and that makes all the difference! /s
One side note question unrelated to today's Morning Shots: why aren't dems pivoting to going after JD Vance as much as they go after Trump? Assuming that Trump will not be the contender in the ring in '28, it will most likely be JD and/or Marco (as VP), so why haven't they pivoted to attacking these guys as much as they attack Trump?
One recalls that after 2012 the GOP pivoted toward attacking HRC because they knew she was next in line and that they wouldn't be facing off against Obama in 2016. Sure, they kept going after Obama too, but they at the very least started tying Clinton up just as much with Benghazi hearings and the like. They did the same thing with Harris. They started calling it the "Biden/Harris agenda" come 2023 because they knew she was up to bat next.
Dems should start thinking three steps ahead on this Venezuela situation and tying Vance and Marco's name to it. Start saying that Marco is trying to get the US into a foolish war that is not America first, and is going after a small fish in Venezuela while ignoring the big fish in Mexico where the bulk of the fentanyl that enters the US actually originates. The same with Vance on immigration. They should call it the "radical Trump-Vance ethnonationalist agenda" and the "Trump-Vance pedophile protection racket" and stuff like that. Start going after the folks you're going to face down in '28 NOW rather than waiting for the year 2028 to come around.
I think this is solid conventional wisdom. I admit I want pro democracy forces to consider how they attack a malignant narcissist who is exhibiting volatility and disinhibition often associated with dementia. Is sidelining Trump by playing up the portfolio managers smart? Probably in some cases but most of the activities are campaign promises. Agree with Marco on Venezuela. Hitting Vance on abandoning Ukraine while assisting right wing parties in the EU , ignoring Mexico drug sources, and Vance ties to a startup that buys distressed farmland would probably work. On a micro level would it be valuable to check in with key communities: how many s Springfield doing after Haitians lost TPS and has work on the chip factories and related community college courses stalled due to this administration?
"The Trump-Vance inflation agenda." Press Vance on his support for Trump's tariffs that drive grocery prices up and deportations that drive services prices up. He's not going to say that Trump's tariffs or deportations are bad, so just point out how tariffs and deportations are linked to inflation and put that blame squarely at both of their feet.
In regards to the Kirk death conspiracy theories, a good way to think about the GOP/Trump/Q-Anon/Right-Wing Bullshit Universe is that it's basically a casino with a populist facade.
It's a wealth transfer from the people in it to the people running it, it provides mind numbing and cognitively addictive entertainment, the longer people spend in it the more money gets made, and they have a series of tricks to keep people in the universe/casino as long as humanly possible. Instead of thriving on gambling addictions, it involves addictions to propaganda, rage, sadism, conspiracies, and delusions.
Also, they have paid entertainers. Instead of music or comedy, the paid entertainers provide a steady stream of propaganda and conspiracies. There are headliners (people like Charlie Kirk) and other paid entertainers in the system who are vying to be headliners. Now that one of the headliners is gone, the others are going all in getting in on the act to be the next headliner. You do that by working overtime on the conspiracies.
The approval of a federal judge to seize this tanker derives from its having transported Iranian oil in the past. Fine, as far as it goes, but what about the cargo?. In this case, it is not carrying Iranian oil; it is carrying Venezuelan oil bound, in large part, for Cuba. I am not sure who owned the oil at the time of its seizure, but what is the justification for the US to seize and keep oil belonging to Venezuela, Cuba, or another party?
ALL the vehicles are American cars made in the USA -- there were no other cars available in 1962. The Cubans have restored them over and over. Fabulous. I've ridden in one.
These are Old Iron. US cars from the 50's and early 60's. An old friend from Toronto would take an annual trip to Cuba and would bring tune up parts (spark plugs, distributor caps, brake parts, etc) and trade them for cigars. I wonder if he's still doing that or if he cleaned out all the stores of their stock.
ALL the vehicles are American cars made in the USA -- there were no other cars available in 1962. The Cubans have restored them over and over. Fabulous. I've ridden in one.
Right there are a lot of questions about the tanker and what it means — there are hundreds of sanctioned tankers sailing the seas particularly Russian ones. From my perspective it does mean the administration is still looking for legal rationales for their actions which is a good thing — the oil tanker incident demonstrates they are feeling the blow back from the boat bombings. Trump is not Putin — he doesn’t have the balls for that — he likes carefully manicured movie sets with every choreographed movement in place, but messy reality makes the Orange Albatross queasy.
Agree with all of that. I also wonder whether in his dim intellect this stuff about Monroe Doctrine, Trump-Amended means he has the right to seize vessels at sea--or demand tribute to allow passage.
Dedollarization also makes him queasy. He has not talked about it recently but he did say he would try to stop it. Venezuela sells oil to China in Yuan or digital currency. Not sure what currency is used for sales to Cuba but this action sends a message without jeopardizing a trade deal with China.
Aw man! You had a hoop? Lucky bast**d! I would laugh when those "youngins" would complain about low single digit mortgage rates. I would sit them down and tell them a tale about the financially fabulous 80's.
When I ask my contemporaries (many of whom can only be queried via seance) if they remember this, they tend to identify it with Jimmy Carter’s sweater. Jerry Ford just doesn’t get enough blame
This looks like the good guy role the US has played in domestic and world affairs has been swapped out for the ethics of a inheritor real estate hustler from Queens.
Further evidence much of the Trump vote has little to do with economic concerns and everything to do with culture wars and racial resentment. If it were all economics, the first term Trump trade wars would have turned farmers into the biggest and most passionate never-Trump constituency.
At the heart of Trumpism - aside from his personal pathologies - there's an alliance of self-interested plutocrats with reactionary culture warriors whose agenda was cloaked in the language of populism.
They should have but didn't. They were too blinded by some "transtifa" athlete coming in 5th place and using the "wrong" bathroom. They probably knew they would get some welfare that they hate (for other people that is), not realizing their markets may be gone for a generation or so. By that time family and smaller company owned farms will be gobbled up by big agricultural corporations and hedge funds. If those magat morons go out of business and lose everything, good! No sympathy for them. They were warned, multiple times!
I have a really hard time feeling sorry for Erika Kirk. She shoulld go hang out with the families of dozens of Democratic targets that the people on her side have harassed with conspiracy theories about their deaths or serious injuries, all the way back to Vince Foster and Ron Brown. Maybe this whole thing might teach her some empathy.
Don't forget, she's the grifting widow. She's got to make that ching-ching before people forget her husband and move on to the next misogynist, racist, anti-Semite creep who catches their attention.
They had a judicial warrant to seize the Venezuelan tanker. Now, just show us the judicial warrants to blow up the drug boats so we can move on to other important issues...like the Epstein files.
Justin - when anyone asks the masked men on our streets for a judicial warrant, they get pepper sprayed and rousted
Federales....they don't need no stinking badges
sigh
alleged "drug boats"
So it has been said by sources. This "most transparent administration in history" is not really swinging for the fences on communicating.
Justin, I hope you’re not suggesting that blowing up boats and killing people without evidence is not an important issue? Do I misunderstand your note?
Yes, you do. The first strike on a Venezuelan boat was on September 2nd. What else happened on September 2nd?
https://clerk.house.gov/DischargePetition/2025090209
I think he’s being sarcastic.
Today the Trump administration asked the ICC to not prosecute Trump under the threat of sanctions. Seems like strong evidence that even the administration knows that what it’s doing is illegal. While he is protected from domestic prosecution thanks to the Supreme Court, I imagine he has a significant fear of facing arrest and prosecution should he travel overseas after his Presidency. Observing all of this, it’s hard not to laugh at the ludicrous threat to prosecute Democrats for telling troops NOT to follow illegal orders.
We aren't signatories to the ICC so I'm not sure what jurisdiction they would have
I believe if he sets foot in a signatory country, he can be detained. Of course hopefully someone more familiar with the ICC will either confirm or correct my comment.
Richard, I dream that someday these cretins misstep, land on ICC-sanctioned ground, and get picked up and prosecuted. I know it is a long shot, but I can dream.
While we aren’t signatories, dozens of other countries are. Including countries where Trump owns property. My point was specifically about Trump being arrested and tried overseas.
He will be caught between a rock and a hard place if he lives to finish his term. If he goes to some country for refuge, he runs the risk of facing international courts, but if he stays in the US, then his immunity isn't viable anymore and he faces national courts. What is a crook supposed to do?
I don't feel a bit sorry for those farmers, about 80 or so % voted for Trump. Trump was very clear during the campaign he was going the tariff route. And it wasn't even their first rodeo - the farmers went through this in Trump 1.0.
And yet they say "I didn't vote for this!" Oh, yes you did. you knew what was coming and you pulled the lever for him anyway. You don't get to escape responsibility for the damage you helped inflict on the country by saying "No, it wasn't me!" Maybe you just are sorry you are experiencing some of the pain you were willing to inflict on others.
“The leopard ate MY face! AGAIN!”
Absolutely. WAPO sent reporters into North Carolina to talk with farmers in the spring. Much was made of them saying, I didn’t vote for him.” My follow up question would have been, “Then who did you vote for?” Wasn’t asked in the article. I did ask it in the comments, but no one replied.
They didn't vote FOR him, they simply didn't NOT vote for him.
They could have voted for Harris or another candidate. A lot of people voted for Nixon in 1972 to “teach McGovern a lesson.” That worked out beautifully. If you don’t approve of a candidate vote for the other candidate. That teaches the lesson.
I think the Leopard Eating Party is one of the great political memes of all time.
I wonder how those farmers feel when they realized that Trump values Argentina more than 3 X as much as he does American farmers.
IF they watch Fox News, they never heard about the huge monetary gift we sent Argentina - at the behest of one of Scott Besset's friends.
They don't care as long as they get their trumpian welfare, deny the sick healthcare, the poor assistance, and the hungry food. Deny allowing the LGBTQ+ community to live their lives how they want. They absolutely love ICE scumbags going after people of color because it gets them off better than porn. As long as the magat regime hates the same people they do, they're happier than a pig in shit.
I've known many farmers in my family over the years (and I'll bet they would say and do the same thing). I agree with you 100%.
FAFO
💯%.
Approval ratings falling from 42% to 36% is not a slight decline. That’s a 15% decking by my calculation. What is the AP talking about? That’s a huge decline in popularity.
Don’t want to offend the Dear Leader!
You mean the AP would (perish the thought) pull their punches to kow tow?
They’re just riding along on a “Snow White” themed float in the Drumpf parade! I’m not sure which one of the seven dwarfs are depicted by the float, but I think it is supposed to be “Sleepy” - Karoline Leavitt is dressed as Snow White - instead of throwing flowers she just spits on parade viewers as the float ambulates along
Grumpy - Miller
Doc - (duh) the Brain Worm Host
Happy - JD Vain
Bashful - No one could be found in this crowd
Dopey - Too many candidates
Sneezy - No one wants the Divine Wrath if someone were to say "God Bless"
I'm sorta Grumpy/Sneezy.
Respect the dwarves! Giants compared to these evil shits.
Are you volunteering to be either or both on Leavitt's float?
Where do you get the idea I do not respect Giants? Willie May and Orlando Cepeda, YEAH!
A new character: Sleezy, DJT
Dave, you asked for it: If brains were gunpowder, DJT couldn't blow his nose.
And any time he needs to expel dirt and hot air, he has his foodhole which clearly has a larger opening.
Too accurate
🍻
They already offended him once by refusing to use “Gulf of America.”
Bless that judges heart. Didn’t the White House appeal to John Robert’s and the Supreme’s? It seems like an issue they would take up under “unitary executive” theory….
They might have appealed it, I don’t know.
That’s Right! They must be permanently “walking on eggshells” around him. BTW - are they still banned from White House Press Briefings as punishment for their insult??
A federal judge ordered them reinstated.
https://www.ap.org/media-center/ap-in-the-news/2025/ap-wins-reinstatement-to-white-house-events-after-judge-rules-government-cant-bar-its-journalists/
I don't get how his over-all approval can continue to be significantly higher than approvals in issue areas. Are they Apprentice fans?
This is one of the weird things about polling.
I studied and did polling back in the day when I was a PhD candidate.
What you are looking at are answers to different questions. The overall approval rating is mathematically and structurally (in the poll) unrelated to the distinct policy questions. They did not look at the policy answers/responses and run some math to get the overall rating.
The overall rating is, in a sense, the answer to the question do you like Trump. Keep in mind that the whole trump thing is more akin in many respects to a cult than to attitudes about a normal politician. Because of that cult aspect and because the answers to the question are essentially identarian and partisan, the overall rating is bound to be higher. I would actually be surprised if it WASN'T higher.
A partisan might think that Trump and his policies are massives PoS's, BUT it is MY side's PoS--that Other side would be even worse!! The answer to the question always, to a degree, has entrained in it the imagination of the alternative. This guy is bad, but that black communist woke woman would have been absolutely horrible.
Plus, if you share the guy's (displayed) beliefs, biases, attitudes--despite disagreeing with the specific practices--he can be quite likeable. Which (to my mind) does not say good things about you or your ability to think critically.
The other questions are more specific and focused and you are likely to get meaningful answers.
So….the respondents hate the economy, hate cost of living, hate the job market, are entirely pessimistic on the direction of the country- but they love them some bigotry, imprisonment without charge and deportation without due process!! Am I right?
Basically. It is something that goes with a lack of understanding of what the things you want actually cost.
You got it. We all want our pony... and we also want our pony to shit on other people. And if we can't have the pony -- as long as there IS a pony and it's defecating on someone else -- that's good enough!
I hear a song playing in the background; “Ahhhhhh-Murica, Ahhhhh-Murica, God drop some Sh*t on theeeeeeee”
They're his fans alright. So they can never disapprove of the man himself. They find it far easier to respond with disapproval on policy issues. Sort of like fans of a rock star. They may have problems with his most recent album, but they remain fans of the star.
Just saw a poll where his approval is down to 31%! Good or indifferent, it tells me many people are moving in the correct way. Gives me hope!
The average of polls has him at 43.9% Let's not get too giddy.
I’d be interested to know how they get that average. It seems high to me.
True. It’s the decline that has me giddy. At this rate the average will also tumble and I will start thinking of ecstasy!
Gallup had Trump at 36%. Almost all the polls have Trump higher than that. His average is 43.9%. It's important that we don't lie to ourselves. Trump is much lower than the overal approval rate when you look at individual issues. That is probably what is most signficant.
I'm generally not a big fan of opinion polls. They make for some tasty eye candy, but ultimately do not have much of a real world impact in this era of tribalism, especially on this administration, which routinely ignores them or debases them with the slightest of dismissals ("fake news," "Democrat poll," etc.).
Still, connect enough dots and a line begins to emerge. Connect enough lines and an image appears. It is increasingly a personal affront that That Man tells us that he knows better than we do about the economy and Affordability when he never has had to live on a budget in his entire life. His hubris in giving himself an A++++++ while the rest of us not named Donor Class are struggling to reach a grade of C- for our efforts to keep up is as remarkable for the tone-deafness of it as much as the intensely childlike nature of his reasoning and behavior. Each day the bus is being driven a little closer to the cliff. Those who empowered him feel too scared to seize the wheel before they take the plunge like the rest of us in the back. They seem to lack the ability to connect dots and see the picture. What could go wrong?
Those polls feel good. But not so much when we realize that they won't force the hand of the administration and its lackeys who simply refuse to change and evolve. The discontent of farmers and others who voted against their own best interests won't matter if they keep electing the same clowns who got us into this mess in the first place. And they have another three years to marinate in the toxic broth they created while the rest of us get cooked. Ho ho ho from Santa Don and happy holidays, if you can find the silver lining to it all.
Polls don't matter, but elections do. We all have to protect the midterm elections from the many cheat codes the Republicans will throw at us. They have already gone to court to protect the Texas redistricting, and now are going to court to fight the California redistricting. Also, there are many local and statewide elections happening before November that can help drive MAGA out of our communities and state legislatures. The People are waking up.
We need a new sign for maga. And anti-maga movement. I feel sorry for Texas women, if I lived there, I'd move if i were in childbearing years.
Because now that they are in office, they aren't doing anything to help the people, the only people happy right now already have money and are wealthy. Maga is trying to truly destroy our country and we need to get control of the house and senate and impeach this miserable president and his entire cabinet of racist liars with him.
The American people need a real leader, a good man or woman with morals. These people in the trump admin are sorry excuses for people. I watch bratty Karoline lie and lie and get nasty with reporters. I do not know how some of them hold their tongue, I am quite sure I'd punch her in the face on live television, and the whole country would cheer.
I remember my dad lamenting that farmers will keep voting against their economic interests and solidly voting Republican. And that was in the 60 s. Things haven't changed. It is not economics, as it is ideology they look at while voting.
And most of them have now absorbed decades of right wing GOP propaganda that Democrats and liberals are evil subhuman baby-killers out to destroy America. Voting for a Democrat is unthinkable for a great many of them.
Yes, I am always so shocked at their perception of who Democrats are. The constant right wing news cycle makes it sound as if we are evil and not even people. OMG everyone open their damn eyes, the only violent people are these right wing crazies. We had millions and millions of people protesting this fall and they were very peaceful. The right is trying so hard to divide the people even more. I don't understand how they think this strategy will work. Personally, I'd like to see Susie Wiles and Stephen Miller prosecuted. I think they are responsible for pushing much of the cruelty towards immigrants. It's deplorable that they sit where they are now.
Hey, mainly Yes. but my dear old Dad broke around three times, he confessed, he said keep it under your hat.
The only hope opinion polls give me is that Congress DOES care about them and if his poll numbers get low enough with Rs and Independents then maybe Congress will grow a damn spine. It's a wild hope, but ya know, Christmas miracles and all that.
I haven't seen any sign that Congress cares about the polling. The possible exception is the ACA and probably only because they know their constituents have held attempts to kill it against them in mid term elections. My impression of the stances on Epstein File release is that it is related to their own interests in the files.
While Senators and congressman will grow skittish about the coming midterms, DJT couldn't care less.
He doesn't. But Congress actually does have constitutionally granted power that even the SC cannot negate if they'd actually try to use it. Tariffs, blowing up boats in the Carribean, corrupting the DOJ....all of that can be stopped or drastically slowed by Congress if they had any interest at all in governing. The only thing that will prompt that is Rs fear of their own voters. Mike Pence of all people showed that even one R with a spine and a sense of patriotism can make a huge difference. The Epstein fight proved that it only takes a handful to join the Democrats to actually make something good happen.
At this point, I've seen and heard more from Erica Kirk than I ever heard from Charlie Kirk.
Same. I also saw an ad last night on CBS breathlessly touting an "exclusive" interview with her and Bari Weiss on CBS this weekend. How can it be exclusive? The woman talks to anyone and everyone these days.
I guess the full Foxification of CBS News is underway.
Edward R Murrow and Walter Cronkite are spinning in the graves. So much for the once "Tiffany" network.
I saw the ad and Erica seemed fake. I guess she was trying to show anger and sorrow, but she just seemed inauthentic.
She doesn't seem fake, she is fake. I believe if it wasn't for her, Kirk and TPUSA would have remained a fringe right wing group that would do the rounds at conservative schools because they were laughed off of every other campus, high school and college. I believe she was the true brains behind the scenes and now as the grifting widow she needs to milk that cash cow before it dries up. She used him for financial and political gain and now she's scrambling. Of course this is just my opinion.
TBH, I really knew nothing about either Kirk until he died because I work really hard to ignore these people (that's what I read False Flag for!). I try to allow that everyone handles grief differently and not judge anyone too harshly for how they react to something this horrific. And to be clear, Kirk's assassination was horrific.
That said I would be alot more sympathetic if she and her husband weren't a huge part of the problem she is now the target of.
It is notable that her husband thought women should stay in 'their place.'
I’ve no idea, but I thought Charlie was immature, obnoxious, and manipulative so perhaps you’re right.
Not related to this discussion, but someone on Threads commented that she must buy her clothes in the widow's section of Frederick's of Hollywood.
Hahaha!
Ok, that made me laugh out loud, so thank you!
some say, they had one child, and it be a 'mean' rumor, ( they've been asking for that, all this attention ) maybe purchased the other(s) . I just don't care, at all
Buckle up - they're just getting started with her.
Americans are terrible about having people and ideas "shoved down our throats." And yet right-wing media relies on that play all the time. Are some people just so oblivious they don't see when they are being led by the nose? And is MAGA just a movement to find those people? Like misspelling words in Nigerian Prince scams to make sure you only attract the less educated?
Quite likely! ..but it helped to first marinate them in Fox, FB and old twitter.
Yes. Some of my own family can't seem to see that they have been conned. Or they won't admit it. They watch more Faux Nooz to keep themselves warm and fuzzy.
I have a small glimmer of hope for us. The American People don't like things shoved down their throats. We've enjoyed a great amount of freedom and we're too feral with it. And both sides have So. Many. Guns. It's going to be a tough slog for them. Being incompetent doesn't help.
Which is plenty.
She's the grifting widow, she's got to milk that cash cow before it dries up.
guilty here, I vaguely had heard some spoutings from and about kirk, I waited
a day, then googled - net worth at death. her, I will not give her attention
or at this point compassionate understanding.
First of all why would Trump care about anyone being dead, but especially a poor foreign man?
Second, if his popularity is so low, then how has he been able to get away with dismantling the government per Miller and Theil and project 2025?
I am mystified that so many government agencies haven't put up a fight.
Many have gone to court, and the court rules they should keep their jobs. But then, the Supreme Court, with no explanation, says "Trump wins."
Their names will go down as the most corrupt Supreme Court in history, if we ever get out from under this.
To quote Jayne Cobb, "I smell a lot of "if" coming off this plan".
The agencies and targeted workers that sued were cut off at the knees by SCOTUS under the "Unitary Theory of the Executive" that all the conservatives think is just dandy—when it's a GOP president in office, that is.
Because Republicans do not want to give up their cushy jobs. Being “primaried” is banishment from the trough.
The CDC fought for their lives, but without the support of the Congress, the Supreme Court, or the People, it didn't help much.
How exactly does an agency of the US government fight? I am sure that whistle-blowers and informants working at the agencies have been a factor in the 500 plus lawsuits* filed to counter Trump actions, but the agencies themselves are helpless. It is up to us to fight for them.
*On the order of 10x more than were filed against prior administrations in a similar span of time.
EarthJustice, The Contrarian, Common Cause, to name some people sponsored groups have filed hundreds of lawsuits. This is the people at work. Everyday thousands of petitions go out, also people power. Phone calls and e-mails fill elected officials in-basket daily. Another No Kings March is planned. People are speaking up in peaceful protest because, 1. It gets results, and 2. Felon Trump can’t attack civilians who are not like the January 6th thugs. Oh wait. He did nothing to stop them. They were his people. We are not.
"Another No Kings March is planned."
Katherine, are any dates being mentioned or a window of time being looked at?
Move On says March, 2026. If I hear of the day, I’ll sing out.
Best I can ask for, a reliable "world" cryer even without lanterns and horses.
Good! I can’t find the lanterns and the horse ran off!
Which agencies are those? Only ones with suicidal top dogs need apply. The top dogs are either already "traded out" for loyalists, or have their heads to far down protecting their job and paycheck to see what is going on in the rest of their office.
How? If the unitary executive decides ala the last 'decider' we had in the presidency that such is so then so be it.
They will get fired if they do.
The foxes are guarding the henhouses.
No, June, they are raiding it of its eggs, slaughtering all of the non-native breed hens, and ravishing the young, not yet egglaying chicks.
Where to begin? OK, the current hotpotato seems to be this Misadministration's clear and presently dangerous intent to declare war (on defenseless motor boats in the Carribbean), thereby allowing them to murder without due process or due cause approximately 80 people with absolute no evidence that doing this was legal under any definition but that of the mercurious, fickle Felon in Chief. I guess I missed the Sharpie Executive Order declaring "If I say it, it must be true".
Why is this happening? Because he is convinced he can get away with it and desperately needs some visual flak to cover the incoming rounds from the Ghost of Sex Parties Past, the dreadful (roll the kettle and bass drums) "Epstein".
Of course, that is what the charges against Comey and James were supposed to do, too, and with Blondi Bondi at the control panel, what could go wrong? Only everything. Of course, now trying to clean up yesterday's descicating dung with new tissue paper charges and grand juries is going to wind up in the same place: Donald's Overflowing Dump.
Beam me up, Scottie. There's no intelligent life down here.
I’ll wager they thought better of it, as the second strike that produced survivors, they repatriated them instead of murdering them
I don’t think the ‘they’ have any working brain cells for thought. This is CYA mode!
Top reasons DJT knows he can get away with everything: 1.Republican Senators and Congressman 2.SCOTUS
Republican Senators or Congresspeople? That breed vanished long ago.
They're magat minions.
Of course you remember that statement. Nixon said it! Of course the Republican Party only had RHINOs in those days. Now they have real MAGAs and that makes all the difference! /s
Right. The Felon doesn't have to say anything. The blind obedience gene was in the Koolaid.
If the goal was to stop drug trafficking, sure.
But, as we know from Trump’s many pardons of drug traffickers, that wasn’t the goal.
The goal was terrorism: to send a message to enemies of The Regime, foreign and domestic, that it can kill them at will.
Plus the orgasms that Kegsbreath and Miller enjoyed as they watched their live snuff films unfold on command.
One side note question unrelated to today's Morning Shots: why aren't dems pivoting to going after JD Vance as much as they go after Trump? Assuming that Trump will not be the contender in the ring in '28, it will most likely be JD and/or Marco (as VP), so why haven't they pivoted to attacking these guys as much as they attack Trump?
One recalls that after 2012 the GOP pivoted toward attacking HRC because they knew she was next in line and that they wouldn't be facing off against Obama in 2016. Sure, they kept going after Obama too, but they at the very least started tying Clinton up just as much with Benghazi hearings and the like. They did the same thing with Harris. They started calling it the "Biden/Harris agenda" come 2023 because they knew she was up to bat next.
Dems should start thinking three steps ahead on this Venezuela situation and tying Vance and Marco's name to it. Start saying that Marco is trying to get the US into a foolish war that is not America first, and is going after a small fish in Venezuela while ignoring the big fish in Mexico where the bulk of the fentanyl that enters the US actually originates. The same with Vance on immigration. They should call it the "radical Trump-Vance ethnonationalist agenda" and the "Trump-Vance pedophile protection racket" and stuff like that. Start going after the folks you're going to face down in '28 NOW rather than waiting for the year 2028 to come around.
I think this is solid conventional wisdom. I admit I want pro democracy forces to consider how they attack a malignant narcissist who is exhibiting volatility and disinhibition often associated with dementia. Is sidelining Trump by playing up the portfolio managers smart? Probably in some cases but most of the activities are campaign promises. Agree with Marco on Venezuela. Hitting Vance on abandoning Ukraine while assisting right wing parties in the EU , ignoring Mexico drug sources, and Vance ties to a startup that buys distressed farmland would probably work. On a micro level would it be valuable to check in with key communities: how many s Springfield doing after Haitians lost TPS and has work on the chip factories and related community college courses stalled due to this administration?
"The Trump-Vance inflation agenda." Press Vance on his support for Trump's tariffs that drive grocery prices up and deportations that drive services prices up. He's not going to say that Trump's tariffs or deportations are bad, so just point out how tariffs and deportations are linked to inflation and put that blame squarely at both of their feet.
Excellent thoughts!
In regards to the Kirk death conspiracy theories, a good way to think about the GOP/Trump/Q-Anon/Right-Wing Bullshit Universe is that it's basically a casino with a populist facade.
It's a wealth transfer from the people in it to the people running it, it provides mind numbing and cognitively addictive entertainment, the longer people spend in it the more money gets made, and they have a series of tricks to keep people in the universe/casino as long as humanly possible. Instead of thriving on gambling addictions, it involves addictions to propaganda, rage, sadism, conspiracies, and delusions.
Also, they have paid entertainers. Instead of music or comedy, the paid entertainers provide a steady stream of propaganda and conspiracies. There are headliners (people like Charlie Kirk) and other paid entertainers in the system who are vying to be headliners. Now that one of the headliners is gone, the others are going all in getting in on the act to be the next headliner. You do that by working overtime on the conspiracies.
Well said!
Imagine the sort of mentality necessary to actually find the Right Wing Bullshit Universe entertaining and addicting, though.
The approval of a federal judge to seize this tanker derives from its having transported Iranian oil in the past. Fine, as far as it goes, but what about the cargo?. In this case, it is not carrying Iranian oil; it is carrying Venezuelan oil bound, in large part, for Cuba. I am not sure who owned the oil at the time of its seizure, but what is the justification for the US to seize and keep oil belonging to Venezuela, Cuba, or another party?
Hey, Tom, I just awoke from a coma I fell into as a kid in 1962. Hows our embargo against Cuba going?
Groundhog Day
Yes. Let's start beating up on Cuba again. After all, they're in the Gulf of America without permission.
…as long as we can save those sweet classic cars. Those clearly should belong to Real Americans!
I got to visit Cuba twice and still donate to Hemingway's finca.
Fantastic! ...I never got closer than Ernie's bar stool in Key West 🙂
LOL -- I think I saw that too.
It's a challenge to keep cars that are only 20 years old running.
It depends on who made them. I bought the car I drive every day in 2006. But it wasn't built in 'Merika, so I expect it to last longer than I will.
ALL the vehicles are American cars made in the USA -- there were no other cars available in 1962. The Cubans have restored them over and over. Fabulous. I've ridden in one.
These are Old Iron. US cars from the 50's and early 60's. An old friend from Toronto would take an annual trip to Cuba and would bring tune up parts (spark plugs, distributor caps, brake parts, etc) and trade them for cigars. I wonder if he's still doing that or if he cleaned out all the stores of their stock.
James - my brother has a '57 DeSoto. DEE-troit iron, amigo! 💪
ALL the vehicles are American cars made in the USA -- there were no other cars available in 1962. The Cubans have restored them over and over. Fabulous. I've ridden in one.
The idiots here have NEVER stopped beating up on them. Sigh. WTH, we deal with Vietnam which won the pointless war.
Right there are a lot of questions about the tanker and what it means — there are hundreds of sanctioned tankers sailing the seas particularly Russian ones. From my perspective it does mean the administration is still looking for legal rationales for their actions which is a good thing — the oil tanker incident demonstrates they are feeling the blow back from the boat bombings. Trump is not Putin — he doesn’t have the balls for that — he likes carefully manicured movie sets with every choreographed movement in place, but messy reality makes the Orange Albatross queasy.
Agree with all of that. I also wonder whether in his dim intellect this stuff about Monroe Doctrine, Trump-Amended means he has the right to seize vessels at sea--or demand tribute to allow passage.
Dedollarization also makes him queasy. He has not talked about it recently but he did say he would try to stop it. Venezuela sells oil to China in Yuan or digital currency. Not sure what currency is used for sales to Cuba but this action sends a message without jeopardizing a trade deal with China.
“stubbornly high inflation”?
Ahhh my sweet summer children. Did I ever tell you about the 70s-80s? …uphill both ways, snow up up to our chins, only a stick & a hoop to play with…
- Grampa J (I don’t KNOW history… I AM history)
Aw man! You had a hoop? Lucky bast**d! I would laugh when those "youngins" would complain about low single digit mortgage rates. I would sit them down and tell them a tale about the financially fabulous 80's.
My first house in 87 the rate was about 12-14%.
I remember how happy I was when the rate dropped to 6.5% and I could refinance the house. That was in the very early 2000's.
Got to take over a mortgage in 1981 at a mere 11% which we thought was miraculous.
And my father bought his first house on a 4 1/2 % GI mortgage. (around mid 1950 s) Incredible!
55 mph national speed limit....
The things we lived through! :-)
Oh yes, the horror!
When I ask my contemporaries (many of whom can only be queried via seance) if they remember this, they tend to identify it with Jimmy Carter’s sweater. Jerry Ford just doesn’t get enough blame
Another out-loud laugh. Definitely enjoying today’s comments section.
Those were the days! I would never trade them for what is happening today.
LOL.
I remember it well!
This looks like the good guy role the US has played in domestic and world affairs has been swapped out for the ethics of a inheritor real estate hustler from Queens.
Who could have predicted that giving the presidency to a sociopath with no sign of a moral compass would result in ethically degraded governance?
I suppose but he had a TV show!
Farmers voted overwhelmingly (77.7%) for Trump in 2024. Tariffs and deportation promises did not deter them. Elections have consequences.
Further evidence much of the Trump vote has little to do with economic concerns and everything to do with culture wars and racial resentment. If it were all economics, the first term Trump trade wars would have turned farmers into the biggest and most passionate never-Trump constituency.
But trans!
Trump has more felony convictions then there are trans athletes in the NCAA…
At the heart of Trumpism - aside from his personal pathologies - there's an alliance of self-interested plutocrats with reactionary culture warriors whose agenda was cloaked in the language of populism.
Farmers should’ve seen the tariff damage coming, he did this to them his last term, they probably just wonder what took him so long this time.
They should have but didn't. They were too blinded by some "transtifa" athlete coming in 5th place and using the "wrong" bathroom. They probably knew they would get some welfare that they hate (for other people that is), not realizing their markets may be gone for a generation or so. By that time family and smaller company owned farms will be gobbled up by big agricultural corporations and hedge funds. If those magat morons go out of business and lose everything, good! No sympathy for them. They were warned, multiple times!
I have a really hard time feeling sorry for Erika Kirk. She shoulld go hang out with the families of dozens of Democratic targets that the people on her side have harassed with conspiracy theories about their deaths or serious injuries, all the way back to Vince Foster and Ron Brown. Maybe this whole thing might teach her some empathy.
I suspect she's just another garden variety religious zealot. I doubt if she's capable of learning anything.
Don't forget, she's the grifting widow. She's got to make that ching-ching before people forget her husband and move on to the next misogynist, racist, anti-Semite creep who catches their attention.
She'll be remarried before the year is out
But Didn't Charlie Kirk himself say that empathy was bad ? That it was a made up NEW Age term?
He might have, but it’s Elon Musk who I recall dissing empathy.