An unholy trinity or just a seedy threesome: Trump, Musk and Putin? - Trump thread #138

[Spandauer]

With a side order of Vance, Zuckerberg and Netanyahu.*
(*Other flavours are available)

Whoever is winning at the moment will always seem to be invincible.
George Orwell

Previous thread:
https://www.mumsnet.com/talk/_chat/5258416-trumpmusk-folie-a-deux-trump-thread-137

@Wallaw
I have an account on Bluesky but find it an absolute echo chamber.

Its hard to comprehend from the UK that the US has no official opposition
the election cycle is so insanely long and expensive
that proper 'holding to account' does not happen
(UK elections are 6 weeks start to finish and financing rules are v v tight)

Buttigeig would have been a good candidate last November
hopefully he will be there if there is an election in 2028

The idea is congress holds the executive to account.

McConnell blew that when he kiboshed impeachment.
The Senate and Congress have abdicated responsibility by lifting the debt ceiling while cutting VA support

Congress are venal

This is fucking terrifying.

Yes, well surely all social media is an echo chamber? I think the idea of Bluesky is that it's an alternative one to X.

I just think it's an interesting idea. The Democrats need nudging to the understanding that what they say can be more important than 'results'. At the moment, they seem very wedded to fighting things in the courts (which of course they should be doing) and waiting for voters to feel the effects of the Trump policies, when what they should be doing is fighting the messaging war. And Pete is very, very good at that.

I agree... terrifying

Surely surely not all republicans are rotten to the core. Surely some are more moderate and not so far right as the worst of them and are more than uneasy with what is going on.
Where are they?

And a question to those in the US ... Do you ever have senators who what we call 'cross the floor', i.e. switch parties

@het@BustingBaoBun haven't quite a few current Republicans crossed from democratic to Republic

It's very rare. The only two I can think of in recent years are Krysten Sinema and Joe Manchin who went from Democrat to Independent but still mainly voted with the Dems. Both have now left government.

I'm not positive, but think, in general, there's less party whipping in the US, so pre-Trump it wasn't uncommon for people to vote with the other party at times, so there's less reason to.

@RedRosesParmaViolets Off the top of my head, the only Senator I can think of who switched from D to R is Arlen Specter, but that was before I was born and he's long deceased. Can't think of any since.

Edited sorry not Elon he's not a senator.

https://www.nbcnews.com/health/health-news/measles-outbreak-west-texas-grows-unvaccinated-rcna192163

In rural West Texas, a measles outbreak grows with no end in sight

At least 49 cases have been confirmed. Health officials — who are scrambling to get a handle on the vaccine-preventable outbreak — suspect 200 to 300 people may be infected.

Might as well start the new week of impending doom with a (checks notes) laugh.

Re Politicians changing parties...
Tulsi Gabbard was a Democrat house representative for Hawaii for about 8 years. She only joined the Republican Party last year. But I think she was supposedly an independent just before jumping on the Trump bandwagon. Now Director of National Intelligence and well known Russian asset.

Free speech 'champion' doesn't like free speech latest

Musk is as angry as a hornet at 60 minutes for exposing him and his invasion of our Govt.

https://bsky.app/profile/manzanarez55robin.bsky.social/post/3lie5hfo4us2a

Found you all again. Belatedly!

Mrs Vance used to be a Dem...

The Trump administration has pressured Romanian authorities to lift travel restrictions on the self-described misogynist influencer Andrew Tate, a champion of the US president who is facing criminal charges in Bucharest

https://bsky.app/profile/financialtimes.com/post/3lieskqcorr2p

Good god. They'll have a job in the administration next.

Donald Trump, champion of women everywhere

I am following the Alt National Park Service facebook account.

It appears that the DOGE team are deleting any and every web page that mentions "gender"
now I'm not a fan of gender ideology
but deleting health stats and information just because the wrong word is there
is just dumb.

I was speaking to a friend who works in health and they were saying how worried the scientific community are about the move to delete all reference to gender etc. from journals and research etc. it risks setting the World back years in healthcare research terms.

Read that "transition" is also being flagged as a no-no word so federal programmes that help disabled kids for e.g. transition from grade school to high schools etc are being shut down. But I wonder if they just don't care either way and see any funds going to support those living with disabilities as a waste of money as well. 😔

As for the Tate wankers... they'll probably be invited to run the Office for Women's Health... if it hasn't already been shut down. 🤬

You know, I wonder just how powerful "AI" really is, if this is their approach.

It's hardly efficient.

Musk only cares about getting at the money to screw over his rivals.
Trump does not really care about ideology.
Vance wants women at home having babies and gays back in the closet.

Every American will suffer

The "grown in the USA" rice sacks I saw in Gambia - those farmers are not getting paid now that the contracts have been terminated

Time for a check in

Day 29 of Trump 2.0
624 days till Midterms (03/11/2026)
1,359 days till the 2028 election (07/11/2028)
1,443 days till Inauguration Day (20/01/2029)

No. Senators switching parties is exceedingly rare in modern times.