Idiotam habemus - Trumpum the Bigly XXX - Trump thread #143

[Spandauer]

No grey smoke necessary.

First 100 days have come and gone. Vance has killed the Pope, Musk is melting away and Trump's tariffs are on a slow boat to China.

Coming soon... Bigly's Birthday Parade. What could possibly go wrong?

Previous thread:
https://www.mumsnet.com/talk/_chat/5315681-has-the-us-crossed-the-rubicon-trump-thread-142

Funny I was thinking this earlier, it feels like there’s something in the water.

India has tried very carefully to sit between East and West and China.If you think balancing 2 enemies is tricky, try three.

It's a stance that has cost a lot of political capital, depending on your party, but which has been tacitly agreed to be the best for India.

(There are obvious parallels with the UKs relationship with the UK. If tyou can't see them, then i can't help).

With Trump now blowing that up in less time than it takes for India to run an election, there is a growing feeling that investment has been wasted.

That's what the lads I used to manage way back when in Indian tech are suggesting.

A loose coalition of China, India and Pakistan that can act in concert with the rest the world (i,e, not Russia, the US and Israel) would completely and permanently reshape the global order of the past 2 centuries. Whether they are up for it is another matter. And what such a world would look like is up for grabs.

And Jake Tapper has a book to sell... 🙄

Yeah, that wasn't quite the epoch defining change I was thinking of.

Hs use of the word scum is interesting. Will he be as vilified for it as Angela Raynor? Her use was far more apt. I've noticed a crossover between those who condemn Raynor, but cheer on Trump, I wonder how they will square this.

Where peoples hypocritical fault lines lie is a massive clue as to the sort of person they are.

21 million million people in! Didn’t get them all out voting for him then did he!
Does he never stop with his hatred and rambles. He should stand on his own achievements really as they’re all so beautiful!

Pete Buttigieg talking sense and Jen Psaki. What's not to like

A loose coalition of China, India and Pakistan that can act in concert with the rest the world (i,e, not Russia, the US and Israel) would completely and permanently reshape the global order of the past 2 centuries.

This is a mind blowing idea. Is it even possible?🤔More importantly, what will it take for this to actually happen?

A cursory look at history (i.e. no deep dives needed) will reveal that there have been countless times in history when what would have seemed at the time (and indeed in hindsight) as unnatural verging on impossible.

Withing living memory, we have seen The British Empire join with the Soviet Union to oppose Hitler.

Going back, anyone familiar with the rise of Rome will know about the magic square of the Mediterranean and it's complex brew of ever shifting alliances that saw the fall of Carthage and the rise of Rome against the backdrop of Egypt and Greece.

Remember the British Empires mission statement: "Britain has no permanent allies and no permanent enemies; merely permanent interests". Which is not novel and not earth shattering; merely succinct. I would be amazed if such wisdom hadn't been nicked from ancient China. Possibly as a strapline to Sun Tzu. Although I could see Marcus Aurelius meditating on it. And even if he didn't say it, why would Plato not concur.

what will it take for this to actually happen?

What it always has. Dangerous, unpredictable times. Trump is acting like someone who has been given a double album, but so far has only played the title track which goes on about how the hero rose to power by defying all the rules. He hasn't yet turned it over* and heard the second side which details the heroes tragic demise as people band together to depose them. (Time spent reading classical mythology is never wasted).

*Under 40s - ask your parents

His TS posts are getting more unhinged by the day.

Interesting read on US Bonds

https://www.msnbc.com/opinion/msnbc-opinion/trump-republicans-bond-market-interest-rates-rcna208746

The US budget deficit looks massive, And is only going 1 way

Does he really believe that his actions have resulted in America being respected again?

What do the bond markets know ?

And we all know that MAGA will simply point their base at the bond markets and blame them for being woke and hating their messiah.

BREAKING NEWS: President Donald J. Trump issues immediate Executive Order banning "All this AI crap".

Were they ever hinged?

When I read his Memorial Day rant my jaw dropped and the first thought that came to me is "This is the ravings of a lunatic!". A dyed in the wool, literal, blue ribbon, certified lunatic.

If it were any other POTUS, an Article 25 would be zipping its way round for certification. How the GOP can sit quietly by nodding their heads I do not understand. This is the party of Lincoln, Eisenhower, Reagan, and many other sane POTII and legislators. No, I just don't understand.

It gets worse 🤢

We will look back on Trump's 2nd presidency as reckless, incompetent, vindictive, corrupt and mendacious.

We might have to add other words like 'foolish' if he succeeds in letting Russia and friends start WWIII...by doing nothing.

edited for typo

India had indeed played a very carefully balanced act over the last few years.
Why shouldn’t India side with China when the EU / UK appears so weak, American not reliable (have never been as far as India is concerned ) and dangerous?

India already has a reasonably good relationship with Russia and add China in the mix as well - makes sense right !

The US budget deficit looks massive, And is only going 1 way

https://conversableeconomist.com/2021/03/05/debt-and-deficits-nostalgia-for-the-1980s/

Reading this article is almost making me believe that there's a cunning plan in action. Tariffs resulting in lower imports, DOGE cutting federal spending, and there we are, on the way to reducing the deficit while spinning that the pain is only transitory and soon everything will be made in America and trillions in investments will be coming in.

Except the on/off tariffs, DOGE cuts and illegal EOs are just causing uncertainty and a falling USD.

Indians learned from the masters. How the fuck do you think a country as tiny and insignificant as Britain - a basket case that often had problems feeding it's own population - could hold what is practically a continent armed only with an innate sense of exceptionalism and a flag ? For more than a century to boot.

It's only the tiresome sanctimoniousness of religious extremism that prevents India and Pakistan reconciling and working in ways to neutralise the partition the British visited on them as a parting gift. And when you can write sentences like that you do find yourself wondering who would not benefit from a closer India-Pakistan alliance and therefore who does benefit from perpetuating religious intolerance 🤔

So yes, India - and grudgingly Pakistan - have learned to carefully sit such that they are truly third world. Not formally aligned with any superpower.

As long as Russia, China and the EU can remain consistent partners, then the US isn't really the player it thinks it is. And it can't see it.

I think the fundamental problem is the fact that without context "intelligence" is meaningless. By which I mean it doesn't matter how many transistors you can fit on the head of a 1nm pin. If you don't know how the world works, you are a fucking idiot.

Over the years - possibly fuelled by a a little bit too much Boys Own media - the US has totally forgotten why you have a military. And so Empires decline. Slowly at first, then all at once.

India is a sub continent in its own right. Someone from the deep south of India would be As vastly different in their lived experience as another national from somewhere like Punjab in the north. If anything it's almost like an EU in its own right.

As to cooperation with china, india has an existing relationship with it. As the Indian high commissioner said recently, all China's neighbours have to, but China is also encroaching on Indian territory in Arunachal Pradesh and has skirmishes with Indian troops up in ladakh. It's also binding partners into a grip with Belt and Road. I read a piece on its links with Pakistan that noted it's not an alliance: that would suggest a partnership of Equals. It only enters into client sponsor relationships

Oh quite. And as long as it stays that way, no one "wins".

India is the one to watch - even more so than China. And yes; if it ever got together with the rest of East Asia to screw the world over, they could do so.