Cobwebs in Congress, Bigly Ballrooms, Tariff Tantrums, Dementia Denials - Trump Thread #150

[Spandauer]

And Epstein and his beautiful files are still trying to claw their way out of his grave

Previous thread :
https://www.mumsnet.com/talk/_chat/5416501-hes-a-very-good-friend-of-epstein-oh-yes-he-is-trump-thread-149

Seems Infantino decided to give out the Temu peace prize without consulting the FIFA board

Interesting. We watched it on the news in shock - it seemed so dystopian.

There's a lot on twitter about it - I hadn't looked before. I just tried to add a screenshot of one but it doesn't seem to be letting me.

Here it is.

Thank you for your explanations @AcrossthePond55 . It sounds that irrespective of intentions being good or bad, once the genie is out of the box, it never goes back in. This makes it even more important that a POTUS has morality and integrity at their core, but this is something that the electorate itself has to demand from its leaders.

Absolutely! And our Constitution was written with the assumption that anyone elected to the Presidency would be an honourable person with the best interests of the Country as his/her only motivation. And at that time, votes were restricted to white male landowner who were by and large educated men with the ability to 'reason' the issues of the day. The Founding Fathers would have assumed it would be 'ever thus' and couldn't foresee the day when universal suffrage would mean that certain voters would be voting for a would-be dictator based on their own 'failures' being blamed on 'The Others'. Nor that the Country would be so HUGE and the voice of the media so loud.

And our Constitution was written with the assumption that anyone elected to the Presidency would be an honourable person with the best interests of the Country as his/her only motivation.

Really ?

So having overthrown a tyrant (their words) the Founding Fathers - steeped in classic history to a man (again, a word that I use deliberately) and well aware of it's import ("senate") somehow had a #bekind moment and said "Yeah, that's a one off, let's trust in human nature" ????

All my reading of the genesis of the constitution is that it attempted to emphatically remove the possibility that any one person could straddle the three pillars of power identified and detailed in mid 18th century political science. However because they distrusted the rabble (and frankly who wouldn't ?) they rugged the system (electoral college anyone ?) to ensure that only good chaps got into power.

That's the basis of my new book "America. Where did it all go wrong ?". Which is ready to go to the presses whilst I desperately try and spend the advance for my last next book "Well, That Just About Wraps It up for America". After that I shall have to write in Russian. "Путин: американский герой"

Best interests of the country so long as they were men.

"I desire you would Remember the Ladies, and be more generous and favourable to them than your ancestors. Do not put such unlimited power into the hands of the Husbands. Remember all Men would be tyrants if they could. If perticuliar care and attention is not paid to the Laidies we are determined to foment a Rebelion, and will not hold ourselves bound by any Laws in which we have no voice, or Representation."

Taken from Abigail Adams to her husband.

https://www.masshist.org/digitaladams/archive/doc?id=L17760331aa

@placemats

Well, they were 'of their day', luckily we have advanced since then.

BTW, if the role of women in founding our Nation interests you, I highly recommend the book 'Founding Mothers' by Cokie Roberts.

"tyrants"

that word again ...

And to think that "tyrant" was originally a neutral term, mostly.

It was never a neutral word for women though.

No, because originally it would not have been possible for it to have applied to them.

Tyranny was beloved by many a would be tyrant but was benign to begin with Greece. However even by the 13C it had acquired a more ominous meaning.

Hence my use of the word "originally". It was not original in the thirteenth century; more like seventh century.

Well seeing as you're cherry picking here Tryranno means sole/absolute leader in Classical Greek and it could be attributed to a benign leader.

Which, if you read my posts above, is precisely what I was pointing out in the first place.

https://www.historyskills.com/classroom/ancient-history/tarquinius-superbus/

Today’s TRIP discussion about the US defence strategy is utterly depressing/terrifying.

https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/the-rest-is-politics/id1611374685?i=1000740438516

5 years of social media

https://bsky.app/profile/clarajeffery.bsky.social/post/3m7lwq3ixos2q

And what a fantastic allocation of government resources that would be

While reading HCR this morning I was really struck by something that chimes with what @AcrossthePond55 said just now.

The influence of the media on US politics.
HCR was focussing on Fox News.

What is the big difference between US elections and those in other OECD countries ?

Spending Limits

US elections cost billions of dollars through Super PACS
but where does that money actually go ?

To media companies because it is spent on adverts.

So NO media company will give a platform to politicians or campaigners who want to reverse Citizens United
because that would massively harm their own business advertising model.

It is a circle of corruption that funnels money from concerned voters
to super rich media companies and their billionaire owners.

Well that’s us all screwed then!

US could ask foreign tourists for five-year social media history before entry https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c1dz0g2ykpeo

Will they ask us US Expats for the same information when we fly in and out ?

Would I have to disclose this account - that I cannot access from any portable devices ;-)

This will be great for tourism... in lots of countries which are not the US.