Oh, peacemaker, peacemaker make me some peace - Trump Thread #167

[Spandauer]

Many, many more months of the Mango Mussolini's maniacal merde.

Trump’s Final Term Ends in: - Countdown Timer

Previous thread:
https://www.mumsnet.com/talk/_chat/5545753-green-is-the-new-blue-trump-thread-166

The intention is to eliminate income tax all together.

The fault lines of the "U"S were baked in when it dawned on the South that they had to rely on the North for military support and that would come with a price tag. Hence despite fighting a revolution to get rid of taxation, they were forced to re-accept it. With bad grace.

Now, 250 years later, the American Dream can finally be delivered. No taxes for anyone rich. The way God intended.

As mentioned by pp, Far Right Americans and religion are a different and extreme kettle of fish. Unfortunately they seem to be performative Christians, especially the politicians, so yes, I would absolutely call out idiots like born again Roman Catholic Vance who thinks he knows more about the Bible that the Pope, and ambitious Rubio who wants a Vz 2.0 as he's panting to run Cuba.

The message of the NT is more important than the OT, so bollocks to anyone quoting head or eye for an eye. My response will always be 'Would Jesus do that?'

On the latest tariff - could we impose tariffs on the US on the grounds of the slave wages they pay to some, eg hospitality workers. I hear that 30% tips are now expected, to make up for their low minimum wage.
#modern_slavery

Opinion piece on the many flavours of voters - almost impossible to mix 'n' match?

(gift link)
America Has Eight Political Tribes. Which One Do You Belong to?
www.nytimes.com/2026/07/20/opinion/voters-political-parties-coalitions.html?unlocked_article_code=1.0FA.PiUG.x4Jwnx5raXuS&smid=nytcore-ios-share

How would that work ?

I'd be quite happy to get into a trade war with the US. But it would last microseconds. As soon as Amazon. Google, Microsoft (and it only needs those 3) go dark then the whole of the world will just stop.

Once again. if you wanted to get there, you wouldn't start from here.

There is no technical reason you couldn't avoid US software and services ("cant is never a synonym for won't). And when you state that fact you are admitting its political decisions all the way. (And they, of course, can be bought and sold).

If you read US history 1776 to present, it's quite illuminating how the political parties (which the whole constitution ignores) have transformed. I hesitate to say evolved. In particular how the slave-owning Democrats became todays Democrats, and the abolitionist Republicans became todays GOP.

^I agree 💯. I love the way the Pope stands his ground and calls them out.

Evolution does fit, because evolution is random as you know. A random change can be positive or negative, its just that the positive changes survive....... depending on the environment.

So I say the US parties did evolve. They just evolved to thrive in a swamp rather than in some sort of humanitarian utopia.

Excellent NYT article @Spandauer, thank you. It made me reflect on my own voting and whether I belong to a tribe. I suspect that I do; the mix and match floating voter to whom policy focus, at the time eg economy, immigration etc is more important than the name of the party.

Putting it here that my contact in Kuwait shared that the current fevered posts about a potential ground attack from Iran started with this click bait article from an academic.

https://defencesecurityasia.com/en/iran-kuwait-invasion-threat-us-military-bases-hostage-2026/

They don't seem to be giving it the same level of attention/importance as others esp on sm, in the West.

On the subject of people with different views getting on, there is an interesting Trumpian dynamic today on "other threads".

Now I do not know the politics of people who post there, nor do I care. Nobody really cares... except.. ahem.

There is a sort of general agreement on those threads of what is bad. To different levels of course, and no doubt for different reasons. Then there are poster(s) who have a totally different view. Of course. That's life. Normal stuff.

But when one thread goes too much "on the wrong side" for such posters, boom, a new thread. And with that new thread comes an inrush of posters who share the same view as that/ those posters. Then the challenges begin, and the new "inrush" starts to fade away.

We have all seen it. Reform do it too.

And it is Trumpian I think. MAKE A BOLD STATEMENT. bask in the glory, then when people start to challenge that statement, boom, start again.

I agree @RedTagAlan - it's like MAGAnauts only getting their "news" from Fox or Trump Social. Any dissenting view or attempt at impartiality/balance is met with howls of "fake". So they only get their own views and prejudices parroted back to them. It's nothing but a f~cking echo chamber. It saddens me deeply.

Not sure if I trust MTG. In fact.. no, I don't.

CNN had a bit in their feed about this. That the names have been removed. The Pentagon said it was a glitch.

Not sure if I trust the Pentagon. In fact...no, I don't.

Fair point.

I guess the difference is the US started from an artificially sterilised culture (the jokes just write themselves) which did a good job of erasing the common man.

Whereas UK politics - with nothing to really "break" from, retained it's various sub cultures The closest you will get is the Reformation (which was eventually blunted) and the civil war(s), which was quietly reversed for the main part.

And both those divisions are clear in 2026.

England eventually overcame the Norman conquest so entirely that even the language of the invaders has been erased in the UK.

Wankers

Love the art, hate the artist.

This is where I think the Most Important Issue comes into play. If, as with Viet Nam, there should arise ONE issue that resonates with members of each of the political 'tribes' then they will, in a way, 'unite'. They may not become one cohesive unit, but they will vote the same in the privacy of the voting booths.

A good example of this is 'Another Mother for Peace' founded in 1967 to oppose the VN war. It was mothers from all parts of society united to fight the war. They weren't all either Dems or Repugs, they weren't all liberal or all conservative. They were mums who didn't want to see their sons die.

AMP's 'The Pax Materna'

I join with my sisters in every land
In The Pax Materna—
A permanent declaration of peace
That transcends our ideological differences.
In the nuclear shadow, war is obsolete.
I will no longer suffer it in silence
Nor sustain it by complicity.
They shall not send my son
To fight another mother's son.
For now, forever, there is no mother
Who is an enemy to another mother

I think the word 'language' would beg to differ.

The whole strategy of people who seek power is to find an issue - any issue - which can create a "unity" that divides existing blocs.

Brexit was the UKs variant.

Take a random British person, drop them in Normandy and see how long they last.

You could do the same in Germany - and English is famously a Germanic langauge.

Your turn. 😀

(Of course we then reflect on the fact that were you to perform the same experiment dropping a Brit into America, the odd amusement aside, communication would be seamless).

Seems to be angry word day on here today. I have done a fair amount. They are just getting lower and lower.

And not wanting to start a pro/anti Burnham thing, he is going to have decide soon if Trump can use UK airbases. And no matter what he decides, he will get flack. Meanwhile Trump is totally protected by the US system. His job is 100% safe.

In fact, thinking about it, Trumps job is safer than even Putin or Xi. They could be gone tomorrow in a coup. But not Trump.

What a system.

And not wanting to start a pro/anti Burnham thing, he is going to have decide soon if Trump can use UK airbases

It's not much known in the US (obviously) but he already has

https://www.axios.com/2026/07/23/b-1-bomber-iran-war

The B-1 launched its mission from an airbase in the UK and was spotted on online plane tracking websites.

It was the word 'erased' that I had an issue with - lots of words we use have French origins. I wasn't suggesting that modern English and modern French are mutually intelligible.

Anyway, back to Chump ...

That was rather my point. Norman French rocked up, the whole court had to speak it, and 400 years later we have Chaucer.

If you are paying attention it tells you more than you know about "the English".