To think Trump is unhinged

[Loveumagenta]

As well as dangerous? He wants to help the Israelis in their ethnic cleansing of Gaza and own it so he can turn it into a holiday destination with the Palestinians packed off somewhere.

His greed really knows no bounds.

YABU - it’s a great idea, can’t wait to go to the new ‘riviera’!

YANBU - his threats to other countries and dangerous for the world.

A two-state solution would be what makes the most sense. Not for Gaza to be a Saudi colony.

What is scary is the huge amount of power that the US president has. He can dismantle so much of the government, impose trade tariffs, install unelected and unqualified advisors with vested interests who have huge influence and direct access to all the systems, choose the very judges that hold him to account.. The system is the problem really and I am not sure why more people don't focus on that, it seems sacred. I guess very difficult if not impossible to reform. Although will Trump have a stab at trying to interpret the 22nd amendment to allow him to serve again (eg on basis that his second term would not be consecutive therefore doesn't count)? Although he would be super old by then?

Trump’s style of negotiating is different, he says something outrageous that shocks the other side but their red lines do shift. So far some of the hostages have been released and Palestinians have been allowed to travel back to their homes something Israel wasn’t allowing. What he is saying is crazy but he knows that, it’s a message to other countries in the region to get involved.

I think the two state solution is dead. The US has given up on it. The Israelis do not want it.

No one will support Palestinians, save Iran and Hamas. And they have lost. Their entire plan rested on the US keeping to orthodoxy on two state.

That is over. Gaza shall be occupied one way or other.

There is no way Israel will tolerate anything run by Gazans at this point.

And while I don’t LIKE that reality, I know that nobody is going to challenge Israel on this point.

So much of what he is trying to do with his executive orders is simply unconstitutional. That also means that he was very happy to commit perjury as US Presidents swear their allegiance to THE CONSTITUTION: "I do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will faithfully execute the Office of President of the United States, and will to the best of my Ability, preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States."

Hard agree.

And this power is only just news to you?

EIGHT presidents owned slaves while in office, among them george washington and thomas jefferson. These two were members of the elite planter class

washington signed the Fugitive Slave Act of 1793 to give effect to the Fugitive Slave Clause of the U.S. Constitution (Article IV, Section 2, Clause 3). The Constitution's Fugitive Slave Clause guaranteed a right for a slaveholder to recover an escaped slave. The Act signed by washington reads,

"An Act respecting fugitives from justice, and persons escaping from the service of their masters".

He (and jefferson, and the other racist, slave owning tyrants) took out adverts in newspapers in an attempt to recover their fleeing slaves. The one shown below is by washington on a slave woman called Oney Judge...advert starts with "absconded from the household of the president...."

Meanwhile the system of government and the departments that carry out policy are being shut down and their employees dismissed or rather offered redundancy which many fear will never materialise.

Musk ( let's not call him by his first name) is being given access to classified documents including personnel and social security records. Senior officials who resist have been fired.

America is being turned into a dictatorship in plain sight.

Where are the campus protesters now? I haven't seen coverage of any yet.

He's certainly got some crazy ideas.

That said, we cannot go on the way we were. Tens of billions were given to Gaza every year and a lot of it was openly used for terrorism and/or stolen by terrorists. Hamas leaders lived as actual billionaires in Qatar from aid money while preaching terrorism and violence. We fund the UNRWA which is teaching race hate to children in schools (not to mention that so many of their staff are Hamas and other terror groups).

There is no future in funding terrorist groups that want to kill us. The population of Gaza needs to be deradicalised and to learn to live in peace with their neighbors and each other. Not an easy task.

Image is of washington with his enslaved personal servant William Lee in the background (one of his 600 slaves at Mount Vernon, his plantation). During the war, 18 slaves fled his plantation to join the British who had guaranteed their freedom. During the war washington hired a slave catcher in an attempt to catch them. Fortunately they managed to flee out of New York harbour to freedom.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:George_Washington_by_John_Trumbull_(1780).jpg

People are scared. Even students (who might be worried about losing their scholarships for example).

Many (probably most) Palestinians never wanted a two state solution ever. Certainly it's not something Hamas have ever expressed an interest in. Israelis are realising that after 7 October when many of those horribly murdered were peace activists.

I don't know what the solution is. But Hamas (or other terrorist groups like Palestinian Islamic Jihad) cannot be supported to be in government. Their stated aim is to murder Jews and destroy israel.

It has been almost mentioned in jest that the West Coast states of California, Oregon and Washington could secede from the ' United States'.

They have their own economies, and whilst it looks totally implausible, I would imagine it would receive a lot of support from the residents.

Already many Californians have taken down the star spangled banner and are just displaying the California state flag.

We have to remember that the US is just a hodge podge of very different states with their own laws or interpretation of laws, almost like separate nations who have something in common with the neighbours , but often have completely different outlooks , such as Texas and California.

In general, The East coast and West Coast are liberal and are democratic voting, whilst the ' fly over' states down the middle are more far right and Conservative.

There might not be a traditional ' fighting' civil war, but I can see a trade and political fall out on a huge scale.

You can guarantee that Trump and his deranged acolytes will not lift a finger for any ' blue' state in crisis, and have already blamed California's Governor for a natural disaster.

Definitely something to watch for over Trumps term in office.

Unfortunately the reality is that Palestinians and Israel will never see eye to eye and this conflict will be never ending if we just back to how things were.

I despise Trump but actually he has a point here: the area is completely destroyed and needs complete rebuilding and all the Hamas tunnels and weapons cleared out.

No one has ever managed to make the two state solution work, so what else is there?

I do think though that Palestinian families should be able to settle again once the area is rebuilt but Hamas should never again be allowed to lead the area.

Of course he’s unhinged, as are all the fools who voted him in whilst knowing this !

Trump has stated that he will deal with people supporting terrorism who are on visas and take federal funding from institutions with antisemitic protests.

I do believe in freedom of speech but we have seen hate and violence towards Jews in American universities. And open support for illegal terrorist groups.

People must be allowed to speak and protest but that doesn't mean allowing harassment or violence towards Jewish students or destruction of property or open support for proscribed terrorist groups.

I actually agree with this and I think while it is unpalatable the current situation is not working and wont ever work. The two state solution aside I think my biggest worry about this is how it positions America and its allies (namely us) to extremists and I am seriously concerned that we are one major terror attack from trump imposing draconian powers which could see him become even more reckless and power hungry.

Well if that's his metric he might need to withdraw federal contracts from Elon, under whom Twitter has become possibly the biggest cesspit of anti-semitic rhetoric in the English speaking world.

Saw this this morning, is this actually going to happen ? Surely you can't just pack people off and turn their land into a holiday resort? He was with the Israeli prime minister aswell so it seems like it's actually the plan ?

It has been almost mentioned in jest that the West Coast states of California, Oregon and Washington could secede from the ' United States'.

I think the EU should suggest in 'jest' that they join. See how that goes down with Trump. I know Californians who love the idea.

Please bring New York into those negotiations. Thank you!

Sure thing :)

@Lifesd I have my own concerns for the UK. We will have conflict of our own if Trump imposes this solution on Gaza.

I was not a fan of the protests re Gaza in the UK for this reason. Not only was it divisive but since the UK has little ability to affect the US on this these issues will just be focussed on the government here.

I totally get the PP about loud mouths in bars being like Trump. The sort who half read a newspaper story that's not even half right and then spouts some simplistic solution to an intractable problem. The sort of solution that might work if you were dealing with a few hundred people but not a few million.
Maybe I should frequent naicer establishments 🤔😂

Much as though I don't really want to I do find Trump fascinating psychologically. But I don't even think spending time with him would help get a handle on his irrational behaviour. Like Johnson is he very clever but plays the dim card well, or is he simply not that bright.

As for those who voted for him. Well they can't all be stupid, though lord knows why anyone would believe an inheritance kid billionaire has the struggling families of the rust belt at heart. Much the same as I don't believe any oxbridge millionaire minster here knows much about my life and what's best for it.