(Soon to be) Former President Donald Trump

[McD]

This quote is hidden because you are ignoring this member. Show Quote

Good luck getting a reply, as usual when the alt-media narrative they have have been brainwashed into believing is challenged they disappear.

I know, but I always feel the need to reply and ask, because when you don’t they take that as you accepting their “facts” as the truth

[Hibs Class]

This quote is hidden because you are ignoring this member. Show Quote

Scary how The most ardent of Trump supporters wear their ignorance like a badge of honour.

100%. Trump and the pro-Trump “media” have emboldened morons who wear their ill-informed xenophobic ignorance with pride without any sense of irony.

[JimBHibees]

This quote is hidden because you are ignoring this member. Show Quote

WHO undermined Trump when he wanted to close the boarders. They have blood on their hands. Trump wants only whats best for USA. NZ close the borders 2 days later and everyone celebrates the good leadership. Only because it suits their narrative. NB the NZ PM has strong communist ties and a poor human rights record.

Wow.

[spike220]

This quote is hidden because you are ignoring this member. Show Quote

Wow.

[CapitalGreen]

This quote is hidden because you are ignoring this member. Show Quote

Why are you pretending you are fishing or stirring the pot now? Earlier you posted a link to a news article (from a mainstream media publication too) trying to back up your point about Ahern being a communist. Are you taking deflection techniques off billionaire businessman, commander in chief of the worlds most powerful military and “leader of the free world” Donald Trump? Humiliating yourself and then claiming it was just sarcasm all along?

[spike220]

This quote is hidden because you are ignoring this member. Show Quote

Why are you pretending you are fishing or stirring the pot now? Earlier you posted a link to a news article (from a mainstream media publication too) trying to back up your point about Ahern being a communist. Are you taking deflection techniques off billionaire businessman, commander in chief of the worlds most powerful military and “leader of the free world” Donald Trump? Humiliating yourself and then claiming it was just sarcasm all along?

30 secs of research on Google my friend!

Sorry you got sucked in! :)

[CapitalGreen]

This quote is hidden because you are ignoring this member. Show Quote

30 secs of research on Google my friend!

Sorry you got sucked in! :)

You don’t even have the wearwithal or courage to back yourself or your opinions up. Spineless and pathetic.

[Hibrandenburg]

This quote is hidden because you are ignoring this member. Show Quote

30 secs of research on Google my friend!

Sorry you got sucked in! :)

I could find out that the earth is flat in 30 seconds on Google, doesn't stop it being absolute drivel.

[spike220]

This quote is hidden because you are ignoring this member. Show Quote

You don’t even have the wearwithal or courage to back yourself or your opinions up. Spineless and pathetic.

Thanks for playing!

[CapitalGreen]

This quote is hidden because you are ignoring this member. Show Quote

Thanks for playing!

“Thanks for playing!”

[Ronniekirk]

This quote is hidden because you are ignoring this member. Show Quote

I could find out that the earth is flat in 30 seconds on Google, doesn't stop it being absolute drivel.

The Flat Liners think social distancing could push some people over the Edge




Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Pretty Boy]

https://www.independent.co.uk/news/w...-a9484131.html

A couple of Republican groups turning their fire on Trump.

And the below is a bit out of date but it's a prominent Evangelical Christian publication condemning Trump. Some of the religious aspects may not be to everyone's tastes but the general tone is agreeable:

https://www.christianitytoday.com/ct...om-office.html

[lapsedhibee]

This quote is hidden because you are ignoring this member. Show Quote

https://www.independent.co.uk/news/w...-a9484131.html

A couple of Republican groups turning their fire on Trump.

And the below is a bit out of date but it's a prominent Evangelical Christian publication condemning Trump. Some of the religious aspects may not be to everyone's tastes but the general tone is agreeable:

https://www.christianitytoday.com/ct...om-office.html

Confusing Pulitzer prizes with Nobel prizes and then misspelling Nobel as Noble, now claiming he didn't make any mistake at all and that he was really suggesting that critical award-winning journalists should return their Noble prizes. And again puzzled that no-one understands sarcasm.

America, do what you're best at and somebody just take him out.

[Tobias Funke]

This quote is hidden because you are ignoring this member. Show Quote

“Thanks for playing!”

😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂

👍🏼👍🏼

[-Jonesy-]

This quote is hidden because you are ignoring this member. Show Quote

30 secs of research on Google my friend!

Sorry you got sucked in! :)

What a fud

[Hibee87]

At it again. Saying 'someone' could have stopped this but choose not to, eh?

Usual attack on China after he has been exposed. His disinfectant chat was sarcastic, like the whole world didn't see it, and he takes no responsibility for the people who have drank disinfectant 😂

[Kato]

An essay by Fintan O’Toole of The Irish Times, April 25, 2020

Over more than two centuries, the United States has stirred a very wide range of feelings in the rest of the world: love and hatred, fear and hope, envy and contempt, awe and anger. But there is one emotion that has never been directed towards the US until now: pity.

However bad things are for most other rich democracies, it is hard not to feel sorry for Americans. Most of them did not vote for Donald Trump in 2016. Yet they are locked down with a malignant narcissist who, instead of protecting his people from Covid-19, has amplified its lethality. The country Trump promised to make great again has never in its history seemed so pitiful.
Will American prestige ever recover from this shameful episode? The US went into the coronavirus crisis with immense advantages: precious weeks of warning about what was coming, the world’s best concentration of medical and scientific expertise, effectively limitless financial resources, a military complex with stunning logistical capacity and most of the world’s leading technology corporations. Yet it managed to make itself the global epicentre of the pandemic.
As the American writer George Packer puts it in the current edition of the Atlantic, “The United States reacted ... like Pakistan or Belarus – like a country with shoddy infrastructure and a dysfunctional government whose leaders were too corrupt or stupid to head off mass suffering.”

It is one thing to be powerless in the face of a natural disaster, quite another to watch vast power being squandered in real time – wilfully, malevolently, vindictively. It is one thing for governments to fail (as, in one degree or another, most governments did), quite another to watch a ruler and his supporters actively spread a deadly virus. Trump, his party and Rupert Murdoch’s Fox News became vectors of the pestilence.

The grotesque spectacle of the president openly inciting people (some of them armed) to take to the streets to oppose the restrictions that save lives is the manifestation of a political death wish. What are supposed to be daily briefings on the crisis, demonstrative of national unity in the face of a shared challenge, have been used by Trump merely to sow confusion and division. They provide a recurring horror show in which all the neuroses that haunt the American subconscious dance naked on live TV.
If the plague is a test, its ruling political nexus ensured that the US would fail it at a terrible cost in human lives. In the process, the idea of the US as the world’s leading nation – an idea that has shaped the past century – has all but evaporated.
Other than the Trump impersonator Jair Bolsonaro in Brazil, who is now looking to the US as the exemplar of anything other than what not to do? How many people in Düsseldorf or Dublin are wishing they lived in Detroit or Dallas?
It is hard to remember now but, even in 2017, when Trump took office, the conventional wisdom in the US was that the Republican Party and the broader framework of US political institutions would prevent him from doing too much damage. This was always a delusion, but the pandemic has exposed it in the most savage ways.

Abject surrender
What used to be called mainstream conservatism has not absorbed Trump – he has absorbed it. Almost the entire right-wing half of American politics has surrendered abjectly to him. It has sacrificed on the altar of wanton stupidity the most basic ideas of responsibility, care and even safety.
Thus, even at the very end of March, 15 Republican governors had failed to order people to stay at home or to close non-essential businesses. In Alabama, for example, it was not until April 3rd that governor Kay Ivey finally issued a stay-at-home order.
In Florida, the state with the highest concentration of elderly people with underlying conditions, governor Ron DeSantis, a Trump mini-me, kept the beach resorts open to students travelling from all over the US for spring break parties. Even on April 1st, when he issued restrictions, DeSantis exempted religious services and “recreational activities”.
Georgia governor Brian Kemp, when he finally issued a stay-at-home order on April 1st, explained: “We didn’t know that [the virus can be spread by people without symptoms] until the last 24 hours.”
This is not mere ignorance – it is deliberate and homicidal stupidity. There is, as the demonstrations this week in US cities have shown, plenty of political mileage in denying the reality of the pandemic. It is fuelled by Fox News and far-right internet sites, and it reaps for these politicians millions of dollars in donations, mostly (in an ugly irony) from older people who are most vulnerable to the coronavirus.

It draws on a concoction of conspiracy theories, hatred of science, paranoia about the “deep state” and religious providentialism (God will protect the good folks) that is now very deeply infused in the mindset of the American right.
Trump embodies and enacts this mindset, but he did not invent it. The US response to the coronavirus crisis has been paralysed by a contradiction that the Republicans have inserted into the heart of US democracy. On the one hand, they want to control all the levers of governmental power. On the other they have created a popular base by playing on the notion that government is innately evil and must not be trusted.
The contradiction was made manifest in two of Trump’s statements on the pandemic: on the one hand that he has “total authority”, and on the other that “I don’t take responsibility at all”. Caught between authoritarian and anarchic impulses, he is incapable of coherence.

Fertile ground
But this is not just Donald Trump. The crisis has shown definitively that Trump’s presidency is not an aberration. It has grown on soil long prepared to receive it. The monstrous blossoming of misrule has structure and purpose and strategy behind it.
There are very powerful interests who demand “freedom” in order to do as they like with the environment, society and the economy. They have infused a very large part of American culture with the belief that “freedom” is literally more important than life. My freedom to own assault weapons trumps your right not to get shot at school. Now, my freedom to go to the barber (“I Need a Haircut” read one banner this week in St Paul, Minnesota) trumps your need to avoid infection.
Usually when this kind of outlandish idiocy is displaying itself, there is the comforting thought that, if things were really serious, it would all stop. People would sober up. Instead, a large part of the US has hit the bottle even harder.
And the president, his party and their media allies keep supplying the drinks. There has been no moment of truth, no shock of realisation that the antics have to end. No one of any substance on the US right has stepped in to say: get a grip, people are dying here.

That is the mark of how deep the trouble is for the US – it is not just that Trump has treated the crisis merely as a way to feed tribal hatreds but that this behaviour has become normalised. When the freak show is live on TV every evening, and the star is boasting about his ratings, it is not really a freak show any more. For a very large and solid bloc of Americans, it is reality.
And this will get worse before it gets better. Trump has at least eight more months in power. In his inaugural address in 2017, he evoked “American carnage” and promised to make it stop. But now that the real carnage has arrived, he is revelling in it. He is in his element.

As things get worse, he will pump more hatred and falsehood, more death-wish defiance of reason and decency, into the groundwater. If a new administration succeeds him in 2021, it will have to clean up the toxic dump he leaves behind. If he is re-elected, toxicity will have become the lifeblood of American politics.

Either way, it will be a long time before the rest of the world can imagine America being great again.

Sent from my SM-A405FN using Tapatalk

[lapsedhibee]

This quote is hidden because you are ignoring this member. Show Quote

Sent from my SM-A405FN using Tapatalk

Excellent from O'Toole, as usual.

[-Jonesy-]

This quote is hidden because you are ignoring this member. Show Quote

Excellent from O'Toole, as usual.

Is Trumps behaviour a political death wish though? He’s proved time and time again that anything that shocks most level headed moderate people simply emboldens and even validates his right wing base who seem devoid of critical thought.

[hibsbollah]

This quote is hidden because you are ignoring this member. Show Quote

Is Trumps behaviour a political death wish though? He’s proved time and time again that anything that shocks most level headed moderate people simply emboldens and even validates his right wing base who seem devoid of critical thought.

I didnt read it as a death wish for Trump, more as a death wish for America's place as 'worlds leading nation'. The article is very good. Whether he can use his combination of superior analytics and superior wealth to beat the Worst Democratic Party Candidate In Living Memory is one political event I just cant get excited about this time round. Im sure whatever happens it wont be a dignified exit.

[Jim44]

My knowledge and understanding of American politics is sub par, but it seems unforgivable, to me, that the Democrats have not managed to get their act together by nurturing an opposition of young, bright, strong and competitive candidates who could challenge Trump and his browbeaten eunuchs at the next election.

[stuart-farquhar]

This quote is hidden because you are ignoring this member. Show Quote

My knowledge and understanding of American politics is sub par, but it seems unforgivable, to me, that the Democrats have not managed to get their act together by nurturing an opposition of young, bright, strong and competitive candidates who could challenge Trump and his browbeaten eunuchs at the next election.

Tbf unless you have lived in the USA for a decent period, and in more than one state, it's difficult to comprehend how people actually are politically. The notion of freedom among a huge number of Americans revolves around guns. Yes it does. There are pockets of sanity on both the east and west coast metropolitan areas. So called liberals, what we in Europe regard as the norm. Personally I love the USA and spend lots of time there with my family. It is a very different place from what you see in movies and from visiting as a holidaymaker. Oh that we could right now!!

[HibernianJK]

This quote is hidden because you are ignoring this member. Show Quote

My knowledge and understanding of American politics is sub par, but it seems unforgivable, to me, that the Democrats have not managed to get their act together by nurturing an opposition of young, bright, strong and competitive candidates who could challenge Trump and his browbeaten eunuchs at the next election.

It’s mostly money. To run a campaign costs and exorbitant amount of money which requires funding. Candidates usually obtain funding through contacts/companies/lobbies they have had relationships with for 25/30 years. For a younger person to run a campaign would be difficult with funding far inferior to his or hers opponents even if they are the better candidate.

There were some good younger candidates on the Democrats ballot this time around which probably lacked exposure. Again this is done through funding and advertising. As someone already mentioned. Alexandria Ocasio Cortez could be the next young hope already with a huge fan base and social media presence. In another 8 years when she’s eligible to run, she could be the one.

[McD]

This quote is hidden because you are ignoring this member. Show Quote

It’s mostly money. To run a campaign costs and exorbitant amount of money which requires funding. Candidates usually obtain funding through contacts/companies/lobbies they have had relationships with for 25/30 years. For a younger person to run a campaign would be difficult with funding far inferior to his or hers opponents even if they are the better candidate.

There were some good younger candidates on the Democrats ballot this time around which probably lacked exposure. Again this is done through funding and advertising. As someone already mentioned. Alexandria Ocasio Cortez could be the next young hope already with a huge fan base and social media presence. In another 8 years when she’s eligible to run, she could be the one.

What eligibility is needed to run? Not being wide, I'm genuienly curious as I didn't realise there was eligibility to meet

[Pretty Boy]

This quote is hidden because you are ignoring this member. Show Quote

What eligibility is needed to run? Not being wide, I'm genuienly curious as I didn't realise there was eligibility to meet

You have to be at least 35. She's only 30 so won't be eligible until the 2028 election.

You also have to be a natural born US citizen and have been resident in the US for at least 14 years.

[McD]

This quote is hidden because you are ignoring this member. Show Quote

You have to be at least 35. She's only 30 so won't be eligible until the 2028 election.

You also have to be a natural born US citizen and have been resident in the US for at least 14 years.

Thanks

I knew you had to be a natural born US citizen, didn't know about the other points though, cheers

[Ozyhibby]

This quote is hidden because you are ignoring this member. Show Quote

What eligibility is needed to run? Not being wide, I'm genuienly curious as I didn't realise there was eligibility to meet

You need to be 35.
AOC would be an amazing candidate but is too far left to win. If she can tack towards the centre she is a very impressive politician.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[IWasThere2016]

This quote is hidden because you are ignoring this member. Show Quote

My knowledge and understanding of American politics is sub par, but it seems unforgivable, to me, that the Democrats have not managed to get their act together by nurturing an opposition of young, bright, strong and competitive candidates who could challenge Trump and his browbeaten eunuchs at the next election.

This.

My politics are marginally right of centre - but the US doesn't need a Republican President.

They need a calm, measured, intelligent Democrat more than ever IMHO.

Their society is broken and that utter d**khead Trump is a huge part of the problem and no part of the solution whatsoever.

[HibernianJK]

This quote is hidden because you are ignoring this member. Show Quote

You need to be 35.
AOC would be an amazing candidate but is too far left to win. If she can tack towards the centre she is a very impressive politician.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

There’s a fair few Americans I know (through forums) that think by the time she is eligible to run she might be very electable candidate. The next wave of eligible voters are exactly the sort of people she is attracting.

[heretoday]

Trump looks like being dragged away by men in white coats soon.