Trumps Presidency 2025

[chasfh]

I understand that people don't agree with this, but I do wish folks would stop referring to Trump as "stupid" or an "idiot" or things along those lines. That serves only to absolve him of responsibility for his actions and behavior, as though his intellectual capacity is not developed enough for him to understand what he is doing, and worse, that he is acting in good faith to improve life for the American people but simply isn't smart enough to figure out how to accomplish that. The evil in his actions is not the result of lack of intelligence—it's the result of something else.

Trump is not a well-educated or thoughtful man, but he is smart enough to know exactly what he's doing and how to manipulate not only his base, but the entire system, to achieve his ends, which is to destroy the structure of American government on all levels and and strip it for parts on his way out. A completely stupid idiot could not accomplish what he has.

[oblong]

Regarding the floods..... I don't know what happened and it's probably too soon to 'blame' anybody.  Sometimes bad things happen too fast for us to prevent it.  But generally speaking there needs to be a national discussion on how we treat weather forecasts, forcasters, and warnings.   Too many people think they're idiots because "it didn't rain when they said it was" without understanding what their forecast means.  Or they blow off warnings because of false alarms.  It's better to have 99 false alarms as long as we react properly to the 100th alarm.   I'm not suggesting that's what happened here but we should heed it as a lesson regardless.

That said... they should play the clip of Jodi Ernst saying "Well we're all going to die anyway" each time someone on Fox or whatever tries to cast blame.

[chasfh]

Guaranteed Texas gets FEMA money, and just as guaranteed that California would not were this to happen there.

[gehringer_2]

38 minutes ago, chasfh said:

As for religious fatalism, you probably agree that's baked into the condition of being a person without any real power to change their circumstances.

Not necessarily. The US civil rights movement took great strength from their belief that a "Christian' nation had to be challenged to do better, and took hope in their interpretation of the Gospel that better lives and societies were possible. In my view, authentic Christianity is at heart a subversive ethic that adds to people's motivation to challenge the status quo for the sake of the future. 

The problem is that there isn't much authentic in US fundamentalist evangelicalism. The great fault line of religious belief is exactly when it's able to be twisted into another mean of control - of which one aspect is exactly inculcation of that sense of fatalism that pacifies the proles.

[chasfh]

3 minutes ago, gehringer_2 said:

Not necessarily. The US civil rights movement took great strength from their belief that a "Christian' nation had to be challenged to do better, and took hope in their interpretation of the Gospel that better lives and societies were possible. In my view, authentic Christianity is at heart a subversive ethic that adds to people's motivation to challenge the status quo for the sake of the future. 

I would bet you understand that King's Christianity and Mike Johnson's Christianity are not even close to being the same.

[Tiger337]

7 minutes ago, chasfh said:

I understand that people don't agree with this, but I do wish folks would stop referring to Trump as "stupid" or an "idiot" or things along those lines. That serves only to absolve him of responsibility for his actions and behavior, as though his intellectual capacity is not developed enough for him to understand what he is doing, and worse, that he is acting in good faith to improve life for the American people but simply isn't smart enough to figure out how to accomplish that. The evil in his actions is not the result of lack of intelligence—it's the result of something else.

Trump is not a well-educated or thoughtful man, but he is smart enough to know exactly what he's doing and how to manipulate not only his base, but the entire system, to achieve his ends, which is to destroy the structure of American government on all levels and and strip it for parts on his way out. A completely stupid idiot could not accomplish what he has.

He's very good at marketing and self promotion.  That's all.  If he is such a genius, why did it take him until his 70s before he got what you think he wanted?  Why didn't he become wealthy like Bezos or Musk? Why didn't he become President when he was younger? I don't think he knows exactly what he's doing.  I think he's being used by others who do know what they're doing.  He's just looking for wealth, adulation, victories.  I don't think he is capable of thinking beyond himself.  I think his willingness to destroy our government is not the result of his own evil, but of his desire to be remembered as the guy who changed everything.  The result doesn't need to be a good one or a bad.  He just needs to convince people that he's the greatest ever.

[Tiger337]

18 minutes ago, oblong said:

Regarding the floods..... I don't know what happened and it's probably too soon to 'blame' anybody.  Sometimes bad things happen too fast for us to prevent it.  But generally speaking there needs to be a national discussion on how we treat weather forecasts, forcasters, and warnings.   Too many people think they're idiots because "it didn't rain when they said it was" without understanding what their forecast means.  Or they blow off warnings because of false alarms.  It's better to have 99 false alarms as long as we react properly to the 100th alarm.   I'm not suggesting that's what happened here but we should heed it as a lesson regardless.

That said... they should play the clip of Jodi Ernst saying "Well we're all going to die anyway" each time someone on Fox or whatever tries to cast blame.

Weather forecasts have become a LOT more accurate in the last decade or too.  The kind of forecasting ability we had 20 years ago does not even compare to what we have today.  I don't know how to convince the masses of that point.  

[gehringer_2]

35 minutes ago, chasfh said:

I would bet you understand that King's Christianity and Mike Johnson's Christianity are not even close to being the same.

correct - which is what I was getting at in noting the lack of 'authenticity' in today's US RW Christianity.

[chasfh]

53 minutes ago, Tiger337 said:

If he is such a genius, 

I don't think anybody here is arguing he is such a genius.

Anyhow, as I said, I understand that people don't agree with this.

[Tiger337]

Just now, chasfh said:

I don't think anybody here is arguing he is such a genius.

Anyhow, as I said, I understand that people don't agree with this.

Someone who knows excatly what he's doing at all times would qualify as a genius of some sort.  

[Motown Bombers]

Trump can't go anywhere without handlers.

 

[chasfh]

3 hours ago, Tiger337 said:

Someone who knows excatly what he's doing at all times would qualify as a genius of some sort.  

He knows what he's doing.

[Tiger337]

Just now, chasfh said:

He knows what he's doing.

In general, I think he has good marketing instincts.  As long as somebody else handles all the details. he knows how to pitch it.

[CMRivdogs]

6 hours ago, chasfh said:

 

Trump is not a well-educated or thoughtful man, but he is smart enough to know exactly what he's doing and how to manipulate not only his base, but the entire system, to achieve his ends, which is to destroy the structure of American government on all levels and and strip it for parts on his way out. A completely stupid idiot could not accomplish what he has.

Trump was handed everything on a silver platter. Sent to excellent schools but purposely chose not fully take advantage of what was given to him. Even in business, his father bailed him out. When Trump Tower faced foreclosure the banks  decided it was cheaper for them to write off the debt than to take on a White Elephant.

Fred Trump was a ruthless-racist, the apple didn't fall from the tree. Everything father and son accomplished was thru intimidation and bullying. His Presidency is the same. The only thing he knows is thug law. Exactly what he accuses everyone who opposes him of, and continues to groups he doesn't like.

Unfortunately his sons ans sycophants are the same   

[chasfh]

33 minutes ago, CMRivdogs said:

Trump was handed everything on a silver platter. Sent to excellent schools but purposely chose not fully take advantage of what was given to him. Even in business, his father bailed him out. When Trump Tower faced foreclosure the banks  decided it was cheaper for them to write off the debt than to take on a White Elephant.

Fred Trump was a ruthless-racist, the apple didn't fall from the tree. Everything father and son accomplished was thru intimidation and bullying. His Presidency is the same. The only thing he knows is thug law. Exactly what he accuses everyone who opposes him of, and continues to groups he doesn't like.

Unfortunately his sons ans sycophants are the same   

All true. And it's working far better than anyone, possibly except he, could have imagined.

[Tiger337]

1 hour ago, chasfh said:

All true. And it's working far better than anyone, possibly except he, could have imagined.

Things tend to work well when there is always someone there to bail you out.  

[CMRivdogs]

1 minute ago, Tiger337 said:

Things tend to work well when there is always someone there to bail you out.  

And now he has Congress and his flunkies on the Supreme Court

[pfife]

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/jul/07/ted-cruz-trump-weather-forecasting-cuts

Ted Cruz ensured Trump spending bill slashed weather forecasting funding

[chasfh]

12 hours ago, CMRivdogs said:

And now he has Congress and his flunkies on the Supreme Court

He’s done a hell of a job of setting them all up to either do his bidding or else.

[chasfh]

44 minutes ago, pfife said:

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/jul/07/ted-cruz-trump-weather-forecasting-cuts

Ted Cruz ensured Trump spending bill slashed weather forecasting funding

At least forecasting works for Ted Cruz since he always seems to go on vacation right before weather disasters strike the state he purportedly represents.

[ben9753]

I despise Trump. But he doesn't pretend to be something he's not. Ted Cruz is such a fake phony. I have a special disdain for him.

[Tigerbomb13]

Good grief