Miscellaneous Trump (3 Viewers)

[Huntn]

Anxiety surges as Donald Trump may be indicted soon: Why 2024 is 'the final battle' and 'the big one'​

Anxiety surges as Donald Trump may be indicted soon: Why 2024 is 'the final battle' and 'the big one'

Donald Trump's many legal problems – and calls for protests – have generated new fears of political violence and anxiety about the 2024 election.

www.yahoo.com

WASHINGTON – It looks like American politics is entering a new age of anxiety, triggered by an unprecedented legal development: The potential indictment of a former president and current presidential candidate.

Donald Trump's many legal problems – and calls for protests by his followers – have generated new fears of political violence and anxiety about the unknowable impact all this will have on the already-tense 2024 presidential election

I’ll reframe this is a more accurate way, Are Presidents above the law? This new age was spurred into existence when home grown dummies elected a corrupt, mentally ill, anti-democratic, would be dictator as President and don’t bother to hold him responsible for his crimes, don’t want to because in the ensuing mayhem and destruction, they think they will be better off. The man is actually advocating violence (not the first time). And btw, screw democracy too. If this feeling spreads, we are In deep shirt.

This goes beyond one treasonous Peice of work and out to all his minions. This is on you or should we be sympathetic to the idea of they can’t help being selfish suckers to the Nation’s detriment? Donald Trump is the single largest individual threat to our democracy and it‘s all going to boil down to will the majority of the GOP return to his embrace and start slinging his excrement to support him?

 

[Optimus Prime]

Donald Trump’s move to take control of Washington D.C’s John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts has led to a staggering 50 percent drop in ticket sales, according to a report.

Trump fired the Kennedy Center’s leadership upon his return to the Oval Office and put MAGA loyalist Richard Grenell in charge of the famed institution.

In the week that followed the decision ticket sales halved, Kennedy Center staff members told The Washington Post anonymously for fear of reprisals.

And it is not just audience members who have deserted the Kennedy Center.

Actress and comedian Issa Rae was the first major artist to announce that she was canceling her show there.

“Unfortunately, due to what I believe to be an infringement on the values of an institution that has faithfully celebrated artists of all backgrounds through all mediums, I’ve decided to cancel my appearance at this venue,” she said in an Instagram story on February 13, with tickers being refunded.

Canadian mystery writer Louise Penny also pulled out of her scheduled appearance.

“In DC, but in the wake of Trump taking over, I have pulled out. It was, of course, going to be a career highlight. But there are things far more important than that,” she wrote on Facebook.….

Trump takeover sees Kennedy Center suffer ticket sale collapse, says report

Trump fired the Kennedy Center’s leadership upon his return to the Oval Office and put MAGA loyalist in charge of the famed institution

www.independent.co.uk

Lin-Manuel Miranda cancels Hamilton show at Kennedy Center after Trump takeover

‘We’re not going to be a part of it while it is the Trump Kennedy Center’

www.independent.co.uk

 

[Optimus Prime]

Guess this can go here
=================

Since Donald Trump took office for his second term, he has taken a blowtorch to America. He has pardoned January 6 rioters, started the gutting of the federal government, eliminated diversity, equity and inclusion programs, insulted who we thoughtwere the country’s allies, and vilified immigrants.

While there have been voices of dissent in the sports world – such as former NFL punter Chris Kluwe and soccer coach Jesse Marsch – athletes have largely stayed silent on Trump’s policies, a stark contrast to his first term in power.

In recent months, Patrick Mahomes and Travis Kelce spoke of their pride in playing in front of Trump at the Super Bowl, while the Philadelphia Eagles are reportedly keen to visit the White House to celebrate their NFL title, a decision supported by Charles Barkley, who believes boycotts make the nation more divided.

I couldn’t disagree more with Barkley. So I wanted to sit down with the epitome of the athlete activist, someone who didn’t hesitate to express his beliefs, even in the face of enormous backlash.

And that is the great Mahmoud Abdul-Rauf, whose protest during the national anthem in 1996 cost him his NBA career. Below is our conversation, which was has been lightly edited for length and clarity, about the importance of protest under the Trump administration.

Etan Thomas: Do you think athletes have gone a little quiet since Trump has taken office? How important is it for athletes to not stay silent?

Mahmoud Abdul-Rauf: It’s definitely not just athletes, but for the context of this discussion, we can focus on athletes. And, yes, it’s super important [for athletes to speak up]. I can’t help but think of years ago, J Edgar Hoover was discussing the power of the athlete.

And how [the] goal was to shift [focus] from the Muhammad Ali types to the more quiet type of athlete because those in power recognize the power that athletes had to influence people.

Especially an athlete that’s articulate and knows how to communicate and is current with all of the issues. So, there is an enormous amount of power that a lot of athletes … don’t realize that they have.

ET: A lot of the reasoning given as to why athletes may be more reluctant to speak out now is because they are making so much more money and have much more to lose.

MAR: Well, to whom much is given much is expected. Sometimes, people are quiet when they’re trying to get ahead in fear of messing up their chances to succeed, and I understand that.

But when you get to a point where you are making millions and your finances are all taken care of, you would think that it would embolden you even more.

But for so many of us, it makes it even worse … Sometimes, people listen to athletes more than they will academics who have studied the issues continuously.

ET: Has the time of athlete activism passed? Kareem Abdul-Jabbar once told me “if you have someone with that type of power and influence, pushing for something you don’t agree with, of course they are going to try to do whatever they can to silence them, because they are a threat to them.”………..

Charles Barkley calls athletes who won’t visit Trump’s White House ‘stupid’. I disagree | Etan Thomas

Sports stars have stayed silent about the policies of the new administration. I spoke to someone who knows all about the power – and price – of protest

www.theguardian.com

 

[longtime lurker]

War heroes, military firsts among 26,000 images flagged in DEI purge

A Medal of Honor recipient, women and minorities are among the tens of thousands of photos marked for deletion as the Pentagon purges DEI content.

www.militarytimes.com

 

[DJ1BigTymer]

Trudeau is going out with a bang!

 

[Mr. Blue Sky]

 

[Huntn]

An argument: Trump’s Developing Economic Disaster… it’s on purpose, besides the advantage of chaos, this IS capitalism at work and it’s Project 2025. However before you read this, I know that farmers in Minnesota where have troubles trying to keep their kids on the farm to keep them going, not that this counters what’s said below. But this is Capitalism.

I Know Exactly What They Are Doing

Rural foresight

jesspiper.substack.com

I hear people all around me saying, “They are going to crash the economy. Surely they don’t mean to crash the economy.”

I beg to differ. This is curated failure.

Let me start off by saying that I am not an economist — I don’t even have a finance or accounting degree and I’m really bad at math in the first place.

But I do pay attention. I notice things and I am quick to see a pattern. I observe the world and the people in charge of it. I listen to the words they say and then measure those words against their actions.

You don’t need to be an economist to look around and see that the Trump administration is going to cause economic disaster — a recession or a depression. And it is by design. It is a feature, not a bug.

How do I know this?

I live under a GOP Supermajority. I have lived under their boot for two decades. They have economically damaged my state and it wasn’t by accident. They did it to sell off the state and workers and land to the wealthy. They created a desperate situation in Missouri and that desperation equates to bounty for the oligarchs.

The new Gilded Age. Make America desperate again.





An old shed on our rural Missouri property.
I’ve spent my life in rural parts of rural states. I am uniquely qualified to speak on this issue. I have seen it first-hand. You have heard of Project 2025. Missouri has been running the pilot project for almost two decades.

Many Missourians are now poor and sick and abused and desperate.

The wealthy have thrown shirt at the walls in red states to see what sticks. They found the winning formula, wrote it into a plan called Project 2025, and now bring it nationwide.

They have installed the wealthiest man in the world to dismantle the country for himself and his fellow oligarchs. They plan to burn the country down to pay rock-bottom prices for the ashes.

A fire sale.

The plan is to make the US a version of Missouri. And just over 40 days in, we can see that the plan is working.

Let me show you: the small rural American farmer is almost non-existent. He was wiped out decades ago.

In 1988, 32% of the nation's hog production came from family or small operations that produced fewer than 1,000 hogs per year. By 2000, that same size category only produced 2% of the nation's hogs.

Two percent.

Now, almost every pork product eaten in the US is produced on a factory farm. Wealthy corporations moved in and created a monopoly in the market. That monopoly is neither more healthy for Americans nor better for local economies.

Wealthy corporations put most family hog operations out of business and that means farming folks had to go to town for work…for a corporation. They depend on the availability of jobs in town instead of their own farm to pay the bills. When those town jobs dry up, the desperation ensues.

And now we have a trade war, so if your family farm happened to survive the last few decades, Trump’s tariffs on Canada and Mexico — and their retaliatory tariffs — will devastate your family farm. Guess where I found that exact plan? Project 2025.

Shrink American farmers’ access to foreign markets, restricting growth opportunities for producers.

The oligarchs wrote it in black and white.

 

[Optimus Prime]

Maybe he thinks there’s a treasure map on the back
=====
President Donald Trump asked “alarmed” aides for the original Declaration of Independence to be moved to the Oval Office, according to a report.

The historic and treasured document is displayed at the National Archives Building in Washington, D.C., where it has been housed since 1952 behind an argon-filled glass case under heavy security.

In recent days, Trump asked those in his inner circle about moving it to the Oval Office, according to the Atlantic, citing people familiar with the conversations.

To their relief, however, conversations have now moved to the prospect of moving a historical copy of the document instead of the original to the Oval Office…….

Trump asked for original Declaration of Independence to be moved to the Oval Office

The historic and fragile document is displayed at the National Archives Building in Washington, D.C. where it has been housed since 1952

www.independent.co.uk

 

[DJ1BigTymer]

Ladies and Gentlemen, The President of the United States:

 

[Mr. Blue Sky]

We can do petty and juvenile too…

.

 

[Optimus Prime]

The stadium announcer called on the crowd to give a warm welcome to “a very special guest”. A cheer went up as basketball fans realised that Barack Obama was in their midst. The former US president rose to his feet, smiled and waved before watching the Los Angeles Clippers take on the Detroit Pistons on Wednesday night.

It was a jarringly normal scene at a profoundly abnormal time. The previous evening, Donald Trump had delivered the longest ever presidential address to Congress, a dark, divisive tirade strewn with lies and insults – he called Joe Biden the “worst president in American history” and Senator Elizabeth Warren “Pocahontas”.

Yet Biden did not respond and Obama remained silent. Former presidents Bill Clinton and George W Bush were similarly mute. Six weeks into a Trump second term that has shattered democratic norms and ruptured diplomatic alliances, it remains unclear what – if anything – might prompt the former presidents to speak out.


Larry Sabato, director of the Center for Politics at the University of Virginia, said: “Let’s look only at Clinton and Obama: it’s almost as though they’ve washed their hands of it.

“I’ve been calling them Pontius and Pilate,” he said, referring to the Roman governor who allowed Jesus to be crucified. “You can understand why because when you challenge Trump he goes after you and never lets up. It’s hell every single day, multiple times a day.”……

The presidents’ club has its own etiquette, however. The five men have gathered twice recently, first at the Washington national cathedral for Jimmy Carter’s state funeral, where Obama and Trump were seen conversing and even sharing a joke. Then they reunited at Trump’s inauguration, where Biden was forced to listen to his presidency being described as “a horrible betrayal”.

Since then all the ex-presidents have resisted the temptation to stage a significant intervention. Sabato believes that one factor is an awareness that Trump – and his vituperative supporters – would be sure to strike back, including at family members such as Hillary Clinton, a former first lady and secretary of state who ran against Trump in the 2016 election.

“Bill Clinton is close to 80 and he’s been attacked a lot in his lifetime,” Sabato said. “I’m not sure he wants any more of it and then there’s Hillary – he has to realise that Trump would go after her too. With Obama, the more I think about it, the more I believe that little friendly chat at Jimmy Carter’s funeral either was part of Obama’s plan or, once it happened, he decided to capitalise on it and keep his mouth shut so that he wouldn’t be the target again.”

He added: “It’s unpleasant. Trump unleashes this army of butt crevasses and we’ve all experienced them on Twitter and in other ways. I get it. But I think they have an obligation to do more.”………

What will it take for a former president to speak out against Trump?

The silence from former occupants of the Oval Office has been deafening as the incumbent cuts a destructive path

www.theguardian.com

 

[fooferdoggie]

Maybe he thinks there’s a treasure map on the back
=====
President Donald Trump asked “alarmed” aides for the original Declaration of Independence to be moved to the Oval Office, according to a report.

its easier to shirt on that way.

 

[efil4]

Typical Trump reaction. He is like 78 years old.

 

[Dragon]

Typical Trump reaction. He is like 78 years old.

Donald Trump exhibits a profound sense of entitlement, shaped by a lifetime of privilege and the absence of meaningful boundaries. Raised in wealth and indulgence, he embodies the consequences of unchecked privilege—an individual driven by self-interest, insecurity, and an insatiable need for approval. His actions reveal a lack of empathy, viewing others primarily as tools to serve his desires and reinforce his ego, rather than as individuals with their own worth.

 

[barbar]

Donald Trump exhibits a profound sense of entitlement, shaped by a lifetime of privilege and the absence of meaningful boundaries. Raised in wealth and indulgence, he embodies the consequences of unchecked privilege—an individual driven by self-interest, insecurity, and an insatiable need for approval. His actions reveal a lack of empathy, viewing others primarily as tools to serve his desires and reinforce his ego, rather than as individuals with their own worth.

What rings true to me is the story of how he punched his teacher when he was what....8 years old? The sense of entitlement a child must feel to think it's OK to punch a teacher is mind boggling. To me, he is still that 8 year old just lashing out at anyone who "wrongs" him. He has never outgrown his childish nature. In fact, his entire life has just reinforced it.

 

[MT15]

What rings true to me is the story of how he punched his teacher when he was what....8 years old? The sense of entitlement a child must feel to think it's OK to punch a teacher is mind boggling. To me, he is still that 8 year old just lashing out at anyone who "wrongs" him. He has never outgrown his childish nature. In fact, his entire life has just reinforced it.

He’s to the point of pathology. He’s got a pretty severe personal disorder, which is completely apparent to anyone who sees what he says and does.

 

[Optimus Prime]

Traveling abroad for the first time since November, I saw pity in the eyes of strangers when they heard my American accent. Pity, empathy, and utter confusion, as if to convey “What the hell is happening to your country?” with a mere glance or a quiet sigh.

Believe me, I’m American and I’m just as confused as you are.

There was no adulation for the US on this trip, a far cry from the standard enthusiastic response to hearing I’m from California. In nearly five weeks, I didn’t hear a single “Oh, I’d love to go to America” or “I have a cousin in Boston I’d like to visit.”


From taxi drivers to baristas, commuters in the tube or customers at Costa, strangers expressed their condolences, as if the US has entered hospice care – slowly losing its faculties, its freedom, its rights, and its voice. Shutting down until it surrenders to a higher power as the soul exits its body, and we’re left alone to mourn the loss – helpless, sad, shocked, and in a state of disbelief.

“How do you feel about Trump?” my Uber driver asked me en route to Heathrow, sussing out my political stance before regaling me with the latest laundry list of lunacy from the US.

The five stages of grief flash through my disillusioned American brain – I rounded denial a few weeks ago and now I’m toggling between anger and depression. I’ll never choose acceptance, and is there any bargaining with crazy?………

‘What the hell’s happening to your country?’ Traveling as an American under Trump 2.0 | Shanti Nelson

My American accent inspired pity, empathy and utter confusion. I feel the same: it’s as though we’ve entered hospice care

www.theguardian.com

 

[Optimus Prime]

What Melania’s new menswear obsession means for the Trump administration

Between a camel-colored Ralph Lauren suit and a Dolce & Gabbana tuxedo, Melania Trump has been sporting a lot of menswear recently. Kaleigh Werner explores what she might be trying to tell us

www.independent.co.uk

 

[Frazier Ducrane]

Sorry if already posted. If it wasn't obvious what has been going down corruption-wise since Trump became President, this should help enlighten you.

U.S. Senator Chris Murphy (D-Conn.) on Thursday spoke on the U.S. Senate floor to expose the unprecedented corruption of the Trump administration’s first six weeks in office. Murphy condemned Trump’s normalization of pay-to-play politics, where billionaire donors dictate policy and taxpayer money is funneled into the pockets of the president, Elon Musk, and the corporate elite.