This is not farce. It is a targeted attack on the command structure of the military. Our democracy, such as it is, ow depends on the good behavior of the military, and Trump understands that.
This is exactly what so many of us were concerned about. He wasn't able to bend the military to his will the first time. He's gonna try and change its very foundation this time around. Are there enough senators to prevent this? We'll know soon.
And then what happens when he does what he wants with no one to stop him ? Its been 8 days since the election and this shit has already started. WTF ?!
Yes. It was a relief to see that Thune, awful as he is, was the choice. That said, I would not minimize the importance of independent judgment and moral courage in the military.
I also see it is a bad play. Here is how I am seeing this. I do not see a well trained fighting force, or their leaders just Kowtowing to a guy who has probably never read the constitution. I also think that they can refuse to listen to him. So be it. Not a coup, just standing up for the constitution. Secondly, I think that since the Oligarchs bought the White House for Trump--see Musk attached at the hip to Trump now as his reward, no one that irritates Musk is staying in any position for long. Not just Musk but the other oligarchs.
So, after reading Project 2025, I know that the plan is to decimate the DOD and the Intelligence Community, but people in those positions may not go along either. Enough is enough. How about a massive resignation from everyone. How about trying to replace our military. I see Putin whispering sweet nothings into Trumps ear to get him to destroy the best military in the world. I wonder whether those who have built it up will just allow that to happen. I am going to think not. If they do succeed, the US can settle for third world status and Putin and Ji Jin ping will have accomplished what they want which is to get the US out of the way. I do not see that happening so easily.
I'm gonna have to run with this point of view. Anything else is just not something I can handle right now. I think your argument holds a little extra water because the generals all know he's at the end stage of his disease. They'll ride it out. Who knows what JD Vance will have in mind, but I think we'll know within a year.
I agree that the generals can stand up to him. Whether they will is what he is trying to find out. Of course, at this point he is playing the same humiliation/domination game with the Senate, only bigger, basically braying: “You can’t turn down all my nominees. Let me know how much steel is in your spines.” IF the Senate caves (likely), then the generals are all we have left.
William, as Putin has already trotted out nude pictures of Trump's wife on Russian television, making a mockery of Trump and has denied to talking to him after Trump says they did, I would think the military gets to choose if they want to be a branch of the poorly run Russian military which is corrupt and incompetent. I don't see that happening. Look at all the military plots against Hitler even if they agreed with his politics, but not with his leadership. Two different things, as the people working with Trump found out last time.
Either active or passively from the DOD and the CI. Will the secret service be looped in if the leadership in the military decides enough is enough? Will not funding the military work for Trump and Congress if they go rogue?
His supporters think this is an awesome move. You can now plainly see the influence of Fox in any comment section you wade into. Earlier someone posted basically a banner to "Report any Illegal you see. Neighbors. In church. In restaurants. Your children's schools. On the street." With the ICE tip line. It's going to be very, very bad. We're all going to be rounded up as dissidents. My anxiety is through the roof. If you live in a red state and have the means and ability to move to a blue state, I highly suggest you do so. I'm stuck where I am, but as many people as possible need to get themselves out of harms way. And if anyone has any kind of plan about what can be done to minimize this, please speak up. (My fantasy today is Biden having Trump arrested during his oval office visit today)
We aren't really trying to save their butts so much as save our own. this is the Titanic, folks--if the ship sinks, we are all going to go down together.
Yeah, we tried from 2017-2020 and look where it got us. No one was grateful, it just made our warnings seem overblown.
I'm going to do what I can to protect my family, friends, neighbors, and others who didn't sign up for this (which is a lot since I live in San Francisco). Everyone else who voted for him can reap what they sowed at this point. Experience is the only remaining teacher it seems. I just hate that people who knew better are going to suffer too.
Harris’ characterization of tRump as an “unserious man” was spot on. Your warning about the serious implications of appointing this unserious man is, as well. Challenging as it must be for tRump to find them, he seems to be filling his clown car with men and women even less serious than him (e.g. RFKJr, Hegseth, Stefanik). We are in for a ride. There is little to hope about in all this, but if there is, it’s that the Military does not suffer fools gladly. I hope serious high ranking military officials are making plans…
The military are the masters of Malicious Compliance, the art of obeying an order in a way that diverts from or outright counters the intent. I think we're going to be seeing a lot of high-ranking folk in uniforms performing truly legendary acts of malicious compliance over the next four years. If Trump wanted the armed forces to obey him, he shouldn't have shat on them at every opportunity.
Since I live in a state (CT) with 2 Democratic senators, my contacting them will not likely change any votes on confirmation. Your followers who live in states with Republican senators and representatives need to be on the phone every day!
I don't disagree, but Ohio just elected Bernie Moreno and I doubt that guy will listen to his constituents. He's a died-in-the-wool Trumper, so is likely to do whatever the hell he wants.
I'll call in a message to Susie Collins (provided she has cleared and plugged in the answering machine at her field office) but she is such a spineless creature, she'll kiss Trump's ring at the slightest grumble of opposition.
DeWine appoints someone to fill the seat until a special election is held to finish the term. I'm not up on how soon that special election will be held, but it ain't next week. Or next month. And I have no idea how DeWine will act - he is a capital-C Conservative who has little use for The Convict. But he's also a very practical politician in OHIO - so...
Yeah, it's going to take some time. At least there will be a special election, and depending on how bad things are by the time it happens, maybe a Dem could win.
Long shot, I know, but I'm clinging to whatever strands of hope are left so I don't completely lose my mind.
I wonder if he wouldn't just go ahead and appoint Sherrod. Stick a thumb in The Convict's eye, make things a little less rubber-stampy in the Senate. I don't know what DeWine's post gubernatorial plans are - hell, maybe he'll resign and appoint himself.
If Brown, then he could run a campaign disconnected from the Presidential election, and harp on the stuff that low-info voters got to googling AFTER the election - what tariffs are going to do to prices, what mass deportations are going to do to food and housing prices.
I am not surprised at anything trump does and neither should anyone else. We all know he will sink to the depths of corruption and nothing will stop him. He's been super charged by being elected yet again. He is drunk with power. Everyone protects him. Everyone excuses his behavior.
What can the average person who voted for
Kamala do? Just watch as our country morphs into something we don't recognize. How can we fight it? All the people who died protecting this country gave their lives for this??!! I am mourning the late great United States of America. We are no longer united. Some of the news outlets will be reporting all the devious things trump is doing and will do but.....there's not a damn thing anyone can do. He has become all powerful, no one will dare go against him. If I'm wrong about any of this I will eat these words.
You can ask your senators, even Democratic ones, to oppose ridiculous, norm-destroying appointments. Even when you write to your senators who would do this anyway, it raises the issue in importance in their minds, and they can talk to colleagues, perhaps some on the fence. It will take 4 GOP senators to sink any nomination. We have to try.
I don’t understand why, but North Carolina’s senator Thom Tillis has slowly over the course of the last few months been moving towards the center. I’ll start with him.
Trump on Sunday: The Senate should give up its constitutionally mandated advise-and-consent role and let me have whoever I want. No real reason.
Trump on Tuesday: (Nominates Fox News moron to be secretary of defense to do whatever Trump wants, legal or not, and to not rat Trump out when he breaks the law himself)
Gosh I’d forgotten about his knack for wildly subtle strategery.
Yet more proof - if more is needed - about how unseriousness and incompetency are the hallmarks of tRump in office. tRump 2.0 has been billed as "the new-new disciplined and more savvy" version of tRump 1.0...OK, so far we have "Leon" Musk and the Swamy, Pete Hegseth, Marco Rubio, and more of the same waiting in the wings. How can anyone "sane-wash" this spectacle, I ask you.
I continue to pray for a stroke or a myocardial infarction. Surely there's a loose clot SOMEWHERE in his bloated rotting body. (yes, I know it's very bad Karma to wish ill on someone else, but I no longer care. If Karma wants to punish me, I'll take it for the team...this is the survival of my country for which I'm praying.
possible but I really think the House and Senate would not be as inclined to roll over and hand over their power to Vance. (Also, The Senate just elected Thune to Senate Majority leader--I don't know as much about Thune but it seems to me that he is not inclined to roll over and just hand Trump that much power. Of course, I could be wrong.)
Vance is, in some ways, still a raw outsider...these old political hands aren't going to ask how high when Vance shouts JUMP. They are going to wait and see how the MAGA base feels about him. Plus Vance hasn't got a clue how everything works--well, neither does Trump but Trump has four years of navigating and Vance has none.
I think Vance doesn't have the power over the base that Trump does. Trump is basically every human flaw in one person, but he is entertaining to their base.
The only joy I've gotten from this whole mess is watching Melania make the most frustrated 'I can't believe I have to tolerate four more years of this shit' faces on election night.
I was at lunch and they had Faux News on, they were reporting on the "breaking news" that Biden and asshat shook hands. In any other election cycle, literally any other one them shaking hands would not be worth mentioning because it would be considered normal. Only because of what asshat did last time is this "news worthy". FFS
I get why he did it, but I really wish Biden wasn't treating this as if it was at all normal. We can't scream about how he is authoritarian (he is) while shaking his hand. It just makes us look like we're overreacting and people tune out.
Melania's nothing but a tramp. Jill Biden shouldn't even have to be in the same room with that shameless piece of Euro-ass. Oh, I meant Eurotrash--Freudian slip.
She will only live part time in the White House according to reports. I guess Elonia, the real First Lady, will be there when she isn’t. I wonder what her excuse is. Barron is a college freshman commuting cross own to Stern school of business and living in Trump tower so I don’t think he needs her constant care.
I hope our decentralized system will save us in that respect, along with the fact there are a lot of Dem Governors and Secretaries of State that won't go along with it.
For instance, even here in California, there are competitive seats for Republicans and even safe seats for Republicans. If they want to play that game, maybe those seats will no longer be competitive or safe for them.
Only if our "Dear Leader" and his illustrious advisors allow any further elections. When they have complete control of the government, like an occupying force, a midterm election risks their losing members and power. The president wouldnt get the laws or investigations he wants.
I doubt he wants it, he's said to be Autistic, and they kept him hidden away during the WH years. Nothing disrespectful to any on the spectrum, but the public tend to be cruel.
This is not farce. It is a targeted attack on the command structure of the military. Our democracy, such as it is, ow depends on the good behavior of the military, and Trump understands that.
This is exactly what so many of us were concerned about. He wasn't able to bend the military to his will the first time. He's gonna try and change its very foundation this time around. Are there enough senators to prevent this? We'll know soon.
And then what happens when he does what he wants with no one to stop him ? Its been 8 days since the election and this shit has already started. WTF ?!
I hope and pray!
OT: GOP Senators reject fraudster Rick Scott, select John Thune as Majority Leader...tRump threatens to jail all Senators that voted for Thune!
First sentence is true, second sentence not, but maybe...?
Yes. It was a relief to see that Thune, awful as he is, was the choice. That said, I would not minimize the importance of independent judgment and moral courage in the military.
It feels surreal to have been hoping for Thune, but here we are.
Right?????
I also see it is a bad play. Here is how I am seeing this. I do not see a well trained fighting force, or their leaders just Kowtowing to a guy who has probably never read the constitution. I also think that they can refuse to listen to him. So be it. Not a coup, just standing up for the constitution. Secondly, I think that since the Oligarchs bought the White House for Trump--see Musk attached at the hip to Trump now as his reward, no one that irritates Musk is staying in any position for long. Not just Musk but the other oligarchs.
So, after reading Project 2025, I know that the plan is to decimate the DOD and the Intelligence Community, but people in those positions may not go along either. Enough is enough. How about a massive resignation from everyone. How about trying to replace our military. I see Putin whispering sweet nothings into Trumps ear to get him to destroy the best military in the world. I wonder whether those who have built it up will just allow that to happen. I am going to think not. If they do succeed, the US can settle for third world status and Putin and Ji Jin ping will have accomplished what they want which is to get the US out of the way. I do not see that happening so easily.
I'm gonna have to run with this point of view. Anything else is just not something I can handle right now. I think your argument holds a little extra water because the generals all know he's at the end stage of his disease. They'll ride it out. Who knows what JD Vance will have in mind, but I think we'll know within a year.
I agree that the generals can stand up to him. Whether they will is what he is trying to find out. Of course, at this point he is playing the same humiliation/domination game with the Senate, only bigger, basically braying: “You can’t turn down all my nominees. Let me know how much steel is in your spines.” IF the Senate caves (likely), then the generals are all we have left.
William, as Putin has already trotted out nude pictures of Trump's wife on Russian television, making a mockery of Trump and has denied to talking to him after Trump says they did, I would think the military gets to choose if they want to be a branch of the poorly run Russian military which is corrupt and incompetent. I don't see that happening. Look at all the military plots against Hitler even if they agreed with his politics, but not with his leadership. Two different things, as the people working with Trump found out last time.
From your lips . . .
The Senate will cave when MAGA starts threatening them and their families.
Well will MAGA cave when the military starts threatening them and their families. This can go both ways.
Dont expect any pushback from the senate or the house. Where is the resistance to this bullshit ?
Either active or passively from the DOD and the CI. Will the secret service be looped in if the leadership in the military decides enough is enough? Will not funding the military work for Trump and Congress if they go rogue?
I do not think he understands. His having to codes scares the hell out of me.
Why do I keep thinking trump thinks he is playing with GI Joe toys??
Because that is the level of maturity he has!
His supporters think this is an awesome move. You can now plainly see the influence of Fox in any comment section you wade into. Earlier someone posted basically a banner to "Report any Illegal you see. Neighbors. In church. In restaurants. Your children's schools. On the street." With the ICE tip line. It's going to be very, very bad. We're all going to be rounded up as dissidents. My anxiety is through the roof. If you live in a red state and have the means and ability to move to a blue state, I highly suggest you do so. I'm stuck where I am, but as many people as possible need to get themselves out of harms way. And if anyone has any kind of plan about what can be done to minimize this, please speak up. (My fantasy today is Biden having Trump arrested during his oval office visit today)
If only……Biden is too ethical to do such a thing.
Sadly….yes.
What's unethical about that? It's unethical for Biden not to DO SOMETHING.
Sadly, yes.
Oh wouldn't that be fabulous. I wish, but Biden has far more reverence (maybe too much) for the law than Trump does.
The American people are getting exactly what they voted for. Let no one who voted for Donald Trump complain.
54% of American adults read and comprehend at the 6 grade level. The 6th graders are running the country now.
I feel like that's an insult to 6th graders lol
Ironically, we're all trying to prevent leopards from eating their faces because they are so grossly uninformed.
We aren't really trying to save their butts so much as save our own. this is the Titanic, folks--if the ship sinks, we are all going to go down together.
Yeah, we tried from 2017-2020 and look where it got us. No one was grateful, it just made our warnings seem overblown.
I'm going to do what I can to protect my family, friends, neighbors, and others who didn't sign up for this (which is a lot since I live in San Francisco). Everyone else who voted for him can reap what they sowed at this point. Experience is the only remaining teacher it seems. I just hate that people who knew better are going to suffer too.
I know...I guess a majority of the cultists FA'd and are just going to have FO.
Fuck that !
Harris’ characterization of tRump as an “unserious man” was spot on. Your warning about the serious implications of appointing this unserious man is, as well. Challenging as it must be for tRump to find them, he seems to be filling his clown car with men and women even less serious than him (e.g. RFKJr, Hegseth, Stefanik). We are in for a ride. There is little to hope about in all this, but if there is, it’s that the Military does not suffer fools gladly. I hope serious high ranking military officials are making plans…
The military are the masters of Malicious Compliance, the art of obeying an order in a way that diverts from or outright counters the intent. I think we're going to be seeing a lot of high-ranking folk in uniforms performing truly legendary acts of malicious compliance over the next four years. If Trump wanted the armed forces to obey him, he shouldn't have shat on them at every opportunity.
🙏🙏🙏
Since I live in a state (CT) with 2 Democratic senators, my contacting them will not likely change any votes on confirmation. Your followers who live in states with Republican senators and representatives need to be on the phone every day!
I don't disagree, but Ohio just elected Bernie Moreno and I doubt that guy will listen to his constituents. He's a died-in-the-wool Trumper, so is likely to do whatever the hell he wants.
I'll call in a message to Susie Collins (provided she has cleared and plugged in the answering machine at her field office) but she is such a spineless creature, she'll kiss Trump's ring at the slightest grumble of opposition.
Is there going to be a special election for Justa Douche's seat now? Or how does it work in Ohio?
DeWine appoints someone to fill the seat until a special election is held to finish the term. I'm not up on how soon that special election will be held, but it ain't next week. Or next month. And I have no idea how DeWine will act - he is a capital-C Conservative who has little use for The Convict. But he's also a very practical politician in OHIO - so...
Yeah, it's going to take some time. At least there will be a special election, and depending on how bad things are by the time it happens, maybe a Dem could win.
Long shot, I know, but I'm clinging to whatever strands of hope are left so I don't completely lose my mind.
I wonder if he wouldn't just go ahead and appoint Sherrod. Stick a thumb in The Convict's eye, make things a little less rubber-stampy in the Senate. I don't know what DeWine's post gubernatorial plans are - hell, maybe he'll resign and appoint himself.
If Brown, then he could run a campaign disconnected from the Presidential election, and harp on the stuff that low-info voters got to googling AFTER the election - what tariffs are going to do to prices, what mass deportations are going to do to food and housing prices.
A man can dream, can't he?
Holding out hope, however slim, for this outcome.
I live in Arkansas and
Cotton's not going to do
a darn thing for this
democrat. My county rep
doesn't have voice mail or
email. Deep red south under
Huckabee Sanders.
I am not surprised at anything trump does and neither should anyone else. We all know he will sink to the depths of corruption and nothing will stop him. He's been super charged by being elected yet again. He is drunk with power. Everyone protects him. Everyone excuses his behavior.
What can the average person who voted for
Kamala do? Just watch as our country morphs into something we don't recognize. How can we fight it? All the people who died protecting this country gave their lives for this??!! I am mourning the late great United States of America. We are no longer united. Some of the news outlets will be reporting all the devious things trump is doing and will do but.....there's not a damn thing anyone can do. He has become all powerful, no one will dare go against him. If I'm wrong about any of this I will eat these words.
.
You can ask your senators, even Democratic ones, to oppose ridiculous, norm-destroying appointments. Even when you write to your senators who would do this anyway, it raises the issue in importance in their minds, and they can talk to colleagues, perhaps some on the fence. It will take 4 GOP senators to sink any nomination. We have to try.
That is if there are any courageous GOP senators left that haven't drunk the kool-aid and cannot be bought. But yes we have to try.
I don’t understand why, but North Carolina’s senator Thom Tillis has slowly over the course of the last few months been moving towards the center. I’ll start with him.
We are now headed into Dr. Strangelove territory. It’s official.
Husband watched that 2 nights ago. I had nightmares all night long.
Trump on Sunday: The Senate should give up its constitutionally mandated advise-and-consent role and let me have whoever I want. No real reason.
Trump on Tuesday: (Nominates Fox News moron to be secretary of defense to do whatever Trump wants, legal or not, and to not rat Trump out when he breaks the law himself)
Gosh I’d forgotten about his knack for wildly subtle strategery.
Yet more proof - if more is needed - about how unseriousness and incompetency are the hallmarks of tRump in office. tRump 2.0 has been billed as "the new-new disciplined and more savvy" version of tRump 1.0...OK, so far we have "Leon" Musk and the Swamy, Pete Hegseth, Marco Rubio, and more of the same waiting in the wings. How can anyone "sane-wash" this spectacle, I ask you.
I don't know, but the commentariat will doubtless try.
I keep feeling that I am waking up in the Twilight Zone! and this is all a bad dream!
More like Bizarro World but we have no Superman to save us...
I continue to pray for a stroke or a myocardial infarction. Surely there's a loose clot SOMEWHERE in his bloated rotting body. (yes, I know it's very bad Karma to wish ill on someone else, but I no longer care. If Karma wants to punish me, I'll take it for the team...this is the survival of my country for which I'm praying.
JD might be worse than Trump, though.
possible but I really think the House and Senate would not be as inclined to roll over and hand over their power to Vance. (Also, The Senate just elected Thune to Senate Majority leader--I don't know as much about Thune but it seems to me that he is not inclined to roll over and just hand Trump that much power. Of course, I could be wrong.)
Vance is, in some ways, still a raw outsider...these old political hands aren't going to ask how high when Vance shouts JUMP. They are going to wait and see how the MAGA base feels about him. Plus Vance hasn't got a clue how everything works--well, neither does Trump but Trump has four years of navigating and Vance has none.
I think Vance doesn't have the power over the base that Trump does. Trump is basically every human flaw in one person, but he is entertaining to their base.
Vance has the charisma of a wet paper bag.
Unfortunately this is the nightmare that never ends. It just goes on and on, my friend.
OT: Melania declines a courtesy meeting with Jill Biden...keep classy, Melania.
The only joy I've gotten from this whole mess is watching Melania make the most frustrated 'I can't believe I have to tolerate four more years of this shit' faces on election night.
she didn't want to be there the first time, I don't really expect her to move in unless he somehow forces her
I think she is on the shit list for her abortion stance in her "best-seller
She isn't supposed to have opinions
Good point, I had forgotten about that.
I get the feeling she only shows up for events when she's paid. My understanding is that she was allegedly paid a quarter million for one appearance.
I just read today that she will not be moving back in with him
I was at lunch and they had Faux News on, they were reporting on the "breaking news" that Biden and asshat shook hands. In any other election cycle, literally any other one them shaking hands would not be worth mentioning because it would be considered normal. Only because of what asshat did last time is this "news worthy". FFS
I get why he did it, but I really wish Biden wasn't treating this as if it was at all normal. We can't scream about how he is authoritarian (he is) while shaking his hand. It just makes us look like we're overreacting and people tune out.
Melania's nothing but a tramp. Jill Biden shouldn't even have to be in the same room with that shameless piece of Euro-ass. Oh, I meant Eurotrash--Freudian slip.
Strumpet is the word you're looking for.
I suppose that is a slightly classier way to describe her. "Class" and Melania don't even belong in the same sentence, as far as I'm concerned.
Red Sparrow. My guess is she went through Soviet spy school and came here as a honey trap.
You were right the first time
Melania refused to go to the White House with her “Darling”.
She will only live part time in the White House according to reports. I guess Elonia, the real First Lady, will be there when she isn’t. I wonder what her excuse is. Barron is a college freshman commuting cross own to Stern school of business and living in Trump tower so I don’t think he needs her constant care.
May The Farce be with you!
I think this administration is going to involve a lot of military folks engaging in Malicious Compliance to preserve order and sanity.
He is setting himself up to be dictator for life.
Actually, he's setting up "tRump 2.0" for an early failure...mid-terms should be fun.
provided we have them
I hope our decentralized system will save us in that respect, along with the fact there are a lot of Dem Governors and Secretaries of State that won't go along with it.
For instance, even here in California, there are competitive seats for Republicans and even safe seats for Republicans. If they want to play that game, maybe those seats will no longer be competitive or safe for them.
There won't be any more real elections.
Only if our "Dear Leader" and his illustrious advisors allow any further elections. When they have complete control of the government, like an occupying force, a midterm election risks their losing members and power. The president wouldnt get the laws or investigations he wants.
That's what he meant when he told people, : Just vote this time, you won't ever have to vote again!.:
His twit son Barron will take over when DonOld dies.
I doubt he wants it, he's said to be Autistic, and they kept him hidden away during the WH years. Nothing disrespectful to any on the spectrum, but the public tend to be cruel.
Yes, but that was also partly because he was under 18. Not that such concerns stopped right-wingers from going after Obama's daughters...
True, but we generally heard an occasional report on the WH children, but never on Baron, who sadly, turns out to be a white supremist jerk-off.
Who is left to stop him?
40% of eligible voters didn’t vote. Roughly 30% voted for this. Roughly 29% voted for a compassionate patriot. And here we are.