Miscellaneous And Off Topic Subjects

[THE_WIZARD_]

How long have you been a member of the Communist Party?

[THE_WIZARD_]

Why would Trump care about voting laws? He's never leaving! He's a Nazi!

[Jeff Buchanan]

This is both astonishing and deeply troubling.

Like Wiz asks, ....."this is surprising to you?'

I'm not concerned about stuff like this. One of the primary drivers of voter fears about inflation, if not THE primary driver, are Trump's threats of tariffs exacerbating an already stubbornly high rate of inflation overall. In the last 48 hours and since Trump became POTUS signals coming from him and his administration are much more cautious with admissions from his economic advisors that DJT likes to use the threat of tariffs as leverage to obtain other concessions.

I don't put a lot of stock in claims that the presidency has a major impact on inflation or the markets. Trump does seem to see the markets as report cards on the state of the economy and on his economic policies. This week, the markets have risen sharply and analysts claim its because Trump's campaign threat of tariffs has lessened and seen by the corporate world as considerably watered down. RealPolitik sets in foretelling that the chance for massive tariffs during Trump's initial months of his presidency are more than likely out the window.

That does not mean however, that Trump may still announce tariff's on selective goods that are purposeful and consistent with his belief in them as a means to offset spending budget deficits and get concessions from his targets.

[CGVT]

Wait! I thought that the war was supposed to be over by now.

Didn't Trump say that it would be easy and he would end it even before the inauguration?

Or are we supposed to figure out what he meant rather than what he said?

It is so hard to keep track.

[Jeff Buchanan]

Wait! I thought that the war was supposed to be over by now.

........... It is so hard to keep track.

One of Trump's character flaws is that he's bombastic. And that's not even up there in the top 5 of the many of his distasteful behaviors. Only the most illiterate members of the MAGA crowd who probably can't point to Russia and Ukraine on a map of Eastern Europe believe his bombastic campaign rhetoric on Ukraine.

Looking past that which ignores the facts on the ground, if Trump plays his cards right, he is in a strong position to play hard ball with both Zelinski and Putin. Various settlement options with incentives for both warring parties are available. Everyone watching this conflict would be well advised to have realistic expectations for a settlement between two leaders entrenched in their own unachievable war objectives.

To answer the question, " .... are we supposed to figure out what he (trump) meant rather than what he said?" Not really. Watch what actually happens or is reported in the coming weeks and months from observers and sources you trust. The development of FP involving bystanding peace negotiators and the warring parties takes months if not years to achieve the desired result. My guess is that the factors weighing heavily in Trumps favor when it comes to dealing with Putin will force Putin to negotiate an off ramp for Russia not as favorable to Russia and unfavorable to Ukraine as he would like.

[CGVT]

But, but, but, he saaaaaaaiiiiiiid it was gonna be eeeeeeeaaaasy


And the rubes are it up

[THE_WIZARD_]

Grounds for impeachment.

THREAT TO DEMOCRACY!!!!!1111

[THE_WIZARD_]

Trump says a lot of shit. So did The Chairman. Like...I'll never pardon my son...I've never talked to my son or anyone about his business affairs...the laptop is a Russian hoax...the border is secure...the Inflation Reduction Act will reduce inflation...what documents????

[Jeff Buchanan]

...... I should add that it appears to me a negotiated settlement to end the conflict between Hamas in Gaza and Netanyahu required the warring parties to agree to a settlement that was unfavorable to all parties except for Israel who prioritized and got the return of hostages taken by Hamas over 2y ago. They paid a very high price for that - the release form Israeli prisons of some really bad terrorists and Hamas fighters. As well, It appears that Hamas, under the umbrella of a cease fire is re-establishing itself in Gaza as a political and military force. But Bebe faced mounting pressure to end his war without obtaining either of his stated objectives. Putin likewise is under internal economic pressures that aren't very public but, nonetheless, put him in a spot where he would very much like to unwind a war economy that he created and return it to it's pre-invasion strengths.

[THE_WIZARD_]

I'm just grateful that The Chairman was so good to Israel it forced the hand of Hamas to negotiate...he's such a tough guy...America owes him.

[Jeff Buchanan]

TBH, although it appears an ill-equipped Biden did have a hand in peace negotiations b/t Hamas and Israel, or wants us to believe he did, Blinken was a bystander. If the Biden administration did, and I don't think they did, hold out continued arms supplies to Israel as leverage to get Netanyahu to agree to something, even though unpalatable to him, it was Israeli politics and public opinion that forced Bebe to accept a peace deal I don't think he wanted.

Egypt, the Gulf States and I expect SA were the prime movers behind getting Hamas to accept a deal. Being really good in the PR department, those fuckers are now, very publically, celebrating their return to Gaza. Rebuilding, if even undertaken at all, is going to require huge sums of money and engineering skills just to rebuild critical infrastructure. This speaks nothing to the cost of rebuilding homes. Hamas is not going to be able to do this on its own. Given their continuing hostility towards Israel, are Arab states that support a two state solution going to provide the resources for the rebuilding of Gaza given that it is highly likely Hamas, committed to it's promise to destroy Israel, will use those resources not to rebuild but to reorganize and rearm?

The Trump factor is at play in the post war environment if the ceasefire continues. During Trump's previous administration he reportedly played a large back-channel hand with SA that led to SA and Israel preparing to sign a deal that, in part, had SA recognizing the existence of Israel. That abruptly ended when Hamas attacked Israel and started this whole mess. Some regard the Hamas attack as undertaken by them as a means of thwarting the SA/Israel deal. Trump will be at it again working to revive that deal much to the benefit of ME stability and peace. I support him in that effort.

[THE_WIZARD_]

The Biden Administration had zero to do with it.

[Da Geezer]

Trump claims he won't give aid to California unless they change their voting laws first.

Again, this is a bad road to go down and invites a future Dem President to do something similar to red states when they get hit by a hurricane. I think a lot of Republicans in Congress understand that. But Trump doesn't care about the future, only himself.

To be fair, everyone in America, including you DSL, wonder how such totally inept fools consistently get elected in CA. Have you considered the possibility that CA voters have not, in fact, voted for these fools. CA sends out 38 million ballots and takes till January to count them when/if they come back. Why are Dems so dead-set against voter ID? You know. We all know.

Biden was just following the CA template when he opened the border. It is all about creating a one-party state.

BTW, what WAS the reason Biden opened the border?

[CGVT]

To be fair, everyone in America, including you DSL, wonder how such totally inept fools consistently get elected in CA. Have you considered the possibility that CA voters have not, in fact, voted for these fools. CA sends out 38 million ballots and takes till January to count them when/if they come back. Why are Dems so dead-set against voter ID? You know. We all know.

Biden was just following the CA template when he opened the border. It is all about creating a one-party state.

BTW, what WAS the reason Biden opened the border?

Ever-Read-Something-So-Stupid.jpg

[Mike]

All joking aside, what is a valid reason to not have a voter ID requirement?