Play Nice 47th President of the United States: ████████████ - Part 22: Insert Blame Here

[Gethelred]

<-- Part 21 "Alien vs Predator" can be found here. -- Part 23 "Si buscan capitalismo, aquí está!!" is there -->

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Thanks all.

 

[GreyCrow]

“My Love” was the biggest red flag. Who the **** talks like that?

Paul McCartney

 

[liz]

I believe that most US citizens have the same sort of arrogant misunderstanding of the situation. Its a Greek tragedy, hubris being the hamartia (fatal flaw) and the media is the chorus. "Evil appears as good in the minds of those whom god leads to destruction." Antigone

It kinda (and kinda not) surprises me that even sections of the US media that are generally hostile to what Trump is doing (my main source of US media is MSNBC plus a few Raw Support articles) still don’t seem to be able to rid themselves of the idea of American exceptionalism. Even as the separation of powers that their founders tried so hard to craft are crumbling around them in the face of this administration’s assault, they still laud American “democracy” as the oldest current system. It’s very rare to hear them examine elements of other countries’ democracies as giving possible solutions to some of their own system’s weaknesses.

 

[liz]

Malleen Baker is an excellent presenter , great blend of facts and projections with neutral emotion.
The elephant in the room for me is the stunning incompetence of Trumps entire administration, there is not one area operating at best practice levels.
The lunatics have been given the keys to the asylum for four years , God help the general population

It may be their ineptitude that is ultimately their down fall. If they were implementing their sinister, authoritarian aims while actually making some Americans better off, they might get away with it and consolidate power before enough realise what they’re actually doing. As it is, there is at least some chance of a groundswell of resistance from different parts of the populace.

 

[Beerfish]

Paul McCartney

 

[Satan]

Best 4 cents spent

 

[Bestbird]

It kinda (and kinda not) surprises me that even sections of the US media that are generally hostile to what Trump is doing (my main source of US media is MSNBC plus a few Raw Support articles) still don’t seem to be able to rid themselves of the idea of American exceptionalism. Even as the separation of powers that their founders tried so hard to craft are crumbling around them in the face of this administration’s assault, they still laud American “democracy” as the oldest current system. It’s very rare to hear them examine elements of other countries’ democracies as giving possible solutions to some of their own system’s weaknesses.

Has always been a problem. When backpacking through Europe in the nineties meeting people from various countries. It was very surprising how little Americans new of anything aside from their own country

 

[Saint]

Short term profit for Trump and his cronies, long term damage to the US. There is always another contractor you can stiff, but major trading partners, not so much.

Yes, your first sentence will be the sub-title for the Trump Presidency.

He's making bank then riding into the sunset. Watching his kids blow the money he makes will be pretty funny.

 

[Not Important]

a book worth reading. but please don't ever use the word "christian" when referring to them. they are the antithesis of what christ preached.

John Fugelsang (@johnfugelsang.bsky.social)

"Christian nationalists want the US to be a Christian nation, but they don't want to follow the words of Christ. It's like irony & hypocrisy having violent hate-sex." https://www.simonandschuster.com/books/Separation-of-Church-and-Hate/John-Fugelsang/9781668066898

bsky.app

 

[Not Important]

history will reflect on this period in politics and attempt to explain how we got here.

Mehdi Hasan (@mehdirhasan.bsky.social)

Suddenly "hate speech" is bad. Suddenly "dehumanizing" people is bad. Suddenly "cancel culture" is good. Suddenly words have consequences. The modern American right in 2025, folks.

bsky.app

 

[Not Important]

like the take. hopefully it comes quickly.

marque lawyers (@marquelawyers.com.au)

Nice country you have there, be a shame if anything happened to it [contains quote post or other embedded content]

bsky.app

Aaron Rupar (@atrupar.com)

JON KARL: What do you make of Pam Bondi saying she's gonna go after hate speech? A lot of your allies say hate speech is free speech TRUMP: We'll probably go after people like you because you treat me so unfairly. You have a lot of hate in your hate. Maybe they'll have to go after you.

bsky.app

 

[Not Important]

a convicted rapist that is. the brits are going for it. whch is why the lily livered creep is being protected from the masses



i so hope this is not photohopped.

 

[Not Important]

 

[magpie_marty]

It kinda (and kinda not) surprises me that even sections of the US media that are generally hostile to what Trump is doing (my main source of US media is MSNBC plus a few Raw Support articles) still don’t seem to be able to rid themselves of the idea of American exceptionalism. Even as the separation of powers that their founders tried so hard to craft are crumbling around them in the face of this administration’s assault, they still laud American “democracy” as the oldest current system. It’s very rare to hear them examine elements of other countries’ democracies as giving possible solutions to some of their own system’s weaknesses.

I can not watch MSNBC re the adds over and over,
The Meadows add ugghh

 

[Baldur]

It kinda (and kinda not) surprises me that even sections of the US media that are generally hostile to what Trump is doing (my main source of US media is MSNBC plus a few Raw Support articles) still don’t seem to be able to rid themselves of the idea of American exceptionalism. Even as the separation of powers that their founders tried so hard to craft are crumbling around them in the face of this administration’s assault, they still laud American “democracy” as the oldest current system. It’s very rare to hear them examine elements of other countries’ democracies as giving possible solutions to some of their own system’s weaknesses.

To me the issue is they see Trump and his like as the problem. They are incapable of seeing that Trump is only a symptom of the real problem. Many of the posters on here have the same issue, they denigrate MAGA without trying to understand why MAGA exists. Its not that many of them are stupid, racist and misogynist, yes many are, such people exist everywhere and always have. But why are they now managing to control the political process in the USA when they did not do so before. Why have the norms broken down that used to stop the loons from taking power ceased to work.

I think that the problem is capital (the rich) have been stealing from labour (the lower middle and working class) all the proceeds of increases in productivity for the last 50 years. The lie that hard work and a bit of gumption is all you need to succeed in the US has been proven incorrect, most are working hard and failing harder, particularly in the red states. So along comes a conman who says correctly "you are being stolen from", but lies when he says "its the leftist Other" that is the evil that is stealing your birthright.

Extreme inflation and the great depression, along with the humiliation of the defeat of WW1 broke the German middle class. Along came a conman who said its the Communist Jews that are to blame. We all know how that worked out. To be fair to the Germans many of their issues where external, in the US, almost all are their own fault.

What they need to be able to do is admit that their system is flawed, that it allows the rich to get richer at the expense of ordinary people, which is the expected outcome of unrestrained capitalism. The clue is in the name "capitalism", no capital, you are not in the game, a pawn not a player. But questioning of the American myth is beyond them. So every so often, the system breaks. It broke in the 1920's, it broke in the 1860's. Its breaking now.

 

[Not Important]

what a dangerous, racist, dumbf**k patel is.

 

[Not Important]

To me the issue is they see Trump and his like as the problem. They are incapable of seeing that Trump is only a symptom of the real problem. Many of the posters on here have the same issue, they denigrate MAGA without trying to understand why MAGA exists. Its not that many of them are stupid, racist and misogynist, yes many are, such people exist everywhere and always have. But why are they now managing to control the political process in the USA when they did not do so before. Why have the norms broken down that used to stop the loons from taking power ceased to work.

I think that the problem is capital (the rich) have been stealing from labour (the lower middle and working class) all the proceeds of increases in productivity for the last 50 years. The lie that hard work and a bit of gumption is all you need to succeed in the US has been proven incorrect, most are working hard and failing harder, particularly in the red states. So along comes a conman who says correctly "you are being stolen from", but lies when he says "its the leftist Other" that is the evil that is stealing your birthright.

Extreme inflation and the great depression, along with the humiliation of the defeat of WW1 broke the German middle class. Along came a conman who said its the Communist Jews that are to blame. We all know how that worked out. To be fair to the Germans many of their issues where external, in the US, almost all are their own fault.

What they need to be able to do is admit that their system is flawed, that it allows the rich to get richer at the expense of ordinary people, which is the expected outcome of unrestrained capitalism. The clue in the name "capitalism", no capital, you are not in the game, a pawn not a player. But questioning of the American myth is beyond them. So every so often, the system breaks. It broke in the 1920's, it broke in the 1860's. Its breaking now.

good post. the rich enriching themselves at the expense of the poor is at the core of capitalism. but trump and his lot have brought culture wars, hate, and division into the equation. it's going to take a long time to right things. and the signs aren't good.

 

[liz]

To me the issue is they see Trump and his like as the problem. They are incapable of seeing that Trump is only a symptom of the real problem. Many of the posters on here have the same issue, they denigrate MAGA without trying to understand why MAGA exists. Its not that many of them are stupid, racist and misogynist, yes many are, such people exist everywhere and always have. But why are they now managing to control the political process in the USA when they did not do so before. Why have the norms broken down that used to stop the loons from taking power ceased to work.

I think that the problem is capital (the rich) have been stealing from labour (the lower middle and working class) all the proceeds of increases in productivity for the last 50 years. The lie that hard work and a bit of gumption is all you need to succeed in the US has been proven incorrect, most are working hard and failing harder, particularly in the red states. So along comes a conman who says correctly "you are being stolen from", but lies when he says "its the leftist Other" that is the evil that is stealing your birthright.

Extreme inflation and the great depression, along with the humiliation of the defeat of WW1 broke the German middle class. Along came a conman who said its the Communist Jews that are to blame. We all know how that worked out. To be fair to the Germans many of their issues where external, in the US, almost all are their own fault.

What they need to be able to do is admit that their system is flawed, that it allows the rich to get richer at the expense of ordinary people, which is the expected outcome of unrestrained capitalism. The clue in the name "capitalism", no capital, you are not in the game, a pawn not a player. But questioning of the American myth is beyond them. So every so often, the system breaks. It broke in the 1930's, it broke in the 1860's. Its breaking now.

Yes and no. What you’ve described is largely true of our country too. Most of the western liberal democracies have been gradually getting sucked further and further into the neoliberal capitalist vortex for four to five decades. Even when we elect a so-called left (or centre left government) they are unable or unwilling to change course. And the upheaval that would be required to shift us back to a more humane, egalitarian form of capitalism might now be too great for social order to survive.

We’re not as far gone as our compatriots across the Pacific because we don’t have a government that is systematically destroying every form of regulation. So there remain a few constraints against what is happening in the US. But a lot of our regulations are pretty toothless, in part because those who are being regulated hqve far too much influence over the regulations and how they are implemented.

 

[liz]

I can not watch MSNBC re the adds over and over,
The Meadows add ugghh

I actually record a couple of the shows I like the best - Maddow, O’Donnell so I can watch them in my normal TV time (rather than in the middle of the day when I have other things to do). This has the incidental benefit of being able to fast forward over the breaks. I agree they’re annoying.

 

[CD Xbow]

It kinda (and kinda not) surprises me that even sections of the US media that are generally hostile to what Trump is doing (my main source of US media is MSNBC plus a few Raw Support articles) still don’t seem to be able to rid themselves of the idea of American exceptionalism. Even as the separation of powers that their founders tried so hard to craft are crumbling around them in the face of this administration’s assault, they still laud American “democracy” as the oldest current system. It’s very rare to hear them examine elements of other countries’ democracies as giving possible solutions to some of their own system’s weaknesses.

There is no such thing as American exceptionalism, it's just another one of their myths. They lucked out when the US was founded by getting the most valuable part of a very rich continent. The Americas being isolated kept them out of European wars for centuries. Europe destroyed itself in first in WWI in which the US played a trivial part and so the US kept growing it's national wealth. They joined WWII after a few years and ended up growing their economy enormously, at the end of WWII the USA had 49% of the worlds GDP and the first 'super power' They acquired the best of Europe's scientists and technology because of the war, including the physicists who made the 'big science' possible, things like the atom bomb and Apollo program possible. They mistake luck for exceptionalism. As long as you believe you are exceptional you won't look very hard for solutions by others, it also leads to arrogance, remember the 'American Century' and the 'Death of history' rubbish from the start of this century. They are lost.

 

[TheSunGod]

Yeah all going well

It’s like Trump hates the FBI so much he deliberately put a massively bigly dweeb in charge as his way of shoving it to them.

 

[GreyCrow]

To me the issue is they see Trump and his like as the problem. They are incapable of seeing that Trump is only a symptom of the real problem. Many of the posters on here have the same issue, they denigrate MAGA without trying to understand why MAGA exists. Its not that many of them are stupid, racist and misogynist, yes many are, such people exist everywhere and always have.

There are 2 levels I see - the trodden upon who need someone else to blame and the grifters. Those who dont believe in anything but see an opportunity

But why are they now managing to control the political process in the USA when they did not do so before. Why have the norms broken down that used to stop the loons from taking power ceased to work.

SCOTUS giving Presidential Immunity and a weak/inactive Congress

 

[TheSunGod]

“My Love” was the biggest red flag. Who the **** talks like that?

 

[Satan]

There are 2 levels I see - the trodden upon who need someone else to blame and the grifters. Those who dont believe in anything but see an opportunity

SCOTUS giving Presidential Immunity and a weak/inactive Congress

He sued ny times as a person not president

 

[DaTBird187]

Thanks a lot. Now I have to remember that Wings existed.

 

[TheSunGod]

It kinda (and kinda not) surprises me that even sections of the US media that are generally hostile to what Trump is doing (my main source of US media is MSNBC plus a few Raw Support articles) still don’t seem to be able to rid themselves of the idea of American exceptionalism. Even as the separation of powers that their founders tried so hard to craft are crumbling around them in the face of this administration’s assault, they still laud American “democracy” as the oldest current system. It’s very rare to hear them examine elements of other countries’ democracies as giving possible solutions to some of their own system’s weaknesses.

What I find interesting lately is that each time something shocking happens, people including those in the media come out and say “this isn’t us” or “this is not what America is about or stands for”. The older I’ve got, the more I think this is exactly what America is about. They’ve pivoted to division, violence and hatred since the beginning.