mefletcher54.bsky.social
Retired Intelligence Analysts. Cold War era US Army Vet. Fairly familiar with System Dynamics and History. Personal eccentricities: Scadian KSCA, USCF NM&LM. Details and periodic commentary at http://mefletcher.blogspot.com/
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Clearly, the wealth doesn't trust trump to put some zero with the rim rubbed off in charge of the fed.😎
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It is difficult to believe there are so many gutless wonders all congregated in one place.
Yet, here with are.
These people appear to believe in nothing but power and their portfolio and gaining more power to further grow their portfolio.
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The Framers understood and engineered numerous checks to executive power, but, over time, they have largely become meaningless, as Congress and the Supreme Court willingly ceded more and more power to the executive. /4
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Why would the President and the Executive Branch be in any way involved in the enforcement arm of the federal judiciary?
Another thing has also become painfully clear. Our assumptions of good behavior have clearly been deeply flawed. /3
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Other powers were slowly accumulated by presidents, not because they were specifically granted to by the Constitution, but because no one else wanted to assume the administrative burden. For example, why would the president be involved in anything in respect to the Library of CONGRESS? /2
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The event had a cover charge. They couldn't afford the minimum bribe required to gain admittance.
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The arbitrage in the market in imaginary friends seems to be dominated by grifters, extortionists, pump-and- dump predatory capitalists, and of course, the suckered they convince to get into game so they can be fleeced.
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Singling out one small group for special protections seems to fly in the face of the Equal Protection Clause, but what do I know? 🤔
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Sullivan made one bone headed call after another and gets rewarded with an Ivy League job that makes him out to be some kind of National Security God. 🙄
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Rational actor in the
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Trump is a sociopath who would rather see the country burn than lose power. And he controls the nukes. Yes, people voted for that.
The tiny brains of the Trump voters may not have considered that, but when they voted for him, they got the whole package. /2
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It is also worth mentioning that this nuke worry was also very likely a cause of the overly cautious Biden Ukraine strategy. They weren't really keen to see Ukraine win due to their concerns about nukes after a Russian collapse.
And yes, the president is not a rational traditional sense. /1
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One of the ( many) dubious parts of US foreign policy in recent decades is that it essentially backed dictators. It preferred the "stability" of brutal dictators with nukes over dealing with the unknown of post dictator nukes.
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There are only four ways this war ends.
Russia is defeated on the battlefield.
Putin dies
Russian Army 1917-like collapse
Putin removed in a coup
Putin will never voluntarily agree to leaving any part of occupied Ukraine. /2
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Crazy and Lazy. Speaks of a serious erosion of professional standards.
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In most respects.
that privileged minority still maintains the lion's share of the power, and given our current national arc, appears determined that state of affairs is maintained by any means necessary. /2
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restraint
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Although the GOP has shown literally strain in respect to what it's willing to do, such an extreme action might generate some pushback from its own members. Also, such an action would generate a national crisis. /4
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There's an outside possibility that they could even cancel the election if they see doom approaching. Although they would likely have consolidated much dictatorial power, competitive authoritarian states want to continue [rigged] elections to maintain the illusion of legitimacy. /3
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Trump does not want to be impeached again, which is a distinct possibility if there is a Blue landslide. At this point it's safe to assume the worst behavior from the GOP. Pulling a Maduro or even a 1/6 level event is not off the table if they feel their power sufficiently threatened. /2
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In a competitive authoritarian state, the elections are manipulated so that those in power win by a comfortable margin. It goes without saying that the GOP will cheat in 2026. If they fail to fully control the outcome and lose control of Congress, expect shenanigans. /1
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It's so sad that the black bag and unmarked van manufacturers are going to be driven out of business by AI.
Secret Police everywhere will have wistful nostalgia for good old days.😎
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It's standard practice for dictators to take control of all police forces in order to have the manpower needed to manage repression on a national scale.
Historically, the German regular police had about ten times the manpower of the GESTAPO.
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All of this and the assumptions and attitudes that brought it about are a prescription for a massive failure. /4