I do think Trump is rapidly careening towards having completely blown apart all of his political capital and support by attempting to do every insane thing he's ever thought of at once before he even manages to have a cabinet in place.
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Vaccinations are a big one. For all the talk about RFK tapping into something real on the crunchy left, pulling all vaccines like today’s reporting suggested would radicalize a lot of soft democrats and nonvoters into turbolib wine moms
I am stashing the phrase "turbolib wine moms" for safekeeping. Not only is it a fabulous turn of phrase, but I suspect it will come in handy in the months (or possibly days) to come.
lol the irony is, Americans may actually going to have to get a vaccine passport to prove that they’re vaccinated before being allowed to enter certain countries!
I can't even begin to describe how I feel. I think it would be so sweet just to see all of this blow up in his fucking hideous face; I really do. But at what cost to us, ya know?
Hegseth can be removed too not only by Trump but congress if he's going around drinking on the job. Which I wouldn't be too surprised if he does; and if he does, then Schumer should just tell Thune "told ya so"
The only way for Congress to remove Hegseth post-confirmation would be via impeachment, which the Senate during the administration before last proved to be constitutional dead letter
A drunk defense secretary who's getting scapegoated for a bunch of special forces getting murked by the cartels still seems like it could be in the realm of the possible though.
much harder count than simply not confirming him though.
this is all so deeply humiliating but i think i finally understand all of those "i am becoming the joker" memes because there is a point at which it gets so crazy that you burst through a mental wall and start to become an absurdist
Wrong - no elected mage house or senator will care what’s immoral or bad for America. They rubber stamp everything he do to remain a submissive supporter to maintain their government funded job
Driving wedges between him and his supporters, airing the dirty laundry of weaker members. Manipulating him into throwing his "allies" under the bus sooner rather than later, are all pretty good starts.
And “political capital” matters how, exactly? What are you implying is actually going to happen? The democrats is still going to bend over and let him fuck them (and by extension the rest of us) any way he wants, because they’re too politically cowardly to do anything else.
I can’t tell if this is a joke, or if you’re actually being serious right now. What the fuck do you think you’re talking about, if the latter? Have you just been asleep for the last ten years?
I don't think average voters have caught on to most of this yet, but I think in a couple of weeks it's going to be absolute misery (and that's assuming we *don't* start the imminent bird flu pandemic by then) and the blowback is going to make the Afghanistan withdrawal look like a minor hiccup
James the cult is deep, (trust me I’m witnessing firsthand) they’re applauding all this. The takeover of their minds is complete. Trump can get caught with a 13 year old child and his minions would turn around and say the child consent laws are too stringent. They’ll never hold him accountable
Sure, but his cult isn't what matters--it's the otherwise-apathetic or low-information voters, the usually-apolitical mid-level federal bureaucrats, the nonpartisan positions in the state governments, etc.
I wish it were so but I doubt it. When you can sic brown shirts on the family of whoever displeases you, and a huge number are true maga believers anyway, then I do think political capital works differently.
I think Republicans will increasingly desire for JD Vance to be the one to deal with as the orders come down the line. If something happens to Trump the GOP might brief a sigh of relief to have a two term president unmarred by Trump and a new martyr for an unhinged base.
Probably except I believe they (not just him) think they are over the horizon of democracy. When people talk about, well that is illegal he will be stopped. Really, by who? Or next election he will lose. Next election? And effectively Dems are just along for the ride. Business as usual is over.
He just doesn't think he has a fixed amount of political capital, and political capital often operates on Peter Pan rules, if you don't believe you have it, you lose it
Eh, I used to think surely Republicans will eventually tire of his shenanigans. Nah, they have power now. Oh, sure they may oust Trump, but what’s done is done. Congratulations America.
The only thing that worked in the pass was a general strike. This time not just the entire country but you are going to need some help from other countries and how will we address the selfish to get them to join.
I still don’t think “political capital” as we know it is relevant. That implies the admin believes there’s some cost to their actions. I don’t think they do.
idk man i feel like it's probably unwise to take an extremely aggressive approach that hammers your support right before dropping tariffs that will fuck everything up for the two seat house majority who has to do reconciliation *and* debt ceiling in the next two months, but who knows
It's not like he can't still do stupid things—but I think this timeline where he keeps trying to do every stupid thing possible at once, and destroys his ability to actually competently do any one stupid thing at a time is a fairly acceptable outcome.
It’s like he’s on a bender. The high will end and then what. This is unfathomably hard to watch happen but it’s also possible he runs out of dumb cruel stuff to take his toddler marker to soon and we all see what a mess he made. Then the clean up and consequences begin.
Hoovermaxxing while also doing a Woodrow Wilson on civil rights and a coked out Grover Norquist on state capacity is basically how I'd set up a run that both shortterm implodes the global economy while long-term means my political party would be hunted for fucking sport for a century
It's such a fucking scream-at-the-sky tragedy that this might be the best outcome because it lays a very clear foundation for rebuilding something better, but it'll have an unimaginable cost before that point, so ideally the entire GOP should just spontaneously combust, individually, all at once
double economic whammy of tariffs and immigrant farmworkers all quitting, getting sued in every federal court at the same time, the mother of all budget reconciliations, possible shooting war with cartels, and all of this with a two seat House margin and no real cabinet members
If it's happened, I'm not aware of it. Realistically, there's no world in which that happens, I was being hyperbolic. The only reason it's even a statistical possibility at this point is the historically razor thin majority margin.
There is a real possibility that a shooting war with the cartel causes more fascist hysteria, making all the incompetence and lost standard of living irrelevant.
I figure he's got the same folks advising him that he's going to have once anyone gets confirmed. Trump already has all the inner circle he needs. But turning those idiot policies into actionable ones & getting immediate useful feedback is another question
I had the thought yesterday that it may actually make some of the queasy senators even queasier about the more fringe lunatic nominees, like RFK Jr, Tulsi and even Hegseth.
If a foreign power had taken control, briefly, they would simply destroy as much as possible, especially in the early months, before any resistance organizes.
My concern here is that he’ll push for all this extremely destructive shit, cause an actual emergency, and declare an emergency to become full on authoritarian.
The problem is the people who kiss his ass in order to get their agenda implemented thru him do not care about his approval ratings or how he's regarded by history in the slightest.
The people voting for him love stupidity. If anything, they consider him to be more brilliant, because what he did made such an enormous splash, which is their sole measure for success.
That war was started because America created a reason for it, initiated it, and then the population (in large part but not exclusively) supported it for years.
First Iraq War was a case of America not starting a fight but ending one (Kuwait Invasion).
Second Iraq War was a case of the Bush Administration having an unnaturally high amount of patriotism and general will to spend. And even then they spent it all on that war.
I wish but I don't see it. What political capital will he run out of? Repubs are full-bore fascists. If they don't turn on him for the Jan. 6 pardons, they never will. I think.
He didn’t think all this crazy shit up himself, he’s following Project 2025. He’s doing exact what the christofascist oligarchs who got him elected want him to do. I’m sure lot of people who voted for him are having second thoughts, just not people in a position to do anything about it.
Honestly....from a political perspective you take that. A lot of people will be hurt, obviously, but far better to burn out quick than any number of alternatives one can imagine.
This is a great insight. I hope. Who knows. I think R's in Congress ask themselves, "Am I going to lose a primary or election by going against Trump?" Once the answer is a no, or it becomes more risky to their seat to support than not, they'll turn on him.
Elon‘s money will only run out when his ego gets fed up with Trump. I deeply suspect that there was voter interference that Musk orchestrated and now they are locked in a battle.
Can’t narc on one without tattling on yourself so we are stuck with this stupid marriage.
Some shit will stick and continue wafting. Since us Euros are currently no longer allies, at best lesser adversaries, we'll have to consider that some permanent neutering of the US is beneficial to us.
The end of the extraordinary privilege of the USD as world reserve currency would be nice. Sorry!
In a sign that we’re all ultimately in this together. Which may only become clear to our new President when Mar-a-Lago is wiped off the map by the next hurricane to hit Florida.
Blow apart political capital with who? Certainly not the technocrats and oligarchs this is all for. They are his only interest, and he is doing their bidding.
Also his international cred is fading rapidly. Insulting and threatening the head of state of another allied country is a really bad start and raises more than one eyebrow on this side of the Atlantic.
Soon Xi and Putin may be the only ones left who pick up the phone when he rings.
I sure hope you’re right. Unfortunately I think it’s going to take a lot more than what he’s done to lose support, especially after Hegseth made it. He can get away with just about anything.
What would it mean if he blew apart all of his political capital? What would happen next, or what would he not be able to accomplish that he wants to accomplish, if this were to be the case?
If he loses the ability to lean on the GOP in congress he’s in trouble, especially since he only has a two seat majority in the house that is already visibly fracturing
Wouldn't hegseth go alongwith war cartel with trump anyway. I fear him more as the possibility of going to war with Iran/ possible confrontation with China
Frankly, that's better than trying to do it with Hegseth. You think there's any chance Pete doesn't start drinking heavily once the bullets start flying?
That's pretty embarrassing yeah, but he still *got* the pick and I think that counts more than embarrassment
Hegseth is close enough to show that RFK Jr might be beatable. Might
But the NIH pause shows Trump can do significant damage with no one running the FDA at all…
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And then Canada cutting off your oil at the funniest moment ever
There’s reporting about really pulling all vaccines?!?
A drunk defense secretary who's getting scapegoated for a bunch of special forces getting murked by the cartels still seems like it could be in the realm of the possible though.
much harder count than simply not confirming him though.
Republican Senators refuse to hold their own accountable, and they can change anytime they want---and be changed on a rotating 6-year basis
Mass civil disobedience of a level that meets, and possibly surpasses the civil rights movement will likely be necessary.
A) thrilled about that
B) really thrilled about that
This is Fascism
Maybe he's going for the speed run
Some will be struck down.
running it down mid
There's always mortality and morbidity -- even if the CDC doesn't report it any more.
Support the Troops
he's doing all of this without a functional cabinet
After the last four years, I have no hope that justice will ever be served
That, and the chaos.
I mean sure he has a trifecta but it's tenuous and it's not like this wasn't also what happened in 2016 either
like that would make the very stupid parts of the American populace just go blind with rage and bloodthirst
Pearl Harbor, 9/11, Fort Sumter.
The average American likes ending fights, not when their government is starting them.
That war was started because America created a reason for it, initiated it, and then the population (in large part but not exclusively) supported it for years.
Second Iraq War was a case of the Bush Administration having an unnaturally high amount of patriotism and general will to spend. And even then they spent it all on that war.
His floor of support is high. Jan 6th was his low point.
Can’t narc on one without tattling on yourself so we are stuck with this stupid marriage.
The end of the extraordinary privilege of the USD as world reserve currency would be nice. Sorry!
Sigh. I keep feeling, "ok we're gonna do this now."
I feel like Steve Martin. It might not have been my idea to let Toonces drive, but I didn't manage to stop him either.
Soon Xi and Putin may be the only ones left who pick up the phone when he rings.
just raw dogging the chain of command
…but it's a couple hours later now, and I do kinda want to come back and ask
Are you sure 'political capital' is a real thing?
Hegseth is close enough to show that RFK Jr might be beatable. Might
But the NIH pause shows Trump can do significant damage with no one running the FDA at all…