just saying: it's possible that "I'm gonna dramatically constrict my state capacity while plotting dramatic imperial expansion, and expanding my set of internal enemies while alienating most of my foreign allies" is the beginning of a world-historical masterstroke. but also possible that it isn't
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I liked the NYT analysis “Don’t believe him”
If they had a good strategy and higher approval ratings they wouldn’t have to try this blitz tactic that will be constantly challenged
Finance brought them together, highlighting that the true enemy was the Germans
I’d wager some statesmen in the EU are still pissed off from 10 years ago…
Sadly.
#Peacenotwar
And in this case they're def not sending their best.
On the other hand, there is a decent chance of goes as well as Trump University, or the Hyperloop.
I think you need to be more transparent about the a priori
Trump: aggressively anti-intellectual, probably hasn't read "his" books, stumbles over reading from teleprompters
Mussolini: avid reader, novelist, journalist and editor, writer of learned biographies
https://wedontagree.net/maybe-trump-really-is-that-fucking-stupid-and-why-that-matters
and it was such a gigantic flop that people don't even remember it happened
Imagine if 30% of voters believed that high energy prices were caused by a creature named Glonzo who ate electricity from power wires. Trump's big advantage is that he looks directly in the camera and says he'll have the marines kill Glonzo
As anyone who has followed the history of Yugoslavia since 1980 will tell you, the similarities between Trump and Milošević are many. Bloodshed awaits if he is not stopped
https://telegrafi.com/en/trump-and-brexit-before-them-was-Milosevic/
But it doesn’t matter if he ends up in a Russian gulag, murdered by his fanatics, in an American Jail (lol) or a Tesla Jail if he ruins millions of lives in the process
There is no sufficient retribution for the damage he has done.
He just needs to be stopped
Whatever our generations version of Hitler in the Bunker is. It needs to be that.
But that’s not the point.
The point is that oogling his political miscalculations is pointless when he is destroying the world.
I've never been superstitious, but if I heard someone ask that, I'd be tempted to spit between my fingers or something.
Hell no, I don't want to live in "interesting times." I just want to work, enjoy my family and friends, and save enough money to retire. #MakeGovernmentBoringAgain
Asking for science.
Being frustrated with a slim GOP Senate majority blocking Medicare coverage? Arguing about access to competition for trans athletes? Dealing with bad-faith bOrDer cRiSiS agitprop from the "liberal media?"
https://bsky.app/profile/moreperfectunion.bsky.social/post/3lhejt2ytos2d
https://bsky.app/profile/nytimes.com/post/3lhhsdijlq22s
Don’t back down
More likely that agreeing that things can always get goofier, will itself be a filter for awareness we can use...
What’s the difference between a pessimist and an optimist?
A pessimist looks around and says, it can’t get any worse!
An optimist looks around and says, of course it can!
https://www.e-flux.com/journal/76/73534/with-the-blow-of-a-paintbrush-contemporary-fascism-and-the-limits-of-historical-analogy/
Edward Luttwak has long had a line about how fascism survived because it was actually popular, until it wasn't (when it lost the war). "Stability" is a hell of a drug.
Looking forward to a 90+added time respite from bad news and countermeasures.
I’ll be watching with a Liverpool friend. Hope you get to enjoy it somewhere 🙏
It's possible that "I'm gonna dramatically constrict my state capacity while plotting dramatic imperial expansion, and expanding my set of internal enemies while alienating most of my foreign allies" is the beginning of a masterstroke
-um no, nope, No, it is NOT possible, sorry.
Nope.
Watching from afar, agog. And also wondering why foreign governments aren’t standing up th the tyrant more. And standing up for Canada.
Ezra Klein is right - Do not believe him!
2. replace skilled leadership with leadership that is loyal and looks nice on camera
3. Launch war in Middle East
What could go wrong?
But the likely end state doesn't give much light or comfort as to the many indeterminate transition states.