Chit-Chat: The Feels

[Ohiopirate02]

25 minutes ago, bluegirl147 said:

I remember when the Bill Clinton/Monica thing happened.  Republicans were losing their minds because they said it showed what an immoral man Clinton was and that made him unfit to be president.   They used the lying under oath to impeach him but they thought his indiscretion with Monica was enough.  And how many of those same people handwave away all the moral failings Trump has had?

Newt Gingrich was leading the charge against Bill when he was actively cheating on his second wife with a staffer 20 years his junior. He also cheated on wife #1 with wife #2 when wife #1 was battling cancer.

[tres bien]

Here’s the thing. I don’t think there’s one person in the Trump/MAGA/republican party that is a person of character or has a moral compass. 
They show us every day with their words and actions. They don’t feel an ounce of  compassion. The policies and laws they put into effect that do nothing to help the people they work for. Being evil and uncaring is just another day at the office 
The confirmation hearings this week were so telling of who they are

Edited Thursday at 04:15 PM by tres bien

[bluegirl147]

28 minutes ago, tres bien said:

Here’s the thing. I don’t think there’s one person in the Trump/MAGA/republican party that is a person of character or has a moral compass. 

Those that did most likely left the party.

[peacheslatour]

Looks like they're going to confirm Pete Hegseth. How soon will it be before the military is firing on civilians? I realize that SecDef is a civilian position but after Gen. Flynn is appointed Chairman of the Joint Chiefs, we're done.

 

[Dimity]

Just now, bluegirl147 said:

Those that did most likely left the party.

I was actually thinking about this earlier.  Anyone of true character who was prepared to push back against Trump and the MAGA have either left, were voted out or have learned to go along to get along.  This last, of course kinda brings their moral compass into serious question.  I am prepared to believe though that they are biding their time and waiting for Herr Trump and his Church of Perpetual Grievance to fade into obscurity.

[tres bien]

Yeah is this a bad episode of The Apprentice. It’s not just the thought that probably trigger happy Trump would tell Hegseth to fire on civilians what happens when there’s a crisis abroad and this dumb unqualified now the actual Secretary of Defense is under so much stress that he cracks open the vodka 

[peacheslatour]

3 minutes ago, Dimity said:

I was actually thinking about this earlier.  Anyone of true character who was prepared to push back against Trump and the MAGA have either left, were voted out or have learned to go along to get along.  This last, of course kinda brings their moral compass into serious question.  I am prepared to believe though that they are biding their time and waiting for Herr Trump and his Church of Perpetual Grievance to fade into obscurity.

And what the fuck happened to Fetterman? Here is a guy who presented himself as a working class guy, a man of the people and based on his performance as mayor and then lt. governor, he seemed like the real deal. Now he has scurried down to Florida to kiss the ring just like the lowest MAGA sycophant. I regret every penny I sent him during his campaign.

[bluegirl147]

5 minutes ago, peacheslatour said:

How soon will it be before the military is firing on civilians?

Yeah but it will only be immigrants and libtards so nobody will care.

1 minute ago, tres bien said:

what happens when there’s a crisis abroad and this dumb unqualified now the actual Secretary of Defense is under so much stress that he cracks open the vodka 

He said he would quit drinking if he was confirmed right?  So he is still drinking now.  Having been married to an alcoholic you don't just quit cold turkey.  Assuming he could even have the willpower to do that (and I don't think he does) he will go through withdraw. So if he disappears for a little while he is most likely drying out somewhere.  If he does manage to get on the wagon he is going to fall off the wagon. It's what alcoholics who don't want to get sober do.  

[Dimity]

And even if our worst fears never happen we are still left wondering what positives we will see over the next 4 years.  He's already walked back his promise to 'fix' grocery prices.  Which was the big thing a lot of people apparently voted him in on.  What else was there in his concepts of a plan that appealed to anyone who doesn't think he really means his talk about invading other countries and rounding up immigrants?

[bluegirl147]

1 minute ago, peacheslatour said:

And what the fuck happened to Fetterman?

As I said yesterday his stroke might have done even more damage.  Or he was a fraud from the beginning and was playing to the audience in front of him. He was mayor in a blue collar suburb of blue Pittsburgh before the political tide changed for blue collar towns. He made a name for himself as being a progressive and Shapiro needed that balance since he was more a traditional Democrat.  But now it seems he just wants to be part of whatever party will give him some power.

[tres bien]

Once an alcoholic always an alcoholic (same for drugs) you’re in recovery for life and if you are one of the lucky ones you’ll work to stay sober for the rest of your life 

He’s admitted that he drank when he was under stress so unless he went to rehab and followed a 12 step program I have no reason to believe he’s actually sober and will remain so 

But what the hell as with all things MAGA let’s just roll the dice 

[Yeah No]

16 minutes ago, Dimity said:

I was actually thinking about this earlier.  Anyone of true character who was prepared to push back against Trump and the MAGA have either left, were voted out or have learned to go along to get along.  This last, of course kinda brings their moral compass into serious question.  I am prepared to believe though that they are biding their time and waiting for Herr Trump and his Church of Perpetual Grievance to fade into obscurity.

I have been wondering this for a while now. I don't see anything online about any estimated percentage of Republicans that have left the party over Trump. We hear about how many more independents there are but it makes me wonder how many of them were disgusted Republicans like my husband, who fortunately has a moral conscience. 

But it is shocking how many of them remain in government as Republicans and demoralizing that so many obviously don't have the moral character strength to resist it. They act like they have no choice but to support Trump because Democrats are worse in the big picture so they default to defending the party if nothing else. But that is also a delusion and requires a lot of moral gymnastics to justify to themselves.

[bluegirl147]

17 minutes ago, tres bien said:

Once an alcoholic always an alcoholic (same for drugs) you’re in recovery for life and if you are one of the lucky ones you’ll work to stay sober for the rest of your life 

He’s admitted that he drank when he was under stress so unless he went to rehab and followed a 12 step program I have no reason to believe he’s actually sober and will remain so 

But what the hell as with all things MAGA let’s just roll the dice 

And this guy was barely a functioning alcoholic.  Blacking out. Getting drunk.  Having multiple people say how bad his drinking was. That is not functioning.  That is being a drunk. My husband was a functioning alcoholic. He never got drunk.  He just drank all day.  Let's also mention the physical and mental toll alcoholism does to a person.  It impairs your judgement.  This is not going to turn out well.

[DXD526]

Quote

He said he would quit drinking if he was confirmed right?

Yeah, that doesn't seem suspicious. The statement, "I'll quit drinking if X happens", is the most alcoholic thing anyone ever said.

Why didn't anyone bring up the white supremacist tattoos Hegseth proudly wears? Like, ask him, do you subscribe to that philosophy? And if not, why get the effing tattoos?? 

Why did no one ask that??? The man wants to lead the most powerful military in the world, but it's impolite to ask about his extreme, hateful views?

[tres bien]

I think it was a day ago when I gave John Fetterman the finger here. He went to MAL so Master MAGA could declare him fascinating and his wife lovely

I also said it makes me sick he’s going to make the Senate democrats lives hell for the next four years 

The more we talked about him today I’m actually feeling empathy towards Chuck Schumer. He will give Fetterman plum committee positions to try to curry favor and keep him in line but Fetterman will basically be a snake in the grass 

[Lugal]

39 minutes ago, peacheslatour said:

Looks like they're going to confirm Pete Hegseth. How soon will it be before the military is firing on civilians? I realize that SecDef is a civilian position but after Gen. Flynn is appointed Chairman of the Joint Chiefs, we're done.

I assume you mean firing on US civilians, because they've been firing on foreign civilians for years.  I hate to sound callous, but that's one of the least bad things they could do.  I'm more concerned they'll start a war with Iran which would be truly catastrophic for everyone.

30 minutes ago, Dimity said:

And even if our worst fears never happen we are still left wondering what positives we will see over the next 4 years.  He's already walked back his promise to 'fix' grocery prices.  Which was the big thing a lot of people apparently voted him in on.  What else was there in his concepts of a plan that appealed to anyone who doesn't think he really means his talk about invading other countries and rounding up immigrants?

This is why I think Trump will be extremely unpopular in 6 months.  I have family in very Trumpy areas and from what they've told me talking to Trump supporters is that they (Trump supporters) expect things to be fixed right away.  When prices are still high or even go up (which his tariffs will do) what will they do then?

1 hour ago, Ohiopirate02 said:

Newt Gingrich was leading the charge against Bill when he was actively cheating on his second wife with a staffer 20 years his junior. He also cheated on wife #1 with wife #2 when wife #1 was battling cancer.

Don't forget Bob Livingston, Bob Barr...

[Dimity]

7 minutes ago, Lugal said:

I have family in very Trumpy areas and from what they've told me talking to Trump supporters is that they (Trump supporters) expect things to be fixed right away. 

The true MAGA will forgive everything but those who claim they held their nose and voted for him because "it's the economy, stupid" hopefully will be having buyers remorse soon.  Not because I don't want the prices to go down but because it's not going to happen under Trump any faster than it would have under Harris.  And likely not even as fast because despite what Trump believes tariffs are not going to help the average American consumer pay less for their groceries, house or other consumables.

And speaking of Trump have we ever had another major political leader spend most of his nights on social media posting all cap tirades?

Edited Thursday at 05:51 PM by Dimity

[Anela]

53 minutes ago, Dimity said:

And even if our worst fears never happen we are still left wondering what positives we will see over the next 4 years.  He's already walked back his promise to 'fix' grocery prices.  Which was the big thing a lot of people apparently voted him in on.  What else was there in his concepts of a plan that appealed to anyone who doesn't think he really means his talk about invading other countries and rounding up immigrants?

 

1 hour ago, tres bien said:

Yeah is this a bad episode of The Apprentice. It’s not just the thought that probably trigger happy Trump would tell Hegseth to fire on civilians what happens when there’s a crisis abroad and this dumb unqualified now the actual Secretary of Defense is under so much stress that he cracks open the vodka 

I’m hoping that he won’t do most of what he campaigned on.  He had the “lock her up!” chant, but didn’t actually do anything to Hillary, like arrest her.  But he was mostly surrounded by adults who didn’t want him to fuck things up completely.  Evil adults, who were fine with hurting women and taking food from children, but we knew we had the chance to vote him out.  

he also did want the military to shoot BLM protesters. Surrounded by loyalists, and project 2025 guys, I don’t know if he would back down. He also implied that Gretchen Whitmer deserved to have people kidnap and execute her (as was planned by some). 

Edited Thursday at 05:52 PM by Anela

[bluegirl147]

2 minutes ago, Dimity said:

And likely not even as fast because despite what Trump believes tariffs are not going to help the average American consumer pay less for their groceries, house or other consumables.

He has such a blind spot about this.  Does he really think exporting companies are going to write us checks? And does he not know most of the goods coming into this country are made by American companies that have outsourced their manufacturing? His own products are made overseas.  If his stupidity wasn't so dangerous it would be laughable.

[Dimity]

Just now, bluegirl147 said:

Does he really think exporting companies are going to write us checks?

I think he believes exporting countries will be writing him personal cheques. 

4 minutes ago, Anela said:

Surrounded by loyalists, and project 2025 guys, I don’t know if he would back down.

I think they will go too far at some point.  The true MAGA will be cheering him on, of course, but hopefully the rest of the country will finally be repulsed enough to do something.  Sadly, I think it will take the deaths of innocent people to accomplish this.

[bluegirl147]

2 minutes ago, Anela said:

he also did want the military to shoot BLM protesters. Surrounded by loyalists, and project 2025 guys, I don’t know if he would back down.

I don't think his base would care if he has civilians shot.  I really don't.  They will see it a sign of strength. And let's not forget a lot of his base are the same people who say people of color shot by police should have just not ran away been a person of color. They will think they had it coming.

[Cementhead]

3 minutes ago, Lugal said:

This is why I think Trump will be extremely unpopular in 6 months.  I have family in very Trumpy areas and from what they've told me talking to Trump supporters is that they (Trump supporters) expect things to be fixed right away.  When prices are still high or even go up (which his tariffs will do) what will they do then?

Two quotes run through my head quite frequently whenever I think of the millions of people who voted for Trump because they actually believed him when he said that he could control the high cost of grocery store item and that he would magically make them all plummet on Day One in office.

"Wizard's First Rule: people are stupid."  -- Terry Goodkind.

"Those who stand for nothing fall for anything."  -- most commonly attributed to Alexander Hamilton.

[Anela]

3 hours ago, Spartan Girl said:

Ditto to anyone that tries to defend their decision to vote for Jill Stein or skip voting completely. 

I haven’t seen anyone do that.  Maybe one person who hasn’t been around for almost two months? Anyway, I’m using the ignore function now, too. I voted all blue, and voted early, to get it done.  

Edited Thursday at 06:06 PM by Anela

[Lugal]

7 minutes ago, bluegirl147 said:

He has such a blind spot about this.  Does he really think exporting companies are going to write us checks? And does he not know most of the goods coming into this country are made by American companies that have outsourced their manufacturing? His own products are made overseas.  If his stupidity wasn't so dangerous it would be laughable.

The supposed reasoning, at least as I've heard it from Trump supporters is that it will force American companies to reshore and rebuild domestic manufacturing.  But these companies will not alter their supply chains to come back to a place where wages are high and people can't afford what they're selling.  They left for a reason.

[Anela]

8 minutes ago, bluegirl147 said:

I don't think his base would care if he has civilians shot.  I really don't.  They will see it a sign of strength. And let's not forget a lot of his base are the same people who say people of color shot by police should have just not ran away been a person of color. They will think they had it coming.

He has supporters who were fine with protesters being run over, and who agreed with his calling for protesters to be shot.  

[bluegirl147]

2 minutes ago, Lugal said:

The supposed reasoning, at least as I've heard it from Trump supporters is that it will force American companies to reshore and rebuild domestic manufacturing.  But these companies will not alter their supply chains to come back to a place where wages are high and people can't afford what they're selling.  They left for a reason.

Even if that were remotely possible (and it's not) that isn't something that would happen over night. It's not like we can build things quickly like China.

[Ohiopirate02]

4 minutes ago, bluegirl147 said:

I don't think his base would care if he has civilians shot.  I really don't.  They will see it a sign of strength. And let's not forget a lot of his base are the same people who say people of color shot by police should have just not ran away been a person of color. They will think they had it coming.

This is one of those things where how the events unfold will matter more to his base than the actual events. Because, yeah, they do not care if the "right" people get shot under the "right" circumstances. But, if sending out the troops to take care of a group of people doing whatever directly affects them, then they would care. Well, care about how that inconvenienced them and probably still blame the group of people who were shot instead of the person who ordered the shooting.

[Spartan Girl]

5 minutes ago, Anela said:

I haven’t seen anyone do that.  Maybe one person who hasn’t been around for almost two months? Anyway, I’m using the ignore function now, too. I voted all blue, and voted early, to get it done.  

I wasn’t talking about here, I was talking about in general.

[peacheslatour]

I hope everybody is ready. Here are all the things he said he's going to do on day one.

1. Begin a mass deportation program

2. End birthright citizenship

3. End Biden-era border policies

4. Pardon Jan. 6 defendants

5. Ending the war in Ukraine - and we all know how.

6. Implement tariffs

7. Cancel the electric vehicle 'mandate'

8. Drill, drill, drill

9. 'Made in America' auto industry - L O fucking L

10. End trans participation in women’s sports

11. End gender-affirming care practices

[bluegirl147]

2 minutes ago, peacheslatour said:

I hope everybody is ready. Here are all the things he said he's going to do on day one.

1. Begin a mass deportation program

2. End birthright citizenship

3. End Biden-era border policies

4. Pardon Jan. 6 defendants

5. Ending the war in Ukraine - and we all know how.

6. Implement tariffs

7. Cancel the electric vehicle 'mandate'

8. Drill, drill, drill

9. 'Made in America' auto industry - L O fucking L

10. End trans participation in women’s sports

11. End gender-affirming care practices

When will he have time to watch Fox News and drink diet Coke?

[Ohiopirate02]

1 minute ago, peacheslatour said:

I hope everybody is ready. Here are all the things he said he's going to do on day one.

1. Begin a mass deportation program

2. End birthright citizenship

3. End Biden-era border policies

4. Pardon Jan. 6 defendants

5. Ending the war in Ukraine - and we all know how.

6. Implement tariffs

7. Cancel the electric vehicle 'mandate'

8. Drill, drill, drill

9. 'Made in America' auto industry - L O fucking L

10. End trans participation in women’s sports

11. End gender-affirming care practices

Does #11 mean he's going to end plastic surgery as we know it? I'm asking because almost all elective plastic surgery is gender-affirming including the work Elon has had done.

[bluegirl147]

1 minute ago, Ohiopirate02 said:

Does #11 mean he's going to end plastic surgery as we know it? I'm asking because almost all elective plastic surgery is gender-affirming including the work Elon has had done.

And  how is #2 going to work.  Are they going to ask to see the papers of every woman giving birth?  And wouldn't that be a state issue?

[peacheslatour]

1 minute ago, Ohiopirate02 said:

Does #11 mean he's going to end plastic surgery as we know it? I'm asking because almost all elective plastic surgery is gender-affirming including the work Elon has had done.

I believe 90% of it is crap. He won't do anything that doesn't benefit him personally. He says whatever the last person he talked to told him. His minions however have different axes to grind. We'll see.

[fastiller]

This is worth reading: Autocracy: Rules for Survival. 

High level list of the rules.

Quote

 

Rule #1: Believe the autocrat.

Rule #2: Do not be taken in by small signs of normality.

Rule #3: Institutions will not save you.

Rule #4: Be outraged.

Rule #5: Don’t make compromises.

Rule #6: Remember the future.

 

 

[kittykat]

To the upcoming administration I leave this eponymous quote from our recently departed.

[Avaleigh]

1 hour ago, Lugal said:

When prices are still high or even go up (which his tariffs will do) what will they do then?

They will blame Democrats/liberals/leftists--whichever word they think fits best. The cult like mentality means that it can never be Trump's fault. Some might even blame various people in Trump's administration, but they won't blame him. They've never held him to task for not hiring "the best people" or not following through on the other stuff he says he's going to do.

[peacheslatour]

45 minutes ago, bluegirl147 said:

And  how is #2 going to work.  Are they going to ask to see the papers of every woman giving birth?  And wouldn't that be a state issue?

There are states that want to track women's menstrual cycles. This is just the next step. I think the end game here is getting women out of the workplace entirely. Bring back the days when women had no financial independence whatsoever. Make them so dependent on men, they will suffer any kind of abuse to have a roof over their heads and food for their children. They are already talking about ending no-fault divorce, making abortion illegal federally and  monitoring them every time they step out of their homes. Remember how they used to scream bloody murder about sharia law? It's pure projection.

 

Edited Thursday at 07:24 PM by peacheslatour

[fastiller]

5 minutes ago, peacheslatour said:

There are states that want to track women's menstrual cycles. This is just the next step. I think the end game here is getting women out of the workplace entirely. Bring back the days when women had no financial independence whatsoever. Make them so dependent on men, they will suffer any kind of abuse to have a roof over their heads and food for their children. They are already talking about ending no-fault divorce, making abortion illegal federally and forcing women to monitor them every time they step out of their homes. Remember how they used to scream bloody murder about sharia law? It's pure projection.

 

I've seen folks suggesting that men download menstrual cycle tracking apps to confuse anyone who may be 'watching' or gathering info from them.  I've got no uterus (gave it up almost 12 years ago) and I'm considering doing the same.

[tres bien]

I’m more afraid of the things Trump’s going to do that we don’t know about then the things he says he’s going to do because he has a track record of making wild promises he can’t keep.

And to the uninformed voters that let this happen maybe you should have Googled his business record to see that this track record of bankruptcies and frauding people is real

Edited Thursday at 07:24 PM by tres bien

[Anela]

I want to rip someone a new one, but I'm not going to, because we aren't technically in contact anymore, so I'm just going to add to the chorus: Fuck the MAHA people who said they hated trump, but voted for him, because of RFK Jr. 

 

6 minutes ago, fastiller said:

I've seen folks suggesting that men download menstrual cycle tracking apps to confuse anyone who may be 'watching' or gathering info from them.  I've got no uterus (gave it up almost 12 years ago) and I'm considering doing the same.

I'm going to do this, too. I haven't needed one for a few years now.

[Notabug]

48 minutes ago, bluegirl147 said:

And  how is #2 going to work.  Are they going to ask to see the papers of every woman giving birth?  And wouldn't that be a state issue?

There are already multiple state legislatures where reps have said they will present legislation requiring pregnant women to register with the state, probably via their obstetric caregiver and will require them to document the progress of the pregnancy and eventual outcome.  While this is ostensibly to prevent women from having abortions out of state in places like Texas where there are heartbeat laws; it wouldn't be hard to imagine some sort of proof of citizenship being required as part of the information gathered.  There really are people who are perfectly fine with invading the privacy of others for their own purposes and way too many have been elected to state government.

[bluegirl147]

They want white babies born. That is why they want a national abortion ban and a mass deportation.  They are absolutely terrified of white people being the minority in this country.

6 minutes ago, tres bien said:

I’m more afraid of the things Trump’s going to do that we don’t know about then the things he says he’s going to do because he has a track record of making wild promises he can’t keep.

The man can't keep a secret.  He always thinks he is the smartest bestest man ever so he likes to brag about what he is thinking/doing/hatching. It's only after his base says whoa I don't like that then he will backtrack.  Doesn't mean his minions aren't planning worse than what we know about but I doubt Trump is thinking about much more than what he has already said. 

 

[kittykat]

We're not paranoid or crazy for assuming the worst.  We know what that man and his cohorts are capable of. And if the Democrats can stop bringing clipboards to a gun fight we may have a chance of stopping some of these upcoming initiatives.  Oh and John Fetterman can fuck all the way off.  Ruben Gallegos replaced Kyrsten Sinema but he's already looking to be more of the same.

[bluegirl147]

6 minutes ago, kittykat said:

Ruben Gallegos replaced Kyrsten Sinema but he's already looking to be more of the same.

That is a disappointment.  But I do think Democratic Senators from swing states are unfortunately going to become more willing to work with Trump if only to save their own seats.  But yeah Fetterman can fuck off.

[Lugal]

36 minutes ago, Avaleigh said:

They will blame Democrats/liberals/leftists--whichever word they think fits best. The cult like mentality means that it can never be Trump's fault. Some might even blame various people in Trump's administration, but they won't blame him. They've never held him to task for not hiring "the best people" or not following through on the other stuff he says he's going to do.

They can try, and his most cult-like followers will believe it, but the rest have to see that his people have complete control of the government now. *he said hopefully.

10 minutes ago, kittykat said:

And if the Democrats can stop bringing clipboards to a gun fight we may have a chance of stopping some of these upcoming initiatives.

I'd be happy if they stopped aiding and abetting him.

[peacheslatour]

Lol.

[PRgal]

33 minutes ago, bluegirl147 said:

They want white babies born. That is why they want a national abortion ban and a mass deportation.  They are absolutely terrified of white people being the minority in this country.

The man can't keep a secret.  He always thinks he is the smartest bestest man ever so he likes to brag about what he is thinking/doing/hatching. It's only after his base says whoa I don't like that then he will backtrack.  Doesn't mean his minions aren't planning worse than what we know about but I doubt Trump is thinking about much more than what he has already said. 

 

Except no one is having a lot of kids.  At least not White (or East Asian) women.  And nothing will convince them.  I think women should go all 4B like they're doing in South Korea. 

[PRgal]

If you’re goIng to look at other cultures, this is probably what Orange Ruler and his people want:

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Three_Obediences_and_Four_Virtues

[Salacious Kitty]

19 minutes ago, PRgal said:

If you’re goIng to look at other cultures, this is probably what Orange Ruler and his people want:

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Three_Obediences_and_Four_Virtues

They've already got this in Christian fundamentalism that make up s good chunk of his base. Smile! Keep sweet and multiply until your uterus falls out. 

[tres bien]

Ruben Gallegos is a real disappointment. I don’t know anything about Mark Kelly but he was on Kamala’s list of possible VP’s so he must  not be one of the squishy dems

Senate Dems need to find and recruit the younger version of Bernie. He has the highest approval of any senator at 69%