Chit-Chat: The Feels

[peacheslatour]

4 minutes ago, PRgal said:

I refuse to believe that a Boomer like Trump does not know what a certain symbol looks like.  Weren't they fed stories from either their parents (who may have fought in WWII) or their friends' parents?  He would DEFINITELY have known a WWII vet or two, even if it's not a family member.

Of course. Fred Trump was a Nazi himself.

[bluegirl147]

10 minutes ago, peacheslatour said:

Of course. Fred Trump was a Nazi himself.

It's funny to me how the right was convinced President Obama was whatever his father was even though his father wasn't a part of his life.  But the right doesn't think Trump was influenced by his father who raised him.

[PRgal]

40 minutes ago, peacheslatour said:

Of course. Fred Trump was a Nazi himself.

Was he born in the US or an immigrant?  If the latter, then he shoulda been deported.  

Edited 16 hours ago by PRgal

[peacheslatour]

8 minutes ago, PRgal said:

Was he born in the US or an immigrant?  If the latter, then he shoulda been deported.  

He was deported - From Germany. Wikipedia

Soon after the family arrived in Germany, Bavarian authorities determined that Trump had emigrated from Germany to avoid his military-service obligations, and he was classified as a draft dodger.  On 24 December 1904 the Department of Interior announced an investigation to banish Trump from Germany. Officially, they found that he had violated the Resolution of the Royal Ministry of the Interior number 9916, an 1886 law that punished immigration to North America to avoid military service with the loss of Bavarian and thus German citizenship. In February 1905, a royal decree was issued ordering Trump to leave within eight weeks due to having emigrated to evade military service and failing to register his departure with the authorities.For several months, Trump petitioned the government to allow him to stay but he was unsuccessful

[fastiller]

9 minutes ago, PRgal said:

Was he born in the US or an immigrant?  If the latter, then he shoulda been deported.  

Fred was born in NY.  His father (Frederick) was born in Germany (Bavaria at the time) & made much of his money during the late 1890s in the Yukon as a brothel owner.

[fastiller]

10 minutes ago, peacheslatour said:

He was deported - From Germany. Wikipedia

Soon after the family arrived in Germany, Bavarian authorities determined that Trump had emigrated from Germany to avoid his military-service obligations, and he was classified as a draft dodger.  On 24 December 1904 the Department of Interior announced an investigation to banish Trump from Germany. Officially, they found that he had violated the Resolution of the Royal Ministry of the Interior number 9916, an 1886 law that punished immigration to North America to avoid military service with the loss of Bavarian and thus German citizenship. In February 1905, a royal decree was issued ordering Trump to leave within eight weeks due to having emigrated to evade military service and failing to register his departure with the authorities.For several months, Trump petitioned the government to allow him to stay but he was unsuccessful

@peacheslatour - I think that's the grandfather you're posting about.  Fred (the father) wasn't born until 1905.

[Yeah No]

3 hours ago, Milk-Eyed Mender said:

Holy.Fuck. 

 

I just realized that this pink upside down triangle and the red one I posted earlier are related. If you look at the image in the article I posted on the use of the red upside down triangle in a Trump campaign ad on Facebook in 2020 you'll see the chart below, which shows different colored upside down triangles to mark people as different things. The red one marks political prisoners and those that rescued Jews, but the chart posted also includes the pink one that is said to denote LGBTQ. I wish my father was still alive - I'd have him translate the German for me. He knew a lot about the Nazis having served in WWII.

Don't tell me Trump doesn't know what these symbols meant. BTW, the red triangle was removed from Facebook as offensive but now Trump can post whatever he wants and he knows he can get away with it.

[tres bien]

1 hour ago, Yeah No said:

You got that right. Here's an example of what I was talking about. A Nazi symbol was used in a Trump ad on Facebook in 2020. His campaign called it "an emoji". This article from NPR explains it.

https://www.npr.org/2020/06/18/880377872/facebook-removes-trump-political-ads-with-nazi-symbol-campaign-calls-it-an-emoji

Well he can post all the Nazi symbols he wants now. Who’s going to stop him 

[fastiller]

14 minutes ago, peacheslatour said:

You're right do you want the stats on Donald's father because I have those too. They were all pieces of crap.

No need; I know all about it.

[tres bien]

Quote

 

The deceit and fraud from this administration is gross 

Today on FOX Peter Navarro says this president has had the best 50 days of any president in American History 

He practically twists himself into a pretzel as he has to follow the playbook that we the little insignificant people will have to endure this difficult transition from Bideneconomics to Trumponomics

You guys keep yapping away. I’m not an economic genius but if you keep fanning the flames something tells me you’re gonna blow the whole thing up 

 

Edited 15 hours ago by tres bien

[peacheslatour]

Trump gets a new script.

[Anela]

6 hours ago, Kemper said:

I never thought I would think, let alone write, something about a phenomenon like what is happening with the Tesla protests and vandalism. I do know that some people are horrified at the sights - they are not pretty. But.

What I am seeing are people becoming terrified and helpless, everyday, about what is happening to their country; and have no control over it or any means to slow things down. Our values, beliefs and security are being batted around and taken advantage of by...basically, intruders. Be they from South Africa or here in our own country by (mostly) men, the millionaire/billionaire class with an agenda to burn it all down and start over. They will own everything; they have already started with Congress. So...the helplessness from citizens turns to anger and rage. Is it no wonder they are bringing the torches and pitchforks. 

Same! I said it last night, on twitter, when I saw someone stating that all Democrats should condemn this. NO. MAGA wants the world to burn, and for the rest of us to keep nodding and smiling. At the same time, Trump pardoned everyone who was charged over this little tourist visit:

When he should never have been allowed to run for President again, in the first place, because he caused that. Republicans cheated as much as they could, and I am so DONE. 

That picture came from this article: https://www.reuters.com/pictures/harrowing-scenes-jan-6-us-capitol-attack-four-years-ago-2025-01-06/

I am also going to delete my twitter account. I need to. 

Edited 15 hours ago by Anela

[tres bien]

52 minutes ago, peacheslatour said:

Trump gets a new script.

Did you catch the part when Elon explained to him how that it’s like a golf cart but you can go faster!

He also tells reporters that he’s giving this car to his granddaughter Kai whom we don’t know. True I googled and found out she has the misfortune of being Donny Jr’s daughter 

And anyone that shows up protesting Tesla’s is basically a terrorist

Elon is planning on dumping $100 million dollars into Trump’s campaign koffers . Good thing the Supreme Court thought one of it’s shining moments should be deciding that Citizens United would be a good thing 

Edited 14 hours ago by tres bien

[Ohiopirate02]

17 minutes ago, peacheslatour said:

Trump gets a new script.

You can't fool me with this obvious photoshop. You know just as well as I do that Trump cannot read that.

[peacheslatour]

7 minutes ago, Ohiopirate02 said:

You can't fool me with this obvious photoshop. You know just as well as I do that Trump cannot read that.

Look familiar?

[Ohiopirate02]

4 minutes ago, peacheslatour said:

Look familiar?

That's a tad more believeable. Simple words in a larger font.

[fairffaxx]

And printed -- no cursive!

[Bastet]

On 3/11/2025 at 12:01 PM, bluegirl147 said:

I read a headline yesterday I think that said Trump loves the Gilded Age.

Probably this article from Associated Press:  Trump loves the Gilded Age and its tariffs. It was a great time for the rich but not for the many
 

Quote

In President Donald Trump’s idealized framing, the United States was at its zenith in the 1890s, when top hats and shirtwaists were fashionable and typhoid fever often killed more soldiers than combat.

It was the Gilded Age, a time of rapid population growth and transformation from an agricultural economy toward a sprawling industrial system, when poverty was widespread while barons of phenomenal wealth, like John D. Rockefeller and J.P. Morgan, held tremendous sway over politicians who often helped boost their financial empires.

“We were at our richest from 1870 to 1913. That’s when we were a tariff country. And then they went to an income tax concept,” Trump said days after taking office. “It’s fine. It’s OK. But it would have been very much better.”

The desire to recreate that era is fueled by Trump’s fondness for tariffs and his admiration for the nation’s 25th president, William McKinley, a Republican who was in office from 1897 until being assassinated in 1901.

Though Trump’s early implementation of tariffs has been inconsistent — with him imposing them, then pulling many back — he has been steadfast in endorsing the idea of 21st century protectionism. There have even been suggestions that higher import tariffs on the country’s foreign trading partners could eventually replace the federal income tax.

Experts on the era say Trump is idealizing a time rife with government and business corruption, social turmoil and inequality. They argue he’s also dramatically overestimating the role tariffs played in stimulating an economy that grew mostly due to factors other than the U.S. raising taxes on imported goods.

And Gilded Age policies, they maintain, have virtually nothing to do with how trade works in a globalized, modern economy.

“The most astonishing thing for historians is that nobody in the Gilded Age economy — except for the very rich — wanted to live in the Gilded Age economy,” said Richard White, a history professor emeritus at Stanford University.

Quote

The Gilded Age featured extraordinary wealth for a small class of people that largely obscured rampant poverty for many other Americans. The name comes from a 1873 novel, co-written by Mark Twain, which satirized the greed and deceit of the era’s government and politicians.

Many contemporary leaders were openly influenced by the famed robber barons, builders of monopolies who stoked industrialization while shaping the way millions of other Americans lived and worked.

Quote

Overall, the U.S. economy grew rapidly between 1870 and 1913, though there were dips and recessions, too.

Some historians call it the second industrial revolution because of major increases in manufacturing and factory output. New industries like steel, electricity and petrochemicals boomed, as did sectors including construction and machinery.

But White said those years were marked by erratic economic growth, and those upturns were mostly fueled by millions of immigrants joining the U.S. workforce. Indeed, the number of U.S. residents jumped from 38.5 million-plus in 1870 to more than 106 million by 1920.

Another factor was the seizing of land from Native Americans during U.S. expansion west. That meant exploiting natural resources along the way — including gold, silver, timber, grazing and farmland, as well as coal, copper and oil, especially after the discovery of the Spindletop geyser in Texas in 1901.

Average wages rose, but so did inequality, with almost no social safety net. Working conditions were often so abhorrent, meanwhile, that the labor movement began gaining strength, as did progressive politicians clamoring for breaking up monopolies.

“This is the height of antimonopoly, political turmoil, the rise of labor in the United States,” said White, author of “The Republic for Which it Stands: The United States during Reconstruction and the Gilded Age, 1865-1896.” “And the reason was, people did not regard this as a particularly healthy economy.”

In fact, despite the growth, standards of living fell, including life expectancy and key health indicators, White said.

There's also a lot of information in the article about the history Trump is too dumb to understand (what McKinley actually did and said, how commerce was different back then, etc.)

[peacheslatour]

Ah yes, the Gilded Age. No income tax, no unions, the wealthiest 2% of American households owned more than a third of the nation's wealth, while the top 10% owned roughly three-quarters of it.  In terms of property, the wealthiest 1% owned 51%, while the bottom 44% claimed 1.1%.

There was a significant human cost attached to this period of economic growth,as American industry had the highest rate of accidents in the world. In 1889, railroads employed 704,000 men, of whom 20,000 were injured and 1,972 were killed on the job. The U.S. was also the only industrial power to have no workman's compensation program in place to support injured workers.

[ProudMary]

I first became aware of this Monday morning. I get the majority of my information through new media. I'm wondering if MSM is not covering this important story as it hasn't yet been discussed here.

Senator Murphy explains the situation well in this short video. (3:00)

Whether you agree or disagree with Mahmoud Khalil's views does not matter. He did nothing wrong. There are no charges against him. He is a Green Card holding permanent resident of the United States, with a wife who is an American citizen and is pregnant with their child.

Every one of us should be calling our elected officials and demanding the release of this man who is being illegally held. He was chosen as a test to see just how much this administration can get away with specifically because his views are objectionable to some. Free speech must be protected.

 

[Milk-Eyed Mender]

Je suis Charlie.

I am Mahmoud Kahlil. 

The names may change but the First Amdendment remains. For now.

 

[Bliss]

For anyone interested in Marianne Williamson and her thoughts (particular emphasis on Canada in this):

https://www.transformarticles.com/p/lets-discuss-canada?utm_source=podcast-email&publication_id=392587&post_id=158940447&utm_campaign=email-play-on-substack&utm_content=watch_now_gif&r=toyz4&triedRedirect=true&utm_medium=email

[Bliss]

50 minutes ago, ProudMary said:

I first became aware of this Monday morning. I get the majority of my information through new media. I'm wondering if MSM is not covering this important story as it hasn't yet been discussed here.

Senator Murphy explains the situation well in this short video. (3:00)

Whether you agree or disagree with Mahmoud Khalil's views does not matter. He did nothing wrong. There are no charges against him. He is a Green Card holding permanent resident of the United States, with a wife who is an American citizen and is pregnant with their child.

Every one of us should be calling our elected officials and demanding the release of this man who is being illegally held. He was chosen as a test to see just how much this administration can get away with specifically because his views are objectionable to some. Free speech must be protected.

 

I just posted a link to a podcast with Marianne Williamson and she talked about this situation.

I have no words anymore (esp since my words seem to offend someone here and they keep deleting me).

[Bastet]

1 hour ago, ProudMary said:

I first became aware of this Monday morning. I get the majority of my information through new media. I'm wondering if MSM is not covering this important story as it hasn't yet been discussed here.

I read independent media pretty much exclusively, so this story is a daily headline, but I just did a quick search and see it's being covered by the NYTimes, CBS News, USA Today, CNN, Forbes, etc., so, yes, MSM is also covering it.  I picked CBS News at random to see how they're covering it, and it's the typical mealy-mouthed "X says this, but Y says this" stenography.

[peacheslatour]

New Tesla dealership. Deals! Deals! Deals!

[Anela]

From twitter. 

Edited 13 hours ago by Anela

[ProudMary]

The Tesla Takedown is working and it is, at the very least, making Musk uncomfortable, hence the White House stunt. I learned something interesting from a podcast today, but I wanted to be certain it was true so I searched back a few years. The loans Musk took out to buy Twitter are at least partially covered by Tesla shares and can be called in if Tesla falls below a specific level.  From 4/21/22:

Elon Musk just took out one of the biggest personal margin loans ever for his bid to buy out Twitter

https://www.businessinsider.com/elon-musk-margin-loan-twitter-takeover-morgan-stanley-2022-4?op=1

Musk, a famously "cash poor" billionaire, has borrowed against Tesla shares for years. As of February 12, 2020, according to Tesla's most recent prospectus, he had $548 million in outstanding balances with Morgan Stanley, Goldman Sachs, and Bank of America.

Even for Musk, upping his personal loans against volatile Tesla shares – the electric vehicle company once lost $109 billion in market cap in one day – is a risky move. According to the margin loan commitment letter, if the value of the pledged stock falls to $35.7 billion or less, Musk would have two business days to put up more collateral, pay back some of the loan, or sell collateral shares.

[Anela]

17 minutes ago, peacheslatour said:

New Tesla dealership. Deals! Deals! Deals!

From twitter.  

[bluegirl147]

16 minutes ago, ProudMary said:

The Tesla Takedown is working and it is, at the very least, making Musk uncomfortable, hence the White House stunt. I learned something interesting from a podcast today, but I wanted to be certain it was true so I searched back a few years. The loans Musk took out to buy Twitter are at least partially covered by Tesla shares and can be called in if Tesla falls below a specific level.  From 4/21/22:

Elon Musk just took out one of the biggest personal margin loans ever for his bid to buy out Twitter

https://www.businessinsider.com/elon-musk-margin-loan-twitter-takeover-morgan-stanley-2022-4?op=1

 

 

I've always thought the reason he bought Trump and is "working" for the government is because he needs money.  His billions are on paper and not actual billions of dollars

[ECM1231]

Rep. Larson was on fire today. He blasted the GOP for barring Elon Musk from testifying before Congress and for Trump et al plans to privatize Social Security.

https://youtu.be/4WmWZ0pZpyQ?si=Q1yCjukD6AvrVoZD

[Yeah No]

5 hours ago, ProudMary said:

I first became aware of this Monday morning. I get the majority of my information through new media. I'm wondering if MSM is not covering this important story as it hasn't yet been discussed here.

Senator Murphy explains the situation well in this short video. (3:00)

You know, living in CT I never was the biggest Chris Murphy fan based on personal things I know about him through my friend in local politics, but he is redeeming himself in my eyes in a BIG way lately.

[Bliss]

3 hours ago, ECM1231 said:

Rep. Larson was on fire today. He blasted the GOP for barring Elon Musk from testifying before Congress and for Trump et al plans to privatize Social Security.

https://youtu.be/4WmWZ0pZpyQ?si=Q1yCjukD6AvrVoZD

Good for you, Mr Larson. Good for you.

Elbows up, senior citizens of USA!

[Soapy Goddess]

17 hours ago, lookeyloo said:

I am all for gathering information to eliminate fraud. I don't think wiping out agencies and shredding and burning records does that.  They could have sent in properly trained professionals who do this kind of work. My late son did it early in his career. 

Where was your son when Obama and others (including Pelosi and Schumer) before him were talking about cutting waste and fraud? Government corruption isn't anything new. This is what Doge is trying to expose. Meanwhile, instead of thanks, Dems are burning up his dealerships and destroying Tesla vehicles. 

16 hours ago, Yeah No said:

If you don't see a reason to be concerned about an unelected, untrained, super rich and powerful person that you did not authorize to have access to your personal information I don't know what to say. The justifications given have been pat answers and the public deserves to have more transparency. You don't even know why he should have this access. I think there are more reasons to be concerned about this than there are excuses for him. And I can just imagine what Republicans would be saying if any Democrat had the nerve to let this happen.

He's hardly untrained in business. Hence his success. He's rich, so he's not going to steal money. And we can debate the 'unelected' portion until the cows come home, but there's no point in re-hashing that single item.

Here's what I wish for all Dems: For your own sake, please stop imaging all kinds of nefarious things. it's only causing you grief, and you're hurting your own feelings. 

[Lantern7]

I'm just tired of the constant glazing of Trump by his minions.

I want a huge victory at this point. The administration keeps crossing lines that no reasonable person would dare cross. Not only is that outrageous, it is getting tiresome. Trump shilling for Tesla shouldn't work. It's not like he drives. I don't think he can drive. Also, I don't think that would be enough to offset all the negativity the brand is getting.

[ChiCricket]

On 3/8/2025 at 5:27 PM, peacheslatour said:

Have you ever noticed that a lot of the factual, verifiable and deeply researched news organizations all have pay walls, while garbage like Fox and News Max are free?

FYI, you can plug any URL into the top red box on the following site, and read (most) paywalled articles for free.

http://archive.today/

(I don't tell too many people about it because I don't want it to disappear by becoming too popular) 😉 

[Soapy Goddess]

16 hours ago, laurakaye said:

22 hours ago, Soapy Goddess said:

see that. I also see that some crazy people are vandalizing Tesla dealerships. I understand if one wants to boycott, but to destroy property and light cars on fire, etc...that's juvenile! And not exactly "legal" either.

Serious question - how is this different than Jan. 6?

The difference is that the vandals are going after a private citizen, not a government employee, as you all like to remind me/Reps! And that private citizen employs 1000s of people. And considering electric vehicles are part of the Dem agenda, your own people are destroying it!!

[suomi]

Judge orders Elon Musk and Doge to produce records about cost-cutting operations

The documents would ultimately inform whether Musk has been operating unconstitutionally to the extent Doge’s activities should be halted

Elon Musk and his so-called “department of government efficiency”, or Doge, have been ordered by a federal judge to turn over a wide array of records that would reveal the identities of staffers and internal records related to efforts to aggressively cut federal government spending and programs.

US district judge Tanya Chutkan’s order forces Musk to produce documents related to Doge’s activities as part of a lawsuit brought by 14 Democratic state attorneys general that alleges Musk violated the constitution by wielding powers that only Senate-confirmed officials should possess.

Chutkan said in her 14-page decision that she was allowing the state attorneys general to obtain documents from Musk to clarify the scope of his authority, which would inform whether he has been operating unconstitutionally to the extent that Doge’s activities should be halted.

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/mar/13/elon-musk-doge-court-ruling-records

[Soapy Goddess]

16 hours ago, tres bien said:

And BTW as a constituent of Amy Klobuchar what makes you think she would have been a better choice/candidate 

Kamala Harris and Amy Klobuchar have resumes that are that different 

From a Rep perspective, I could give you a number of reasons but suffice it to say that IMO Amy is way more qualified. She knows exactly what she would have done differently than Biden, and she doesn't spout word salad. 

I have not seen either one's resume. I just know what appeals to Reps, and unfortunately for Dems, it wasn't KH.

[suomi]

Social Security scraps far-reaching cuts to phone services after Post report

The agency will move ahead with a much narrower revision eliminating direct deposit changes by phone amid DOGE fraud concerns.

The Social Security Administration late Wednesday abandoned plans it was considering to end phone service for millions of Americans filing retirement and disability claims after The Washington Post reported that Elon Musk’s U.S. DOGE Service team was weighing the change to root out alleged fraud.

The shift would have directed elderly and disabled people to rely on the internet and in-person field offices to process their claims, curtailing a service that 73 million Americans have relied on for decades to access earned government benefits.

However, Social Security and White House officials said the administration will still move ahead with another far more limited element of the original proposal: Customers will no longer be able to change a direct deposit routing number or other bank information by phone.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2025/03/12/social-security-phone-doge-elderly-disabled/

[Soapy Goddess]

15 hours ago, partofme said:

I’m not sure why MAGAs are suggesting Democratic candidates anyway when they would never vote for the Democrat no matter who it is.  

You don't know that, so you can't say with certainty. I watched all the debates and listened intently to what they had to say. If DJT didn't decide to run again, who knows what would have happened? My crystal ball is still in the shop.

15 hours ago, Dimity said:

And I have a serious question for any of his supporters posting here, does it bother you at all that he is using the White House to act like a used car salesman encouraging people to buy Teslas when most of his base can't even afford to buy eggs?

Also serious question: Don't you find it ridiculous that the very thing Dems wanted (green new deal) including EV's are now being destroyed by your team?

[lookeyloo]

36 minutes ago, Soapy Goddess said:

Where was your son when Obama and others (including Pelosi and Schumer) before him were talking about cutting waste and fraud? Government corruption isn't anything new. This is what Doge is trying to expose. Meanwhile, instead of thanks, Dems are burning up his dealerships and destroying Tesla vehicles. 

First of all he didn't work for the government. Private corporations hired him and his company early in his career. And second we were taking care of him while he died of cancer. So he couldn't work for the government during the period you stated. 
And third there are other people still doing this kind of work and they could be doing it for the government if said government hired them.  People don't just walk in to an agency and start making changes...oh wait. We live in different times 

how do you think he or anyone should be "where are you" when in normal times there isn't a takeover? 

[Soapy Goddess]

NM

Edited 5 hours ago by Soapy Goddess

[Yeah No]

2 hours ago, Soapy Goddess said:

He's hardly untrained in business. Hence his success. He's rich, so he's not going to steal money. And we can debate the 'unelected' portion until the cows come home, but there's no point in re-hashing that single item.

It's cute that you think Musk being the richest man in the world means he wouldn't steal money. I actually think that makes him more of a suspect especially since we didn't ask for him to have access to our information and what kind of clearance does he have to access it anyway? Because Trump, someone I already don't trust owes him a favor? And if you try to tell me I should trust Trump, forget it. I have more reasons not to trust him based on his established lying and misleading the public. Even in the past few weeks since he became president again. Lists a mile long with examples could be written.

But it's not necessarily about stealing money anyway, but using information that Musk has no right to use for purposes that the people whose information it is have not authorized for his use or that use, whatever it is. The fact that he would just go in there and access it without any real authority or hesitation is already suspect.

And I've already gone into why I don't think "knowing about business" gives anyone a better grasp of dealing with matters of government. The two are very different. And I actually question his grasp of business too after reading about him. Same with Trump. These people latched onto a scheme to become rich but that didn't mean they had much real knowledge about business. Trump has proven over and over again that he has money in spite of himself. He just got lucky and used less than ethical ways to screw other people out of their money.

2 hours ago, Soapy Goddess said:

Here's what I wish for all Dems: For your own sake, please stop imaging all kinds of nefarious things. it's only causing you grief, and you're hurting your own feelings. 

Interesting given that Republicans are by far the main sources of conspiracy theories, especially involving Democrats. When I hear what some of them are I shake my head. They ascribe way more organization and deviousness to Democrats than they are even capable of. Democrats are just not capable of such incredible, far-fetched schemes as have been ascribed to them, especially the one Trump himself pushed about how they "stole" the 2020 election. You can't even unite Democrats on anything much less are they effective enough to accomplish something as far reaching as that. But that is by far not the only far-fetched conspiracy theory Republicans widely believe about Democrats and get themselves all tied in knots over. Believe me, Democrats don't have to invent conspiracy theories like this about Republicans. We are witnessing things that are being done publicly right now in front of our faces that are far worse than any theory.

Edited 4 hours ago by Yeah No

[Soapy Goddess]

5 minutes ago, Yeah No said:

It's cute that you think Musk being the richest man in the world means he wouldn't steal money. I actually think that makes him more of a suspect especially since we didn't ask for him to have access to our information and what kind of clearance does he have to access it anyway? But it's not necessarily about stealing money but using information that he has no right to use for purposes that the people whose information it is have not authorized for his use or that use, whatever it is. The fact that he would just go in there and access it without any real authority or hesitation is already suspect.

I'm glad you think I'm cute 😜 I still don't understand exactly what EM would do with said information. We're talking about millions of people. I can't imagine he's plotting against every American for whatever reason. And if he's doing what he does by order of the president, I consider that being authorized. 

 

10 minutes ago, Yeah No said:

Trump has proven over and over again that he has money in spite of himself. He just got lucky and used less than ethical ways to screw other people out of their money.

Trump has admitted many times that he used our laws to his advantage (i.e. bankruptcies), like many Americans...so I wouldn't consider that unethical.

12 minutes ago, Yeah No said:

Believe me, Democrats don't have to invent conspiracy theories like this about Republicans. We are witnessing things that are beyond denying right now that are far worse than any theory.

Are you sure about that? Whether you choose to believe it or not, Dems have their own conspiracy theories. They are not exactly angels either. They just happen to be the most vocal at this time. As the old saying goes "Duth thou protest too much?" 

[Yeah No]

1 hour ago, Soapy Goddess said:

From a Rep perspective, I could give you a number of reasons but suffice it to say that IMO Amy is way more qualified. She knows exactly what she would have done differently than Biden, and she doesn't spout word salad. 

I have not seen either one's resume. I just know what appeals to Reps, and unfortunately for Dems, it wasn't KH.

I like Amy Klobuchar but I am realistic enough to know that she couldn't have stood up to the likes of Trump. No reflection on her in a normal universe, but he would have decimated her and she would not have been enough of a draw to lure independents and other non-Democrats into voting for her over him. And I've already discussed why I thought choosing anyone but Harris under those specific circumstances at that specific time would have backfired on the Dems. And I don't even think Amy would have had much chance of winning the nomination under the normal process.

[Soapy Goddess]

2 minutes ago, Yeah No said:

she would not have been enough of a draw to lure independents and other non-Democrats into voting for her over him.

Maybe, but I can tell you with certainty that Amy would have definitely given some of us food for thought. I thought her policies and ideas (more moderate) would have been enough to bring our country together...if she had been given the opportunity to run.

[Yeah No]

19 minutes ago, Soapy Goddess said:

I'm glad you think I'm cute 😜 I still don't understand exactly what EM would do with said information. We're talking about millions of people. I can't imagine he's plotting against every American for whatever reason. And if he's doing what he does by order of the president, I consider that being authorized. 

I've said this before but I think the fact that you don't really know what exactly Musk would do with the information is already a red flag. But again, Dems. don't think he's necessarily plotting anything but misuse of information can just be based on not having the sense to protect it from being misused. Musk is a private citizen. He was not anyone's idea of who should have such control over things. I still can't get over how seeing the richest man in the world, who by a lot of people's estimation doesn't have much common sense about real world things having access to your private information doesn't concern you.

My mind boggles on how Republicans trust anything Trump does without any question. That in and of itself is in my opinion dangerous and ill advised and there are many examples from history to illustrate why that is. I question everything from everyone. Democrats questioned Biden. They didn't just belly up for anything he wanted to do. That's not how Democrats roll. Otherwise they would have let him run and not advised him to step down.

19 minutes ago, Soapy Goddess said:

Trump has admitted many times that he used our laws to his advantage (i.e. bankruptcies), like many Americans...so I wouldn't consider that unethical. 

Trump has found ways to game the system and skirt on the edge of laws to his advantage. While he has been able to do that without it being illegal (although I think it should be) it is still unethical in my opinion.

19 minutes ago, Soapy Goddess said:

Are you sure about that? Whether you choose to believe it or not, Dems have their own conspiracy theories. They are not exactly angels either. They just happen to be the most vocal at this time. As the old saying goes "Duth thou protest too much?" 

No I have witnessed no grand scale pushing by Democrats or any Democratic journalists or TV personalities of grand scale Republican conspiracies. Sure, people theorize but the kind of conspiracy theories I'm talking about are something I only see Republicans invent. And they make their entire platforms based on their belief in some pretty far-fetched schemes engineered by Democrats. Trump uses Republican's fears to make them believe in things that are pretty preposterous. I see none of that with Democrats. Biden never pushed any such stuff. When Democrats suspect something, there's a very good reason and it's by no means something Democrats in general run with as gospel. Democrats don't have to imagine things to suspect with Republicans. They're too busy being shocked by what they're actually DOING without hiding it to have to imagine all sorts of things going on under the table.

Edited 4 hours ago by Yeah No

[Anela]

1 hour ago, Soapy Goddess said:

 

Are you sure about that? Whether you choose to believe it or not, Dems have their own conspiracy theories. They are not exactly angels either. They just happen to be the most vocal at this time. As the old saying goes "Duth thou protest too much?" 

You know this applies to everyone pushing the lie that the 2020 election was stolen. This applies to trump, every single day, for how many years now? It goes for every single lie and conspiracy theory they’ve ever spouted. 
The man goes on social media posting sprees, and constantly puts people down, as well as companies, as he did with NBC, was it? In a press conference.  

Edited 2 hours ago by Anela

[anony.miss]

3 hours ago, Yeah No said:

using information that Musk has no right to use

Musk is most likely using our data to train/feed Grok 3, the newest version of Musk's AI:

"Elon Musk is racing to perfect an AI model, just as teams of his young associates are gaining access to some of the nation’s most sensitive and closely guarded databases through the Department of Government Efficiency.

....A senior White House official did not explain how they could prevent Musk from using government data to improve his AI in the future beyond saying that Musk keeps President Donald Trump’s chief of staff, Susie Wiles, in the loop.

Unsurprisingly, that doesn’t seem to be alleviating concerns. Ryan Girdusky, a pro-Trump conservative strategist, has been one of the leading voices on the right raising the alarm."

https://www.politico.com/news/2025/02/20/musk-data-ai-00205259

btw, Grok 3, when asked if it was being fed data by DOGE, replied:  “It’s plausible that data DOGE accessed could have flowed to xAI projects like Grok 3". And Grok 3's "best guess" is that "Grok 3 probably wasn’t primarily trained on DOGE-obtained federal data.”

"Primarily" trained? (Grok 3 sure has mastered the concept of 'wiggle room'). The reporter then chatted (heh) with Grok 2:

"For the sake of comparison, we asked Grok 2, which was released last August. It was much more clear, replying with a simple “no,” noting that it was not “trained on any data from the federal government, whether obtained by DOGE or any other means.”

...so is Musk nobly DOGE-ing because he has a heart of gold and wants only to root out waste and fraud for the benefit of mankind? Or are vast amounts of data the kind of currency Musk considers vital right now? Gosh, what a tough call!  (Where's Grok 4 when you need it? ; )

Edited 1 hour ago by anony.miss

[Dimity]

I have never in my lifetime seen a US president act the way Donald Trump does. His childish tirades, his reliance on unqualified people, his belief in conspiracy theories, his constant lying about everything, his contemptuous behaviour toward other world leaders...And that's just for starters.

Naturally Americans are most concerned with what he is doing within your borders, but as a Canadian I am horrified at his talk of annexation. Apparently he has even instructed all who work for him to call our Prime Minister governor. This is how what passes for his mind works.

But sure Trump apologists lets talk about Obama or which woman should have run for president instead of Kamala or anything else rather than the clear and present threat going on right now.

Edited 47 minutes ago by Dimity