What does a TRUMP presidency look like?

[Tamas]

Judy Lynn Shelton is an American economic advisor to President Donald Trump.[2] She is known for her advocacy for a return to the gold standard

A return to the gold standard?  How does that work in practice? 

I don't think they have thought it through that far ahead.

[Malthus]

Judy Lynn Shelton is an American economic advisor to President Donald Trump.[2] She is known for her advocacy for a return to the gold standard

A return to the gold standard?  How does that work in practice? 

I don't think they have thought it through that far ahead.

Agreed.

My impression is that the current incarnation of the Republican Party literally could not care less whether any position they espouse makes practical sense or could be implemented.

All they care about is the emotional reaction their base has to a position - expressed in easy to repeat slogans and catchy memes.

Looking for anything deeper is pointless. There is nothing to find. 

[Tamas]

Judy Lynn Shelton is an American economic advisor to President Donald Trump.[2] She is known for her advocacy for a return to the gold standard

A return to the gold standard?  How does that work in practice? 

I don't think they have thought it through that far ahead.

Agreed.

My impression is that the current incarnation of the Republican Party literally could not care less whether any position they espouse makes practical sense or could be implemented.

All they care about is the emotional reaction their base has to a position - expressed in easy to repeat slogans and catchy memes.

Looking for anything deeper is pointless. There is nothing to find.

Indeed. Which is of course highly destructive but puts food on their table for now.

[DGuller]

Looking for anything deeper is pointless. There is nothing to find.

Agreed.  One of the more frustrating conversations about politics that I have with family members involves them trying to find some deep meaning and strategy behind the insanity.  FFS, sometimes things are what they really appear to be.  Maybe it's a mental defense to try to find reason in insanity, because otherwise being a helpless observer of insanity is not good for your own mental health.

[The Minsky Moment]

Judy Lynn Shelton is an American economic advisor to President Donald Trump.[2] She is known for her advocacy for a return to the gold standard

A return to the gold standard?  How does that work in practice? 

There is historical precedent.  Several countries did it after WW1, resulting in the ruin of their economies, but technically it can be done.

[Syt]

A result and/or catalyst of further political polarization:

https://www.nbcnews.com/tech/tech-news/conservatives-flock-free-speech-social-media-app-which-has-started-n1232844

Conservatives are flocking to a new 'free speech' social media app that has started banning liberal users

Many of Parler's users have voiced their disapproval of how mainstream platforms such as Facebook and Twitter moderate content.

Last week, Sens. Rand Paul, R-Ky., and Ted Cruz, R-Texas, both announced on Twitter that they were moving to a new social media platform.

"I'm proud to join @parler_app -- a platform gets what free speech is all about -- and I'm excited to be a part of it," Cruz tweeted.

Many others followed suit. Parler, founded in August 2018, touts itself as an "unbiased" social media platform focused on "real user experiences and engagement." In recent weeks, it has become a destination for conservatives who have voiced their disapproval of how mainstream platforms such as Facebook and Twitter moderate content.

But as with every other platform on the internet, Parler's free speech stance goes only so far. The platform has been banning many people who joined and trolled conservatives.

"Pretty much all of my leftist friends joined Parler to screw with MAGA folks, and every last one of them was banned in less than 24 hours because conservatives truly love free speech," a user wrote on Twitter.

Writer and comedian Tony Posnanski also received a ban from the app. "Free speech my a--! I literally said less than here and I got banned," he tweeted.

John Matze, the founder and CEO of Parler, said Thursday in an interview with CNBC that the company remains firm in its promise that it supports free speech.

"Our general premise is that we believe in the good of the American people as a whole and that people should be able to have these discussions," he said. "People don't want to be told what to think. People don't want to be told what to say anymore."

Parler did not respond to a request for comment.

The move to Parler by conservatives comes as Twitter, Facebook, YouTube and other social media platforms remain under pressure from Republicans over how they decide to remove content posted by users. Conservatives for years have claimed that they are unfairly silenced on the platforms, although many Republican politicians and pundits enjoy large audiences on them.

The pressure has increased in recent weeks since Twitter labeled multiple tweets from President Donald Trump as misleading and Snap, the owner of Snapchat, announced that it will stop promoting Trump's content. Facebook, which did not take similar action, has faced both a major advertiser boycott over how it handles hate speech and unrest from employees over how it handled Trump's statements.

Republicans have countered by pushing legislation to curtail the tech industry's legal protections, coupled with an executive order from Trump.

Parler is not the first alternative platform to try to capitalize on displeasure with the major platforms. Its user experience is similar to that of Twitter and other microblogging websites. Users can make posts on the platform and receive likes, comments and shares.

Some people who joined the platform described it as a conservative version of Twitter. Rees Paz, who calls himself a left-leaning centrist in his Twitter bio, tweeted that all of the users recommended for him on the app were conservative figures, from Trump's son Eric to Laura Loomer, a conservative activist who was previously banned from Twitter.

But even some conservatives find fault with the platform, which, in addition to stating that it is a free speech haven, promises to "never [share] your personal data."

Its privacy policy says it "may collect ... information such as your name, email address, username, and profile photo."

For people who choose to join the app's "influencer network," the company may ask for information "such as your Social Security number (SSN) or your tax identification number."

Some users have been dissatisfied with the company's efforts to protect their privacy.

Mindy Robinson, a conservative political commentator, criticized Cruz for endorsing the app.

"The minute it asked for a copy of my driver's license to access normal features Twitter already has ... I knew something was seriously wrong with Parler," Robinson wrote.

She then clarified that she was not able to send a direct message on the app without providing a photo of her driver's license.

Another user wrote: "I signed up prior to it requiring a phone number. It hasn't asked me to provide it yet. The moment it does I'm out."

In his CNBC interview, Matze defended Parler's policy on phone numbers and identification, saying people say "nasty things" online because they can stay anonymous.

"On Parler, people get verified, people have phone numbers related to their accounts. People know they're acting and behaving as they would in a town square," he said.

"We are a town square, not a publication," Matze added. "I think people will come around to this idea more and more — society can solve these problems without regulation of the social media platforms."

Bubbles are already problematic on other platforms; I don't think it's getting any better if bubbles further isolate from each other.

[Tamas]

Guys we always had bubbles. It's just that now you get to see into the other ones without having to read newspapers you don't like.

[crazy canuck]

Guys we always had bubbles. It's just that now you get to see into the other ones without having to read newspapers you don't like.

I forget how old you are, but I think you are not old enough to remember when we all watched the same TV news (Different networks but essentially the same news), the same shows on TV and all at the same time.

The world is a very different place now.  There are very few shared experiences or shared points of reference.

[Admiral Yi]

"Pretty much all of my leftist friends joined Parler to screw with MAGA folks, and every last one of them was banned in less than 24 hours because conservatives truly love free speech," a user wrote on Twitter.

[Tamas]

Guys we always had bubbles. It's just that now you get to see into the other ones without having to read newspapers you don't like.

I forget how old you are, but I think you are not old enough to remember when we all watched the same TV news (Different networks but essentially the same news), the same shows on TV and all at the same time.

The world is a very different place now.  There are very few shared experiences or shared points of reference.

Fine that's a fair point (BTW mate, I was a kid in socialist Hungary. One TV channel plus another for basically reruns of the first).

[Solmyr]

How long before this new platform is a hotbed of fascist hate speech and dank memes?

I mean, we've had forums like that already (The_Donald) is one example, and they are invariably hijacked by right-wing extremists and/or internet edgelords.

[Razgovory]

How long before this new platform is a hotbed of fascist hate speech and dank memes?

I mean, we've had forums like that already (The_Donald) is one example, and they are invariably hijacked by right-wing extremists and/or internet edgelords.

It already is.

[merithyn]

Trump is at it again.

From WaPo:

President Trump called a GOP canvassing board member in Wayne County who announced Wednesday she wanted to rescind her decision to certify the results of the presidential election, the member said in a message to The Washington Post Thursday.

"I did receive a call from President Trump, late Tuesday evening, after the meeting," Monica Palmer, one of two Republican members of the four-member Wayne County canvassing board, told The Post. "He was checking in to make sure I was safe after hearing the threats and doxing that had occurred."

The call came after an hours-long meeting on Tuesday in which the four-member canvassing board voted to certify the results of the Nov. 3 election, a key step toward finalizing President-elect Joe Biden's victory in the state.

In affidavits signed Wednesday evening, the two GOP members of the four-member Wayne County Board of Canvassers allege they were improperly pressured into certifying the election and accused Democrats of reneging on a promise to audit votes in Detroit.

In an interview, Palmer estimated that she talked with Trump for about two minutes Tuesday. She said she felt no pressure to change her vote from him.

"His concern was about my safety and that was really touching. He is a really busy guy and to have his concern about my safety was appreciated," she told The Post.

Asked if they discussed the presidential vote count, she said:

"It's hard for me to describe. There was a lot of adrenalin and stress going on. There were general comments about different states but we really didn't discuss the details of the certification."

Asked again about possible pressure from such a call, Palmer said:

"It was not pressure. It was genuine concern for my safety," she said.

[Tamas]

lol that is a very nice way to say he was a rambling idiot on the phone.

[Barrister]

"It was genuine concern for my safety" sounds awfully close to an implied threat to me.  Along the lines of "what a nice family you have, it would bea shame if anything happened to them"...