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What does a TRUMP presidency look like?

Started by FunkMonk, November 08, 2016, 11:02:57 PM

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The Minsky Moment

Quote from: Valmy on February 10, 2025, 08:51:29 PMAnd he just fucking pardoned Rod Blagojevich. What the fuck? I guess he is a bipartisan asshole.

I don't understand. Does he just do things because it is the wrong thing to do?

Can we expect a Bob Menendez pardon tomorrow?

Normalizing corruption is the point.  The MAGA worldview is that it's OK if Trump breaks the law or is corrupt because "everyone does it." It's OK to destroy the government because the government is inextricably corrupt. Promoting the idea that corruption is inevitable, ubiquitous and normal is thus a key plank in the MAGA strategy.  Destroy people's faith in everything and nothing is left but the Leader.  Even if you don't like him that much, he becomes a necessary evil because only he can reward those who swear fealty and punish those who do not. 

After a decade of having to rely on third and fourth tier law firms, Trump is now being represented by Sullivan & Cromwell, the whitest of white shoe firms, the elite of the elite. Consider why.  Whatever fee S&C earns from the representation (likely zero or little more is history is guide) is clealry not a motivating factor.  But S&C has lots of very rich corporate clients who pay enormous fees to be represented in front of federal agencies like the SEC, FTC, DOJ . . .

Lord Acton got it only partly right; the arrow goes both ways.  Absolute corruption --> absolute power.  The madness of MAGA is its method.
The purpose of studying economics is not to acquire a set of ready-made answers to economic questions, but to learn how to avoid being deceived by economists.
--Joan Robinson

Jacob

It's the "everyone is corrupt, so why bother; you're naive if you think anything better is possible" playbook that the likes of Putin, Orban etc have used to build their regimes.

The Minsky Moment

Precisely and like them Trump is forming his class of tamed oligarchs who provide him with unquestioning political support in return for "protection" and the ability to access corrupt opportunities in the form of government contracts, stripped down or unenforced regulations, freedom from the threat of civil actions or prosecutions.
The purpose of studying economics is not to acquire a set of ready-made answers to economic questions, but to learn how to avoid being deceived by economists.
--Joan Robinson

viper37

AP is barred from the White House until they conform with Trump's renaming of the Gulf of Mexico.

https://thehill.com/homenews/media/5139328-white-house-ap-gulf-mexico/

Fox News will not protest.
I don't do meditation.  I drink alcohol to relax, like normal people.

If Microsoft Excel decided to stop working overnight, the world would practically end.

Jacob

... and now Trump is apparently hinting that he'll renege on "some" US debt?

Valmy

Quote from: viper37 on Today at 05:29:50 PMAP is barred from the White House until they conform with Trump's renaming of the Gulf of Mexico.

https://thehill.com/homenews/media/5139328-white-house-ap-gulf-mexico/

Fox News will not protest.

Trump just wants to banish all non-right wing media from the White House. If they go along with this he will bar them for something else later.
Quote"This is a Russian warship. I propose you lay down arms and surrender to avoid bloodshed & unnecessary victims. Otherwise, you'll be bombed."

Zmiinyi defenders: "Russian warship, go fuck yourself."