What does a TRUMP presidency look like?

[crazy canuck]

Given how rapidly drone technology has developed during the war in Ukraine, what is the operational purpose of fighters now?

[The Minsky Moment]

There have been two executive orders targeting law firms because they represented political opponents.  Not just random tweets but actual executive sanctions imposed.  The deputy AG openly attempted to extort the NYC mayor and continues to do so even after publicly called out for doing so by the SDNY US Attorney (who was fired) - a scheme that will fail only because the judge seems likely to dismiss Adams' case with prejudice, thus avoiding the extortion, but allowing Adams to escape justice for his crimes.  The DC US Attorney's office has been fully weaponized for real (not in fake way Jim Jordan et al bitched about) and Martin and Holman have threatened legislators and others for prosecution for exercising first amendment rights or promoting policy they oppose.

Less than 2 months in, that is a pretty disturbing and clear erosion of civic liberty.  Better to sound the alarm now then to wait for the alarms to be silenced.

[viper37]

US added to international watchlist for rapid decline in civic freedoms

The United States has been added to the Civicus Monitor Watchlist, which identifies countries that the global civil rights watchdog believes are currently experiencing a rapid decline in civic freedoms.
Civicus, an international non-profit organization dedicated to "strengthening citizen action and civil society around the world", announced the inclusion of the US on the non-profit's first watchlist of 2025 on Monday, alongside the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Italy, Pakistan and Serbia.

The watchlist is part of the Civicus Monitor, which tracks developments in civic freedoms across 198 countries. Other countries that have previously been featured on the watchlist in recent years include Zimbabwe, Argentina, El Salvador and the United Arab Emirates.

All is going according to plan.

This sort of over-reaction does not help. Declaring that civic rights are lessoned by random Trump tweets threatening this or that is just feeding the MAGAts' conviction that organizations like Civicus Monitor are hopelessly partisan, and making it therefor easier for MAGAts to convince the non-MAGAt right that there is a conspiracy against them.

Sure, warn about the absolutely possible erosion of rights if Trump's plans come to fruition, but don't start declaring those rights eroded based on a suspicion that they will be. Crying wolf helps no one.

It's not just the Tweets.

It's the random arrest and detention of US citizens, or foreigners on a travel visa.  Canadians who intend to stay for more than 30 days now need a new special permission and new documentation or risk criminal pursuit by US authorities.

It's the legal threats, even empty, by the DOJ against opponents of the Presidents to force them into silence.

It's the dismissal with prejudice of the case against Mayor Adams.

It's the threat against private law firms.

You can take all of this in isolation, and it's a series of mishaps.  Or we can see a pattern.

[crazy canuck]

JR, the question now is what to do.  The Rule of Law in your country has evaporated.  As Oex has been warning for years, this has become an existential political issue.  Not one to be decided within the confines of Liberal Democratic institutions.  It is startling to see how quickly those were waived away.

edit: and I see Americans here reflexively defending the status quo, as if the Rule of Law still prevailed.  I would tell people to wake up.  But being woke is a sin.

[viper37]

The F-35 aren't disabled, it's the stealth capabalities that are, from what I understand:
Link

Now, the main argument for choosing a F-35 over any other aircraft is it's stealth ability.  Otherwise, a Rafale seems to be the superior aircraft.

Again, there isn't a kill switch, as the article points out.  The risk is
1. That the US will stop maintaining/updating the Canadian F-35s, and
2. That the popular, even if wrong, perception that the US has such a capability erodes the public (and hence Parliamentary) support for such a purchase.

The Rafale doesn't provide nearly the same capability, but may be the smart choice because France now seems like a more reliable partner than the US.

I didn't say it was a "kill switch", I said it would disable/cripple the stealth capabilities of the fighter.

Without these capabilities, the F-35 is at a disadvantage against other fighters.

And yes, I am aware of the differences vs the Rafale.

[Jacob]

Given how rapidly drone technology has developed during the war in Ukraine, what is the operational purpose of fighters now?

This is far from my area of expertise, but my impression is that they provide defense against large drones and missiles of various sorts.

[The Minsky Moment]

JR, the question now is what to do.

That is the question.  The Democrats have spent the last decade of trying to counter the GOP descent into qanonsanity by posing as the moderate alternative.  That has left them with an office holding leadership full of thoughtful Tom Hagens but no wartime consiglieres. The party has become Merrick Garland writ large.  There is frustration building at the grass roots though.  I think that if Al Green's protest had occurred in Trump 45, a lot more Democrats would have supported the censure.  Now it was "only" 10 and those 10 are catching flack from the base.

There is no question that there is a solid block in the White House making a bid for an Orbanist-Putinist transformation of the American political sphere and they are vigorously employing the powerful tools at their disposal to make it happen.  People like Carville are still insisting the Democrats should play possum and let the GOP ship sink of its own accord.  But ships sink faster when their opponents are blowing holes in them and not just hoping they go down by themselves. The Democrats need to start worrying less about the "optics" of how they will be perceived by people who have no intention of ever voting for them and more about the optics of appearing passive when la patrie en danger.

[crazy canuck]

For what it is worth, complete agreement.

[Jacob]

Yeah, the optics that the Democrats should cultivate, IMO, are of "effective and passionate defenders of American democracy and American people".

[viper37]

Given how rapidly drone technology has developed during the war in Ukraine, what is the operational purpose of fighters now?

Look at how Ukraine desperately needed those F-16, despite being old fighters.


You need to intercept enemy bombers, you need larger payloads, you need precise strike on a small target like an artillery point, or a barrage on enemy positions.

Drones have their limits.  Useful for a big, not so well defended target, like an oil refinery deep behind enemy lines.  Useful to target an isolated group of soldiers moving quickly.  By the time you can get a jet fighter moving, the target is gone.  But the drone is quicker to move.  That's why the US relied a lot on it for striking terrorists.

[viper37]

Yeah, the optics that the Democrats should cultivate, IMO, are of "effective and passionate defenders of American democracy and American people".

It's hard to do when a large group of the population doesn't believe in democracy though.

Trump's popularity is still high.

[viper37]

Trump Drops Eye-Watering Number for How Long High Prices Could Last


Kinda remind me of the 90 years dictatorship of the proletariat...

[Valmy]

Trump Drops Eye-Watering Number for How Long High Prices Could Last


Kinda remind me of the 90 years dictatorship of the proletariat...

What a fucking joke. Where he was quick to blame the inflation that was already occurring once Biden took office on Biden and promised to reduce prices on day one.

[Valmy]

Trump's popularity is still high.

Disney just shut down 538 Polls so I need a new place to track this.

[Jacob]

Disney just shut down 538 Polls so I need a new place to track this.

What's the story here?