What does a TRUMP presidency look like?

[PJL]

It's going to be dismantled the way the USSR was dismantled after the cold war, to the profit of Trump's friends.

You should hope it'll be dismantled the way the USSR was dismantled. The East and West coasts might actually become functioning states.

It's not going to be a military superpower anymore though, and there's going to be strife.

The lines of demarcation aren't as clear as in 1860.  That was the time to let go of the Confederacy and evolve into a functionning State.  But the US had to force them to stay.  And in the end, the Confederacy has risen again and taken over a good 2/3 of the country.

The first war where the US won it, but lost the peace.

[grumbler]

It's only a minor.

That being said however - exactly how much expense is there to a university to maintain a minor?  Isn't it just a matter of specifying that "graduating after completing X requirements gives you a minor"?

Exactly.  Eliminating a minor doesn't save any money, bar a trivial amount of administration.  This move looks like its designed purely to placate Texas A&M's archconservative alumni.  The school has been moving away from its paramilitary history, but not far enough, it seems.

[Solmyr]

It's going to be dismantled the way the USSR was dismantled after the cold war, to the profit of Trump's friends.

You should hope it'll be dismantled the way the USSR was dismantled. The East and West coasts might actually become functioning states.

Yeah. Those could be really nice countries.
... But all the nukes are in the middle.

Well, you'll get your version of Russia too.

[Syt]

Is Matt Gaetz ok with them removing minors?

[crazy canuck]

Is Matt Gaetz ok with them removing minors?

 

We need to bring back the Post of the Month for this!

[Syt]

Dr Oz will be in charge of Medicare/Medicaid? Also, Linda McMahon will be in charge of education.

[HVC]

Remember when headlines like that would be satirical? Pepperidge farm remembers.

[Barrister]

Remember when headlines like that would be satirical? Pepperidge farm remembers.

Linda McMahon was already head of the Small Business Administration under Trump's first campaign.

[Syt]

https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2024/11/20/transgender-bathrooms-capitol-johnson/

Speaker Johnson restricts use of Capitol bathrooms by transgender people
The rule change is announced about two weeks after Democrat Sarah McBride of Delaware became the first openly transgender individual elected to Congress.

House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-Louisiana) said Wednesday that transgender individuals would not be allowed into restroom facilities in the Capitol and House office buildings that do not correspond with their sex assigned at birth, announcing the rule change about two weeks after Democrat Sarah McBride of Delaware became the first openly transgender individual elected to Congress.

"All single-sex facilities in the Capitol and House Office Buildings — such as restrooms, changing rooms, and locker rooms — are reserved for individuals of that biological sex," Johnson said in a statement. "It is important to note that each Member office has its own private restroom, and unisex restrooms are available throughout the Capitol. Women deserve women's only spaces."

This week, Rep. Nancy Mace (R-South Carolina) introduced a resolution to ban transgender women from female bathrooms in the Capitol. The resolution does not specifically name McBride, but Mace said Tuesday that "it's 100 percent because of McBride" and that the future congresswoman "doesn't get a say" in shaping the first-of-its-kind policy.

In a statement Wednesday, McBride said she is "not here to fight about bathrooms."

"I'm here to fight for Delawareans and to bring down costs facing families," McBride said. "Like all members, I will follow the rules as outlined by Speaker Johnson even if I disagree with them. This effort to distract from the real issues facing this country hasn't distracted me over the last several days, as I've remained hard at work preparing to represent the greatest state in the union come January."

At a news conference Tuesday, Johnson refused to say whether he thinks McBride is a woman or a man. But hours later, he told reporters: "Let me be unequivocally clear: A man is a man, and a woman is a woman, and a man cannot become a woman. ... But I also believe that we treat everybody with dignity, and so we can do and believe all those things at the same time."

Johnson told reporters Wednesday that "like all House policies," the bathroom rule is "enforceable."

"It's always been, I guess, an unwritten policy but now it's in writing," he added.

When The Washington Post contacted the speaker's office Wednesday for more details on how the new rule would be enforced, it declined to elaborate.

Asked by reporters Tuesday for details on how the House could enforce such a restriction, Mace said the House sergeant at arms "can enforce it."

Mace thanked Johnson for the rule change, writing on X on Wednesday: "This fight isn't over just yet. We want to ban men from women's spaces in EVERY federal building, school, public bathroom, everywhere."

Kelley Robinson, the president of the Human Rights Campaign — an LBGTQ advocacy group where McBride was previously a spokesperson — called Johnson's new bathroom rule "cruel and discriminatory."

Robinson pointed out that the rule "targets not just Rep.-elect McBride, but all trans and nonbinary people who work and visit the Capitol — public servants who have been working in the Capitol for years."

House Democratic Whip Katherine Clark (Massachusetts) told reporters Tuesday, after Mace introduced the resolution, that it wasn't a "great start" for the new Republican House majority to kick off the 119th Congress by talking about "where one member out of 435" is going to use the bathroom.

"The American people say: Mind your own business about where people do their business," Clark said.

[Barrister]

Rep. Sarah McBride - she passes reasonably well.  I can't imagine how anyone would be offended at her going pee in a women's washroom unless they're looking for reasons to be offended.

But also if I had the option of using my own private bathroom instead of a public bathroom I'd use that 100% of the time.

Speaker Johnson somewhat confuses me.  At first he takes what seems like the right tone - "we respect all people".  But of course that's not good enough for MAGA so he has to be forced to say "A man is a man, and a woman is a woman, and a man cannot become a woman".

Rep. McBride's response seems like a strong one 'I'm not here to fight about bathrooms'.

[Syt]

If nothing else it sets the tone for the next years if this is about the first thing on their agenda.

[Syt]

Also, I find "passing" a problematic bar - there's very masculine cis-women, and very feminine cis-men.

And of course imagine an unassuming woman running into James Barnes, a trans man, using the women's restroom.



https://www.newsweek.com/trans-man-broken-men-1817169

[Barrister]

Also, I find "passing" a problematic bar - there's very masculine cis-women, and very feminine cis-men.

And of course imagine an unassuming woman running into James Barnes, a trans man, using the women's restroom.

This is where it just gets complicated though.  Because if "passing" isn't on some level a requirement you get the self-ID prospect of a bearded man in a dress claiming to be a woman and using the woman's bathroom.  I suspect women would be much more concerned about that person than they would Re. Sarah McBride.

And yes it also goes for transmen - would yo really want a breaded transman using a women's washroom?  I doubt it.

"Passing" is a very imprecise sort of barrier, I admit.  Some transwomen (or transmen) pass much better than others.  But I do think there ought to be some level of attempting to pass.

[The Minsky Moment]

I remember when Nancy Mace was first elected and tried to portray herself as an emerging voice of independent minded, tough but sensible conservatism.  Now she's known for her erratic behavior, bizarre publicity stunts, her abuse of her own staff, and now petty bullshit like micromanaging Capitol toilet facilities.

[Norgy]

Doctor Oz. Should've seen that coming.

Any suggestions for what Hulk Hogan's position will be?

Could we also get doctor Phil in the mix?