What does a TRUMP presidency look like?

[Barrister]

Nonsense.  The West won the Cold war and the two decades following its conclusion. The third decade was probably a tie between the US and China, and Trump's election will probably give the fourth decade after the end of the CW to China.

Your argument is the equivalent of saying that Germany didn't win the Franco-Prussian War because, in hindsight, they lost WW1.

Maybe. I think there's an argument that the US won the Cold War in Europe and believed that ended it, but never achieved more than a stalemate in Asia.

China was always a massive outlier in the Cold War.  I mean sure - the US (through the UN) fought a massive undeclared war against communist China in Korea in the 1950s.  But pretty rapidly you had the Sino-Soviet split of the 1960s, which the US felt would be to their advantage Leading to the "Nixon goes to China" moment and recognition of the PRC in the 1970s.

Plus, since communism never fell in China, whatever conflict the West had with the PRC never fully ended (even though in the 90s under Deng we thought we could just gradually absorb them into the western world).


This is a massive swerve, but I'm reminded of the old P&P RPG Twilight:2000, which posited a future WWIII in the 1990s.  It was published in 1984, which leads to some of the oddity of the sides - if I recall you had Romania joining the Western pact (because Romania under Ceaucescu had broken with the Warsaw Pact), similarly Yugoslavia, while Frenca stayed out of the whole thing (due to France withdrawing from NATO joint command).  And of course - the whole thing started with a Sino-Soviet War.

All of which kind-of, sort-of made sense in 1984, but with hindsight was all completely ridiculous.  France was still a western democracy, Romania was still a communist dictatorship.

[crazy canuck]

Nonsense.  The West won the Cold war and the two decades following its conclusion. The third decade was probably a tie between the US and China, and Trump's election will probably give the fourth decade after the end of the CW to China.

Your argument is the equivalent of saying that Germany didn't win the Franco-Prussian War because, in hindsight, they lost WW1.

Maybe. I think there's an argument that the US won the Cold War in Europe and believed that ended it, but never achieved more than a stalemate in Asia.

I am not sure N. Korea counts as either a cold war or a stalemate.

[HVC]

Moving out of the musk thread, but I have a question about the 22nd amendment. I get the term limits, makes sense, but what's the logic behind the citizenship thing? Keep commie infiltrators out?

[crazy canuck]

The CBC played a funny interview of someone on the Street in Kyiv.  "If it takes until Friday, that's ok. We can wait."

[Barrister]

Moving out of the musk thread, but I have a question about the 22nd amendment. I get the term limits, makes sense, but what's the logic behind the citizenship thing? Keep commie infiltrators out?

Which citizenship thing?  The "natural born citizen" limit for President, or birthright citizenship?

A few seconds of googling suggests this answer: which is borthright citizenship is a long-standing common-law right, whereas "natural born citizen" was just put in the Constitution without any debate so who the fuck knows.

[Razgovory]

Moving out of the musk thread, but I have a question about the 22nd amendment. I get the term limits, makes sense, but what's the logic behind the citizenship thing? Keep commie infiltrators out?

What are you talking about?  The 22nd amendment doesn't mention citizenship.

[HVC]

Moving out of the musk thread, but I have a question about the 22nd amendment. I get the term limits, makes sense, but what's the logic behind the citizenship thing? Keep commie infiltrators out?

Which citizenship thing?  The "natural born citizen" limit for President, or birthright citizenship?

A few seconds of googling suggests this answer: which is borthright citizenship is a long-standing common-law right, whereas "natural born citizen" was just put in the Constitution without any debate so who the fuck knows.

Sorry, the natural born part.

[HVC]

Moving out of the musk thread, but I have a question about the 22nd amendment. I get the term limits, makes sense, but what's the logic behind the citizenship thing? Keep commie infiltrators out?

What are you talking about?  The 22nd amendment doesn't mention citizenship.

D'oh. My bad.

[Savonarola]

From Fox News:

RFK Jr. wants to clear out 'entire departments' in the FDA: 'They have to go'
The former presidential candidate endorsed former President Trump last summer

Robert F. Kennedy Jr. suggested the second Trump administration could eliminate entire departments within the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for "corruption."

The former independent presidential candidate spoke to MSNBC Wednesday about President-elect Donald Trump's 2024 election victory.

Kennedy, who has been a key figure in the Trump campaign since endorsing him, was asked about his potential role in the next White House and whether he would begin "clearing out the top level federal service workers that are currently at the FDA and the CDC."

"In some categories, I would say," Kennedy answered.

He continued, "In some categories, their entire departments, like the nutrition department in the FDA, they have to go. They're not doing their job. They're not protecting our kids. Why do we have Froot Loops in this country that have 18 or 19 ingredients, and you go to Canada, and it's got two or three?"

As for whether he would eliminate entire agencies like the FDA, Kennedy was less committed.

"To eliminate the agencies, as long as it requires congressional approval, I wouldn't be doing that," Kennedy said.

He followed up, "But I can get the corruption out of the agencies. This is what I've been doing for 40 years. I've sued all those agencies. I have a Ph.D. in corporate corruption and that's what I do. Once they're not corrupt, once Americans are getting good science and are allowed to make their own choices, they're going to get a lot healthier."

Kennedy posted the interview from his X account and reiterated his efforts to "clean up the corruption" in agencies like the FDA.

"President Trump has asked me to do three things: 1. Clean up the corruption in our government health agencies. 2. Return those agencies to their rich tradition of gold-standard, evidence-based science. 3. Make America Healthy Again by ending the chronic disease epidemic," Kennedy wrote.

Kennedy previously ran as an independent candidate before ultimately suspending his campaign in August to endorse Trump. Since then, he has campaigned on behalf of Trump and has hinted about a potential role in the White House.

A few days before the election, he suggested Trump would work to remove fluoride from drinking water.

"On January 20, the Trump White House will advise all U.S. water systems to remove fluoride from public water," Kennedy posted on X. "Fluoride is an industrial waste associated with arthritis, bone fractures, bone cancer, IQ loss, neurodevelopmental disorders, and thyroid disease," he claimed, adding that former President Trump and first lady Melania Trump "want to Make America Healthy Again."

Once again our pure essences will be safe.   

[Baron von Schtinkenbutt]

Moving out of the musk thread, but I have a question about the 22nd amendment. I get the term limits, makes sense, but what's the logic behind the citizenship thing? Keep commie infiltrators out?

What are you talking about?  The 22nd amendment doesn't mention citizenship.

D'oh. My bad.

Yeah, that's an original clause.

[Grey Fox]

I have a box of Froot Loops. It has 18 ingredients.

[HisMajestyBOB]

Can't wait to have to run to Canada so my kids can get their vaccines. 

[mongers]

I have a box of Froot Loops. It has 18 ingredients.

I think he got it the wrong way round, it's the American version that only has two ingredients: Trump and JFK Jr.