Traitor Watch - The 45 & 47 Thread

[Rhinox]

Oh, he’s seemingly declared himself king on Twitter. Great.

I'm quoting this because it's so ******* important.

He declared himself king. Not joking, not playing. He called himself the ******* king. On the same day he's chosen to ignore a court order.
At this point it's all over but for the bleeding. We no longer have democracy.

 

[Rhinox]

And before anyone gets on me for "overreacting", this was the picture the official white house twitter account used.

 

[Axaday]

Both. He can be an idiot AND a liar. It's all the rage in DC these days.

Yeah, at different times. I want him to answer the question.

 

[Axaday]

And before anyone gets on me for "overreacting", this was the picture the official white house twitter account used.

View attachment 26213

Donald just somehow didn't notice that it is an awfully small crown?

 

[KidTDragon]

It looks bigger when he holds it.

 

[The Mighty Mollusk]

It matches his hands.

 

[Pocket]

Also the picture looks AI generated, but maybe that's just me.

So potential scenarios:
1/ plane falls apart in mid air because Boeing
2/ plane explodes in mid air because Musk
3/ plane explodes in mid air because a foreign power sneaked an agent onto the build team
4/ plane crashes on landing because DOGE fired all the air traffic controllers
5/ plane crashes mid-flight because the pilot lost his job thanks to DOGE and bailed out

6/ plane is purposely nosedived into Tesla HQ because DOGE fired the old pilot along with all their people who do background checks, and accidentally hired an anti-Trump fanatic who's willing to die for his country like a GODDAMN HERO

 

[abates]

That is definitely AI given how mangled that crown looks.

Also odd touch to have his suit streaked with dirt. Why? Is it supposed to be post-apocalyptic?

 

[Anonymous X]

Incidentally, my assumption is that Trump is going to abolish elected state governors and replace them with direct appointees, as Putin did in his third (fourth?) term. I mean, I expected that he would at least attempt that before the end of his current term, but how things are going, he could be trying that before the end of this year. Possibly before the summer has ended, given how things have transpired so far.

 

[Axaday]

Incidentally, my assumption is that Trump is going to abolish elected state governors and replace them with direct appointees, as Putin did in his third (fourth?) term. I mean, I expected that he would at least attempt that before the end of his current term, but how things are going, he could be trying that before the end of this year. Possibly before the summer has ended, given how things have transpired so far.

There is no mechanism by which he can do that.

 

[Axaday]

Trump says Ukraine started the war that's killing its citizens. What are the facts?

Russia’s army crossed the border on Feb. 24, 2022, in an all-out invasion that Putin sought to justify by falsely saying it was needed to protect Russian-speaking civilians in eastern Ukraine and prevent the country from joining NATO.

apnews.com

This is a really important point to make given how Panama, Canada, and Denmark are so hellbent to start a war with us.

 

[Axaday]

It looks bigger when he holds it.

Not sure if that is gross.

 

[Fullstrength Motleypuss]

There is no mechanism by which he can do that.

That hasn't stopped him so far.

 

[Axaday]

That hasn't stopped him so far.

Something has stopped him so far.

I mean, I don't even know sometimes where people get their ideas. The governor of California is going to say, "Oh shoot, he says I have to"? An overwhelming amount of the public are going to say "Yeah, I can see how that will be a lot better"? There would be no effective resistance to this?

 

[Anonymous X]

There is no mechanism by which he can do that.

Oh, I know! It’s the direction of travel that concerns me, as in Trump even more ignoring the rules and norms of the office. I’m a pessimist and even I’ve been shocked at what Trump has attempted in just four weeks. All bets are off now, it looks like basic constitutional rule of law is beginning to unravel. The unthinkable is becoming the possible.

 

[wonko the sane?]

There is no mechanism by which he can do that.

He can't abolish the 14th amendment: he tried anyway.
He can't summarily fire hundreds of thousands of long standing, good standing, government employees without cause: he tried and mostly succeeded.
He can't rename international geography: he tried anyway.
He can't start slapping tariffs on partner nations: he tried anyway and is still threatening to do it.
He can't randomly appoint an unelected individual to start slashing budgets and departments: he did it.
He can't summarily end emergency aid to the states: he has.
He can't abjectly stop funding, or reclaim already dispersed money: he has.

Trump is a criminal: he doesn't need a mechanism, he just needs to get away with it.

 

[Axaday]

Oh, I know! It’s the direction of travel that concerns me, as in Trump even more ignoring the rules and norms of the office. I’m a pessimist and even I’ve been shocked at what Trump has attempted in just four weeks. All bets are off now, it looks like basic constitutional rule of law is beginning to unravel. The unthinkable is becoming the possible.

He has made a huge run out of the gate and it isn't clear yet how much that will be contained. The courts are doing their work. They are slow and he is fast. He's given signs he won't obey, but they have sharper teeth than he acts like they do too.

But when you talk about him replacing the state governors with his own puppets, then you are talking about 50 other people who have their own power and their own mechanisms and their own supporters and the Constitution and the courts on their side.

 

[Axaday]

He can't abolish the 14th amendment: he tried anyway.
He can't summarily fire hundreds of thousands of long standing, good standing, government employees without cause: he tried and mostly succeeded.
He can't rename international geography: he tried anyway.
He can't start slapping tariffs on partner nations: he tried anyway and is still threatening to do it.
He can't randomly appoint an unelected individual to start slashing budgets and departments: he did it.
He can't summarily end emergency aid to the states: he has.
He can't abjectly stop funding, or reclaim already dispersed money: he has.

Trump is a criminal: he doesn't need a mechanism, he just needs to get away with it.

A lot of that stuff he isn't supposed to do, but the victims have limited power to resist. The courts are going to take care of quite a bit of it. I'm ignoring Gulfs and Mountains. It doesn't matter what they are called.

The state governors have a lot of power of their own. They would resist. He'd have to go make them step aside.

 

[wonko the sane?]

A lot of the red state governors would not resist, if they were given the job. No more rigging elections, they'd jump at it.

If he wasn't supposed to do those things: why did he do them? Trump is a criminal, he doesn't need a mechanism: he just needs to get away with it. And largely: he is getting away with it.

 

[Axaday]

A lot of the red state governors would not resist, if they were given the job. No more rigging elections, they'd jump at it.

If he wasn't supposed to do those things: why did he do them? Trump is a criminal, he doesn't need a mechanism: he just needs to get away with it. And largely: he is getting away with it.

A very high percentage of criminals get away with it for a few weeks. A high percentage of them are not even detected for a few weeks. Don't give up on the judicial branch. They are already working. They are always slow. You don't WANT them to be fast. Not really. They are fast some places and it is no fun.

Do you remember a year ago when their net was closing around Trump? They didn't fail. He fell through a VERY RARE loophole. If he lives to be 83, I think they're still going to get him. But in the mean time they can already work on the stuff he is doing now and they are working on it.