Thoughts on the Trump presidency

[najaB]

Biden was little better, protecting his own family.

He was doing what anyone in his situation would do - using the power that he had to protect those that he loves from inevitable persecution.

 

[JNicholson]

Really? There are videos of his incoherent rambling speeches all over the internet, it really isn’t difficult to be sure of exactly what he’s said

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Unfortunately it’s all part of the politicisation of the judiciary. The other side of the coin is an administration targeting those of the opposite / outgoing persuasion.

Who used the justice system for partisan ends?

Anyway, I am referring to President Donald Trump's statement about "bloodbath" specifically. Other comments as well.

 

[JamesT]

I'll paraphrase a post I made earlier: The US population is split roughly 50:50 male to female (there are actually slightly more females), yet taking something like tech as an example nearly 75% of workers are male.

This means that one of two things are true: there are institutional obstacles that make it harder for women to enter the field, or women aren't as capable as men. DEI policies exist to remove those barriers and give everyone an equal start, and anyone who opposes DEI either believes that women aren't as capable as men or wants to suppress their opportunities.

There is another option, that perhaps there is are natural tendencies that align with sex for particular occupations or activities.
Somewhere in the 80-90% range of all nurses are female. Should there be policies to force equal numbers of men and women in that occupation? In at least some cases, the DEI policies are not just removing barriers, but trying to engineer outcomes.

Nature doesn't care about our attempts to classify a continuum. Transgender people exist, you can't define them away. Only deny their humanity.

As you've said yourself, gender and sex are not the same thing. But there has been a conflation and some people have tried to substitute gender identity where the intention has been to provide for different sex.

 

[AlterEgo]

As you've said yourself, gender and sex are not the same thing. But there has been a conflation and some people have tried to substitute gender identity where the intention has been to provide for different sex.

In most cases, the response to that is "so what"?

 

[najaB]

There is another option, that perhaps there is are natural tendencies that align with sex for particular occupations or activities.

For occupations that have specific biological limitations, that's possible. But there is zero reason to believe that men are inherently better coders than women. Yet for some reason if I was to head down to the engineering end of the office more than 90% of the staff are male.

Should there be policies to force equal numbers of men and women in that occupation? In at least some cases, the DEI policies are not just removing barriers, but trying to engineer outcomes.

There may well be some instances where DEI has been used a justification for bad decisions - much like Health and Safety is used over here. But does the fact that some schools ban conkers on H&S grounds mean that all Health and Safety regulations should be abolished?

 

[dangie]

Really? There are videos of his incoherent rambling speeches all over the internet, it really isn’t difficult to be sure of exactly what he’s said….

With the advent of AI Voice Changing Software (or whatever it’s called) how can you be sure of exactly what he said?

 

[JNicholson]

The two-state solution hasn't really had a chance to exist. Various proposals over the decades have seen successive Israeli regimes take more land and receive next to no pushback for it, despite other countries' regimes doing comparable land grabs and receiving pushback. Then when they got close in the 90s under Clinton, the Israeli PM was assassinated by someone who didn't want peace.

If Israel is able to normalise relations with Egypt, despite them being a major part of the Yom Kippur War, then normalising relations with a Palestinian state should be possible too, even if very difficult. I get this is not going to happen on the latter side with the likes of Hamas, but subjecting Gaza to a bombing campaign larger than all the major bombing campaigns of WWII combined, is not going to allow an authority willing to come to a 2-state solution, or other peaceful compromise, to come forward.

Well, one step in the right direction would be a Palestinian leader who would say "yes" to an Israeli offer. Perhaps not Hamas given Hamas do not even recognise the legitimacy of Israel to exist. Perhaps Fatah and Hamas not giving money to the families of suicide bombers would help too.

I am old enough to remember when everyone said putting the United States embassy in Jerusalem would set the Middle East on fire. Hamas kidnapped, murdered, raped, tortured over 1000 Israelis on 7th October 2023 when President Joe Biden was in office. Go figure. I do not trust Hamas which is a proxy of Iran. Would you? I would not ask a member of Hamas to do the babysitting. Israel has been able to normalise relations with a few countries in the Middle East, so what is stopping the Palestinians normalising relations with Israel?

 

[najaB]

With the advent of AI Voice Changing Software (or whatever it’s called) how can you be sure of exactly what he said?

Because it was said at a press conference being covered by multiple independent organisations. And, more importantly, nobody in his orbit has claimed that he didn't say what he said.

 

[edwin_m]

President Donald Trump's 34 convictions should be overturned on appeal. I hope the convictions will be because that trial was appalling. I do not even believe he falsified business records given trusts are not businesses. The jury instructions given by Judge Merchan are reversable error as is forbidding a defence witness. One charge (18 USC 371) was credible in my view. Not a slam dunk, but coherent and reasonable. I tend to agree with the judge in the documents case, but again perhaps not a watertight ruling. The basis on which the ruling was usually disputed is dicta rather than precedent for Judge Canon's court. Nor am I convinced Jack Smith was appointed correctly. The documents case is somewhat complicated because I was never sure which documents related to which charge.

While I'm not competent to make a call on the legal details, I do agree the convictions in New York looked like a stretch. But Trump has also managed to evade two other cases that were both stronger and more serious: endangering US security by removing classified documents, and inciting the insurrection on January 6 2021. So on balance Trump should be grateful to the American legal system.

One thing Democrats should really be more onside with is border security. Even a democratic socialist or a social democrat knows you can't have a social democracy with open borders.

That's probably why Biden cracked down on the borders, including getting Canada and Mexico to agree to the measures that Trump is now claiming credit for.

 

[brad465]

Well, one step in the right direction would be a Palestinian leader who would say "yes" to an Israeli offer. Perhaps not Hamas given Hamas do not even recognise the legitimacy of Israel to exist. Perhaps Fatah and Hamas not giving money to the families of suicide bombers would help too.

I am old enough to remember when everyone said putting the United States embassy in Jerusalem would set the Middle East on fire. Hamas kidnapped, murdered, raped, tortured over 1000 Israelis on 7th October 2023 when President Joe Biden was in office. Go figure. I do not trust Hamas which is a proxy of Iran. Would you? I would not ask a member of Hamas to do the babysitting.

Uh hello? The Middle East is on fire after the embassy moved. Just because it happened a few years later under a different president doesn't mean the two are not at least partially linked. The US has had the same policy towards Israel for decades, with only slight variations between presidents, such as the embassy move, and Israel and various militia have been in on and off conflict for decades. October 7th was not the beginning of the troubles, it just happens to be the deadliest and most damaging attack from Gaza into Israel in 50 years.

Hamas are not the answer and are certainly not helping, but this conflict pre-dates their existence. Just thinking history started in October 2023 is not going to help towards the right settlement.

Israel has been able to normalise relations with a few countries in the Middle East, so what is stopping the Palestinians normalising relations with Israel?

The assassination of Yitzhak Rabin in November 1995 would be a good place to start.

 

[JNicholson]

But Trump has also managed to evade two other cases that were both stronger and more serious: endangering US security by removing classified documents

I would have taken that case more seriously if President Joe Biden and Hillary Clinton had faced trial. Anyway, what is done is done. We should move on, but do not give me twaddle about how the Democrats respect the rule of law etc. Look at how Biden treated his son and family and other people (all that fawning over how Biden will not pardon his son and then did and how "no person is above the law" etc which is legally so in the United States).

I was not really making a legal call. I was not the trial judge, but. A bit like Jay-Z rapped: "I ain't passed the bar, but I know a little bit". I can read and have access to sources of information such as precedent, so understanding law is doable. I do not believe law is written in some secret code only a few can understand.

I do not mind people disagreeing or even voting Democrat, but that is not a choice I would make currently.

 

[brad465]

While I'm not competent to make a call on the legal details, I do agree the convictions in New York looked like a stretch. But Trump has also managed to evade two other cases that were both stronger and more serious: endangering US security by removing classified documents, and inciting the insurrection on January 6 2021. So on balance Trump should be grateful to the American legal system.

That's probably why Biden cracked down on the borders, including getting Canada and Mexico to agree to the measures that Trump is now claiming credit for.

Which highlights the Democrats, like UK Labour, have a serious problem with communications.

 

[dangie]

Because it was said at a press conference being covered by multiple independent organisations. And, more importantly, nobody in his orbit has claimed that he didn't say what he said.

That still doesn’t mean websites won’t manipulate his voice and shove it out onto the internet.

 

[AlterEgo]

That still doesn’t mean websites won’t manipulate his voice and shove it out onto the internet.

What is your point? Just that there are AI videos now, or that Trump is being misrepresented by the media? It really is not hard to read, listen to, or watch what the President of the United States has said.

 

[nlogax]

That still doesn’t mean websites won’t manipulate his voice and shove it out onto the internet.

Where it'll be immediately debunked by thousands of people as well as the various news sources that were there.

This isn't an issue.

 

[brad465]

That still doesn’t mean websites won’t manipulate his voice and shove it out onto the internet.

While I don't doubt AI will be used to try and slander prolific individuals in a misinformation drive, this smacks of "if I don't like what I'm hearing, it must be AI/false", which is the new version of "typical [insert enemy news outlet] bias."

Besides, if you genuinely believe someone is, or will, use AI to smear Trump, then you should also condemn Trump turbocharging billions of dollars into AI companies and demand these companies are better regulated to stop them from being used maliciously, such as slandering others.

 

[najaB]

That still doesn’t mean websites won’t manipulate his voice and shove it out onto the internet.

His comments were carried live, by multiple different organisations from all points on the political compass - how do you propose that they *ALL* got exactly the same AI-generated footage? And, again, why has everyone from the White House or the GOP tried to explain the comments rather than denouncing them?

Besides, if you genuinely believe someone is, or will, use AI to smear Trump, then you should also condemn Trump turbocharging billions of dollars into AI companies and demand these companies are better regulated to stop them from being used maliciously, such as slandering others.

Not to mention the multiple instances where his campaign used AI-generated content in advertisements.

 

[JNicholson]

Uh hello? The Middle East is on fire after the embassy moved. Just because it happened a few years later under a different president doesn't mean the two are not at least partially linked. The US has had the same policy towards Israel for decades, with only slight variations between presidents, such as the embassy move, and Israel and various militia have been in on and off conflict for decades. October 7th was not the beginning of the troubles, it just happens to be the deadliest and most damaging attack from Gaza into Israel in 50 years.

Hamas are not the answer and are certainly not helping, but this conflict pre-dates their existence. Just thinking history started in October 2023 is not going to help towards the right settlement.

The assassination of Yitzhak Rabin in November 1995 would be a good place to start.

No. The assassination of Yitzhak Rabin was not a good place to start.

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 7 Feb 2025 ==

Uh hello? The Middle East is on fire after the embassy moved. Just because it happened a few years later under a different president doesn't mean the two are not at least partially linked. The US has had the same policy towards Israel for decades, with only slight variations between presidents, such as the embassy move, and Israel and various militia have been in on and off conflict for decades. October 7th was not the beginning of the troubles, it just happens to be the deadliest and most damaging attack from Gaza into Israel in 50 years.

Hamas are not the answer and are certainly not helping, but this conflict pre-dates their existence. Just thinking history started in October 2023 is not going to help towards the right settlement.

The assassination of Yitzhak Rabin in November 1995 would be a good place to start.

Correlation does not prove causation.

 

[brad465]

No. The assassination of Yitzhak Rabin was not a good place to start.

Why? And if so, where would you start?

Correlation does not prove causation.

I could easily say the same thing towards your original point here.

 

[Tetchytyke]

I am not sure how I feel about the Gaza announcement, but the main alternative (the two-state solution) has not worked (so far).

There has never been a two-state solution in either Gaza or the West Bank. Israel have always controlled everything into and out of those regions.

Indeed, supporting Hamas as a useful foe was a key plank of Netanyahu's political agenda. He ensured that Hamas were propped up precisely to prevent the Palestinian Authority from gaining control of Gaza and seeking to establish one Palestinian state. Classic divide and conquer.

No. The assassination of Yitzhak Rabin was not a good place to start.

It's as good a place as any. The people now propping up Netanyahu and keeping him out of prison are from the same groups who had Rabin assassinated. Rabin was assassinated precisely to prevent any sort of two-state solution from happening.

Personally I'd start at the King David Hotel, but that's by the by.

I see Trump has used the sanctions process to attempt to bully the International Criminal Court into silence. And America is shocked- SHOCKED- that most of the global South have chosen to pivot towards China.

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Biden was little better, protecting his own family.

I can't agree there.

Trump has shown he's nothing but a vindictive bully and the Supreme Court have shown that they're nothing but his patsies. I think Biden took the only honourable option in pre-emptively pardoning the people that Trump had said he would attach and who Trump almost certainly would attack. Yes, that includes Hunter Biden but it extended much further. His final act was to pre-emptively pardon people like Anthony Fauci. Anyone who criticises him for that is simply wrong IMO.

My only worry is that Biden didn't go far enough. Pardoning the senior staff means that Trump will inevitably just go after more junior staff. It's what fascists do. And I don't use that term lightly- Trump is a fascist.

Don't believe it? Look how he's already using the OFAC sanctions list as a weapon against his political foes.

 

[JNicholson]

With the advent of AI Voice Changing Software (or whatever it’s called) how can you be sure of exactly what he said?

Possibly, but news organisations have manipulated footage without artificial intelligence. Look into Alan Dershowitz's case against CNN.

Which highlights the Democrats, like UK Labour, have a serious problem with communications.

I do not believe communication of policy is the problem.

What is your point? Just that there are AI videos now, or that Trump is being misrepresented by the media? It really is not hard to read, listen to, or watch what the President of the United States has said.

The corporate media also spread false allegations about President Donald Trump whilst he was in office. The corporate media did little to no fact checking about the Hunter Biden laptop story. George Stephanopoulos spread false allegations against President Donald Trump before he took office.

Remember when people got upset about the Georgia phone call? Much hyperbolic nonsense was made over that.

Where it'll be immediately debunked by thousands of people as well as the various news sources that were there.

This isn't an issue.

See above.

While I don't doubt AI will be used to try and slander prolific individuals in a misinformation drive, this smacks of "if I don't like what I'm hearing, it must be AI/false", which is the new version of "typical [insert enemy news outlet] bias."

Besides, if you genuinely believe someone is, or will, use AI to smear Trump, then you should also condemn Trump turbocharging billions of dollars into AI companies and demand these companies are better regulated to stop them from being used maliciously, such as slandering others.

See above.

 

[DarloRich]

The main reason this is disintegrating so badly is because Congress doesn't care to do anything. They have all the power required to make Trump and his cronies behave. They choose not to.

I think we agree! The players (that's all players) are not playing by the rules.

 

[yorkie]

Possibly, but news organisations have manipulated footage without artificial intelligence. Look into Alan Dershowitz's case against CNN.

I do not believe communication of policy is the problem.

The corporate media also spread false allegations about President Donald Trump whilst he was in office. The corporate media did little to no fact checking about the Hunter Biden laptop story. George Stephanopoulos spread false allegations against President Donald Trump before he took office.

Remember when people got upset about the Georgia phone call? Much hyperbolic nonsense was made over that.

See above.

See above.

The onus is on you to demonstrate any claims you make are true; if you are referring to anything that you read/heard from an external source, then we do require you to cite the source. If at all possible, you should provide a source that can be linked to, and quoted from (use the quote button to generate the quote tags). It is recommended that you use reputable sources wherever practicable.

 

[edwin_m]

I would have taken that case more seriously if President Joe Biden and Hillary Clinton had faced trial. Anyway, what is done is done. We should move on, but do not give me twaddle about how the Democrats respect the rule of law etc. Look at how Biden treated his son and family and other people (all that fawning over how Biden will not pardon his son and then did and how "no person is above the law" etc which is legally so in the United States).

Rather as you did before, you are highlighting the minor issue while ignoring the huge one on the other side.

Biden pardoned his son convicted for a non-violent offence, non-political until his opponents made it so, and his other family members that haven't been accused of anything.

Trump pardoned several thousand people for offences aimed at defeating democracy, including attacking police officers.

 

[najaB]

Remember when people got upset about the Georgia phone call? Much hyperbolic nonsense was made over that.

As well they should. A candidate directly contacting the person running the election (which is already a violation of democratic norms) and pressuring him to [checks transcript] "find 11,780 votes, which is one more than we have because we won the state." is definitely something that people should be upset about.

 

[jon0844]

As well they should. A candidate directly contacting the person running the election (which is already a violation of democratic norms) and pressuring him to [checks transcript] "find 11,780 votes, which is one more than we have because we won the state." is definitely something that people should be upset about.

Trump is basically a gangster. Everything he's done since taking office has been based on threats and wanting to withhold money to Ukraine unless they'd help make up some evidence against Hunter Biden was just the first of many such threats. Asking for more votes was quite obvious too.

Of course gangsters always have plausible deniability and can pretend they didn't mean what they obviously meant. That's why they get away with so much. Especially when they can make others too terrified to stand up to him, which is again what he is doing quite openly.

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Trump pardoned several thousand people for offences aimed at defeating democracy, including attacking police officers.

On the plus side, at least two have since been shot dead and a number of been re-arrested and jailed for other offences.

'The best people'.

 

[Tetchytyke]

Look into Alan Dershowitz's case against CNN.

Alan Dershowitz, the man who defended Jeffrey Epstein and was a regular visitor to Epstein Island? That Alan Dershowitz?

Alan Dershowitz helped Jeffrey Epstein get a plea deal. Now he’s tweeting about age of consent laws.

“I’m going to continue to speak out until the day I die,” the Harvard Law professor told Vox.

www.vox.com

When Jeffrey Epstein found out in 2005 that he was being investigated by police for the sexual abuse of underage girls, he called Alan Dershowitz.
A Harvard Law School professor and high-profile defense lawyer, Dershowitz helped negotiate a “non-prosecution agreement” under which Epstein served just 13 months in a county jail, much of it spent on “work release” in an office. Ever since details of that agreement were reported by Julie K. Brown of the Miami Herald, Dershowitz and his role in the deal have been under added scrutiny.

That only increased this week with the publication of a New Yorker story by reporter Connie Bruck, detailing not just Dershowitz’s role in defending Epstein, but also allegations by two women who say that they were directed to have sex with Dershowitz while in Epstein’s orbit. Dershowitz vehemently denies both allegations.
Despite widespread attention to his role in the Epstein case — and a defamation suit from one of his accusers — Dershowitz has no intention of laying low. For instance, he continues to publicly criticize age-of-consent laws — most recently on Twitter, earlier this week.

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Of course gangsters always have plausible deniability and can pretend they didn't mean what they obviously meant. That's why they get away with so much. Especially when they can make others too terrified to stand up to him, which is again what he is doing quite openly.

Gangsters get away with what they get away with because of their networks of useful idiots and their networks of enforcers.

Same reason why Mohammed Fayed got away with raping women for years and years.

 

[SHD]

I am always amused at the use of the “corporate media” expression, considering that we are witnessing the grotesque show of an oligarchic tycoon who bought himself his own media platform and who gets closer day by day to an unnerving crossover between Julius Streicher and a Bond villain. Also considering that they never use that qualifier to describe News Corp, which is the corporatest of corporate media.

I very much doubt that the contenders of the “corporate media”, on this forum or in the wild, are avid subscribers of cooperatively-owned or reader-funded outlets. Or, for that matter, that they stand behind people-owned media, whether in BBC or NPR form.

 

[jon0844]

I am always amused at the use of the “corporate media” expression, considering that we are witnessing the grotesque show of an oligarchic tycoon who bought himself his own media platform and who gets closer day by day to an unnerving crossover between Julius Streicher and a Bond villain. Also considering that they never use that qualifier to describe News Corp, which is the corporatest of corporate media.

I very much doubt that the contenders of the “corporate media”, on this forum or in the wild, are avid subscribers of cooperatively-owned or reader-funded outlets. Or, for that matter, that they stand behind people-owned media, whether in BBC or NPR form.

And we're supposed to believe the Democrats are part of a global elite/swamp setup (global elite usually implying Jews) that is totally corrupt and controlling everything, while Trump has got Elon Musk onboard alongside the heads of Google, Microsoft, Apple (although it does seem Tim Cook looks very uncomfortable), Meta and so on.

 

[brad465]

And we're supposed to believe the Democrats are part of a global elite/swamp setup (global elite usually implying Jews) that is totally corrupt and controlling everything, while Trump has got Elon Musk onboard alongside the heads of Google, Microsoft, Apple (although it does seem Tim Cook looks very uncomfortable), Meta and so on.

"The forest was shrinking, but the trees kept voting for the axe, as the axe was clever and convinced the trees that because its handle was made of wood, it was one of them." - Turkish proverb