A lot of Trumps support comes out of rural MI and WI, and they talk to each other.

Part of me hopes the reason he doesn’t care is because he can’t run for election again.

Agreed, the latest news seems to indicate they’re looking to do just that.

Who says I won’t be using an AI deepfake myself?

My hope is that we’ll see an adjustment of congress attitude after April 1st special elections. They should all be easy GoP wins, but I don’t think they will be. I’d put the NY election at even odds. The two Florida districts are 20 points red, so shouldn’t even be a question of who wins, but I think they’ll be close. If the GoP loses one, some of them will start to sound like they have a back bone. If they lose two, they’ll start talking back in the media. If all three flip, they lose the house and shit gets real.

Again most likely result is a squeaking win that will make for some grumbling, but no real change in our path to hell. What’s crazy is that there is an assumption congress will be a thing by April 1st. The market is in free fall right now, and it’s being very conservative on the amount of damage Trump just did. As that plays out, the bad news is going to keep pouring in from all quarters. Things are going to get chaotic, in very dystopian ways.

Sell them to Norway for military aid. It’s a better investment for Norway, and shorter supply lines.

I can see both sides of this honestly. Reporters calling her out for looking different can get out of line. At the same time though, she signed on to a franchise deal based on her looks. If she’s be altering her looks, she’s fucking with the deal. That’s just part of the package when your job is based on how you look.

New air frames tend to have a lot of issues. They’re kind of at the limits of engineering complexity. Too many parts optimized for weight/strength just perfectly, until there’s that one extra side load, or power drain, that no one expected. That’s why a lot of test designs end at the full scale testing stage. It’s not until all the parts are in one place that you can really see if they all work together.

While I agree, the truth is, as much as he’s dancing all over every institution, he still doesn’t actually have control of his party. And with the razor thin margins he’s running, he’s likely to get shut down hard when he finally hits that wall.

Pretty sure that would require congressional approval, similar to the uranium deals we used to buy decommissioned warhead cores to turn into reactor fuel.

Try prepared foods, clothing, phones, electronics and tools. Basically everything at clothing stores, Walmart or Harbor Freight, and half of Amazon, Target, and home goods stores.

Norway was saying they were willing to tap into their sovereign wealth fund to help, which if Zelensky is willing to trade mineral rights, means the money problem is probably solved without the US. The real question is even if they have the funding, is there enough production? Rheinmetall converting a couple auto factories to artillery helps, but it’s probably not enough in the short term. And even if it is, supply chains should be hardened against US interference as an untrusted ally. And there’s still the serious problem of Starlink. There is no drop in replacement, and Ukraine is heavily dependent on it, and US satellite intelligence.

Kind of surprised people watch it really. Outside of the business anyway. Just seems like an actors corporate award ceremony to me.

He also apparently believes that the Republican Party position on trans issues is “kill trans people” and that Democrats basically want to kill trans people too.

How much daylight is there between ‘Let them die’ and ‘Kill them’? I’ve trolled around right wing conversations, and I’m not seeing it.

Supporting your country isn’t a ponzi scheme.

What’s the almost part?

In the long term, it will mean America will have a weaker position at every bargaining table. From trade deals, to immigration, to military engagement. And sure, in a lot, if not most cases, that’s better for the world. For the US it will mean more hardship and more poverty, leading to more crime, leading to more right wing extremism. And unlike unwinding the Soviet Union, when America unwinds, there’s going to be and axis of China and Russia waiting to step on everyone else. Russia isn’t building enough guns to defeat Ukraine, they’re aiming to build enough to defeat Europe. And they know they couldn’t do it if America were there as a back stop. He’s also counting on the EU being too afraid to send nukes.

Dictators don’t ask to do things, they tell the legislature what to pass, and eliminate those that disagree.

Half of the income on that list is just actors knowing to invest their money rather than blow it all.

I’m not sure how they can move further away from small donor dominance and still be on Earth.

He can claim it, but the US doesn’t have that exemption in the constitution the way Ukraine does. On Jan 21st 2029 someone else is president of the United States, or we’re no longer the United States. If the party is even still trying by that point, we’ll already be in a civil war.