The nominations and appointments are going to come thick and fast, now, and many if not most of them are going to be downright distressing. So far I'm most concerned about the Chief of Staff, because I don't know very much about her. The other doofuses I'm aware of -- too aware of -- because they're ridiculous enough to broadcast themselves completely unfiltered.
An ambassador to Israel who believes Israel has a divine right to rule over the Occupied Territories is worrying both in and of itself and in what it implies about Trump's thinking, such as it is.
The nominations and appointments are going to come thick and fast, now, and many if not most of them are going to be downright distressing. So far I'm most concerned about the Chief of Staff, because I don't know very much about her. The other doofuses I'm aware of -- too aware of -- because they're ridiculous enough to broadcast themselves completely unfiltered.
It's the quiet ones that concern me the most.
From what I've seen the worry about the Chief of Staff is not that she's a dangerous ideologue in her own right but that, unlike most Trump appointees, she's a competent administrator. It remains to be seen if she has any scruples that would impede her making Trump's worst intentions real.
An ambassador to Israel who believes Israel has a divine right to rule over the Occupied Territories is worrying both in and of itself and in what it implies about Trump's thinking, such as it is.
An ambassador to Israel who believes Israel has a divine right to rule over the Occupied Territories is worrying both in and of itself and in what it implies about Trump's thinking, such as it is.
Sounds like an ambassador who will get on very well with the Israeli government. That's surely a good thing isn't it ?
Up to a point, but I think the fear is that the US will simply let Netanyahu do as he pleases in respect of the Occupied Territories, with all that that implies in terms of death, destruction, and human misery.
US posters will have a lot more to say, I expect, but @The_Riv has already hinted that the appointment is a Bad Thing.
A little about Mike Huckabee here on CNN. He supports Israel's claim to the West Bank and has said "there's no such thing as a Palestinian" and "there's no such thing as an occupation." He opposes Palestinian statehood.
With the appointment of Matt G*etz, Trump continues to thin out the possible margins in the Republican Controlled House. There is no doubt in my mind, G*etz' district is solid Republican, but it will take a little time for DeS*ntis to nominate a replacement.
The reactions from Senator's I am hearing about suggests he will be a tough sell. He has his own ethics complaints about sexual impropriety--specifically sex trafficing, the transport of a minor across state lines for the purposes of sex.. He is not liked in by the Republican members of the house (he helped to force McCarthy from the Speakership and tied the process to name a new speaker up in knots); he has no experience with the high court that I now of. He was even briefly disbarred in Florida for the nonpayment of dues.
Looks like another pretty boy that should do well in front of the cameras.
An ambassador to Israel who believes Israel has a divine right to rule over the Occupied Territories is worrying both in and of itself and in what it implies about Trump's thinking, such as it is.
Sounds like an ambassador who will get on very well with the Israeli government. That's surely a good thing isn't it ?
Not for any poor fucker living in the occupied territories whose doesn't want to be ruled by Israel, it isn't. Which is an awful lot of them.
No justice, no peace. The latter is never real without the former.
An ambassador to Israel who believes Israel has a divine right to rule over the Occupied Territories is worrying both in and of itself and in what it implies about Trump's thinking, such as it is.
Sounds like an ambassador who will get on very well with the Israeli government. That's surely a good thing isn't it ?
Not for any poor fucker living in the occupied territories whose doesn't want to be ruled by Israel, it isn't. Which is an awful lot of them.
No justice, no peace. The latter is never real without the former.
A two state solution is not wanted by Israelis or Palestinians. They both want it all.
Palestinians cope OK in the current Israel. There is no reason why law abiding Palestinians wouldn't be OK in a larger Israel.
It would be nice for Palestinians to have their own country but the country they want is where Israel is.
An ambassador to Israel who believes Israel has a divine right to rule over the Occupied Territories is worrying both in and of itself and in what it implies about Trump's thinking, such as it is.
Sounds like an ambassador who will get on very well with the Israeli government. That's surely a good thing isn't it ?
Not for any poor fucker living in the occupied territories whose doesn't want to be ruled by Israel, it isn't. Which is an awful lot of them.
No justice, no peace. The latter is never real without the former.
A two state solution is not wanted by Israelis or Palestinians. They both want it all.
Palestinians cope OK in the current Israel. There is no reason why law abiding Palestinians wouldn't be OK in a larger Israel.
It would be nice for Palestinians to have their own country but the country they want is where Israel is.
The problem actually is that historically Israel is where their country was.
You seem to have absolutely zero regard for the rights of self-determination of Palestinians. I'm sure that (using your arguments) law abiding Ukrainians would cope OK in a larger Russia. It's not the issue.
Additionally - the Jewish population of Israel is around 7.5M. The non-Jewish population is 2.6M. Adding 5M Palestinians to the non-Jewish population would mean Israel no longer had a Jewish majority. That would not, in fact, be acceptable to Israel. So full Israeli rule over the West Bank and Gaza would either mean non-citizen status for many or all of the Palestinian population, or their expulsion.
The more you look at this the worse it gets. Don't go there.
A two state solution is not wanted by Israelis or Palestinians. They both want it all.
Palestinians cope OK in the current Israel. There is no reason why law abiding Palestinians wouldn't be OK in a larger Israel.
How many Palestinians have you asked about this?
This may not be Epiphanies but if you intend to state what another group thinks as part of a serious argument, you should provide own voice sources, particularly where the group gets less representation or more hostile representation in the media.
A two state solution is not wanted by Israelis or Palestinians. They both want it all.
Palestinians cope OK in the current Israel. There is no reason why law abiding Palestinians wouldn't be OK in a larger Israel.
How many Palestinians have you asked about this?
This may not be Epiphanies but if you intend to state what another group thinks as part of a serious argument, you should provide own voice sources, particularly where the group gets less representation or more hostile representation in the media.
Dafyd Hell Host
He's not interested in what Palestinians (or Israelis) think. He's only interested in what he thinks they should think.
A two state solution is not wanted by Israelis or Palestinians. They both want it all.
Palestinians cope OK in the current Israel. There is no reason why law abiding Palestinians wouldn't be OK in a larger Israel.
How many Palestinians have you asked about this?
This may not be Epiphanies but if you intend to state what another group thinks as part of a serious argument, you should provide own voice sources, particularly where the group gets less representation or more hostile representation in the media.
Dafyd Hell Host
He's not interested in what Palestinians (or Israelis) think. He's only interested in what he thinks they should think.
Wrong. I am interested in a peaceful solution. I think this will have to be my last comment on here on this topic.
A two state solution is not wanted by Israelis or Palestinians. They both want it all.
Palestinians cope OK in the current Israel. There is no reason why law abiding Palestinians wouldn't be OK in a larger Israel.
How many Palestinians have you asked about this?
This may not be Epiphanies but if you intend to state what another group thinks as part of a serious argument, you should provide own voice sources, particularly where the group gets less representation or more hostile representation in the media.
Dafyd Hell Host
He's not interested in what Palestinians (or Israelis) think. He's only interested in what he thinks they should think.
Wrong. I am interested in a peaceful solution. I think this will have to be my last comment on here on this topic.
Something I think most of us will the grateful for.
A two state solution is not wanted by Israelis or Palestinians. They both want it all.
Palestinians cope OK in the current Israel. There is no reason why law abiding Palestinians wouldn't be OK in a larger Israel.
How many Palestinians have you asked about this?
This may not be Epiphanies but if you intend to state what another group thinks as part of a serious argument, you should provide own voice sources, particularly where the group gets less representation or more hostile representation in the media.
Dafyd Hell Host
He's not interested in what Palestinians (or Israelis) think. He's only interested in what he thinks they should think.
Wrong. I am interested in a peaceful solution. I think this will have to be my last comment on here on this topic.
Well, it is said that everyone has something to bring to a discussion. Sometimes that thing is ones silence.
Welp, it's pretty much a done deal. The Republicans control the House by one vote. This could be why Gaetz resigned so DeSantis can quickly appoint a Republican replacement before the new Congress convenes.
It also goes to show if Trump continues to nominate members of the House for his administration, he just might lose it without another election too.
Apparently, a scathing report about the G*etz underage sex scandal/inquiry was supposed to be released tomorrow.
Tr*mp's early appointments and nomination candidates show a "total war" approach to governing is coming. I say governing -- I mean careening toward oblivion. What more of a self-owning nomination could an adjudicated rapist make, though? A credible Underage Sex Offender. A veritible Statutory rapist. Ga*tz.
Welp, it's pretty much a done deal. The Republicans control the House by one vote. This could be why Gaetz resigned so DeSantis can quickly appoint a Republican replacement before the new Congress convenes.
Vacancies in the House of Representatives are filled by special election, not by gubernatorial appointment. DeSantis has called for a special election.
Welp, it's pretty much a done deal. The Republicans control the House by one vote. This could be why Gaetz resigned so DeSantis can quickly appoint a Republican replacement before the new Congress convenes.
Vacancies in the House of Representatives are filled by special election, not by gubernatorial appointment. DeSantis has called for a special election.
Can't keep this all straight. Thank you for the correction.
Now, word has come out the tRump transition team is compiling a list of senior military officers that were involved in the Afghan withdrawal to see if they can be charged with Treason. NBC story. This will include current and retired officers.
Deal of it is, Trump was the one who negotiated with the Taliban to withdraw from Afghanistan. He did not even include the official Afghani government during the negotiations. Did he even consult with the allies that were still involved in the support of US? Did he even consider what would happen to the Afghanis that had supported US efforts?
Seems to me, if anyone should be charged with Treason, it would be Trump himself. He left Biden with no other option but to withdraw.
An Italian town in Sardina is offering homes for 1 Euro. Sardina itself is offering $15,000 for anyone to move there. Meanwhile Tuscany is offering around $30,000 for people to move there. Look out. Italy is going to become an American colony.
Hopefully 'hard working Americans' will feel this bite them in the arse and remember that's what they voted for and not do it again. At least next time round.
As has been noted elsewhere, it's deeply troubling that they're discontinuing criminal investigations purely on the basis of internal policy. Have they not learned that norms and expectations aren't worth a watery shit in the current circumstances. The law is what you stick to because that's the only thing that might slow the Orange Enormity down.
As has been noted elsewhere, it's deeply troubling that they're discontinuing criminal investigations purely on the basis of internal policy. Have they not learned that norms and expectations aren't worth a watery shit in the current circumstances. The law is what you stick to because that's the only thing that might slow the Orange Enormity down.
If the investigations are ongoing after Trump takes office, they will surely be shut down by Bondi, assuming she is confirmed as Attorney General. Special Counsels don't have the same autonomy that Independent Counsels like Ken Starr in the Clinton years used to have. If Smith wraps up the investigation now, he at least might be able to release a report on what they uncovered before Trump takes office. The current AG Merrick Garland is likely to allow that and will not try to control what the public knows about it the way Trump's AG Bill Barr did with the Mueller Report. So if he wants the public to have any idea about what the investigation uncovered, it is probably best that he close it now while Biden is still President.
I don’t want to be proven wrong, and I am strongly against just about everything JD Vance stands for, but I don’t think he is as dangerous as Trump.
Vance is a little bit of an opportunist, a little bit of an ideologue with the zeal of a convert, a little bit of a self-styled intellectual, but at least he has some sense of ideas and values, even if he is willing to throw most of them away for power. Trump, I think, never had values and never thinks much about ideas. He merely acts on instinct in order to benefit himself and punish his enemies.
And despite what people say about Trump being too chaotic to be an effective authoritarian (whereas Vance might be effective as one), I think that is one way that we have underestimated Trump.
Interesting question. If the President-elect is rendered, um, unable to serve before he is inaugurated, does the VP-elect become President? Or does the honor go to the runner-up in the election?
Interesting question. If the President-elect is rendered, um, unable to serve before he is inaugurated, does the VP-elect become President?
Per Section 3 of the Twentieth Amendment: “If, at the time fixed for the beginning of the term of the President, the President-elect shall have died, the Vice President-elect shall become President.”
The question this raises, as I understand it, is when exactly does a candidate for President (or vice president) become “President-elect” (or “Vice President-elect”)? Or is it after the general election? After the electors meet, which this year will happen on Dec. 17? Is it not until after the Jan. 6 joint session of Congress, at which the votes of the electors are counted and certified? It’s clear after Jan. 6 who the President-elect and Vice President-elect are. But prior to that, it’s a question that has never been faced and for which the answer isn’t clear, at least not from the language of the Constitution.
Slight tangent, but the CEO of United Health Care has just been murdered - do you think the timing has anything to do with the political situation or more to do with health insurance companies starting to refuse to cover parts of anaesthesia, or something else ?
We know the police have said that the shooting appears to have been “targeted,” and that Thompson had received threats of some kind. I think speculation beyond that isn’t likely to shed any real light.
Vance is a little bit of an opportunist, a little bit of an ideologue with the zeal of a convert, a little bit of a self-styled intellectual, but at least he has some sense of ideas and values, even if he is willing to throw most of them away for power.
It's that last part specifically which makes him dangerous.
Comments
It's the quiet ones that concern me the most.
From what I've seen the worry about the Chief of Staff is not that she's a dangerous ideologue in her own right but that, unlike most Trump appointees, she's a competent administrator. It remains to be seen if she has any scruples that would impede her making Trump's worst intentions real.
Tip of the ice berg we're sailing into headlong.
El*n M*sk and Viv*k Ramasw*my will co-cluster a so-called Department of Government Efficiency.
Sounds like an ambassador who will get on very well with the Israeli government. That's surely a good thing isn't it ?
US posters will have a lot more to say, I expect, but @The_Riv has already hinted that the appointment is a Bad Thing.
The reactions from Senator's I am hearing about suggests he will be a tough sell. He has his own ethics complaints about sexual impropriety--specifically sex trafficing, the transport of a minor across state lines for the purposes of sex.. He is not liked in by the Republican members of the house (he helped to force McCarthy from the Speakership and tied the process to name a new speaker up in knots); he has no experience with the high court that I now of. He was even briefly disbarred in Florida for the nonpayment of dues.
Looks like another pretty boy that should do well in front of the cameras.
Not for any poor fucker living in the occupied territories whose doesn't want to be ruled by Israel, it isn't. Which is an awful lot of them.
No justice, no peace. The latter is never real without the former.
A two state solution is not wanted by Israelis or Palestinians. They both want it all.
Palestinians cope OK in the current Israel. There is no reason why law abiding Palestinians wouldn't be OK in a larger Israel.
It would be nice for Palestinians to have their own country but the country they want is where Israel is.
The problem actually is that historically Israel is where their country was.
You seem to have absolutely zero regard for the rights of self-determination of Palestinians. I'm sure that (using your arguments) law abiding Ukrainians would cope OK in a larger Russia. It's not the issue.
The more you look at this the worse it gets. Don't go there.
This may not be Epiphanies but if you intend to state what another group thinks as part of a serious argument, you should provide own voice sources, particularly where the group gets less representation or more hostile representation in the media.
Dafyd Hell Host
He's not interested in what Palestinians (or Israelis) think. He's only interested in what he thinks they should think.
Something I think most of us will the grateful for.
Well, it is said that everyone has something to bring to a discussion. Sometimes that thing is ones silence.
Doublethink, Admin
I am sorry, what are you referring to, Doublethink?
It also goes to show if Trump continues to nominate members of the House for his administration, he just might lose it without another election too.
Tr*mp's early appointments and nomination candidates show a "total war" approach to governing is coming. I say governing -- I mean careening toward oblivion. What more of a self-owning nomination could an adjudicated rapist make, though? A credible Underage Sex Offender. A veritible Statutory rapist. Ga*tz.
The Middle Eastern war etc.
Can't keep this all straight. Thank you for the correction.
Now, word has come out the tRump transition team is compiling a list of senior military officers that were involved in the Afghan withdrawal to see if they can be charged with Treason. NBC story. This will include current and retired officers.
Deal of it is, Trump was the one who negotiated with the Taliban to withdraw from Afghanistan. He did not even include the official Afghani government during the negotiations. Did he even consult with the allies that were still involved in the support of US? Did he even consider what would happen to the Afghanis that had supported US efforts?
Seems to me, if anyone should be charged with Treason, it would be Trump himself. He left Biden with no other option but to withdraw.
https://www.forbes.com/sites/laurabegleybloom/2024/11/20/leave-the-us-a-village-in-italy-is-selling-homes-for-1-to-americans-who-want-to-escape/
Yes ironic to the max
That takes care of that troublesome Palestinian Jew called Jesus, then.
As has been noted elsewhere, it's deeply troubling that they're discontinuing criminal investigations purely on the basis of internal policy. Have they not learned that norms and expectations aren't worth a watery shit in the current circumstances. The law is what you stick to because that's the only thing that might slow the Orange Enormity down.
If the investigations are ongoing after Trump takes office, they will surely be shut down by Bondi, assuming she is confirmed as Attorney General. Special Counsels don't have the same autonomy that Independent Counsels like Ken Starr in the Clinton years used to have. If Smith wraps up the investigation now, he at least might be able to release a report on what they uncovered before Trump takes office. The current AG Merrick Garland is likely to allow that and will not try to control what the public knows about it the way Trump's AG Bill Barr did with the Mueller Report. So if he wants the public to have any idea about what the investigation uncovered, it is probably best that he close it now while Biden is still President.
trump will be expecting them to worship him.
I don’t want to be proven wrong, and I am strongly against just about everything JD Vance stands for, but I don’t think he is as dangerous as Trump.
Vance is a little bit of an opportunist, a little bit of an ideologue with the zeal of a convert, a little bit of a self-styled intellectual, but at least he has some sense of ideas and values, even if he is willing to throw most of them away for power. Trump, I think, never had values and never thinks much about ideas. He merely acts on instinct in order to benefit himself and punish his enemies.
And despite what people say about Trump being too chaotic to be an effective authoritarian (whereas Vance might be effective as one), I think that is one way that we have underestimated Trump.
https://www.notredamedeparis.fr/en/reopening-office/
The website may ask you to verify that you are human (well, it asked me...).
There will be several other heads of state present, but I suppose that Trump is, at least technically, not a head of state - yet.
Interesting question. If the President-elect is rendered, um, unable to serve before he is inaugurated, does the VP-elect become President? Or does the honor go to the runner-up in the election?
The question this raises, as I understand it, is when exactly does a candidate for President (or vice president) become “President-elect” (or “Vice President-elect”)? Or is it after the general election? After the electors meet, which this year will happen on Dec. 17? Is it not until after the Jan. 6 joint session of Congress, at which the votes of the electors are counted and certified? It’s clear after Jan. 6 who the President-elect and Vice President-elect are. But prior to that, it’s a question that has never been faced and for which the answer isn’t clear, at least not from the language of the Constitution.
It's that last part specifically which makes him dangerous.