Trump Dictatorship and All Things Politics

[Deleted member 365]

Holy crap, JD Vance IS alive! The enemy within! https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/worl...1&cvid=957b624b54684292caf730e007ee75c5&ei=65

Vice President JD Vance publicly berated European leaders on a host of issues from free speech to security and mass migration, as simmering tensions between the United States and its close allies boiled over at an international conference in Munich on Friday.

The vice president used the podium at the high-level security gathering that had been focusing on the invasion of Ukraine and the threat Russia poses to Europe and the rest of the world to raise social issues animating many on the American right.

"The threat that I worry the most about vis-à-vis Europe is not Russia. It's not China. It's not any external actor," he said at the Munich Security Conference. "What I worry about is the threat from within — the retreat of Europe from some of its most fundamental values, values shared with the United States of America."

He added: “I’ve heard a lot about what you need to defend yourselves from and of course, that’s important. But what has seemed a little bit less clear to me ... is what exactly you’re defending yourselves for?”

The vice president's comments were met with an icy reception and only scattered applause — and groans when he joked about how if American democracy could "survive 10 years of Greta Thunberg scolding, you guys can survive a few months of Elon Musk.”

German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius denounced Vance's remarks during a session at the conference later in the day, saying in German that it was "not acceptable" that the U.S. vice president compared "the condition of Europe with the condition that prevails in some auto-authoritarian regimes."

"This is not acceptable," Pistorius said. "This is not the Europe, not the democracy where I live and where I conduct my election campaign right now. And this is not the democracy that I witness every day in our parliament. In our democracy, every opinion has a voice."

"I was in the room in Munich for VP Vance’s speech," Sen. Andy Kim, D-N.J., wrote in a post on X. "No talk about Russia, Ukraine, China. Just criticisms of our allies and focus on “the threat from within.” His speech is going to embolden our adversaries who will see this as a green light to act while America is distracted/divided."
Throughout the event, European leaders appeared to ramp up their criticism of the Trump administration's handling of peace efforts.

"The new American administration has a very different world view to ours, one that has no regard for established rules, partnership and grown trust,” German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier said at the conference Friday, prior to Vance's comments.

"We have to accept that and we can deal with it. But I am convinced that it is not in the interests of the international community for this worldview to become the dominant paradigm,” said Steinmeier, whose post is largely ceremonial, according to Reuters.

Who the hell is Greta Thunberg?

Elon Musk, we all know. He’s one of the most recognizable names in the world. He’s the world’s richest man. He owns one of the most influential social media platforms in the world. He might be the world’s most powerful brainwasher when one considers his resources. He’s America’s real president. And he’s campaigning for Nazis in Germany.

Why shouldn’t Europe be fearful of his power and influence? Im an American and I don’t like the power and influence he has. If im a European and im trying to maintain our democracy, I too am looking to curb his influence. One man should never have as much wealth, power, and influence as Musk. It’s just dangerous. How does one offset his ability to control minds, control business, and command a government?

Elon Musk is one of the greatest enemies to representative democracies across the world.

And LOL at JD complaining about free speech. Isn’t his administration currently banning an AP reporter for refusing to call the Gulf of Mexico the gulf of America? Free speech!

 

[LogGrad98]

Very good post.

Two things:

1. In my lifetime we’ve slashed social safety nets. It hasn’t balanced the budget. We’ve never tried increasing revenues via higher taxes. Why? Why do Americans think we merely have a spending problem and not a revenue problem? Fox News? Do they ever bother to read about what tax rates used to be? Have they ever traveled outside of America to see what amazing mass transit, health care, and social safety nets most other Industrialized countries have?

2. Why do people equate “programs I don’t currently use” with “wasteful spending?” Like why do Americans have this narrow view? Especially when most of our fellow democracies don’t? Just because you currently aren’t on Medicaid, food stamps, etc doesn’t mean it’s wasteful spending. Many people use these programs. You might use these programs if you fall on hard times. I guarantee that if you’re laid off, you’ll find a lot of what you previously deemed to be “wasteful spending” is actually “helpful and fortunate” government spending.

Why do Americans have such a narrow view of the good government and society can accomplish? Too much ayn Rand? Too much Fox News? Ignorance about the outside world? Protestant traditionalism?

It’s just weird to me.

Especially when we’ve been given so much. Extend this to Bush’s HIV/AIDS program in Africa. I’m old enough to remember how horrifying this disease was. Due to efforts made by our government and doctors, the disease (while still horrific) isn’t nearly as destructive as it once was. Americans should gladly pay a few bucks to fund a program that prevents AIDS from spreading, helps people in Africa, and helps stabilize countries. Why are we discounting soft American power? Are we forgetting some of the lessons of World War II and the Cold War? Wealthy democracies retreating from the world stage is likely to result in instability, disease, and war. While MAGA touts “America first” they aren’t exactly redirecting foreign aid funds to fund American health care, housing, or forgive student loans. They’re funneling it to those who have too much already (folks like Thiel, Trump, and Musk).

At least one problem in all this is the the electorate is to poorly educated about any of this. The ones who voted for trump get their news exclusively from 2 or 3 sources, and all of those source have devolved into propaganda machines and don't do anything to actually report the news, unless it is the put their right wing spin on it and get people pissed off. So people have no idea about the things you just mentioned because Fox News won't report it unless they can put a right wing spin on it or disparage the story. So the majority of Americans don't hear those stories at all. Plenty of those who didn't vote for Trump also limit their media exposure and the mainstream media have also shifted so much to reactionary and sensationalistic reporting for the sake of views and clicks that those kinds of stories get buried. In the age of disinformation we don't get those stories reported, so people know little of any of that. All the know is Democrats are evil unless they are on the other side in which case they know Republicans are evil. That's about the extent of it. It's the scenario I've been talking about for 20 years, the 2-party system has driven extreme partisanship to the point of destruction of the country.

 

[LogGrad98]

Is this joke?

What is Trump doing to address… “it?” It being, the national debt? You realize Trump has already been president before, right? And the debt exploded until his clock, right? Trump and the GOP spent like drunken sailors when he was president. And his second term isn’t Going to be any different. He’s looking to push more tax cuts, which will increase deficits and explode the debt even further.

The entire USAID budget is under $100 billion. Trump’s tax cuts are over $4.5 trillion. You understand a trillion is more than a billion, right?

Trump budget bill with $4.5T in tax cuts survives key hurdle despite House GOP infighting

House Republicans advanced a bill that extends Trump’s 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act.

www.foxnews.com

I'm thinking thegoldstandard is just a Trumper. I've posted twice now in response to his posts directly about the revenue side of that equation and he's ignored it both times. He just wants to go at the "Trump is great" angle in a slightly different way.

 

[PJF]

You guys drooled all over this report.


View: https://x.com/JamesPleickhar2/status/1890748921271447781?t=sQtBmi1FsZZ4XOqKj4GcAg&s=19

 

[TheGoldStandard]

You can trace America's debt problems back to Ronald Reagan's tax policies.

Weird, since the debt to GDP ratio was 53% in 1960.

 

[PJF]

lol

I wanted to see which right wing trolls were posting last night during valentines. Was pretty funny to see the same 3-4 trolls having a circle jerk on Valentines Day evening posting memes, praising social media personalities like cat ****, and spewing their nonsense while most normal people were enjoying spending quality time with their spouses and families last night. Happy Valentine’s Day MAGA!

Nah, just sharing all the good news while sitting on the pot. Wife and I had a great night. It does not take as much time as you think to debunk all your crap.

 

[TheGoldStandard]

I'm thinking thegoldstandard is just a Trumper. I've posted twice now in response to his posts directly about the revenue side of that equation and he's ignored it both times. He just wants to go at the "Trump is great" angle in a slightly different way.

Not at all. I can't stand the guy and most of his policies. Trump is not a true republican. He was a registered dem in the 80s. He is a scumbag opportunist. That said, not all he does is bad. Although a lot is, and his ability to destabilize relations may be very damaging. I've said it many times, but I'm not sure if there was really a red wave, but a blue sinkhole. Dems need better candidates and need to but mainstream issues as top platform discussions.

I am fairly centrist, but I lean conservative fiscally, but have many opinions fiscally that veer far off from typical conservative norms. And while I do not love the scorched earth approach of Doge, the inverse of precision cutting takes far too long and nothing gets done. A lot of the "gotcha" line items may actually make a lot of sense. A Sesame Street that teaches kids about respect for themselves, women, etc. may go a long way in modernizing middle east viewpoints.

I can't imagine the waste that will be found with DOD spending.

Look at my prior posts, I have acknowledged we need to raise taxes and Trump will likely kick the can down the road.

The problem with your argument is you can't compare an insane government to a household. I could not be fiscally irresponsible to such limits if I wanted as I could not get that type of credit. Yes, we need more revenue, but when households lose an income, they adjust their spending. I lost a job a year after entering the private sector after my boss was diagnosed with terminal cancer, I reduced my expenses and weathered the storm. I ultimately moved for a new job and learned a lot from that experience.

Both parties overspend. They all have their pet projects that add to debt. The only real solution is both parties to truly work for the country to balance the budget, but we are so far off politically that I don't see it happening.

We need a balanced budget, and politically, the DOGE approach is much safer from a voting standpoint than a large tax raise.

We have been underfunding social security, borrowing from it, overpaying out of medicare/medicaid (healthcare reform is needed, and Obamacare did not help. We need to cap pharm and medical equipment costs to the average paid by other 1st world countries). Under every administration in my life, the debt has ballooned. Obama had a huge increase and Trump said challenge accepted and made it higher.

I know there are a lot of things Trump won't do that he should (fix healthcare, meaningful tax raises, etc.). The biggest issue in my mind is the left and right keep getting farther apart. In the long run, this is likely worse for our country than the debt.

 

[Mongoose]

lol

I wanted to see which right wing trolls were posting last night during valentines. Was pretty funny to see the same 3-4 trolls having a circle jerk on Valentines Day evening posting memes, praising social media personalities like cat ****, and spewing their nonsense while most normal people were enjoying spending quality time with their spouses and families last night. Happy Valentine’s Day MAGA!

Fish, sardines, and Lograd aren’t maga and just because they were here for a few hours without your constant dumbass takes spewing nonsense doesn’t make you better than them. Just because they had a great circle jerk without you for a few hours don’t act like a jealous bitch. Thriller needs to be praised for staying away for a few hours I suppose? Nice job loser.

 

[Rubashov]

Weird, since the debt to GDP ratio was 53% in 1960.

I've not got the time nor inclination to waste my time attempting to educate you about economics. The fact you have no interest in understanding how our societies have been beggared by corporations and billionaires helps. The sooner we, as working people turn on the oligarchs that run our countries and ruin our democracies the better, the first part in that process is rejecting the neo-liberal lie.

 

[Deleted member 365]

Not at all. I can't stand the guy and most of his policies. Trump is not a true republican. He was a registered dem in the 80s. He is a scumbag opportunist. That said, not all he does is bad. Although a lot is, and his ability to destabilize relations may be very damaging. I've said it many times, but I'm not sure if there was really a red wave, but a blue sinkhole. Dems need better candidates and need to but mainstream issues as top platform discussions.

I am fairly centrist, but I lean conservative fiscally, but have many opinions fiscally that veer far off from typical conservative norms. And while I do not love the scorched earth approach of Doge, the inverse of precision cutting takes far too long and nothing gets done. A lot of the "gotcha" line items may actually make a lot of sense. A Sesame Street that teaches kids about respect for themselves, women, etc. may go a long way in modernizing middle east viewpoints.

I can't imagine the waste that will be found with DOD spending.

Look at my prior posts, I have acknowledged we need to raise taxes and Trump will likely kick the can down the road.

The problem with your argument is you can't compare an insane government to a household. I could not be fiscally irresponsible to such limits if I wanted as I could not get that type of credit. Yes, we need more revenue, but when households lose an income, they adjust their spending. I lost a job a year after entering the private sector after my boss was diagnosed with terminal cancer, I reduced my expenses and weathered the storm. I ultimately moved for a new job and learned a lot from that experience.

Both parties overspend. They all have their pet projects that add to debt. The only real solution is both parties to truly work for the country to balance the budget, but we are so far off politically that I don't see it happening.

We need a balanced budget, and politically, the DOGE approach is much safer from a voting standpoint than a large tax raise.

We have been underfunding social security, borrowing from it, overpaying out of medicare/medicaid (healthcare reform is needed, and Obamacare did not help. We need to cap pharm and medical equipment costs to the average paid by other 1st world countries). Under every administration in my life, the debt has ballooned. Obama had a huge increase and Trump said challenge accepted and made it higher.

I know there are a lot of things Trump won't do that he should (fix healthcare, meaningful tax raises, etc.). The biggest issue in my mind is the left and right keep getting farther apart. In the long run, this is likely worse for our country than the debt.

You’re actually not conservative fiscally. You may or may not be a trumper but you’re not conservative. If you were fiscally conservative you’d look at *what is actually costing us the most* the entire USAID budget is less than .01 percent of the entire budget of the federal government.

So while killing Seasame Street might feel good it’s not going to impact the actual deficit and ongoing national debt alone. I’m also old enough to know that this isn’t anything new from the GOP. Anyone else remember when Romney promised to kill “Big Bird” in 2012? Even back then republicans were focused on killing PBS and NPR as a way to save money while turning a blind eye to the things that drive up our deficit the most, namely tax cuts and Medicare.

 

[gandalfe]

Weird, since the debt to GDP ratio was 53% in 1960.

This chart doesn't quite go back that far, but... (High of 130.4 % in Mar 2021 and a low of 31.8 % in Sep 1974)

US Government Debt: % of GDP, 1969 – 2025 | CEIC Data

US Government debt accounted for 120.9 % of the country's Nominal GDP in Jun 2025, compared with the ratio of 122.3 % in the previous quarter.

www.ceicdata.com

 

[Deleted member 365]

“conservatives”: we must stop helping Africans with aids and kill PBS.

Also “conservatives”: we must pass tax cuts for billionaires who help buy us elections, build a gigantic Berlin Wall between us and Mexico, and deport millions of brown people who are poisoning our nation’s blood.

Deep derp

And tbh, it’s been this way for most of my adult life sadly. Trump uses populist rhetoric but governs as Republicans have hoped to govern for years. Namely, use government to crush all opposition, reward billionaires who win them elections, keep working class voters distracted, and run a mafia like kleptocracy where government is used as the private piggy bank for the privileged.

Honest question, how are democrats supposed to get their message out when billionaires bought off by Republicans control all major media outlets and social media platforms? Guys, places like Hungary or Russia don’t just “happen” by accident. There are deliberate choices made by political and business leaders that create these illiberal democracies. We are clearly one now. Even if the Democrats came out with an incredible platform and had a fantastic leader to deliver it, who would even know now with the current media environment we’re in? Especially when you consider 40-45 percent of the country is completely unreachable automatically.