_lost_username_

I'm glad I'm not the only one that has had this feeling. I have been wondering if there has been a "Plan B" being made since before the election. I just didn't think we'd be escalated this soon. But Trump looks awful, probably feels awful and we know he doesn't care about who he harms because ... you find the word. Trump alone might've been one thing but the power grab by Musk feels like something else. I didn't see this but apparently BlueSky had this message on searches today: "This is a hostile takeover of the federal government by a private citizen of unlimited means with no restrictions and no transparency. Welcome to the Deep State." It just feels like "something."

Dems need to get people out there willing to throw fruit and rotten eggs at these people. Stop worrying about being called homophobes when someone points out Republicans bend over and spread their ass cheeks and say "please here sir" whenever Trump is in the room. They got to stop doing the "we're going to take the high way" tact. Didn't work. Now's the time to stop being civil and start mocking, slinging mud and running over a bunch of spineless pussies. Who are the "oh, they shouldn't be so abhorrent" wine and cracker eating rich liberals on the coasts going to vote for? I'm sure they wouldn't vote GOP even if a Democrat dumped a big shit bowl over some Republican's head.

I'm seeing a lot of people on social media defending Matt Gaetz because "Epstein." It's like the 2016 equivalent of "her emails."

I wonder if it’ll survive long enough to tell him that SimCity isn’t real life.

I just hope it isn’t Twitter for finger wagers and people who spend 90% of their times digging up bad takes people made when they were young and ignorant. The two extremes (with the online right’s constant bad faith and general shiftiness) turned me off Shitter pretty fast. Bluesky so far has been pretty pleasant without feeling like any take you make, no matter how mild, will end up with a volley of turds being thrown at you.

It helped me to accept that things will be bad and just be ok with your powerlessness to do anything about those in power. We all get mired in this presentism that makes us believe that Joe Rogan is always going to be the hottest shit in media, that MAGA will always be the most powerful thing in politics, that what drove people to the polls for Trump today will drive them to him tomorrow, etc. Change can happen fast. You never know when the last cheeseburger could be eaten or the craven politicians jump ship due to a turning tide. Also, the stars will still be in the sky, dogs and cats will still love their people and bears will keep shorting in the woods. That is at least something that will probably stay the same for now … unless a gamma ray burst we never detected washes over earth and kills all life making all the unnecessary emotional space given to Trump worth nothing. Not trying to be profound. If stuff like the Education Department and WIC are eliminated, my life will be much harder. But how much can I let that take away from trying to enjoy now?

You don’t think he’s expecting a pardon? He is one of the Mark-Lagos crowd that is part of Trump’s personal Greek choir after all.

I think one thing to mull is that Trump is going to be a lame duck president. He doesn’t have to worry about being re-elected but many Republicans do. They got to look at winning again in 2026 and 2028. Since Trump accomplished what he wanted, he’s probably not going to give a shit what happens to the party now. He just wants to stay out of prison and make money. In his heart, he would rather be at parties with Lady Gaga and other people he sees as the “real elites.” It probably kills him that he’s surrounded by people he secretly hates. The dude was at his happiest when he was invited to party with stars and the liberal old money families. Being cast out really eats him.

Many of the sitting GOP know that Trump voters don’t turn out in midterms. If they allow the shit to pile out of the outhouse hole, they’re gone. If they piss off Trump now, they know he’ll have to get over it to prevent getting castrated in 2026.

I really think that he’s dead in the water. Trump may not get his wish for recess appointments if he keeps pushing names like this. Republicans still want power after he is gone and allowing the people he’s named go through is tantamount to potential political suicide for every Republican that didn’t win in a lopsided MAGA state. I really thought he’d deep six RFK after the election because I thought he’d actually be too crazy even for Trump but I guess Trump is nuttier than even his 2020 version.

Well, some good news: https://www.pbs.org/newshour/nation/satirical-news-site-the-onion-buys-alex-jones-infowars-at-auction

He picked a guy who is one of the most hated by his colleagues in the House. It’s like a middle finger to Kevin McCarthy who dragged his balls through gravel and glass to get Trump to love him. I don’t see this bringing together the House Republican factions that hate each other worse than Democrats. The one hope I see in the Trump appointments from the House is that Trump voters tend not to show up when he’s not on top of the ticket. But if you have a district that’s willing to elect Gaetz multiple times, they’re probably already predisposed to electing sacks of shit to office.

He already looks like a walking corpse. His brothers have died at younger ages than he has. Imagine what his inaugural speech will sound like at 1.5 hours on one of the coldest days of the year.

I don’t want sound like a conspiracy theorist but isn’t it kind of weird we haven’t seen Trump for a week? Last time he was turning these cabinet announcements into media events and bragging about “the best people.” You couldn’t get the dude out from in front of the cameras. This time, it’s press releases on Truth Social and not really much else. It’s just weird. What’s going on?

Also, I can’t imagine Rubio and Vance not trying to undermine each other. Both of them want to run in 2028 and both want to add to an executive resume. Rubio is more experienced and connected politically but Vance is smarter and connected to MAGA. Rubio has more to lose if he fails but Vance is banking on inheriting MAGA. Also, I wouldn’t be surprised if Trump knows this. Like I said somewhere before, he likes having his underlings battle each other.

It’s Wiles’s job to control access to him. It’s hard to see where she stands, but considering her background she is probably there to be the funnel for the “we still need careers after Trump” Republicans. I imagine she’ll probably keep the crazier elements out of the Oval Office but he is going to spend most of his time in Mara Lago where he gets ideas from whoever is sitting next to him at dinner at any given night. I giver her 3 months, 6 max, unless she’s doing the whole shadow presidency with Vance — who unlike Trump is interested in doing the actual job, unfortunately.

Could be he’s so brain addled that he’s just handed things off to his inner circle and is either not interested or capable of doing the actual work.

He still wants to be president one day so I expect him to be watching out for himself. I’ve heard he’s been referred to as a “ratifier” because he will apparently throw anyone under the bus if he think it benefits him. He’ll be a good barometer for how much chaos is going on behind the scenes. I think the next big thing is going to be watching who replaces Rubio and Vance and how the special elections go without Trump on the ballot.

That’s not true. There are no shortage of billionaires that support the Democrats and progressive politics. They just don’t have much of an audience because people don’t like their messengers. They need people out there that sound like Bill Burr, Snoop Dogg or Larry the Cable Guy instead of some gender studies professor or some self righteous activist that never got their hands dirty. If you have more radical ideas in mind, then you’re out of touch. Socialism is dead and never coming back. The only choice is between a state that uses taxes to ensure public welfare or an oligarchy which rich bros get to dictate policy. Anything outside of those bounds are not worth discussing because they won’t happen.

Democrats are still in all those spaces. Fact checkers, ads, Musk … whatever, they don’t really matter. You don’t have any trouble finding Democrat material on any social media. MSNBC works directly with the Democratic Party so, they do have a version of Fox. Just not the viewers. So, Democrats and Republicans have access to the same spaces. One just isn’t as successful as the other. Doesn’t matter if you level the playing field more.

It didn’t work. The media made a big deal of it but “brat” was more like “wat?” for the majority of people that voted. I think it got her the attention of TikTokers but it didn’t get her votes. TikTok might be knocked out of its current spot as king of social media in four years anyway. I think Trump got one thing right. Stick with a single line of messaging, take it everywhere and let your followers do the work. Harris’s messaging was all over the place and I think that might’ve been something that hurt her since people wound up knowing little pieces of her plans. Every time Trump did said something outrageous, Democrats would drop their messaging and go after it. That wasted a lot of time.

What do not have? There’s a TV network (MSNBC), several print publications, influencers on social media and thousands of YouTube channels. They seem to have everything Republicans have except for the number of eyeballs. i don’t think the media apparatus is the problem. The problem may be their delivery or people don’t like their messengers. Maybe Democratic voters simply don’t consume media like Republicans do. Maybe they just need to go into the spaces that Republican eyeballs are at and fight the lions in their den?

War with Iran may be on the horizon. With Trump giving Netanyahu free rein to level the place, it seems the chances of an incident on American soil will shoot up and he will need someone serious in positions that deal with that. I doubt most Republicans have become stupid enough they don’t think they need a serious person in there.

It sounds like common sense on its face but remember, these tests were used during Jim Crow to … you know. A test like that can easily be abused. Like asking a question like “who’s your favorite president” and “do you believe in God?”

You can think that but anyone that says it out loud sounds like an asshole to most people, even if in their head they agree.