Donald I, emperor of the world.

[secretsqirrel]

West Wing next? Perhaps someone ought to check on Melania, in case he's burying her in the rubble, along with the last vestiges on the Constitution.

Here lies Melania, the Constitution and the Epstein files.

 

[Ianonabike]

I've posted this video in another thread, but think it's worth putting here too. Earlier this year comedian/talk show host Bill Maher had dinner with Trump. This was his report:


View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RxlopbcfXpQ

 

[Bazzer]

There were noises about the effects of the premium hike and cuts only biting after the mid terms and this was a deliberate move. That has back fired as people are getting estimates on renewals -way before the mid terms.

As I understand it, Republicans are in a bit of a bind with this.
Under Biden's Inflation Reduction Act, the Obamacare/Affordable Care subsidies were to continue until the end of 2025. But in order to fund the tax cuts for the wealthy, Trump's budget, doesn't make any provision to extend the subsidies beyond 2025. Health insurance companies know this, hence why estimated costs for renewal have increased sharply for the forthcoming year.
The Congressional Budget Office said 4m Americans are likely to become uninsured as as result of the increased costs, with this figure rising to 17m within 6 - 7 years.
The situation isn't any better for those on low income using the government funded Medicaid. Trump has cut almost $1tn from the Medicaid budget over the next 10 years. The Congressional Budget Office reckons 11.8m Americans will lose their Medicaid coverage

 

[briantrumpet]

As I understand it, Republicans are in a bit of a bind with this.
Under Biden's Inflation Reduction Act, the Obamacare/Affordable Care subsidies were to continue until the end of 2025. But in order to fund the tax cuts for the wealthy, Trump's budget, doesn't make any provision to extend the subsidies beyond 2025. Health insurance companies know this, hence why estimated costs for renewal have increased sharply for the forthcoming year.
The Congressional Budget Office said 4m Americans are likely to become uninsured as as result of the increased costs, with this figure rising to 17m within 6 - 7 years.
The situation isn't any better for those on low income using the government funded Medicaid. Trump has cut almost $1tn from the Medicaid budget over the next 10 years. The Congressional Budget Office reckons 11.8m Americans will lose their Medicaid coverage

But it's OK, because it's only the poor (largely black) and unproductive old that will die early as a result, so the average GPD per head of population will rise. It's a win/win for the people trying to push it through. After all, it's just numbers on a spreadsheet.

 

[briantrumpet]

I've posted this video in another thread, but think it's worth putting here too. Earlier this year comedian/talk show host Bill Maher had dinner with Trump. This was his report:


View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RxlopbcfXpQ

I'm not sure what that says other than Trump was charming to Maher.

 

[Ianonabike]

I'm not sure what that says other than Trump was charming to Maher.

I thought it said more than that, but YMMV.

 

[briantrumpet]

I thought it said more than that, but YMMV.

Confidence tricksters are uniformly charming, which is how they ply their trade: each victim thinks they can see a real person, but it's all a charade to cover what they are up to.

Perhaps Maher would have been charmed by Hitler too, who apparently could be:

"polite, charming, and even generous at times. In private gatherings, he was known to laugh, tell jokes, and share stories. His capacity for personal charm is part of what helped him rise in political circles. He was known to send gifts and handwritten notes, and he enjoyed engaging in long conversations with friends and aides. It’s an unsettling but important reminder of how someone with seemingly “human” traits can still go on to commit atrocities."


View: https://medium.com/@pagany/hitler-the-soft-hearted-side-no-one-talks-about-570c959992ca


I'd rather judge Trump by what he does than by how good he is at schmoozing a comedian who needs ratings.

 

[Ianonabike]

I'd rather judge Trump by what he does than by how good he is at schmoozing a comedian who needs ratings.

A point Maher himself made (except for the bit about ratings). To me it was about the importance of talking to people you don't agree with.

Re-edited to add the bit I removed!

 

[icowden]

In other news, the Led by Donkeys team who were arrested during Trump's visit have not been charged with anything.

No charges will be brought against four men arrested after images of Donald Trump and convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein were projected on to Windsor Castle, Thames Valley Police has said.

The men - a 60-year-old from East Sussex, a 36-year-old and a 50-year-old both from London, and a 37-year-old from Kent - were arrested in September over the incident during the US president's state visit.

They were arrested on suspicion of offences including malicious communications and public nuisance.

This would seem to give solid credence that the only reason for detaining them was because they might have embarrassed the orange shitgibbon. A man so despised he had to have a state visit in a secure location away from the public.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cgmx1kpgr2do

 

[briantrumpet]

A point Maher himself made (except for the bit about ratings). To me it was about the importance of talking to people you don't agree with.

To me that sounded like the excuse to sell the "He's an old softy really" image, while Trump carries on doing absolutely everything he can to punish anyone, including the majority of the electorate, who don't support him, enriching himself from taxpayers, trampling the constitution, murdering people in boats, etc.

I'm sure it's very enlightening to talk to people like Fred West to try to find out what makes them tick, but if the outcome is to say "He's really charming in person", it's not terribly helpful.

 

[Pblakeney]

Daffodils are nice. Trump is a daffodil.
There might be some logic there somewhere.

 

[Bazzer]

But it's OK, because it's only the poor (largely black) and unproductive old that will die early as a result, so the average GPD per head of population will rise. It's a win/win for the people trying to push it through. After all, it's just numbers on a spreadsheet.

By the time the Supreme Court has finished gutting Lyndon Johnson's Voting Right Act, they are effectively going to be disenfranchised anyway.
And if the SC makes these changes before the mid terms, it's another win/win.

 

[Xipe Totec]

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8w3o6oKxQHI&list=RD8w3o6oKxQHI&start_radio=1

Does "up the 'RA" mean something different in American, then? 😕

Anyway, if there was an award for most bland & over-long 'protest' song in history, that wouldn't win because it sounds disturbingly prompt-generated, and wouldn't count as actual music.

 

[Mad Doug Biker]

The right wing.

The Buffalo Wing.

 

[Ianonabike]

Perhaps Maher would have been charmed by Hitler too

Maher certainly got a lot of stick for that segment. I don't want to get into a banal Hitler comparison (with Fred West thrown in for good measure), but can't not share this, a reaction by the incomparable Larry David: My Dinner With Adolf. Archived here, if you don't have or want a NYT account. From the comments: "the very next week, he was slamming Trump again, harder than any other comedian on late night. I understand why people don’t like Bill Maher, but he is the only person on late night who brings progressive, liberal, conservative, and far right wing voices together to discuss issues and have conversations."

As a companion piece, this is worth a read: https://www.ushmm.org/information/press/press-releases/why-holocaust-analogies-are-dangerous (ignore the date, it was written in 2019)