herfiehandbag

If you read his quoted statements in the OP you will see the "Royal we" occurs quite a lot!

Mad as a box of frogs!

What on earth are you talking about? To recap: My post consisted of 6 sentences. The first suggested that if there was " dirt" on Trump, then Musk would be aware of it. The next five sentences discussed the possible role played by money in the Trump/Musk relationship, particularly in view of the money Trump owes. Both your initial and this your latest response bear no relationship to that, but go off on utterly irrelevant tangents. That is why I suggested that you were "frothy mouthed"!

Umh, that wasn't really the point of my post was it, my frothy mouthed friend! Talk about not being able to see the wood for the trees! It was the opening sentence of a post, why not look further and read the following 5 or so - you might just realise what I was saying!

I am sure that if there is any dirt on Trump (and who can doubt that there is) Musk will have it. However it is even simpler, money. Musk funded Trump's campaign to get him elected. This is reinforced by the money Trump owes through court judgements - $580 million or so. Now maybe that amount will be reduced on appeal, but that is far from certain. Sooner or later the courts will come to collect. There is only one place or person that can produce the money - Musk.

With luck it will be finished in time for Melania to dance the night away with Gavin Newson at his inaugural bash in 2029! https://images.app.goo.gl/gkYmp6jCm6feAdo96

I believe Lazada may sell barge poles!

The voters put Trump into office. The office of the President. That office is constrained by the law. Trump and his regime took office fully intending to break the law. Less than 4 hours after swearing an oath to defend and uphold the Constitution he sat down and signed an executive order which removed a provision of the constitution. He started as he meant to go on...

Oh dear - dreams of chaps with leather miniskirts and bronze helmets have come to the fore!

Absolutely - watch out for priests with monogrammed briefcases ...

I heard a figure of 52000 jobs gone this week.

Dynamite in dermatology, now there is a thought! Personally I would have thought using dynamite on zits was a bit over the top!

https://images.app.goo.gl/B7vrQLNHiLC3Vsvw5 https://images.app.goo.gl/dtfoZepGFZD9ofcQA https://images.app.goo.gl/J4G3Tr5BLGLEpjfC6 Of course, the golden age!

Hmm, so all government spending funded by tariffs? Countries will eventually find other trading partners unencumbered by tariffs, so the money will dry up. I'm not sure whether the USA can actually supply anything that is absolutely not available elsewhere in the world, so your exports would be more vulnerable to retaliatory tariffs. Oh dear, more sources of money will dry up. The US dollar is the world's majority currency, because much trade involves the US, and is conducted in dollars. If that trade diminishes (as it will with tariffs) then the relevance of the dollar as a global currency will reduce. Now you may claim that you can fund all your needs education, healthcare, retirement provision, housing etcetera from your own income. But if trade dries up and jobs disappear, and incomes go, what then? North Korea imports little and exports even less. Poor people starve. What a powerhouse that is. I'm not suggesting that the USA will immediately turn into North Korea, but...

In Bob/Colin/BarBoy and goodness knows how many other aliases' case, Weymouth is the end of the line! You can't get much more "3rd worldish" than Portland on a Saturday night!

Oh, I think it is a good idea - I fail to see why it needs the full weight and ceremony of a formal signing of an "Executive order". It is mesmerising to watch Trump leaping like a geriatric obese gazelle from passing bandwagon to passing bandwagon; doesn't change my view of him or the government he is (supposedly) in charge of one bit!

Short answer, the world changed. Prior to 1914 the bulk of world trade was raw materials from colonies to coloniser, manufactured goods from coloniser to colonies. The concept of free trade (enthusiastically promoted by the USA) put an end to that; together with decolonisation post 1945 - behind which the USA was aligned. 1945 found the USA almost entirely dominant in world trade. Out of their rivals, the UK was beaten to it's knees, exhausted by it's efforts during six years at war, it's infrastructure worn out and it's industries battered by bombing, everyone else - Europe and Japan had been bombed to pieces. The Soviet Union, also battered, simply kept itself apart. As the UK, Europe and Japan pulled themselves up, they too joined in International trade. Then new players arrived on the scene, China, Taiwan and Korea. The USA has really never come to terms with these changes. Empires rise, Empires fall. The Romans did, the Spanish Empire fell, the Portuguese, the French and of course the British. In the case of all save perhaps the Romans, freeing up trade played it's part. The USA could perhaps be considered a form of empire, 50 states under central (federal control). Maybe the inevitable is happening? Given the glee which attended the end of the British and French empires in particular, we may perhaps be forgiven in indulging in a touch of schadenfreude?

You have just realised?

After quite a lot of reflection I have come to the the conclusion that there are three main threads to the Trump government. The first to get it into place. The MAGA phenomenon was created by appealing to a variety of groups and sentiments predominantly right wing: white supremacists, Christian nationalism, dislike of immigration, particularly by Latinos, all sorts of conspiracy theorists. These all combined to appeal to a large enough sector of the electorate to get Trump elected (just) and to win equally thin majorities in the House and Senate. Second, Trump was the front man, and placed in the White House is able to pose and strut like a bizarre 21st century reimagined cross between Mussolini and Charlie Chaplin's "Great Dictator". Third, those behind the throne (and they need a throne to hide behind) have an aim which is both simple and complex - to effectively destroy the current Federal Government structure (hence the chaos and disruption) to rebuild it to a new design, of their making, and to serve their interests. I'm sure many will cry "conspiracy theory", well go ahead and shout, but are there any more plausible explanations for this deliberate chaos and disruption?

Nothing can happen until mid April. That is when the appropriate officials' nieces and nephews start their school holidays, and are available to put their M5 IT skills to work on the project!

I expect that he will be appointed. The threat of "primary deselection" to any Republican Senator who votes no will be enough. The new look USA will continue to spiral into chaos.

Sentenced to 4 years in 2024. Completed his sentence. How the hell? The very most he could have served was 25%!

Oh how quickly the sophisticated soignee image slips!

What a terrible slur - that is tantamount to not believing the police when they state categorically that they can find no evidence of prostitution in Pattaya!