Presto

'to say he was planning to sell them ...' Yes, I know that. Apparently Garland didn't know it. I'm talking about Biden if you don't mind. As far as I know he took classified documents to his house, and used at least part of them to help the ghostwriter with the biography. You can correct me if I'm wrong.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but didn't Biden take classified documents to his house to help write a biography, to make money?

I'll explain it to you, just like I explained Trump's win in 2016, and his 10 million more votes in 2020. Just like Trump, Americans in general have no interest in or understanding of democracy and the rule of law. And just like Trump they're not very interested in facts. They're not very well educated. How democracy is valued in a country, can be measured by voter turnout. Where I come from, 80% is the norm. The 66% of the 2020 elections was great in the eyes of Americans, and pathetic in my eyes, considering the circumstances, the choices. They'd rather go with a snake oil salesman, like Trump. Trump is not the problem, he's just a symptom of the state of American democracy. Just like Biden is, by the way. Civilized people all around the world are scratching their head why a crook like Trump is even allowed to run for the presidency again. Well, I just gave you your answer.

National debt (America's national debt) always interests me. It's 130% of GDP now, I believe. You won't be allowed into the EU, where the limit is 60% of GDP. Not that you would want to, but that's not my point. Because of rising interest rates and another downgrade by Fitch (and S&P, many years ago), American taxpayers pay more interest on the national debt than most Western European countries/taxpayers. Actually the annual interest will soon rise to the amount of the annual defense budget. I'm not sure Americans are happy with that, once they find out. Your interest rates on mortgages are also higher, not good for the housing market, and understandably leading to unhappiness about the economy. Higher interest rates also has effects on the credit cards, that Americans are addicted to. More unhappiness. Btw, Trump added 7.8 trillion to the national debt, Biden will add 7.9 according to the CBO. https://www.cbo.gov/publication/59946

Don't you remember James Carville's famous slogan: 'it's the economy stupid!'. That has been pounded into American voters relentlessly. Apparently democracy, the rule of law and common decency don't really matter. While at the same time forgetting that an ordinary American doesn't check the statistics, the facts about the economy, they just go on what they're experiencing every day.

All good options. In my opinion! I forgot to mention that thing about a former president in jail, and what about the secret service. It shouldn't be too hard for Americans to find a solution for that. After all you a man on the moon. Although that's a long time ago. Now America doesn't seem to be capable of building a decent working pier in Gaza.

You're having difficulty distinguishing facts and (your) opinion. My opinion: Trump will never see the inside of a jail cell. Why? Americans, in general, and certainly those in positions of power, don't have the guts. F.i. Garland can solemnly declare that the DOJ follows the facts and the law, but it took him a year and a half to gather enough courage to let someone else to investigate the facts. Effectively kicking the can so far down the road that the federal indictments got thoroughly bogged down, exactly in the election season. Purely on instinct I'd say that Merchan will issue a probation sentence, probably three months or something light like that.

First 'quoque' now 'rascist'. You seem to have a problem with the English language.

First 'quoque' now 'rascist'. You seem to have a problem with the English language.

'quoque'? Do you mean the Latin quoque?

This is always very confusing to me. In America there is a continuing discussion about letting the rule of law follow it's course versus the political consequences that may or may or not have. Pundits on talk shows take that position sometimes (leave it up to the voter!), rabid politicians do it, posters like JonnyF do it, and even the famed AG Merrick Garland, handpicked by Biden, was quivering in his boots just thinking about the possibility of investigating and prosecuting a former president for obvious crimes. Most of which he swept under the carpet, for political reasons I guess. All very strange. To me.

Correct. The question remains, why hasn't the DOJ taken any action about the obvious corruption of Trump and his administration? No consequences whatsoever. Apparently corruption will be ok for whatever administration comes next?

Yes, I know that. There's another high speed railway along the East coast that is not doing all that well I believe. I was going a bit deeper. Car dependency has much more to do with urban it suburban planning. To put it simply: how often do you need your car to do simple daily things: shopping, commuting, schools, etc. How much can you do by walking or riding a bicycle, or decent public transport? 30 years ago I stayed in LA for a while, in Studio City. I walked and rode my bicycle on Ventura Boulevard. I was the only one. Lots of people living there, nobody walking.

Ok, you don't know the difference between facts and opinions. Figures.

Was Saudi Arabia's crude oil production raised because of Biden's begging, or was it lowered? https://www.theguardian.com/business/2022/jul/18/oil-price-rises-joe-biden-saudi-output-petrol-diesel-prices?CMP=Share_AndroidApp_Other

Did he really 'park planned policy' or was it just all bluster? What we do know is that he granted immunity to MBS, and that Saudi Arabia's oil production didn't increase. What we also know: while gas prices in the US are significantly lower than in many other industrialized countries, the constant whining is deafening. And opportunistic politicians like Biden pander to that whining. Which brings me to: car dependency. An unknown concept to Americans I believe, but nevertheless relevant if you want to address the burden of gas prices. I've tried many times to find out, but wasn't able to do it. Does Biden's 1.2 trillion infrastructure plan address in any way car dependency? As far as I know it's about filling potholes and repairing bridges, which is all existing infrastructure. But what about the future? Biden was humiliated by MBS (as he is humiliated by Netanyahu): https://www.aei.org/op-eds/with-so-much-untapped-u-s-oil-why-does-biden-beg-dictators-to-add-production/

Personally I don't like lying just to get an election won, and then changing out of opportunism. I makes politicians look cheap

I can tell you what the health insurance at that age will cost in Thailand. Considerably more than 1 year of her UK state pension ...

Thanks. Very different from NL. My (reduced) 'state pension', the AOW, hasn't been adjusted to inflation since I got it, four years ago. Until this year, 2024. A slight rise! Yoopee!

If I read the article correctly, she left the country at an older age than I did. So she must have lived in the UK longer than I lived in NL. That makes it a little mysterious.

UK state pension, is that Social Security? Only 300 pounds per month? Where I come from (NL), it's called AOW. The amount is calculated by the years you resided in NL and paid taxes. So I don't get a 100%, since I moved here when I was 58. So that's reasonable I'd say. But 300 pounds seems like a pittance.

Do you mean attacking the self-confessed pussy grabber for being a pussy grabber? Me personally, I called Trump a closet-fascist in spring 2016, after watching a handful of his campaign rallies. While most of them had that music he ripped from artists that didn't particularly agreed to it, one of those rallies had Alle menschen werden bruder as opening music, strangely enough. I must admit I was wrong about the closet-fascist part.

Btw, has anyone watched Trump's press conference in Trump Tower? Man, does he look deflated. And that incessant whining and complaining, it's everybody's fault and he's done everything. And that stream of consciousness way of talking. Hopping from one subject to another, unrelated subject and so on and so forth. Like turning over a vat of grievances and lies.

I remember a couple of especially vicious and racist anti-Obama (and Michelle Obama) websites from that time. And of course there was the 24/7 full blast spewing of derogatory remarks by Fox News. And it's affiliates I assume.

I think it started with the election of Obama. The vicious hatred that that brought to the surface, revealed the inherent racism and white supremacist tendencies in substantial parts of American society. Trump just went from there.