Donald Trump has upended millions of lives in his first 50 days in office

[still kicking]

The continuing resolution that Republicans are putting forth is yet another sneaky way for them to boost the power of Donald Trump and his financier Elon Musk, and pave the way for the pair to solely decide on issues.

The types of programs that would be cut hurt pretty much anyone you can think of, so get on the phone and pressure your senators to vote ‘no’ on this stopgap disaster.

Facebook

[Mike_Hunt]

33 minutes ago, novacova said:

Of course, though the left needs imaginary things to whine about. That’s what this is really about.

The left is this well. 

[spidermike007]

In terms of nasty and reckless moves, one that stands out for me is the gutting of U.S.A.I.D., because it’s illegal and because it’s so flagrantly immoral and utterly self-destructive.

 

During the first Trump term, I would sometimes have to catch myself because even though I thought and think that Trump is uniquely despicable and dangerous, the fact remains that if you just want to look at the number of lives lost and global damage done, George W. Bush really outstripped him. Trump is maybe a worse person, but the damage that he did in his first term was much more contained.

 

I think that in the second Trump term he’s changed that very quickly. Not just by taking America’s soft power and setting it on fire in all sorts of ways, but really making these abrupt decisions that are going to kill hundreds of thousands and maybe more than a million people and he’s doing it in this incredibly arbitrary, careless way. I don’t think he has a coherent value structure as most of us understand it. I think we’re seeing a president who’s operating without anything any of us would recognize as a conscience. Truly.

 

It is about showing what he can get away with. It’s about showing his enemies that what they support, he can tear down. It is all about displays of brute strength. He gets off on that, and in that sense, it seems not so much an autocracy but a flexocracy. Let me show you how I can flex my bicep as I use it to power my fist coming into your face.

 

It’s not about any coherent values. It’s not about any North Star. It’s about showing that you can turn the boat 180 degrees around and that you can do whatever you want and you can bring the people who opposed you to their knees.

 

You see Trump’s approval rating, which was positive for the first couple of weeks of his administration, is already underwater, although only slightly. His numbers in polls on the economy are pretty bad. But the information environment is so bad that it’s not clear to me how much people are making the connection between, say, Trump saying that he can’t rule out a recession and the value of their retirement portfolio crashing. I thought it was a remarkable moment when Trump retweeted — or retruthed ——

 

Trump’s idea of power. If I can destroy, if I can defile and march on relatively unscathed and unpunished, that makes me powerful. Other people can’t get away with it, but that’s how dominant and superior I am.

 

 

[Tug]

He certainly has,disenfranchised 50% of our population tanked the economy refuses to govern in a lawful manner shivved our allies in the guts betrayed a heroic nation fighting for its existence took food away from starving people wrecked our educational system yup been a busy first 50 days no doubt about it to bad it’s all bad.

[Eric Loh]

It’s an opinion piece. I will be objective. Trump is a lunatic and on a cognitive decline 

[mikeymike100]

1 hour ago, hotsun said:

Seems a bit left biased

You are using a euphemism, may I suggest!

[Walker88]

What, doesn't everybody have a rich daddy who co-signs all of your loans, gives you a huge allowance, leaves you a massive inheritance, and even buys $3.2 million in chips at one of your failing casinos when you have a loan payment on another borrowing in NYC you cannot possibly service?

 

Not everyone is "self-made" like the POTUS?

[thaibeachlovers]

22 minutes ago, JimHuaHin said:

Hundreds of millions more likely.

 

Yet, although many of Trump's one-eyed supporters and followers are still wearing their orange coloured glasses, many others have come to the realisation that they have been conned by the snake oil salesman.

 

Time will tell.

I suppose one could call me a supporter of Trump, though I never was till Bernie got back stabbed, and it was HRC , which I could not accept.

However, I have not been conned, so far. I knew what to expect and not been far wrong. On illegal immigration , NATO and the EU/ Britain, I agree mostly with what he's done so far. The rest, I don't really care about.

The west's so called leaders needed taking down before they sank the good ship western civilization, and judging by the chaos in Europe he seems to be succeeding so far.

 

All he needs doing now, is to end Ukraine war, and I'll give him a pass mark.

[Watawattana]

1 hour ago, hotsun said:

Seems a bit left biased

No 💩 Sherlock. 😆

[Watawattana]

3 minutes ago, thaibeachlovers said:

I suppose one could call me a supporter of Trump, though I never was till Bernie got back stabbed, and it was HRC , which I could not accept.

However, I have not been conned, so far. I knew what to expect and not been far wrong. On illegal immigration , NATO and the EU/ Britain, I agree mostly with what he's done so far. The rest, I don't really care about.

The west's so called leaders needed taking down before they sank the good ship western civilization, and judging by the chaos in Europe he seems to be succeeding so far.

 

All he needs doing now, is to end Ukraine war, and I'll give him a pass mark.

I'd add stomping on DEI to your list.  I'm not sure I always agree with how he's going about doing stuff, and I'm not sold on the benefit of all the tariffs, but generally he's doing okay.

[IvorBiggun2]

11 minutes ago, Eric Loh said:

It’s an opinion piece. I will be objective. Trump is a lunatic and on a cognitive decline 

And you have medical knowledge to back up your claim? Nah I didn't think so.

[NumbNut]

1 hour ago, Jeff the Chef said:

 

 

Sky News, you're having a laugh, lol

Fair point. Is Sky News UK as spastic as Sky News Oz?

[Mike_Hunt]

18 minutes ago, spidermike007 said:

In terms of nasty and reckless moves, one that stands out for me is the gutting of U.S.A.I.D., because it’s illegal and because it’s so flagrantly immoral and utterly self-destructive.

 

 

 

USAID was created with by Kennedy with an EO.  Why can't  it be destroyed by an EO? 

[Mike_Hunt]

5 minutes ago, IvorBiggun2 said:

And you have medical knowledge to back up your claim? Nah I didn't think so.

These are the same people who said Joe Biden was fine. 

[Eric Loh]

4 minutes ago, IvorBiggun2 said:

And you have medical knowledge to back up your claim? Nah I didn't think so.

Has Trump revealed his medical record. Nah, he didn’t. 

[Walker88]

1 hour ago, impulse said:

 

Nope.  Just lefty tears.

 

As The Weeknd told me, I'm saving my tears for another day.

 

Those who will be hurt the most are MAGAs. I have no tears and no sympathy for them. Sometimes it takes a kick in the head to smarten up, though I have my doubts they are any more teachable than a paramecium.

 

The typical MAGA is below average in everything from intellect to income. They shop at Walmart, where they will see a massive rise in prices due to the tariffs. At the grocery store they will see price rises as migrants who do lots of harvesting and meat preparation are being sent home. Granted the stock market tumble, now in just its nascent stage, won't impact them as much, because most have no money, but that will hurt the sycophantic elite who now pretend they like the POTUS. They'll be barking even louder for tax cuts when their portfolio falls by 30-50%.

 

Those of us who knew what was coming have immunized ourselves as much as possible from the carnage already arrived and still to come, and we save our tears for the truly deserving, which are not the suffering MAGAs. Serves them right. Darwin Awards all around!

[scorecard]

1 hour ago, hotsun said:

Seems a bit left biased

SkyNews left biased?

 

Rather doubt that SKyNews (operates in many countries) is a flagship of the global Murdoch / News  Empire.

[Eric Loh]

5 minutes ago, Mike_Hunt said:

These are the same people who said Joe Biden was fine. 

Biden and Harris revealed their medical report. Not Trump 🤔

[Lacessit]

1 hour ago, thaibeachlovers said:

We can all be happy, even loony lefties that Harris isn't causing even more chaos around the world than Trump is.

 

BTW, Trump wasn't elected to be just another do nothing much Washington drone. So far pretty much according to plan, except for Ukraine. Can't win em all.

As the leading peacenik on the topic of Ukraine, you may find the link interesting, if not what you want to hear:

 

https://www.theage.com.au/world/europe/document-prepared-for-kremlin-outlines-hardline-negotiating-stance-on-ukraine-20250313-p5lj79.html

[IvorBiggun2]

6 minutes ago, Eric Loh said:

Has Trump revealed his medical record. Nah, he didn’t. 

Quote

 

Presidents don’t make decisions; that’s in the hands of people behind the curtain.

Presidents of the United States are figureheads. The real policy and decision-making is done by others— people you don’t know, who were never elected, but retain their place in power and governance across publicly elected administrations. Those people— individuals, as well as groups— elements of the military, of industry, of the intelligence community— may well be called collectively a “deep state”. The deep state makes the real decisions about the allocation of collective resources.

In the meantime, the President attends official ceremonies, acts and speaks in ways that distract public attention from the workings of the deep state, and are often a lightning rod for unpopular decisions of the deep state. The presidents have performed this role both wittingly and unwittingly— you can think of some examples of both.

When a president needs to make a decision— often for show— s/he will be “advised” as to the decision the deep state wants made. If a president decides to wield power of his own accord, he will be “shown the instruments”— something along the lines of, “look at what happened to JFK”. Indeed, JFK probably met his end because the deep state wanted to eliminate the presidency as a rival for policy and decision-making.

So no, presidents generally don’t make the important decisions, and the decisions they do make are generally provided to them.

 

 

[mikeymike100]

4 minutes ago, Eric Loh said:

Has Trump revealed his medical record. Nah, he didn’t. 

Biden did when was the President......on February 28, 2024, Biden’s physician, Dr. Kevin O’Connor, released a six-page memo after his annual physical, stating Biden was a “healthy, active, robust 81-year-old male” fit to execute presidential duties. This report detailed his conditions—like non-valvular atrial fibrillation and sleep apnea (treated with a CPAP machine)—but found no new major concerns. Earlier, in November 2021, another physical summary was shared, noting similar health details and a lesion removal.

There is no mention of cognitive decline you will notice. Although of course we now know he was practically a vegetable.

[hotsun]

3 minutes ago, scorecard said:

SkyNews left biased?

 

Rather doubt that SKyNews (operates in many countries) is a flagship of the global Murdoch / News  Empire.

Well given that UK is an orwellian state now, common sense dictates that only a fool would listen to anything they have to say

[theshu25]

22 minutes ago, IvorBiggun2 said:

And you have medical knowledge to back up your claim? Nah I didn't think so.

No one has to be a brain surgeon to realise that the orange grifting conman is  a lunatic and has the brain of an ant.

[Jeff the Chef]

22 minutes ago, NumbNut said:

Fair point. Is Sky News UK as spastic as Sky News Oz?

 

Pretty much, all right-wing mainstream media for the great unwashed, only interested in making money, and nothing else.

[Bkk Brian]

32 minutes ago, NumbNut said:

Fair point. Is Sky News UK as spastic as Sky News Oz?

Its mainly left wing in the UK, does that make it spastic?

https://www.allsides.com/news-source/sky-news-media-bias

[NumbNut]

5 minutes ago, Bkk Brian said:

Its mainly left wing in the UK, does that make it spastic?

https://www.allsides.com/news-source/sky-news-media-bias

Thanks for the link to Allsides, this looks to be an excellent page.

 

I see they have an Apple and Android app too for your phone.

 

Have a top day mate!

[Lacessit]

15 minutes ago, Watawattana said:

I'd add stomping on DEI to your list.  I'm not sure I always agree with how he's going about doing stuff, and I'm not sold on the benefit of all the tariffs, but generally he's doing okay.

What is Trump doing OK on?

 

Putin is making him look like a fool. Putin will only settle Ukraine on his terms.

 

https://www.theage.com.au/world/europe/document-prepared-for-kremlin-outlines-hardline-negotiating-stance-on-ukraine-20250313-p5lj79.html

 

Thanks to his health czar, measles cases are rising in America. 97% preventable by MMR vaccination.

 

The $1billion liquor trade with Canada is gone. Supermarkets there have taken American booze of their shelves.

 

DOGE is indiscriminately firing experienced staff. Social Security and Medicare are in chaos. It's war on the poor.

 

Automakers will be importing steel which is 25% more expensive. They are already losing to European and Asian carmakers that are cheaper, and better quality.

 

You think you can sell gas-guzzling behemoths into Europe, where roads are narrower and gasoline/diesel is priced realistically? Good luck with that.

 

You think American farmers will thank Trump for making imported agricultural equipment more expensive, and deporting the labor that helps them stay on their land?

 

Every country is retaliating with tariffs of its own. What do you think that does to American competitiveness on price? The Wall Street Journal has called it the dumbest trade war in history.

 

What is Trump doing OK on?

 

 

[IvorBiggun2]

14 minutes ago, theshu25 said:

No one has to be a brain surgeon to realise that the orange grifting conman is  a lunatic and has the brain of an ant.

 

And nobody has to be a brain surgeon to realise that Trump is just a figure head. And he doesn't actually make the crucial decisions people think he does. 

[impulse]

30 minutes ago, Eric Loh said:

37 minutes ago, Mike_Hunt said:

These are the same people who said Joe Biden was fine. 

Biden and Harris revealed their medical report. Not Trump 

 

 Jeez Louise.  I trust my lying eyes before I'd trust a medical report from a politician.  Or a report from a lefty news source.

 

[impulse]

2 minutes ago, IvorBiggun2 said:

 

And nobody has to be a brain surgeon to realise that Trump is just a figure head. And he doesn't actually make the crucial decisions people think he does. 

 

Does he have an autopen?  Because you're going to be reading a lot about Biden's soon.