America did this to itself

That is arguably very true.

 

I don't even see it as a mandate, but I do think it was a rejection of the current D platform. Ultimately it came down to the economy and the belief among a lot of voters that Trump's term was better (it was, but for a lot of reasons not necessarily related to his policies) and that he could restore that.

I don't believe that, but things like deregulation and removing the green mandates from the IRA could superheat the economy and if he listens to the sane people on his team, we could even see some improvements in foreign policy.

Lot of ifs. But one thing is clear. D's are going to have to come up with a completely different plan moving forward.

 

I respect your point of view but based on the house I think it is simply an executive team of incumbents being blamed for pricing. I don’t think people have any idea what impacts the economy though. The things you listed wont due that much honestly. They didn’t the first time with Trump’s sub 2.9% growth record before covid. But my fingers are crossed. I can route for a good economy under Republicans.

 

Agreed. As I like to point out, POTUS economic policy typically has knock-on effect. For instance, CBO estimates that at much as 60-70% of Clinton's vaunted surplus can be credited to Bush's tax increase. So, Trump could easily benefit from Biden's policies (not that they would ever admit that, nor would the D's in the same situation).

Bottom line is the social issues agenda needs to die as much due to a lack of interest from voters and because it's what MAGA thrives on. Any effective opposition will have to be strictly economic focused.

 

According to them, opposition to abortion is misogyny.

Not saying Trump is a role model with his treatment of women, but that line of attack was coming regardless of who the Republican nominee was.

 

I agree they are trying. I believe America itself is to blame for the vast majority of the division.

I don’t think foreign interference of any kind is the reason Trump won in 2024 or 2016.

 

I disagree with the notion that the 2020 election was stolen.

 

No, but I think they're doing really good on the division part and a lot of people don't even realize it. I saw one video a few months back where the guy shows you a Russian bot FB post, then points out the two Russians driving the thread, one from the right and the other from the left.

Thus, we cannot allow the boondoggle with respect to the election stop us from confronting this, or the hacks at FB who not only allow it, but encourage and profit off it.

 

OK, now for the trillion dollar question. If history has shown that POTUS #45 is the worst president ever, does #47 get lumped in with that or does he get his own rating cuz there was someone between them?
Inquiring minds want to know.

 

That is because his victory aligns with your world view of what is "correct". Had Trump lost your opinions would be very different.

 

CNN reporting trump made gains in 49 states plus DC. Any guesses on the
one where he didn't?

 

That is kind of an amusing anecdote knowing that the #1 source for lies, propaganda and state sponsored interference was Elon Musk's Twitter and it is no coincidence that Trump and now Musk have cozied up to Russian money.

 

Trump just won his 3rd straight election.

Trump 3-0
Biden 0-1

 

Similarly, Trump inherited Obama's economy and has taken credit for it. When positive labor market data was released by the Bureau of Labor Statics (BLS) when Obama was in office Trump and the right-wing media labeled the data as phony. After Trump took office the data suddenly became credible. One has to wonder how credible the data will be in the future if Trump can get away with replacing career civil servants with Trump loyalists.

 

Hawaii? Don't know but when they were announcing results as soon as the polls closed in Hawaii they declared Harris won those EC votes.

The other curious state to me is New Mexico. Does anyone know why that usually goes Democrat? Having been there multiple times it doesn't seem that different than Arizona or west Texas.

 

Yeah, but I don't think they really have to coordinate or collude. It's just a "conspiracy" of common interest.

Don't get me started on Elon "John Galt" Musk and the rest of the Randian psychos. Gonna be interesting to see his "tear-it-all-down" mentality cross paths with Trump's "I-want-to-be-popular" mentality. I have a feeling Galt. . . er, Musk's "necessary pain" plan is going to get scrapped pretty early on.

So sad. I guess the Bizzarro Communists will just have to wait to cosplay Atlas Shrugged.

 

I was thinking about the purge last night. Beginning to wonder if he'll even have to, that a lot of those people will just knuckle under anyway based on the rhetoric.

 

I wonder how much of a fan you'll be when your boy overplays his hand and Trump bites back. I can't wait for that.

 

Precisely. Deficit Don will just implement the latest iteration of spending other people's money, most especially on himself. Will definitely start with deficit spending and tax cuts. Why bother, at this point, speculating as to the rest.

I think they'll somehow find a way to see to it that Musk is nonetheless sufficiently rewarded to his satisfaction.

Am wondering how the Rand fanboy connection had eluded me thus far. This post deserves multiple 'best post ever' ratings.

 

If you know these people - or even dabbled at one time - it's so damn obvious. Theil is Galt. Musk is Reardon. Who cares who Dagny is. . . She's so damn boring.