The Politics Thread

[My3Cats]

https://www.khon2.com/news/national/ove ... ge-resign/

The musky smelly guy of the office. Is the air conditioning working?
Ho da kusai!

These folks have very high integrity. Kudos.

[Walkoff Balk]

https://www.yahoo.com/news/rfk-jr-said- ... p_catchall

Do you trust having Robert F. Kennedy Jr. in charge?

[shrek2]

This has got to be an all time low in American politics for the leader of the US insulting the leader of Ukraine who's country was invaded by Russia.

[shrek2]

It will actually be interesting if/when the PA Eagles go to the White House since the key players on the team is a black QB and a black RB.

[Walkoff Balk]

This has got to be an all time low in American politics for the leader of the US insulting the leader of Ukraine who's country was invaded by Russia.

https://www.staradvertiser.com/2025/02/ ... ice-clash/

It was a scene out of a high school movie. Vance would go down on all fours behind Zelenskiy. Then, the bully Trump would push Zelenskiy causing him to huli.

[dakineguy]

I read this psychoanalytical breakdown of that conversation recently. All of these tactics are that of a malignant narcissist
1. Blaming the victim for their own situation
Trump explicitly tells Zelensky: “You have allowed yourself to be in a very bad position.” This is classic abuser rhetoric—blaming the victim for their suffering. The implication is that Ukraine itself is responsible for being occupied by Russia and for the deaths of its people.
2. Pressure and coercion into ‘gratitude’
Vance demands that Zelensky say “thank you.” This is an extremely toxic tactic—forcing the victim to express gratitude for the help they desperately need, only to later accuse them of ingratitude if they attempt to assert their rights.
3. Manipulating the concept of ‘peace’
Trump claims that Zelensky is “not ready for peace.” However, what he actually means is Ukraine’s capitulation. This is a classic manipulation technique—substituting the idea of a just peace with the notion of surrender.
4. Refusing to acknowledge the reality of war
Trump repeatedly insists that Zelensky has “no cards to play” and that “without us, you have nothing.” This is yet another abusive tactic—undermining the victim’s efforts by asserting that they are powerless without the mercy of their ‘saviour.’
5. Devaluing the victims of war
“If you get a ceasefire, you must accept it so that bullets stop flying and your people stop dying,” Trump says. Yet, he ignores the fact that a ceasefire without guarantees is merely an opportunity for Russia to regroup and strike again.
6. Dominance tactics
Trump constantly interrupts Zelensky, cutting him off: “No, no, you’ve already said enough,” and “You’re not in a position to dictate to us.” This is deliberate psychological pressure designed to establish a hierarchy in which Zelensky is the subordinate.
7. Forcing capitulation under the guise of ‘diplomacy’
Vance asserts that “the path to peace lies through diplomacy.” This is a classic strategy where the aggressor is given the opportunity to continue their aggression unchallenged.
8. Projection and distortion of reality
Trump declares: “You are playing with the lives of millions of people.” Yet, in reality, it is he who is doing exactly that—shifting responsibility onto Zelensky.
9. Creating the illusion that Ukraine ‘owes’ the US
Yes, the US is assisting Ukraine, but presenting this aid as “you must obey, or you will receive nothing” is not a partnership—it is financial and military coercion.
10. Undermining Ukraine’s resistance
Trump states that “if it weren’t for our weapons, this war would have ended in two weeks.” This is an attempt to erase Ukraine’s achievements and portray its efforts as entirely dependent on US support.
Conclusion
Trump and his team employed the full spectrum of abusive tactics: gaslighting, victim-blaming, coercion into gratitude, and manipulation of the concepts of peace and diplomacy. This was not a negotiation—it was an attempt to force Zelensky into accepting terms beneficial to the US but potentially fatal for Ukraine.

[ubercow]

Dumbass accused Zelensky of potentially starting World War 3. Saying that defending yourself against foreign invaders is going to start WW3 is like blaming robberies on victims who fight back instead of the f-ing robbers.

World War 2 was started by a-holes taking other people's land against their will and WW3 will likely begin the same way. Before this year, three countries were itching to take other people's crap, and starting this year add another dumbass to this list.

All these recent threats by dumbass about annexing a whole bunch of territories under the US umbrella is what would start World War 3 if we were to start taking other people's land against their will. If you thought 50-60 million dead from the other world wars were bad, everyone has nukes now. And it's not those tiny fission nukes from WW2. Current-day fusion bombs are literally 1,000 times stronger, each.

[shrek2]

Thank God for sanity with Melanie Stansbury (D-NM) standing up for what the heck is Elon Musk is doing?


Link
In another speech she talked about the GOP talk during the election of lower prices, so what does eliminating staff of Government Agencies have to do with lowering inflation and at the same time the GOP is looking to increase the debt limit by $4T.

[Walkoff Balk]

Elon Musk is a migrant from South Africa. South Africa has a high crime rate. Make America South African. Yes, Massa, No Massa.
Where's the Tea Party bitchin' about Elon Musk not being born in the USA?

[Walkoff Balk]

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics ... 1711&ei=52

Benjamin Franklin would tell Trump to "Go Fly a Kite!"

[My3Cats]

I appreciate that Zelenskyy verbally fought back and did not back down against the orange buffoon and his hatchet men. Kudos to the European leaders who showed solidarity to Zelenskyy and Ukraine.

[SundayJam]

Ya know...the world distanced itself from Russia's aggression in 2014. Everyone turned a blind-eye even after Russia shot down a commercial Malaysian plane that year...full of innocent civilians. In 2018...the world then celebrated Russia as a World Cup host. Trump even hosted all of the Russian aggressors at the White House shortly thereafter...or was it before the World Cup? Trump says that Russia would never have attacked Kiev if he were president...but he had already given them the green light.



America gave so much and a lot of American companies bankrupted themselves in order to help Russia fight back against Hitler's aggression in World War 2. Ironically, these were the same Russians that had killed more Ukrainians than Jews by Hitler. The same Russians were in league with the Nazis until they weren't. Still, naked aggression had to be checked. Now, we have a signatory of an agreement between America and Ukraine...in which Ukraine gave up its nuclear capability in exchange for security guarantees from AMERICA...and now they are expected to surrender with out a guarantee and then thank America for doing nothing? I don't get it.

[ubercow]

Tariff doofus is back at it again. The two largest buyers of US products (Mexico and Canada) are once again getting taxed 25% to buy our products. Also, China's tariffs (the #3 buyer) went up another 10% to 45%. It's not like there's even a huge trade deficit with the first two. The reason given was "fentanyl," which doesn't even go through Canada.

So what happens when you put tariffs on someone? They put an equal amount of tariffs on you. Prices for stuff we buy from them will increase by the same amount. We buy a lot of gas from Canada, and the American auto industry does a lot of importing and exporting through Mexico. Also, the US sells about 27 billion dollars of soy, and no one other than China buys soy. US Ag industries are going to get screwed again, left with a whole lot of product no one wants, exactly like how it went down in 2018-2019.

And who hurts because of this? Short-term, the countries tariffs get put on, and American businesses and citizens who have to eat these cost increases. US stock market values will also drop a little. Long-term, it just hurts the US because unless we have a monopoly on something, it would be cheaper for other countries to simply update their supply lines and buy stuff from other countries. Finally who else did he threaten with tariffs last month? Japan (#4 buyer), UK (#5 buyer) and the EU, who as a collective buy more from us than Mexico or Canada. Dumbass is playing 1D chess.

If you want to do your own research into these trade numbers, who is selling what to whom, and what prices will be impacted, check out these two sites:
https://ustr.gov/countries-regions
https://oec.world/en/profile/country/usa

[Walkoff Balk]

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics ... 429c&ei=51

You get a pardon! You get a pardon! It's not illegal anymore.

[shrek2]

The tariffs were paused a month for the sake of automakers. Yeah, okay these widgets are made in Canada and Mexico for US Autos but what about the rest of the Economy that depends on cheaper parts from Canada and Mexico? And who's going to satisfy the vegetables and fruit coming from Mexico? Eggs-zactly. Oh, and US exports going to Canada and Mexico, who's going to get hurt?