Halls of Shrewd'm / US Policy
No. of Recommendations: 5
No. of Recommendations: 27
Long is right, but have no fear, they provide a link to an even longer version of the article elsewhere.
IMO, assuming Trump and those who help him achieve his goals are stupid is a dangerous path to take. His actions would be stupid only if his goal was to strengthen and improve the USA. His only goal appears to be increased power and profit for himself, throwing the bone of similar results to those who support his goals. In times of chaos, when legal constraints are ignored, there is much profit to be made. Chaos is an intentional feature of this administration, not a bug.
The stupid label should indeed be applied to those who got him into power in the first place. Critical thinking is certainly not the fashion.
IP
No. of Recommendations: 0
The stupid label should indeed be applied to those who got him into power in the first place. Critical thinking is certainly not the fashion.
And if we extend the logic to the people who lost to him, we can only conclude they are even more dense. And regarding those who did lose to him, critical thinking left the left quite a while ago. This is why they are in the position they are.
If I were a Democrat, the above would absolutely drive me insane.
I'm on board with your second paragraph however.
The challenge with Trump and his policies is that many of them have a solid basis in reality (not all) which ties directly into my statement about the opposition being yet more stupid. My expertise is more in the foreign affairs arena so I will stick mainly to that element.
- Ukraine...multiple administrations got us to where we are with all of the big moves during Democratic ones defined as Chechnya (Clinton), Crimea (Obama) and the latest Ukraine (Biden). If you are unable to infer that Putin infers Democratic administrations are push overs internationally when it comes to hard power, I can't help you. On the flip side, Trump has been absolutely bizarre with Putin. I'm generally not into conspiracy theories, but I could almost get behind one on Trump being compromised.
- Threats to the actual US mainland...the top two for a long time have been drug trafficking and cyber. Anyone want to make a counter-case? I'm not sure where I sit on blowing narco boats out of the water with military force but there is the Obama strike against a US citizen that turned jihadist. I wish Congress would not have turned over its war declaring authorities to the Executive, but here we are. The train on undeclared wars left a long-time ago. If you can kill a US citizen without trial by designating them an enemy, doing same for foreign narcos is not a stretch. I mainly see the latest as a continuation of what Congress has permitted with effectively very little restraint/checks and balances.
- Europe...I offer anyone the opportunity in this thread to make the case that they have not been freeloading on defense since the end of the Cold War. It's ridiculous really. Soft power is a good thing to have, but it has never substituted for hard power.
On domestic policy...no one beyond a small vocal minority is losing any sleep on immigration enforcement and a hard pushback on some really non-mainstream cultural issues. This is where I find the opposition about as dense as it gets. It's baffling how stupid they are in being set-up on losing cultural issues by the Trump administration and the response seems to always be. Give me another fist in the face please. Eventually, I believe a new version of Bill Clinton will show up or the D party will no longer govern beyond urban areas. For those of us who are history geeks...does anyone find it interesting how much today is like the early days of the Republic when it was pretty much rural against urban?
Of course we are dealing with chaos as a strategy which I don't think is going to work out great for us over the long haul. Canada and Greenland, just plain weird. Why? So unnecessary. Some (not all) of the tariffs, are not going to work out well over the long haul. I'm on board for tariffs to force back critical industries like pharma, metals, energy, food, chips and critical defense industry. For the thoughtful, Covid was a wake-up call, and personally, I think the Trump crew is doing us all a service by forcing some hard conversations in this area. China has been very astute here to the Western world's detriment...and it has been a deliberate and long-term strategy they have carried out that started in the late 90s. Undercut via subsidies, block from China, kill, take over.
Meanwhile, neither party seems willing to take on the two really big problems we have...the national debt and a very broken and expensive healthcare system. Unfortunately, with a professional political class primarily oriented on keeping their jobs, circuses and bread for the masses continues to be an effective sop.
No. of Recommendations: 1
And for entertainment purposes...I got tired of typing/editing my aboveand decided to throw the whole thing into Claude. Here's AI kbg :-):
# Political Analysis: Current State of American Governance
## On Critical Thinking and Electoral Outcomes
The criticism often directed at those who supported Trump overlooks a crucial point: if we're labeling supporters as lacking critical thinking, what does it say about the opposition that lost to them? The Democratic Party's struggle with critical thinking has contributed significantly to their current predicament. For any Democrat, this reality should be deeply concerning.
## Foreign Policy: Where Trump Has Legitimate Points
### Ukraine and Russia
The path to the current Ukraine crisis spans multiple administrations, with major escalations occurring under Democratic leadership: Chechnya under Clinton, Crimea under Obama, and the full invasion under Biden. A pattern emerges suggesting Putin views Democratic administrations as more vulnerable to hard power challenges.
Trump's relationship with Putin remains troubling and inexplicable. While I'm generally skeptical of conspiracy theories, the possibility of compromise is difficult to dismiss entirely.
### Threats to the Homeland
The two primary threats to the US mainland remain drug trafficking and cyber attacks. While the proposal to use military force against narco boats is extreme, it's worth noting the Obama administration's precedent in striking a US citizen turned jihadist. Congress long ago ceded its war-declaring authority to the Executive branch. If extrajudicial killing of US citizens can be justified by designating them enemies, extending this to foreign drug traffickers becomes a logical, if uncomfortable, next step.
### European Defense
Europe's freeloading on defense spending since the Cold War's end is difficult to dispute. While soft power matters, it has never been a substitute for hard power capabilities.
## Domestic Policy: Cultural Battlegrounds
Beyond a vocal minority, most Americans support stricter immigration enforcement and reject fringe cultural positions. The Democratic Party's continued engagement on these losing cultural issues is politically baffling. They seem to walk willingly into traps set by the Trump administration. Without a modern equivalent of Bill Clinton's triangulation strategy, Democrats risk becoming a party of urban governance only.
This urban-rural divide echoes the early Republic's political fault lines—a fascinating historical parallel.
## The Problematic Elements
**Chaos as Strategy** won't serve us well long-term. The Greenland and Canada rhetoric is bizarre and counterproductive.
**Tariff Policy** is mixed. Strategic tariffs on critical industries (pharmaceuticals, metals, energy, food, semiconductors, defense) make sense. COVID-19 exposed dangerous vulnerabilities. China's decades-long strategy since the late 1990s—subsidize, block access, undercut competitors, dominate markets—has been devastatingly effective. Forcing this conversation is valuable, even if some tariff applications will prove harmful.
## The Real Problems Nobody Addresses
Neither party seriously tackles our two existential challenges:
- The national debt
- Our broken, expensive healthcare system
A professional political class focused on reelection will always choose bread and circuses over hard solutions. Until this changes, expect more of the same.
No. of Recommendations: 0
if we're labeling supporters as lacking critical thinking, what does it say about the opposition that lost to them?
It says nothing. Which is the missing keystone to the irrational statement above.
No. of Recommendations: 34
The criticism often directed at those who supported Trump overlooks a crucial point: if we're labeling supporters as lacking critical thinking, what does it say about the opposition that lost to them?
It says that there has been a massive 25 year program funded by the uber wealthy in the form of think tanks, political organization, and programs at every level (including the USSC) to corrupt the fundamental understandings of democracy and the Constitution (see: corporations are people), and that it has been successful. It says that there is now a powerful media arm of the Republican Party, slavishly parroting whatever the changing party line is on any given day, several lesser media sycophants willing to jump on any train that will carry them to glory - an attitude (or capability) not shared by the liberal arm of the electorate.
It says that the Republicans have tapped into a deep well of discontent, racism, and tax abhorrence, most of which is faux generated but effective, and Democrats have found no alternate message to counter the tsunami of lies and echo chamber so well constructed over time by their opponents.
This ends one of two ways: either the pendulum rebalances, or we slide into the kind of “democracy” we see in Turkey, Hungary, Venezuela, and India - where the media is muzzled, corporate leaders are beholden to a single individual or party, where the opposition is muzzled, and the executive becomes all powerful - but the word “democracy” continues to be used, albeit farcically.
We are perilously close. We have one state militia invading another’s, without the consent or approval of the other - all at the direction of a single deranged individual. We have masked goons kidnapping people off the street. We have the USSC saying “it’s ok to target people because of their skin color”. We have Congressional leaders bending (breaking) rules to gain advantage (see: McConnell’s USSC, and now the refusal to seat an elected Democrat).
Is this partly Democrats’ fault? Yes. But they have historically not been so well organized as the Republicans, who happily fall in lock step. What to do? I don’t know. I’m not sure anybody knows. I’m quite sure not enough people care. There’s a tragedy there, for sure.
No. of Recommendations: 0
It says that there has been a massive 25 year program funded by the uber wealthy in the form of think tanks
Not really
Biden 53% in 2020 with 6 million more voters than Trump 49.8% in 2024.
Sociology is a nonsense science.
Biden or Harris would have been far better. An elderly, faltering Biden would have been excellent in hindsight.
The Biden handoff to Harris failed. Both are to blame.
Then forget that blame because the problems won.
No. of Recommendations: 6
The criticism often directed at those who supported Trump overlooks a crucial point: if we're labeling supporters as lacking critical thinking, what does it say about the opposition that lost to them?
That they are in the minority, of course, in terms of votes cast anyway. That's usually how free and fair elections work. No guarantees that the same will apply going forward.
IP
No. of Recommendations: 8
That's usually how free and fair elections work. No guarantees that the same will apply going forward.
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How many Americans have recently been to Portland, or D.C. or Chicago or LA for that matter? Probably comparatively few. That mean that their perception of what is taking place in those cities is based on the news reported in whatever silo they inhabit.
One group sees reasonably normal cities which have the "normal" amount of street crime that all cities tend to have, a portion of the population made up of undocumented foreigners who generally take the jobs that most Americans shun. Whether domestic servants, gardeners, fruit pickers, dish washers, meat packers flower merchants or pick-up labor, you'll find few Americans bothering to work in that "profession". In some, cases but certainly not all, these workers pay taxes on their wages, but certainly sales taxes, rent, etc. In general, no problem.
The other group sees those cities infested with foreign invaders which the local governments illogically support at great cost to the taxpayer. Their numbers are filled with murderers, rapists and drug dealers. They are also supported by ultra left-wing "Antifa" paid (by foreigners like George Soros) agitators who nightly loot stores and turn the inner cities into battlegrounds fighting against both police and "regular" Americans. It is disgraceful to see our beautiful cities and their innocent populations (especially the white Christian portion) seeing their culture destroyed.
While the first group claims that they are able to maintain control, the second group applauds the use of troops by the Federal government to set things straight.
Regardless of which group is correct (or simply split the difference between the two), the result may be, over the next three years, an expectation of armed federal troops in the streets of our "Blue" cities "supporting public safety". When Election Day 2028 rolls around, that would encourage troops "assisting" at polling sites - something which has happened elsewhere and which fosters the likelihood of crooked elections. To determine what the government is likely planning, simply listen to what 6they accuse others of and assume that is what they are planning.
As our chief executive tries to get the Nobel Peace Prize (which he feels was given in error to Obama), by forcing a peace in Gaza and Ukraine, he is likely evaluating plans to cause regime change in Venezuela, Greenland and, if you believe his rhetoric, Canada.
When we were educated about our government, many things were presented as "guaranteed". It turns out that we may have been misled.
Jeff
No. of Recommendations: 23
the result may be, over the next three years, an expectation of armed federal troops in the streets of our "Blue" cities "supporting public safety". When Election Day 2028 rolls around, that would encourage troops "assisting" at polling sites - something which has happened elsewhere and which fosters the likelihood of crooked elections. To determine what the government is likely planning, simply listen to what 6they accuse others of and assume that is what they are planning.
There is no doubt in my mind that this is the roll out of martial law through desensitization. Starting with the weakest, he is normalizing the process of using the military on US soil, against state government wishes, rolling over US citizens in the process. At some point, this will impact those of us who mistakenly believe their status as citizens will protect them. That will be too late to object.
I don't expect him to wait until 2028, however. 2026 is a critical year.
IP
No. of Recommendations: 0
As InParadise is discussing this is the warm up.
When he defaults on the debt he cancels social programs. He will send the military against us.
