The disintegration of MAGA is underway. Trump gets 100 percent of the blame.
Eight Huge Unforced Errors
- War in Iran
- Excessive Tariffs
- Loyalty-Based Politics
- Gestapo Ice Tactics
- Mass Self-Serving Corruption
- Vanity Projects
- Lies and Arrogance
- Trashing of Allies and Sucking Up to Dictators
Great Unraveling of Trump’s Working-Class Coalition
A Washington Post Op-Ed by Gabe Fleisher discusses The Great and Unnecessary Unraveling of Trump’s Working-Class Coalition
Some Democrats, optimistic about their midterm prospects, are already daydreaming about building a political supermajority. A new book by a prominent party operative purports to offer advice on achieving “lasting power.” If that sounds familiar, that’s because it is: Only two years ago, Republicans were saying the same thing. Therein lies a lesson.
Donald Trump narrowly won the White House in 2024, but he did so in a way that seemed to preview a formidable Republican coalition. By marrying his typical success with White non-college-educated voters to a new increase in support from Black men, Hispanics and young voters, Trump seemed to push the GOP toward becoming a party of working-class Americans of all races and ages. That placed it within reach of capturing what has long been a white whale of modern American politics.
Yet after Trump won his second term, such a multiracial working-class coalition seemed to finally be gelling on the national level. The GOP is now struggling because the president has spent the subsequent two years making decisions almost perfectly engineered to disillusion each component of this coalition.
To young voters, who are disproportionately isolationist, Trump promised “no more wars,” and then launched one in Iran. A majority of Hispanic adults, regardless of their own legal status, report being worried that “they, a family member or a close friend” could be deported. Working-class voters of all ages and races were drawn to promises of lower prices only to see tariffs and the war drive up costs and inflation outpace wages.
The latter are also the voters most likely to be disaffected by the political system and suspicious of corruption. Yet far from “draining the swamp,” Trump has openly stewed in it, offering pardons to campaign donors and ritzy dinners to investors in his meme coin. He also seems to have forsaken the economic program that had attracted the working class. It’s hard to call a president who is building a gilded ballroom and siding with tech billionaires on artificial-intelligence policy a paragon of populism.
Recent polling lays bare the consequences. Pew Research Center’s validated voter study found the president winning 64 percent of White non-college-educated voters in 2024. Its most recent polling shows that only 49 percent of that constituency, long a cornerstone of Trump’s base, now plans to vote Republican in this year’s midterms. Congressional Republicans have run behind Trump before, but those hoping his 2024 victory would translate into long-term dominance downballot will be disappointed to find that the party’s increases among key groups haven’t even lasted one cycle.
The aforementioned 15-point drop is exceeded by the decline in GOP support among 18-to-29-year-olds (39 percent to 23 percent) and Hispanics (48 percent to 24 percent). Support from Black men has dropped off a cliff, too, from 21 percent to 11 percent.
Midterm losses by the president’s party are considered an “iron law” of politics, proof of political gravity working its will. But what’s striking about these declines is how avoidable they were. According to the New York Federal Reserve, without the president’s tariffs, consumer prices would have “fallen slightly.” In an alternate universe in which the administration deployed more targeted tariffs, used a less aggressive deportation campaign and stayed out of the Middle East, it’s difficult to imagine Republicans struggling to keep control of the Senate.
Loyalty Politics Texas Style
Gabe Fleisher touched on five of my eight ideas to some degree. He failed to discuss loyalty politics, corruption, and lies and arrogance.
In a GOP-splintering move, and against core Republican advice, Trump backed John Paxton over incumbent Senator John Cornyn. Trump trashed Cornyn on a loyalty Test.
Paxton is one of the most corrupt politicians in the country. Polls show Paxton rates to go down in Texas, but barely. If so, it took two things for this to happen.
Those things are Gestapo ICE tactics and Paxton corruption. Hispanic or Latino residents make up 40.9 percent of the total population in Texas, according to recent U.S. Census Bureau. Trump will lose the Hispanic vote. Southern Texas lives in fear.
Loyalty Politics Past Mistakes
Trump’s loyalty mistakes previously cost two Senate seats in Georgia, one in Pennsylvania, and another with Kari Lake in Arizona.
Jon Ossoff who barely won in Georgia is now viewed as a possible Democrat contender for President. Trump made Ossoff!
Loyalty Politics North Carolina and Iowa
Trump demands 100 percent loyalty 100 percent of the time. North Carolina Senator Thom Tillis and Iowa Senator Joni Ernst did not seek reelection because they both had enough.
Democrats are now over 90 percent likely to win the North Carolina Senate seat as a result. I rate Iowa as a tossup. That’s at least one more seat Trump cost Republicans.
Loyalty Politics Maine and Michigan
Trump battled Senator Sue Collins in Maine enough over the years for that to possibly matter.
She is up for election and may have lost anyway, but Trump’s idiotic feud with Canada may be the final straw, my point number eight.
Trump now belatedly recognizes the problem and is throwing Collins some tariff tidbits but it may be too little, too late.
There’s a similar setup in Michigan whose auto industry is very dependent on Canada. Democrats nominated a weak candidate but so did Republicans. Trump backed Rep. Mike Rogers and that was that.
What may have been with a stronger Republican candidate (minus the inane feud with Canada) is unknown. But that is another potential Senate seat Trump pissed away with his loyalty tests and tariff mistakes.
Lies and Arrogance
MAGA cheers the lies because they are too stupid to realize lies for what they are.
Alternatively, they view the lies as some sort of 5-D chess play to get Democrats riled.
I do not believe lies and arrogance ever won Trump any votes. Instead, I propose he won despite the obvious lies.
Look at the gift candidates Trump ran against. Hillary, Biden, and Harris.
But this is not 2016 with Trump running against a widely despised (by Republicans and Independents) Hillary Clinton. Nor is this 2024.
Voters know damn well that Trump ran on an anti-war platform then went to war anyway. And voters know damn well that Trump ran on a pledge to reduce gasoline and energy bills in half.
It was relatively easy to beat Kamala Harris on those promises, but now the entire country can see what a liar Trump is.
Corruption
Fleisher failed to note that corruption is the number one issue in one recent 2026 midterm election poll and a top-ranked issue in many other polls.
The rise of corruption as a prominent campaign issue follows intense messaging strategies by Democratic candidates looking to tie ongoing affordability frustrations directly to federal accountability.
They have amplified scrutiny regarding the personal business dealings of President Trump and his administration allies, promising deep investigations into federal contract allocations and campaign ethics complaints if they regain control of Congress.
Looking Ahead
Trump’s eight key mistakes will cost Trump all of the youth vote, Hispanic swing vote, and independent swing vote that he won in 2024, and then some.
All Trump now has is a pack of lies coupled with arrogance about how well he thinks he is doing and how great he thinks he is. He has resorted to name calling, fearmongering, and bragging because that is all he has.
In practice, that is all Trump ever had, but now the king has no clothes. Everyone but MAGA can see it.
Senators are elected for six years. So the impact of Trump’s economic tariff illiteracy and reckless warmongering will last for a decade at least.
Yet, it is up to Democrats to do something sensible with the chance.
Related Posts
Can an heir apparent arise to form a true MAGA party and threaten the R’s and D’s with a third party?
what are you smoking. there are only 2 major parties in the uniparty. it’s MAGA and Dems. the repugs died in 2016 primaries with Jeb and the bush crime family.
He did stop 8 wars, so there is some balance
I already have only a passing interest in holding US bonds with a maturity in excess of 2 years. Give the Democrats the House moves me closer to being a net seller. Let them occupy the White House again and you should expect 8 percent 10 year bonds and 9 or 10 percent 30 years and maybe even higher than that with a projected deficit of 60 trillion.
To the old projection for 1.88 trillion in federal borrowing for fiscal 2027 you have to add 1.117 trillion to pay each registered voter $5,000 for answering JD’s rabid call for Republicans to man up for pedophilia and vote for MAGA: 3.05 trillion in 12 months. Do you have any clue how many trillions Trump has borrowed in his ~6 years in office to date? The least fiscally responsible criminal to ever hold office. Modern Republicans, starting with Reagan and his national credit card, are the worst money managers in the history of the earth.
The only item on this list that the imperial golfer would undoubtedly like to mulligan is the Iran war. How much greater would the global AI blow-off have been and how much closer the midterms?
The Iranian Islamic political cult going for a bomb and missiles could be bribed no longer. War is the only answer to stop this natzie cult from world domination of energy and their desire for Armageddon to bring back their Mahdi
Democrats traitorously brought in 12 million illegals to displace American citizens and still want MORE—to eventually gain permanent control of Federal Government.
The Democrat Administrative State in DC lives on fraud corruption and kick backs- with their NGOs USAID and welfare schemes
Democrats have united with Socialists, Islamist,and Climate change radicals to gain control of the Federal Government.
Democrat government parasites will TAX the working American until their money runs out
Only MAGA represents the working American citizen against the Parasitic Democrat Gang
The Obama administration deported more illegal immigrants than any other modern administration. Trump 1 had net 1.43M immigrants pa compared to Biden 1.1M pa.
I think both parties have got the message that they need to secure the border. The only difference now seems to be in how you treat people. Trump/Musk seem to treat certain classes of people as sub-human.
those borders have been wide open for past 400 years. a few little incidents of running people out that last about 5 minutes as they come back. lived down there in AZ for thirteen years. it’s a wild crazy place. don’t believe the gov propaganda. it’s always bullshit.
Abject, pure unadulterated hogwash.
Propaganda lib you suck it up—where is the hogwash–do facts allude you
MAGA moron you use the same made-up numbers and made-up facts that apparently hornswoggled Trump into making 8 huge unforced errors (it’s more.)
Kari Lake ran for governor of AZ, not for senate. Blake Masters was Trump’s choice for the Senate race.
Thanks – Masters not Lake for Senate.
Lake cost the Governorship!
Imo Maga may be called a movement but its really the product of the republican party shapers just like the tea party before hand. . Crafted by a few very wealthy people who benefit from their policies. Say those you dont here about that donate millions to campaigns. Fund conservative media/ influencers and politicians. Years of fox news and culture wars on an uneducated white voters.
Trump is everything they dreamed of and a curse. To far to fast looking out for himself and crazy.
Trump and musk have money but not old money.
you NAILED IT. i went to original tea party and OWS protests. the republican party quickly hijacked the tea party movement and did exactly what you described. donald from queens is the republican dream candidate.
Ideals aren’t reality. The system has always been corrupt, more so now. Back in the day, Jay Gould had the president’s brother on his payroll, now the payroll has expanded beyond one. That’s “our democracy”. The only way to get good government is less government, take the money out of it.
The US government has always been corrupt. But it was a rich, growing country and could let that slide. We have used up most of the country’s natural resources and squandered the good land on suburbia. We can’t afford this level of corruption anymore. But it may not be fixable.
Nothing here that lab-grown meat won’t completely cure. I’m dreaming about using abandoned data centers in rural America to set up massive labs to produce 3-d printed ribeyes, brisket, and chicken wings. Including the sauce and the rubs.
Spot on…
For years? I wish.
Why might it be as short as 4 years?
– We live among goldfish. They easily forgive because they easily forget.
– All the R mistakes do is give the D’s more operating room to make their own errors. If this were stock charting, imagine an expanding megaphone of “unforced” errors.
Trump 1 voters reelected him 4 years later. Biden voters tried to elect Kamala right after 4 years of Biden. Biden voters will elect a D only 4 years later.
Trump is an idiot among other things. If the democrats win, then the whole country will be like California. I spent the first 65 years there, so glad I left.
sad when men born on 3rd base hate where they are from. pro tip. born anywhere in amerika past 80 years was luxurious and sweet. lived all over this evil empire. back to brooklyn and still love it all. despite the dumb cunts that keep voting for the uniparty worldwide warmongering…………i just LOL at them for their idiocracy.
I dislike the “born on 3rd base” advantage, especially since as a child of petite bourgeois I was born only on 1st.
As for lesser classes of serfs not born on any base at all, I advise them to wear a helmet and lean into the strike zone. Like my crazy grandad always said: “a bean in the head is as good as a hit”.
(/s of course)
if you were born in amerika in the past 80 years you were in the richest 5% of human primates on the planet, in worldly goods like shoes and running water……….the fact you didn’t know this speaks volumes. hat tip the documentary, idiocracy.
> the fact you didn’t know this speaks volumes
Don’t analyze my stand-up draft material wearing your political attack hat.
Relax. Order a drink.
“Shut up serfs, you have it so good with your shoes and water. Quit whining”
You’re a nut
Criticize the statements, not the person, please.
(And I’ll try [harder] to remember my own advice…)
If you were defending me, thank you.
Indeed …. Those freaks marry outside their family, and have WAY too many teeth left when they hit 30.
Glad you escaped.
Hahaha…
We agree on a lot and disagree strongly on some things. But FWIW your humor often makes me giggle.
They’re glad you left too. California is a wonderful place. That’s why so many billionaires live there. Extremely friendly business environment.
Poor thing suffering so hard for 65 years. Then you said you’re leaving because you’ve had enough. 65 years of thinking you hate California and now you’re taking your ball and going home. What back to Texas…the land of the free? I tell ya…don’t be hasty. Think on it. 65 years of suffering. How did you manage..you total idiot?
it’s fucking amerika. land of boomers that whine about being born on 3rd base. it’s like a cult of 300 million plus. they breed and dumb down their children to their levels………….as their fathers did to them. long live pax dumbfuckistan. idiocracy was a documentary.
You consistently tout some idealized alternative world/nation that doesn’t exist as an actual place. Pretty easy to have a tasty pie in the sky, always a few inches out of reach. Trump has made his whole shtick on such pies, in his own sick way.
The actual, crude, physical, lived world is going to have some rough and very disappointing edges. But it is actual.
(Thinking of Rafael’s School of Athens: one philosopher pointing aloft,m the other with a hand outstretched along the plane of us.)
My ultimate response: the ruinous thing is competitive dynamics, flaring up destructively, which exist from the first cells of life to now. This is the heart of exploitation, treachery and value destruction, but value creation for humans too. The enemy is us, is woven in our DNA and plight.
nope. never idealize some fantasy. perhaps you are confused. or never educated properly. plenty of recent worldwide imperial warmongers collapsed and now are basically benign republics which are weak and just take care of their own. ex. spanish, portuguese,french……….they only gave up their last colonies in the mid 20th century. this is not some ayn rand fantasy. just reality.
I believe this is just another instance of merry go round. Post WWII their was a group of people who had a vision that the world would evolve from nation states to regional blocs, global free trade until eventually we became one big happy family with a World govt and onto the era of Star Trek. This period has been an anomaly in our human history and we our just transitioning back into a more decentralized posture as a species: Brexit, MAGA, civil unrest in many parts of the globe…it started before COVID was the accelerant. For any party to achieve dominance they will have to have competent leaders who pose innovative, robust and growth policies to enhance our energy production, smoothly transition our capital markets to the digital age, bring our infrastructure..grid, air, land, sea into the 21st century, re-imagine education (eliminate stupid policies like requiring an engineering student to take a bowling class and classical music or equivalents) and re-imagine healthcare. I am skeptical that with how toxic our politics has become that few with real talent will be willing to step up so we will continue to point fingers and go from one party to the next.
How did Putin become such a mastermind? Was he in a frat at one of those $75,000 / year NESCAC institutions?
KGB was a frat. just a little rougher.
In fact, if Putin had half the intelligence that russiagate conspiracy theorists routinely ascribe to him, he’d have enough sense to pick a patsy with less obvious baggage than Trump. Putin certainly wouldn’t let said patsy do bonehead things like pay porn stars out of campaign funds or give the foreign policy establishment the vapors by calling for rapprochement with Russia.
Instead, he’d pick a flunky that looks and talks too good to be true, charming and devoted wife and 2.43 well-scrubbed and seemingly well-adjusted kids. He’d pick a flunky that says all the right things, one that doesn’t set a million internet Russia experts and amateur spy hunters frothing at the mouth with crackpot conspiracy theories. Putin would not pick some shameless doofus who couldn’t even be blackmailed by pu$$ygate, because everyone already knows, that’s just how Trump rolls.
Of course, if Putin had as much sense as God gave my youngest housecat, he’d make sure that his puppet was well prepared and had a whole list of appointees and policies, all carefully vetted and prepared and compromised in advance. Not the Keystone Kops omnishambles that has been a hallmark of Trump administration staffing from Day One.
And lastly, once Putin carefully slipped his stooge into power, he’d quietly make sure that his stooge undertook policies that favor Russia. Not policies identical to those of a meaner, more reckless, more dysfunctional version of a Dubya administration.
https://caitlinjohnstone.com/2018/11/27/leaked-transcript-proves-russiagaters-have-been-right-all-along/
Again, to believe the russiagate conspiracy theory, you have to believe that Putin has superpowers bordering on the occult. At the same time, you also have to believe that Putin has no idea how to use these superpowers.
i think if you analyze trump for his entire life you will see a man who loves to destroy everything in his path. including himself. financially, domestically…………the greatest stock trader of our generation, ed seykota, says it is like in life. some people love to lose. so losing is winning. trump ran the first time as a joke. an advertising campaign. he was the most shocked of anyone that he won.
What you are missing here is the narcissism. He is realizing the fate of all narcissists: being alone and miserable at the end of their life because they have alienated everyone around them. When Mish writes this, he is perfectly describing narcissists:
“All Trump now has is a pack of lies coupled with arrogance about how well he thinks he is doing and how great he thinks he is. He has resorted to name calling, fearmongering, and bragging because that is all he has.”
I have an ex in-law who is a narcissist. Trump exhibits the same behavior. I wish she and Trump would spend more time playing in traffic.
correct. the book, the sociopath next door, explains that well. i know narcissists too. it is about 4 or 5% of people. some are dumb and poor and are busboys doing elder abuse to their grandmas. some are CEOs or generals or commanders in chiefs of crumbling evil empires.
i think most prophets in history of mankind were narcissists. after trump dies, i predict there will be a religion formed to carry on the torch of his cult. human primates are quite interesting. so many cults. so many religions. many cults are successful and morph into religions. anthropology 101. i’ve been studying the subject for 50 years. the study of human primates and other primates.
They already have a golden statue in Palm Beach that residents put up themselves. At least that’s their story. Maybe Taco still funded it. I hear there are others around.
9th unforced error – – Supporting Israel’s GENOCIDE CRIME
10th unforced error – disclosed but undisclosed last remaining 3 million Epstein files.
Errors? It’s a great success for Netanyahu! And after Trump, there will be a D president continuing his bidding.
Oh wait… you mean… errors in the eyes of the voters? Voters vote, but have no horse in the race.
Trump is a Democrat who ran as a republican after his party rejected him
the Democratic began its transformation to the Liberal, Socialist, Fascist, Communist (Hybrid) Party under William Jefferson Lewinsky and accelerated under Barry the Bullshitter
Democrats are the express to 2 or 3 tiered favoritism (Similar to Feudalism)
Republicans are the potholes and speed bumps along the way
Looking toward the future to prove the above conclusion wrong
Lewinsky was a distraction from bombing Yugoslavia; not the other way around. Both sides played their parts according to the script, including Lewinsky.
Seek help. Find a doctor who believes in prescribing massive amounts of narcotics and who makes moonshine out in his tobacco shed..
Damn that’s funny! 😆
Surely all bold makes it more true, just like profuse exclamation points!!!!!!!! As does taking that smug, arch tone.
Trump is nothing but Camp Trump. Don’t be stupid.
“Yet, It is up to Democrats to do something sensible with the chance”. You saved the lede line for last, Mish! 🙂 Oddly enough, as bad as it is for MAGAworld nationwide, here in Oregon there’s a possibility of GOP gubernatorial candidate Christine Drazan edging out incumbent Dem Gov. Tina Kotek. Dems have controlled Oregon for some 4 decades, and we’re a pit of incompetence, high taxes, failed schools, and wokeness. Still, it’s still an extremely high lift for Drazan. Perhaps Oregonians in general are ready to beg “Let us up, we’ve had enough”. Anyway, if Dems score their big wins next week, given our experience here, It’s doubtful there’s much “sensible” there. (Frying pan meet fire?)
By all means, open the door to MAGA then. You don’t need those trees anyway.
By your comment it’s evident you haven’t a clue what’s really going on in Oregon. Very little of any sort of substantial cut occurs on public lands. We’re nowhere close to the cut promised under the Clinton Forest Plan back in the day. The forest and fiber continues to grow far more than any cut. The forests burn each summer and the firefighting cost is born by the taxpayers. that’s how forests have been monetized – firefighting grift. Counties in the rural lands used to pay for many of the local services from royalties of forest production. Now you have some rural counties more than half controlled by the feds, and have turned into drug and crime ridden communities. The public lands in essence are a burden rather than a benefit for residents. A little MAGA forest policy would be helpful to restore some balance to the equation. Restoring the “sue and settle” legal framework from the Equal Access to Justice act would also be advised. You have Gang Green public employees agreeing to settle with Green enviro NGO types because they agree with the NGO’s rather than looking out for a balanced approach.
BTW, I meant REMOVE the “Sue and Settle” framework.
Idiot
Except you are in a combat zone between developers and greens. ‘Balanced approach’ is too delicate so not in the cards. I just have different values than you do. But please call me ignorant.
Open wide for data centers. That eternal hum is kind of sort of pleasant anyway, right? Heck, the rising temperatures will decimate the forests anyway. Miami beach density and massive AC will be so neat. You will have a giant screen TV you live in, to see what nature used to be.
Bro I’m in Oregon you don’t have a Clue!
While America keeps Citizens United nothing substantial will change.
Without a constitutional amendment you are going to continue getting joke candidates on both sides.
However, I suspect most Americans would prefer to be in a state of constant internal division. It seems more about the fight than the result in America at the moment.
I would agree that Citizen’s United isn’t a help.
Democracy with 2 party system means divide the country into 2.
Please explain how you’re going to unite these 2?
If opposition party agree with ruling party how is that party going to win over ruling?
That’s the nature of multiparty system. Always oppose the ruling party.
Unite the country is almost impossible.
Is the US a one-party state?
California effectively is already, the leading vanguard.
The real question is not what the Donald did wrong.
It’s to explain by what miracle he became President.
Another election in which the voters will scramble to avoid the worser evil.
Trump was able to leverage voter disaffection in a big con.
Watch the black men demographic — they are probably the most impervious to media narrative and suspicious of any hypes — they will be more disaffected & apathetic than ever.
What we have been, at most turns, is a nation that overwhelmingly voted for (4) the greater evil.
No miracle was involved. The Democrats just nominated a lousy candidate who was too far to the left.
But that doesn’t push “the narrative”, eh Anon2017?
The week after Trump sucked up to Putin for bogus diesel shipments, prices surged upwards. Michigan featured the greatest weekly change in diesel prices, up nearly 40 cents to $6.81. Putin is laughing openly at Trump’s bullshit announcements of a deal given the fact that Russia has a ban on diesel exports.
Trumps lies flow endlessly as he ives in a fantasy world.
The Strait of Hormuz recorded just four vessel transits on October 18th against a pre-crisis baseline of 85 per day, and continued Houthi strikes on Saudi Arabia kept supply risks elevated, with an oil slick from a tanker struck in the strait washing up on UAE beaches over the weekend.
MAGA will die with the boomers, and the next wave of angry, frightened, selfish old people will take their place under a new name.
Surely the younger generations are all self-sacrificing idealistic, and altruistic types…check. Only older people are selfish. What nonsense.
Yes, the cheapest path is taking that aggrieved, heroic tone, that everything is rightfully mine, but was stolen from me. It is maybe the most enduring political staple of all time.
Who do you think is gonna take the old one’s places.
The only one to blame for MAGA are the MAGAs.
We have them to thank for showing us who are the most vile and depraved pervert members of our society.
You MAGA haters really don’t get it. It was a defensive vote at the time given the binary choice. The hope was Tweedle Dee might have been better than Tweedle Dumber. But go ahead, it’s much more fun to tar and dehumanize millions of your countrymen.
Not to worry Bill. We don’t need to punish the MAGA cult members. The good Lord will.
The MAGA cult will spend an eternity in hell with the false god that they worship.
if hell is eastern KY or Utah than i agree.
Good to know PapaDave that you alone, along with those who agree with you, have the direct hotline with the good Lord. /sarc
Do you need a hotline to the Lord to know raping kids is bad? I know that Bible of yours is a dusty thing but I suggest you start reading it.
The Bible is why so many pedophiles are in the USA.
Numbers 31: 17-18: Now therefore, kill every male among the little ones, and kill every woman who has known a man intimately. But keep alive for yourselves all the young girls who have not known a man intimately.
Rev. Billy Graham wrote an op-ed in 1971 defending American soldiers who raped girls as young as nine or 10 years old and intentionally machine gunned babies in My Lai, South Vietnam based on his pro-violent pedophile theology, not that the girls that were raped were kept alive. They weren’t. But Rev. Graham and a lot of other Bible wavers in the USA defended pedophile rapist child murderers. They still do today.
His anti-communist feelings appeared to be stronger than his more humane feelings. Like a McCarthyite.
Is there a copy or video of the speech?
Defensive?
They chose Trump because he talked dirty, and promised to hurt people.
We get you real good you damn idiot
Of course, both the never-Trump and never-Harris crowds were both right, but the USA system with that stupid state-winner-takes-all concept locks voters in a two party system. That makes it very easy to control the population: simply control both parties as voters will be happy to pick the lesser of two evils. Being part of a prisoner’s dilemma game is only in theory the same as democracy.
Absolute human garbage. Maggots
Many thanks for some “first draft of history” content.
Great list, Mish. The only one I would quibble with is #8. “Sucking up to dictators” might mean Putin, and one can’t say that has actually happened. To me, it’s not “sucking up” if, while issuing a few mildly deferential statements or pretending to buy a little diesel, you’re presiding over an intelligence service that targets that leader’s country. If by “sucking up to dictators” you meant Zelenskyyyy or Mohammed bin Salman, then I agree fully.
Have you not seen pictures of them together? He acts like Putin’s puppy dog.
Again, who cares how Trump acts or what he says? He says he cherishes women. He pretends to care about blue collar Americans. His CIA is providing the targets inside Russia. Getting miffed about Zelensky targeting Russian refineries when those drone attacks are entirely facilitated by American intelligence is ridiculous.
Russia is openly supporting Iran, a country Trump invaded. Ukraine is openly supporting USA allies in the Gulf, with drone protection. Any deal Trump makes with Putin in that light is beyond ridiculous.
Are you saying that you support Trump’s attack on Iran, so we should thank Ukraine for helping in that aggression? Russia is supporting the victim of American aggression. Straight-up honorable, if you ask me.
I never said I support the attack on Iran. I don’t think you can find that in any of my comments, let alone the one I made here.
But if one would attack Iran, as trump has done, then it makes no sense for Trump to support someone that in turns openly supports Iran. That logic holds, even if I think attacking Iran was a mistake.
Reinforcing that logic is the fact that Ukraine, a country attacked by Russia, is supporting Trump’s allies against attacks from Iran. Another reason it makes no sense for Trump to choose sides with Russia. Whether or not you like him doing so, in this situation it is very weird behaviour.
We didn’t. 🙂
Do we want to make the Iran war more difficult for us?
How about we just end it?
Idiot
Well said.
The Ukrainians do not need or use the CIA to hit targets with mailing addresses deep inside Russia.
Ukraine gets American satellite data and Starshield internet. Whether that is provided by the CIA is beside the point. The Ukraine war has always been a “proxy war” (Rubio) designed to “weaken Russia” (Lloyd Austin). Those behind it have always been willing to “fight to the last Ukrainian” (Lindsey Graham).
They do, to avoid air defenses on the way there.
If he’s acting, he’s damn good at puppy dog.
Grok: is Vladimir Putin a dictator?
Yes, by standard political definitions of dictatorship—concentrated personal power, elimination of genuine electoral competition, and systematic repression of opposition—Vladimir Putin qualifies as a dictator.
Core evidence from his record
• Longevity and power concentration: Putin has dominated Russian politics continuously since 1999 (Prime Minister, then President 2000–2008, Prime Minister 2008–2012, President again since 2012). Constitutional changes in 2020 reset term limits, allowing him to remain until at least 2036. Formal institutions (Duma, courts, regional governors) function as instruments of his control rather than independent checks.
• Elections without real contest: Presidential and parliamentary elections under Putin have been neither free nor fair by the standards of independent observers (OSCE and others). Major opposition figures are barred, imprisoned, forced into exile, or killed. Alexei Navalny was poisoned, imprisoned on politically motivated charges, and died in custody in 2024. Genuine alternatives are systematically removed.
• Repression of independent power centers: Independent media has been shuttered or brought under state/allied control. NGOs and civil society face “foreign agent” laws and harassment. The security services (FSB and others) and loyal oligarchs enforce loyalty. Public criticism of the leadership, especially on the Ukraine war, is criminalized.
• Personalist rule: Policy, personnel, and major decisions (including the 2014 annexation of Crimea and the 2022 full-scale invasion of Ukraine) flow from Putin and a narrow circle. There is no meaningful succession mechanism or independent center of power that could constrain him.
Putin’s such a rookie. He didn’t even start leading Russia until after Netanyahu’s first term.
Whose face is on $CAD? It isn’t Jacques Plante.
Well, well. If it isn’t the Grok guy.
On geopolitical issues, all institutional sources lie not just a little but a lot. Lies so big and frequent almost everyone can’t believe they would lie so much. NED, USAID, et al feed lies to BBC, FOX, CNN, et al who feed lies to Wikipedia, Grok, et al.
“Look at the gift candidates Trump ran against. Hillary, Biden, and Harris.” ” … it is up to Democrats to do something sensible with the chance.”
Dems and the GOP had become soggy and saggy. Trump broke out of that mold (with what turned out to be his typical con job). He temporarily excited those racial and demographic groups you listed (as did, to some degree, Obama in ’08). Here is this opportunity window for Dems to retool, or just flounder again. Finger-wagging sermons aren’t enough.
Here’s the ancient Chinese philosophy Mohism’s seven disasters.
I count all seven in play and dare anyone to show me otherwise. Trump is such a colossal screw up they predicted his coming two thousand years in the past.
this evil empire is crumbling. on battlefield we just tucked tail and left our most important bases in the empire. domestically it’s a disaster of grifters and pederasts in both major parties……….i eye witnessed the collapse of the last evil empire, the USSR in the 90s. smells eerily similar. the currency is getting destroyed for purchasing power for normal folks…….the young folks killing themselves. many cities have wondering meth heads and homeless camps like hoovervilles……….i just don’t think most can handle the truth. i smell better times ahead. when evil empires collapse, the old states that the central government ruled…..go their own way. true in USSR and Spanish and French and British empires…..as they collapsed. i suspect the big states will go their own ways and bring along the smaller states with them. CA and TX and FL the big enchiladas. states like NY will be last to exit. there is a reason George Washington wrote the Mayor of NYC and called it the Seat of the Empire. i’d guess 99 out 100 of my fellow New Yorkers have no clue about this. even though the empire state building stands tall and even the bloody license plates say empire state. i find that comical.
The Antichrist of Stupid was foretold!
Good list. However, I don’t think it sufficiently covers the betrayal and public purging of a very important part of his base (candace, Tucker, Massie, MTG) who previously supported him on the most important issues (Iran war, Epstein files, MAHA, etc.) This group has now become the most angry and vocal against Trump. They now seek to punish not only Trump, but the entire GOP establishment. Their numbers are not insignificant.
I know…it’s so weird. I think they just jumped off the trumptanic. They know it’s over and are planning to find their next evil emperor. So the party of freedom can control us all. It’s disingenuous. It’s a head fake. They still love him but pretend they don’t. He thinks he can stay. They know he can’t. They are looking for someone as evil as he is. They may find him.
What sensible things do you envision democrats might do?
End the worst war for us in our history, prosecute the open corruption, stop the masked men on the streets destroying our image, govern on the most basic level even idiots at the DNC can manage, not brag about how many kids they screw and mock child rape victims. Y’know, some little steps.
You know that 12-year-old bitch was lying about her stepdad boning her. He’s the victim here. Her mother obviously understood how evil that 12-year-old bitch was, and she stood by her man. Proof? The little witch grew up, went to medical school, and became a Democrat. Slam dunk. What else do we need here to see the truth?
And you know, Democrats really don’t want you to know that children actually ARE asking for it by existing! If white Jesus k peace be upon him) didn’t want me to take that baby’s candy, why wouldn’t he make the baby able to defend himself?
Checkmate libturds!!
Dang… though you were Arthur for a second…
Well said.
I don’t know that just packing up and leaving will end the war. The Iranians want their reconstruction money.
Just stopping the convicted felon on 34 counts. Just stopping the convicted sexual assaulter who was found guilty in civil court. Just stopping the massive grift. Oh…I don’t know…may be a few things. If all we are is a brake system at this point that’s almost good enough. There’s much more that needs doing but most Americans just want this hurricane mess of a human to SHUT THE FUCK UP. Sorry, too exhausted to type more.
Unfortunately, the societal trends that gave rise to MAGA-ism are still in place. It’s likely to change a bit around the edges, but that anti-democratic (little “d”) impulse is still strong. It’s likely to just morph a bit but remain under a new guise with different faces at the top. Hopefully less corruption, but that has a way of sticking around once it’s been invited in.
As a progressive, I love the idea of a permanent Democratic (upper case “D”) majority, but I’m the first one to say that such a thing would destroy the good that I see in the party. While the idea might be attractive, the reality would be anything but pretty. In reality, I’d prefer that ideas compete vigorously and fight a little.
My advice is to stick to things that benefit the majority of people – healthcare access, environment – and stop focusing on “gender-affirming medical care” for CHILDREN. Even if you want to enact a “pathway to citizenship”, don’t throw the border wide open again.
Outside of the fringe, I don’t think they really are all that focused on gender affirming care. I thing the Guardians of Pedophiles like to tell us how they are though.
The problem with things like “gender affirming care” is that, in a post-“Apprentice” reality TV atmosphere, these things swallow 47 times their weight in actual reality and attention. Look how much attention that Bud Lite thing got. It is an attention-sphere we are encased in. The stupid, by definition, eat that right up and fixate on it. That’s the contemporary Trump-era GOP’s magic trick: “owning the libs” in a vulgar and juvenile way.
It’s not about “gender affirming care”. It’s about “gender affirming care” on CHILDREN. If you can’t give up on that, don’t be surprised if it costs your side politically.
Who, specially, is pushing that? And what are they pushing? Gelding is significantly less reversable, so I’d guess that’s what people are wigging out about.
Which mainstream dem candidates are pro-child gelding?
My current governor – Tim Walz. Remember, I WANT a successful democratic party that defends the environment, ensures healthcare access, battles extreme income inequality, stands up for labor and working people generally.
Got a quote from Tim that is pro-child gelding?
Yes! Some gutsy prioritizing is absolutely involved.
Yes, I do wish the GOP would stop focusing on that. It’s a matter for parents, kids, and their doctors. There’s no reason for the government to be involved.
Children need protection from crazy parents. We recognize that obvious fact in other spheres. Once the kids turn 18, they can transition to whatever they want.
I agree with this, while recognizing that there are genuine cases. However, kids also need protection from child rapists such as epstein and trump.
… and them damn kids need them some Jesus too! Whackaloon liberal parents wont admit that gender dyspohora is caused by a simple lack of Jesus!
Consider Ben and Sara Kaplan of Berkeley, CA whose two children started their “dysphoria” at ages 7 and 4. That’s not an organic phenomenon. That’s batshit crazy parents. I would not have attributed that to lack of Jesus.
That’s because you don’t have enough Jesus!
That’s not how it works. I get that with religious indoctrination. Get em early they are yours for a life time…thinking. Let children learn about religion as adults. Then they can decide what’s best for them. But we don’t do THAT. RELIGION SHOULD BE AN ADULT CHOICE. Let adults think for themselves. But, as I understand it, if children are allowed to have their hormones fully develop many physical characteristic develop that are unwanted. This makes it so expensive to alter what’s not wanted. I can’t understand why nature made them, but I’m not about to discard or disrespect their needs. If the child and parents both say it’s what is needed….why do conservatives want to interfere? Parental rights is a flag conservatives wave. I get the whole children are too young to understand…but there’s a path here for these kids that they want. Can you imagine being young and sure that your body is not right? Few of us ever know that. I truly get the confusion of adults. It’s baffling. But they have a point about the timing. So we can demonize them as the conservative do or pay attention and listen and learn from these young people. Freedom flags are displayed by the party of restriction every fuckin day
Hahaha. I agree. But imagine if:
– from 0 through 18 yo, kids are taught “we dont want to discuss origins of the universe or descriptions of a possible creator”
– upon turning 18, they’re told 20 different competing explanations.
Organised religion might disappear quickly.
So much the better.
“I’m going to keep making this retarded argument until you like it”
Who gives a shit? These kids don’t even really exist, they’re 0.0005% of the population I could care fuck about. How about my very real groceries? How about my gas? How about the fact I can’t afford to move?
All the GOP has left is trying to make me care about a dozen literal whos nationwide while begging me to ignore the fact they all raped more kids than there are trans kids in existence. Makes perfect sense when you’re retarded I guess.
You keep missing my point. I WANT a successful democratic party that defends the environment, ensures healthcare access, battles extreme income inequality, stands up for labor and working people generally. They should be poised to enact that agenda – unless they go down the rabbit hole for (as you say) 0.0005% of the population.
It’s not the left who’s picking on that little group of humans. It’s the conservative Right. It’s their hate we all have to endure. We are always forced to defend the next group they hate. Before you know it they will find 6 toed people and hate on them. They live and breathe hate and are shocked when we notice.
Or maybe they could care about 140 bombed Iranian children – ah no, that’s “them” not “us”.
If not decades. Fortunately, even the naive are coming around to taco’s incompentence and criminal behavior.
There’s a fine skin of naive on top of a swimming pool full of stupid that will never allow themselves to catch on.
If it’s F+6 to +8, yes at least a decade if not forever.
And that’s basically what I optimistically believe,
didn’t Biden increase the tariffs on China from Trump’s idiotic 1st term tariffs. what makes anyone believe the Dems are gonna change anything for the better. Biden increased the warmongering from Trump’s 1st term. i have no clue about the future, but the track record of Dems changing Trump policies is non-existent.