The âThought for the day â 
Nothing to see here, just mob boss doing mob boss thingsâŚ.
protection racket much?
New book coming âThe Art Of The Back Handerâ
Wonder whether the cheques will be addressed to US Govât, POTUS or just Donald J TrumpâŚ
Yay fascism.
Has the book burning started yet?
Theyâve had long-running problems with ideology. âWe hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal âŚâ sounded like a good ideological start, but of course the Founding Fathers didnât include women or slaves in that.
I do think Trump is a symptom and that a large proportion (enough to win an election, at least) of Americans [1] are, frankly, vile racist, misogynist, cunts. He says out loud what these people have not been able to say, and has given them a voice and license to behave in a despicable manner and be their worst selves.
You get the govt. you deserve, so the saying goes.
I feel bad for he people that are decent that have to cope with this and are stuck with an impending christo-fascist state being imposed on them.
The English arenât really any better âŠď¸
Good old blame up front and pillaging round the back. He knows the country is fucked ($36.2 trillion, according to US Treasury Fiscal Data (. gov). This represents 123% of the countryâs Gross Domestic Product (GDP) the ship is sinking and heâs stealing the silverware
Coming to the UK 2029âŚ
That is the worry.
Same playbook, different gullible population.
My experience of the Texans (a long time ago now) was that they were mostly hard-working and self-reliant (and liked it that way) and that they loved their kids. They were nationalist, and state-ist in fact, rather than racist (with some exceptions of course). Theyâd help you with their time if you were in trouble but youâd better stay well away from their money. They regarded politicians in general and most of the government machine as a waste of their tax dollars. They were surprisingly ill-informed, particularly about anywhere that was over the horizon. Iâm afraid they donât need to be significantly worse than that for people like Trump to end up in charge. They canât seem to see him for the arrogant angry stupid crook that he is. (There goes any chance of me getting past CBP at the airport âŚ). Theyâd tolerate him if he could keep gas(oline) prices down and reduce the number of people on benefits. A few more jobs and a bit less crime, as it affected them personally, would be bonuses.
Itâs a sliding scale, obviously. In my view, if you ignore the bad stuff, then you are tacitly supporting it.
Also see H.L. Mencken.
The larger the mob, the harder the test. In small areas, before small electorates, a first-rate man occasionally fights his way through, carrying even the mob with him by force of his personality. But when the field is nationwide, and the fight must be waged chiefly at second and third hand, and the force of personality cannot so readily make itself felt, then all the odds are on the man who is, intrinsically, the most devious and mediocre â the man who can most easily adeptly disperse the notion that his mind is a virtual vacuum.
The Presidency tends, year by year, to go to such men. As democracy is perfected, the office represents, more and more closely, the inner soul of the people. We move toward a lofty ideal. On some great and glorious day the plain folks of the land will reach their heartâs desire at last, and the White House will be adorned by a downright moron.on.
Disappointing to see the FT giving them coverage: https://www.ft.com/content/59d17dad-c18d-43be-81b0-df4725273f08
Why? Its not like we can pretend they donât exist?
I hear Mencken but Iâm not sure heâs right about everything. Kennedy, Carter and Obama all won with a real air of capability and some policies too. The latter two were stymied by the US political system and in Carterâs case Iran. Trump won because the force of personality hid the fact that his mind is a virtual vacuum, and also because post-Mencken the fight is fought at first hand again - not least in those hideous and never-ending rallies.
You really donât need to over-analyse this.