Political Posts

[nsx5200]

1 hour ago, changegonnacome said:

What a shit show - but make no mistake Trump is trying to figure out an off ramp here.......

CCP/Xi by announcing that there is no talk is public shaming Trump/US administration by announcing that there is currently no off-ramp.  I don't see an easy way out for Trump to save face.  It would be quite a hit to Trump/US administration's reputation if Trump kowtowed by walking back big chunk of the tariffs now.  The only thing I can think of now for Trump to do is to create a even bigger 'scandal' for the media to report on, a typical MO for Trump.  I think even he admitted to such tactic in the first presidency, but I can't locate that clip/article.  Before the tariff the announcement, the Hegseth security not-leak was all over the news/media until the tariff announcement.  That went totally silent after the tariff announcement.  Unfortunately, Hegseth didn't seem to learn that lesson, and now that news is making a second come-back.  We/media seems to have a short-memory on how the first presidency operated with continued waves of scandals (real or fake, depending on the media biasing).

 

We will most likely have more opportunities in the market to catch great companies at fair prices with this administration.

[changegonnacome]

12 minutes ago, cubsfan said:

That's a pretty great summary of gov failure (both parties).

 

For sure.....and you'll like this.......I blame the democrats the most....cause aren't they fundamentally the wealth redistribution party? The issue with the democrats is they've been run fundamentally by technocratic coastal elitists who had no idea how bad things had gotten outside the bubble of NY, Boston, SF etc.

[changegonnacome]

1 minute ago, nsx5200 said:

I don't see an easy way out for Trump to save face.  It would be quite a hit to Trump/US administration's reputation if Trump kowtowed by walking back big chunk of the tariffs now. 

 

I dunno - I dont think you give him enough credit if anything the old man has shown a lot of flexibility over the years to do 180's on issues and claim it was always so. I think Trump has a lot of ideas loosely held as Munger would say.....he is not fundamentally anchored to a political philosophy (outside accumulating money, attention & holding on to power) he has IMO a lot more mental wiggle room than most traditional politicians who are slavish idealogous. 

[John Hjorth]

1 hour ago, changegonnacome said:

Trump says we are in talks with China

 

China says what talks? there are no talks occuring

 

 

What a shit show - but make no mistake Trump is trying to figure out an off ramp here.......small and medium sized businesses with inputs from China are in the process of going to wall........sticker shock at Target, Walmart & DG are a few weeks away........and that ~June annualized MoM 6% CPI print is incoming.

 

I hope some genius in the admin is also deducting from the tariff 'windfall' the Social Security Cost-of-Living Adjustment (COLA) that are going to flow through to seniors on foot of the increased inflation....an incremental 400bps of inflation captured by COLA would cost an additional $56bn annually in social security payments or half a trillion over ten years!

 

@changegonnacome,

 

It's all spin, propaganda, *BS* and Big Lies.

 

It's almost incomprehensible, I would say. Charlies [ @dealrakers ] predictions about who controls what and vice versa comes to mind here. If we're not already there, where the man is actual controlled by the consequences of what the man has already decided and initiated, then we are approaching that point, with good cadence.

 

It's like a DIY car mechanic, in a blue overall, naturally blue, laying in the pebbles on his back in the driveway under the car, trying to fix the car, and the only tools available is a hammer and chisel, to dismantle everything, without no hope what so ever to assemble the car again. And what he is tinkering with is the worlds largest economy.

[cubsfan]

17 minutes ago, changegonnacome said:

 

For sure.....and you'll like this.......I blame the democrats the most....cause aren't they fundamentally the wealth redistribution party? The issue with the democrats is they've been run fundamentally by technocratic coastal elitists who had no idea how bad things had gotten outside the bubble of NY, Boston, SF etc.

 

100%, but the Republican losers like Romney, McConnell, Ryan, etc - worked only for their lobbyists.  They could give a crap about their constituents.  It's quite amazing to see the traditional party of the working class class, become the party of Davos.

 

So first Trump wrecks the Republican Party, and now the traditional Democratic coalition is in total meltdown mode.  Interesting times.

[changegonnacome]

1 hour ago, cubsfan said:

It's quite amazing to see the traditional party of the working class class, become the party of Davos.

 

So first Trump wrecks the Republican Party, and now the traditional Democratic coalition is in total meltdown mode.  Interesting times.

 

Totally agree - the old two party system has started trading constituents.....and so things aint what they used to be....the BIG question is whether the MAGA constituency can be held together after 'the big guy' isn't around anymore......my gut is Trump's inherent narcissism wont allow for the rise of a successor who can hold the group together......caveat to that is I think he would do succession its dynastic - so Don Jnr. being the obvious one.

 

I wish Trump success on this tariff gambit cause if he messes up the economy, stokes inflation my biggest fear remains he creates a successful populist movement of the left that comes to dominant the democratic party and gets AOC or worse into the WH with a congressional majority that allows really stupid things to happen to taxing, regulation and spending.....we are getting closer to that everyday this trade war escalates.

[Sweet]

2 hours ago, cubsfan said:

 

So first Trump wrecks the Republican Party

Not quite sure what you mean by this, but don’t think Trump has made the conservative agenda toxic?

[changegonnacome]

 

I taught Trump was trying to stop the use of "they/them"  

[cubsfan]

27 minutes ago, Sweet said:

Not quite sure what you mean by this, but don’t think Trump has made the conservative agenda toxic?

 

The established, do nothing Republican Party hated Trump. He refused to be a Washington insider that would cave to the DC lobbies. They couldn't stand that he took his direction from the people outside of Washington.  So, as much as the Democrats hated Trump, the RINO's hated him equally.

It took Trump years to get control of the Republican Party, now he's there.

 

The old Republican party is gone, after the inter-party war, and a much broader coalition has formed, including blacks, hispanics and Jews. That's MAGA.  Now you are seeing the Democrats,  go through their own inter-party war, where their coaltion has totally melted down.

[Parsad]

4 hours ago, changegonnacome said:

 

Totally agree - the old two party system has started trading constituents.....and so things aint what they used to be....the BIG question is whether the MAGA constituency can be held together after 'the big guy' isn't around anymore......my gut is Trump's inherent narcissism wont allow for the rise of a successor who can hold the group together......caveat to that is I think he would do succession its dynastic - so Don Jnr. being the obvious one.

 

I wish Trump success on this tariff gambit cause if he messes up the economy, stokes inflation my biggest fear remains he creates a successful populist movement of the left that comes to dominant the democratic party and gets AOC or worse into the WH with a congressional majority that allows really stupid things to happen to taxing, regulation and spending.....we are getting closer to that everyday this trade war escalates.

 

+1!  Yup...the outlier consequences may be worse...leftist agenda after 2026 mid-term results...Trump has to save face and pushes the tariff war into something worse than a typical recession...etc.  Cheers!

[Mephistopheles]

We should be thankful that although he is a fascist, Trump is also a buffoon. Having a clown as an authoritarian means there are plenty of opportunities to save democracy, which I think we will in the midterms.

[changegonnacome]

50 minutes ago, Mephistopheles said:

Trump is also a buffoon. Having a clown as an authoritarian means there are plenty of opportunities to save democracy

 

Lets see about all this democracy stuff. Reality is this buffoonery is creating a lot of market opportunity for which I'm eternally grateful to Captain Chaos for......all bets are off if he sends the global economy over the cliff....but we arent there yet.....right now we're in the buffoonery stage.....which is vol paradise......my base case remains that Trump is a man of no real principals except a need to be the centre of attention and liked/lauded.....this type of man isn't say a Paul Volker will to do painful things....principled, committed, steadfast in what needs to be done.....Trump is an inflatable tube man......the prevailing winds blow his opinions , 'principles' and actions around.....and strong winds are brewing from the East......his trade 'war' with China is toast...cause it needs to be....its economic suicide and those midterms are just around the corner

 

[WFF]

On 4/24/2025 at 1:42 PM, Gregmal said:

So weird.... people posting podcasts that conform to almost exactly what they wanna believe...oh so shocking!

Confirmation bias.  People want confirmation on what they believe regardless if you are left right or center.  Even AI, sometimes I think is reinforcing by giving exactly what you want despite not being objective.  

[SharperDingaan]

Comes Q2 dismal reporting, and when shelves are empty of cheap Chinese product, we'll see what opportunities are for sale. Hopefully at 15-25% off 

 

SD

[backtothebeach]

Shipping less cheap plastic crap around the world is good for the environment. The next pivot will be Trump the eco warrior lol.

[cubsfan]

If India, Japan, S Korea strike deals, gonna get interesting.

[Mephistopheles]

https://www.axios.com/2025/04/25/fbi-arrests-judge-wisconsin-hannah-dugan-kash-patel
 

sounds about right 

[Blake Hampton]

 

 

"Mr. Vance has attracted the most brutal trolling. His “peasants” comment offended many Chinese. In a widely shared A.I.-generated video, a character resembling Mr. Vance, in a pink jacket, pink nails and hot pink lipstick, applies eyeliner while saying in a promotional female tone, “Sis, hillbilly brand eyeliner, made in China, reliable quality.”

 

Another video shows a cartoon character saying: “Vice President Vance, I’m a Chinese peasant. Do you realize your tariff policy will lead to the soaring price of your eyeliner?”

 

There are so many posts about the topic that Mr. Vance is now known as “the eyeliner man” on the Chinese internet."

 

For China’s Trolls, ‘Chairman Trump’ and ‘Eyeliner Man’ Are Easy Targets - NYT

 

Edited April 25, 2025 by Blake Hampton

[Patmo]

11 minutes ago, Blake Hampton said:

 

 

"Mr. Vance has attracted the most brutal trolling. His “peasants” comment offended many Chinese. In a widely shared A.I.-generated video, a character resembling Mr. Vance, in a pink jacket, pink nails and hot pink lipstick, applies eyeliner while saying in a promotional female tone, “Sis, hillbilly brand eyeliner, made in China, reliable quality.”

 

Another video shows a cartoon character saying: “Vice President Vance, I’m a Chinese peasant. Do you realize your tariff policy will lead to the soaring price of your eyeliner?”

 

There are so many posts about the topic that Mr. Vance is now known as “the eyeliner man” on the Chinese internet."

 

For China’s Trolls, ‘Chairman Trump’ and ‘Eyeliner Man’ Are Easy Targets - NYT

 

Experts at the WH have already advised to pivot away from a potential meme war. China's got all the cards there.

[Sweet]

4 hours ago, Mephistopheles said:

https://www.axios.com/2025/04/25/fbi-arrests-judge-wisconsin-hannah-dugan-kash-patel
 

sounds about right 

If she did assist in the escape of the immigrant, knowing that ICE were looking to apprehend him, then she broke the law and anyone else would be arrested.

[Gregmal]

2 hours ago, Sweet said:

If she did assist in the escape of the immigrant, knowing that ICE were looking to apprehend him, then she broke the law and anyone else would be arrested.

Oh. That! Totally missed that part of the story. I thought @Mephistopheleswas just marveling at how far America’s come seeing as now we have movie star looking Indian dudes rounding up fat suburban white chicks…

[Sweet]

18 minutes ago, Gregmal said:

Oh. That! Totally missed that part of the story. I thought @Mephistopheleswas just marveling at how far America’s come seeing as now we have movie star looking Indian dudes rounding up fat suburban white chicks…

Many of the social media mob horrified by this are exactly the same people who said that ‘nobody is above the law’ as they took Trump to court for, among other things. supposedly inflating the value of real estate assets to get a loan (which was fully repaid).  

Edited April 25, 2025 by Sweet

[John Hjorth]

2 hours ago, Sweet said:

If she did assist in the escape of the immigrant, knowing that ICE were looking to apprehend him, then she broke the law and anyone else would be arrested.

 

3 minutes ago, Gregmal said:

Oh. That! Totally missed that part of the story. I thought @Mephistopheleswas just marveling at how far America’s come seeing as now we have movie star looking Indian dudes rounding up fat suburban white chicks…

 

Both @Sweet and Greg [ @Gregmal ] are right here.

 

It's presented in several European mainstream media with totally misleading and biased headlines, too. I don't think @Mephistopheles is to blame here. We all have a duty to ourselves to 'read through', not just headlines *BS* click bait.

[dwy000]

What does it say that China says they're not negotiating, Trump says they are negotiating, and everyone believes China. 

[Dalal.Holdings]

https://www.ft.com/content/c2be45b8-cfad-4cbb-9a1a-bfd0626be372

 

Quote

Apple aims to source all US iPhones from India in pivot away from China

 

Like it or not, this is a huge victory for Trump if it happens...and if India's supply chains and supplier networks in India deepen as a result over the long haul. If that happens, many manufacturers will follow Apple's lead into India.

 

The U.S. should not rely on its geopolitical adversary for such imports. It's much better if those relationships are with more likeminded democracies than authoritarian rivals.