Trump's angry, unhinged rants at his press gatherings don't bode well for the next four years. Trump’s Angry, Unhinged Rants at Presser Show Things Will Get Very Bad | The New Republic excerpt: "At a press conference on Tuesday, Donald Trump uncorked a series of bizarre, angry, ramblings, signaling that things are about to get very, very ugly. He wouldn’t rule out using military force to annex Greenland and the Panama Canal. He celebrated the idea that his threats to jail Mark Zuckerberg might have caused Zuckerberg to surrender to him. And Trump vowed to rename the Gulf of Mexico the Gulf of America. We talked to Jennifer Mercieca, a professor of rhetoric who writes about fascist tropes. She explains how Trump is attempting to acclimate Americans to expansionist nationalism and naked threats to jail people without cause to force them into line, and why that bodes so badly about what’s coming. Listen to this episode here. A transcript is here.":
Trump's rioters held a conference commemorating the Jan. 6 riot. The Capitol Rioters Don’t Just Want Pardons From Trump. They Want Something Far Bigger. excerpt: "The tone of the event was intensely aggrieved, and it revealed the sinister scope of the alternate narrative that the “J6 community” has pushed—and will continue to aggressively push—about that day. Trump may have won the election, but for the sake of modern politics, this cohort is not going to let the Jan. 6 defendants be remembered as the aggressors. Instead of the rioters being the source of the violence, it was the police who were the attackers. Instead of storming the Capitol as an act of defiance, the rioters either innocently ended up there through ignorance of the law (“it’s the people’s house”) or were entrapped, ushered in by the Capitol police. Instead of trying to overturn a democratic election with force, the rioters were simply and reasonably asking lawmakers to “slow things down” and look into certain valid questions about the election. And instead of being expressions of rage, the protests were a matter of peace and love. Any violent acts the protestors committed were either done in self-defense or to rescue someone else, and any weapons they carried were either symbolic—patriotic expressions of the Second Amendment—or precautions against illegal action from Antifa. “If they’re pushing old women down stairs and crushing people, you have a responsibility to fight back and make sure the people around you are defended,” one speaker said."
Musk and Trump use wildfires to criticize California. https://www.politico.com/news/2025/01/08/trump-musk-california-democrats-wildfires-00197080
Appeals court rejects Crosby's claim that he had legislative immunity when he delayed the certification of a 2022 election in AZ. Arizona official who delayed county’s 2022 election certification didn’t have immunity, court says
The Imelda Marcos shoe collection. She was the wife of Ferdinand Marcos while he was dictator of the Philippines from the 1960's into 1980's. Much of the country was in poverty while she and her husband lived in a mansion and pildered the country with their kleptocracy dictatorship. If Marco were alive and in power today, Trump would be praising him like he does the dictators of the world today. Imelda Marcos Shoes, Clothes & More Worth Millions [PHOTOS]
Even the Beatles had a run-in with Marcos in 1966 after not showing up for a gathering. Culture Re-View: The Beatles accused of snubbing Imelda Marcos excerpt: Earlier that day, while The Beatles rested at their hotel in the midst of a packed worldwide tour schedule, Imelda Marcos had planned a breakfast reception at the Presidential Palace. She expected the presence of the Fab Four, along with 300 children of high-ranking army officials who eagerly awaited the band's arrival. The Beatles' manager, Brian Epstein, though, had politely declined the invitation on behalf of the group, citing their policy of not accepting official invitations. Unfortunately, the Marcos regime did not take kindly to this refusal. As the news of The Beatles' declined invitation spread, the Marcos-dominated media in the Philippines seized the opportunity to portray it as a deliberate snub.
Sounds like a tactic Trump would use to retaliate: scald and attack someone out in the public domain unexpectedly with an angry mob. Dictators think alike. Culture Re-View: The Beatles accused of snubbing Imelda Marcos excerpt: "The repercussions were felt the following day when the Fab Four made their way to Manila's airport. Instead of the expected police protection, they were met with angry mobs. The Philippine government had retaliated to the apparent snub by withdrawing police support, leaving the band and their entourage vulnerable to the hostile crowd. The Beatles' road manager Mal Evans became a victim of violence, being beaten and kicked. The situation worsened when Brian Epstein and Mal Evans were initially ordered off the plane, Epstein being forced to hand over a substantial sum of Philippine peso notes from the profits of the Manila shows to the tax authorities."
Trump henchmen Dana White joins Meta. Then Meta immediately turns around and embraces hate speech against the LGBTQ+ community. Meta’s new hate speech rules allow users to call LGBTQ people mentally ill I deleted my Facebook and Instagram accounts this morning. Fuck Cuckerberg and Beta. He doesn't want me? Fuck him. I got no use for him in a crowded field of social media platforms.
This is Hip Forums, so hetrodox views of Jerry Rubin may be tolerated. Remembering Rubin working on Wall Street. He was always in the press. So Yes; Rubin can lead the FBI. The vulgarity of Trump is matched by FBI overreach and games. Budget cuts please.
I am wondering if Trump's interest in Canada, the Panama Canal and Greenland has anything to do with Putin's desire for control there as well. Canada has territorial rights in the Arctic of gas and oil reserves. Panama has sanctions on Russian vessels passing through. Greenland has military facilities to protect Europe. Is Trump working against Putin to better protect these important assets? I doubt that...
'President-elect' Musk says he probably won't find $2 trillion cuts this year. He thinks aiming for $2 trillion might be able to get him $1 trillion. Elon Musk says DOGE probably won't find $2 trillion in federal budget cuts
The New York Court of Appeals has declined to help Trump stop the sentencing hearing for his felony convictions. The U.S. Supreme Court hasn't yet decided. New York court declines to block sentencing in Trump’s hush-money case excerpt: "New York’s highest court declined to block Donald Trump’s upcoming sentencing in his hush-money case on Thursday, leaving the US supreme court as the president-elect’s likely last option to prevent the hearing from taking place on Friday."
Behind Trump’s threat: Why is Greenland so strategically important? excerpt: “This situation requires strategic diplomacy, combining firm boundaries with efforts to de-escalate tensions and safeguard broader cooperative interests,” she said.
That statement sounds like Denmark and Greenland trying to protect themselves from someone like Putin. But they're talking about Trump and the U.S. It shows the absurdity of situations created by Trump.
Trump, the 'America First' candidate, has a new preoccupation: Imperialism excerpt: But Bolton said the president-elect’s expansionist talk about Canada and Greenland is likely to backfire, adding: “When you do things that make it less likely you’re going to achieve the objectives, that’s not master bargaining, that’s crazy.”
NATO members faced with the prospect of defending themselves from Trump. Trump, the 'America First' candidate, has a new preoccupation: Imperialism excerpt: O’Hanlon noted that NATO members are sworn to defend each other if they are attacked, creating what would be an unprecedented situation were Trump to actually try to forcefully take Greenland. “You could make a strong argument that the rest of NATO would be obliged to come to Denmark’s defense,” he said. “It does raise the possibility, at whatever crazy level, of direct military force.”
Trump's new preoccupation: imperialism Trump, the 'America First' candidate, has a new preoccupation: Imperialism excerpt: "Such talk of undermining sovereign borders and using military force against allies and fellow NATO members — even if said lightly — marks a stunning departure from decades-old norms about territorial integrity. And it is rhetoric that analysts say could embolden America’s enemies by suggesting the U.S. is now OK with countries using force to redraw borders at a time when Russia is pressing forward with its invasion of Ukraine and China is threatening Taiwan, which it claims as its own territory. “If I’m Vladimir Putin or Xi Jinping, this is music to my ears,” said John Bolton, Trump’s former national security adviser-turned-critic, who also served as ambassador to the United Nations."
After musing about buying Greenland in 2019, Trump abruptly canceled a trip to Denmark after Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen said it wasn't interested in selling it. Trump cancels Denmark visit because Greenland isn't for sale