Here's a statement of the obvious: The opinions expressed here are those of the participants, not those of the Mutual Fund Observer. We cannot vouch for the accuracy or appropriateness of any of it, though we do encourage civility and good humor.
Some old guy gave a rapid SHOUT speech on national TV tonight and intimated that "all is well" and that anything bad we are currently experiencing is not his fault..... even though it really is. Had the feel of a used-car dealer commercial. Shady and packed with lies. [snip]
I couldn't bear to watch this spectacle. PolitiFact fact-checked Trump's speech. Donald J. Trump is the undisputed Dean of Deceit!
"The picture Trump painted also skewed the facts. Trump exaggerated, by trillions of dollars, the amount of expected foreign investment he has attracted to the U.S. He overstated the historic scale of tax cuts in his domestic spending law and its savings for older Americans, and he repeated false talking points about the number of immigrants in the country illegally and their origin. He said crime has been at record levels, but violent crime rates were roughly twice as high in the early 1990s."
"While Trump repeated some statements we have fact-checked before, we took a closer look at his big-picture summation of the economy, drug prices, the newly announced military dividends and tax refunds."
"Today, news broke that Trump has added plaques to the hall of portraits of former presidents hanging in the White House. A plaque under the photo of President Barack Obama says he 'was one of the most divisive political figures in American History,' who 'passed the highly ineffective ‘Unaffordable’ Care Act.'"
"Under a photograph of an autopen, with which Trump replaced the portrait of Biden, the plaque begins: 'Sleepy Joe Biden was, by far, the worst President in American History. Taking office as a result of the most corrupt Election ever seen in the United States, Biden oversaw a series of unprecedented disasters that brought our Nation to the brink of destruction….'"
Comments: President Donald J. Trump's debilitated mental state is very concerning. We should provide extensive support to help put Trump out of his misery once and for all.
"Former special counsel Jack Smith testified today behind closed doors before the House Judiciary Committee about his investigation into Trump’s attempt to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election. According to Ryan J. Reilly of NBC News, who obtained portions of Smith’s opening statement, Smith told the committee that he and his team found 'proof beyond a reasonable doubt' that Trump engaged in a 'criminal scheme' to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election."
"Chair Jim Jordan (R-OH) subpoenaed Smith earlier this month, rejecting Smith’s offer to testify in public. Jordan was among those claiming to be outraged at the news that Smith had obtained the call records of nine congressional Republicans related to the president’s attempt to overturn the results of the election. Those records listed who was called and the time, date, and length of the call, without information about the content of it."
"In 2022 the House Select Committee to Investigate the January 6 Attack on the U.S. Capitol revealed that Trump and Jordan had a ten-minute phone call on the morning of January 6. That afternoon, Jordan objected to the counting of the votes that would certify Democrat Joe Biden as president. Jordan refused to cooperate with the committee when it asked for more information."
"Smith told the committee that the phone records 'were lawfully subpoenaed and were relevant to complete a comprehensive' investigation. He continued: 'January 6 was an attack on the structure of our democracy in which over 100 heroic law enforcement officers were assaulted. Over 160 individuals later pled guilty to assaulting police officers that day. Exploiting that violence, President Trump and his associates tried to call Members of Congress in furtherance of their criminal scheme, urging them to further delay certification of the 2020 election.' 'I didn’t choose those Members,' Smith said, 'President Trump did.'"
"Republicans were hoping to undermine Smith and to portray him as part of a Department of Justice weaponized under the Biden administration. 'Jack Smith should be in jail—if not prison,' Representative Troy Nehls (R-TX), a member of the Judiciary Committee, told Hailey Fuchs and Kyle Cheney of Politico. 'He’s a crook. Jack Smith is a crook, and he needs to be held accountable for all his games that he played.'"
"After Smith testified, ranking member of the Judiciary Committee Jamie Raskin (D-MD) said Jordan 'made an excellent decision in not allowing Jack Smith to testify publicly, because had he done so, it would have been absolutely devastating to the president and all the president’s men involved in the insurrectionary activities of January 6.'"
Comments: Section Three of the 14th Amendment states that anyone who has previously taken an oath to support the Constitution and subsequently engages in an insurrection is ineligible to be President, Vice-President, Senator, Representative, etc. Donald J. Trump rightfully belongs in the "Big House" and not in the White House!
@FD1000 how do you justify providing unequivocal support for this illegitimate president? In another MFO thread¹ you stated: "Given this environment, it’s important that at least one voice consistently presents perspectives from the other side to maintain balance and encourage genuine debate." I present you this opportunity to engage in genuine debate — excluding White House talking points and overt political propaganda.
"Today, news broke that Trump has added plaques to the hall of portraits of former presidents hanging in the White House. A plaque under the photo of President Barack Obama says he 'was one of the most divisive political figures in American History,' who 'passed the highly ineffective ‘Unaffordable’ Care Act.'"
"Under a photograph of an autopen, with which Trump replaced the portrait of Biden, the plaque begins: 'Sleepy Joe Biden was, by far, the worst President in American History. Taking office as a result of the most corrupt Election ever seen in the United States, Biden oversaw a series of unprecedented disasters that brought our Nation to the brink of destruction….'"
Comments: President Donald J. Trump's debilitated mental state is very concerning. We should provide extensive support to help put Trump out of his misery once and for all.
This is so utterly outrageous. No adults there to stop him? Or, someone assigned to post that junk might surely have been able to say: "No, Donny. I won't do it. Because it's childish Orange bullshit." No... no one there with any backbone. Nobody at all.
@FD1000 Yesterday on MFO you posted, "Given this environment, it’s important that at least one voice consistently presents perspectives from the other side to maintain balance and encourage genuine debate."
The post by @Observant1, also yesterday, on economic concerns, still a top priority for Americans, was compelling. This seems like the perfect moment for you to step up, present the counterargument, and actually do what you claimed.
The guy took office and in less than one year there are clear signs that his economic policies are crushing jobs, confidence and affordability. No question that he is destroying alliances formed over a century of cooperation. Exactly what one could expect from a massive tax on imports and even taxation on some exports and adversarial trade wars.
Almost every single economist in the world predicted this disastrous turn of events. He and his supporters have tried putting the blame on the FED, Biden, China, Canada, Democrats, the list is sure to expand.
But, people are slowly wising up. It has only taken months to see this incompetent economic policy unravel. What will the next six months bring? It is fair to assume that it will only get worse for trump and his entire entourage.
Now, perhaps we can have a "genuine debate", with one side trotting out WH talking points and deflections?
Wait until the maga folks see their family's ACA subsidies disappear in 2026. In red states these are all people who work, because no ACA subsidy without Medicaid expansion, which red states refuse to honor. You must make over $12,000 annually to qualify for subsidies. Just ordinary folks working and trying to provide healthcare for their families.
The GOP is counting on these people to blame "Obamacare". The Dems would be wise to stay on message and make sure that everyone knows who took away their affordable health care. Hammer that message home at every opportunity.
Much higher prices for food, energy, durable goods, automobiles, and now healthcare. Such a deal for the folks who voted based on promises that will never be fulfilled.
@FD1000 Yesterday on MFO you posted, "Given this environment, it’s important that at least one voice consistently presents perspectives from the other side to maintain balance and encourage genuine debate."
The post by @Observant1, also yesterday, on economic concerns, still a top priority for Americans, was compelling. This seems like the perfect moment for you to step up, present the counterargument, and actually do what you claimed.
Yes, let us see if we get a genuine debate that doesn't involve WH propaganda releases, deflections, gaslighting or self-gratuity.
Who noticed that when China did not meet their "promise" to buy more agricultural goods, that the WH moved the goal posts? And that despite promising a "deal" with China, way back in June, the American people are seeing little progress and paying higher taxes on a majority of imports?
The WH is preparing another multi-billion dollar bailout.
No sketchy "good week" posts this week from the peanut gallery, as the markets continue to digest lackluster economic data. Apparently, voters do care about affordability, and appear unconvinced by false claims or "lower prices". the mere fact that the WH and POTUS are attempting this gaslight, indicates that they know they have screwed up!
"Sage Steele, former ESPN host and Trump ally, called Trump’s post 'disappointing.' Rep. Thomas Massie, Republican of Kentucky, wrote that 'regardless of how you feel about Rob Reiner this is inappropriate and disrespectful discourse about a man who was just brutally murdered.' Rep. Michael Lawler, Republican of New York, said 'this statement is wrong.'"
"Jenna Ellis, Trump’s former lawyer who’s now a conservative radio host, wrote that 'this is a horrible example from Trump (and surprising considering the two attempts on his own life) and should be condemned by everyone with any decency.' New York Times columnist Bret Stephens said: 'We are led by the most loathsome human being ever to occupy the White House.'"
"Stephens went on to charge that Trump had debased America: In every grotesque social media post; in every cabinet meeting devoted, North Korea-like, to adulating him; in every executive-order-signing ceremony intended to make him appear like a Chinese emperor; in every fawning reference to all the peace he’s supposedly brought the world; in every Neronic enlargement of the White House’s East Wing; in every classless dig at his predecessor; in every shady deal his family is striking to enrich itself; in every White House gathering of tech billionaires paying him court (in the literal senses of both “pay” and “court”); in every visiting foreign leader who learns to abase himself to avoid some capricious tariff or other punishment — in all this and more, our standards as a nation are being debased, our manners barbarized.”
"I’ve worked for three presidents, one Republican and two Democrats. I’ve seen presidents up close. The job is overwhelmingly difficult. It takes a toll. But I have never seen anything remotely like what has happened to Donald Trump."
"His chief of staff, Suzy Wiles, told Chris Whipple in an interview that appeared in Tuesday’s Vanity Fair that Trump has an 'alcoholic’s personality' because he 'operates [with] a view that there’s nothing he can’t do. Nothing, zero, nothing.'"
"I don’t want to alarm you, and I hesitate to even mention this, but I couldn’t sleep knowing that Trump has the power to launch a nuclear bomb."
"As commander-in-chief, he is the only person in the United States with the authority to launch a nuke. No one else need be consulted before he does. No one else can veto such an order. Not even the vice president or secretary of defense has the power to stop it. I hope to god he doesn’t. I don’t think he would."
"But what if he’s provoked? What if he feels that his manhood or his authority or his status is being threatened? What if he just wants to demonstrate to Americans and the world how strong he is? Again, I doubt this will happen, but the risk is not zero."
"It’s a risk that neither the United States nor the rest of the world can afford to take. I don’t think I’m being alarmist. If anything, I worry that we’ve become so inured to Trump’s madness that we’re not alarmist enough."
"Trump must be removed from office as soon as possible. Either Section 4 of the 25th Amendment must be invoked — because he is 'unable to discharge the powers and duties of his office' — or he must be impeached and convicted under Section 4 of Article II of the Constitution for 'treason, bribery, or other high crimes and misdemeanors.'"
The PBS News Hour fact-checked President Trump's prime-time speech delivered on 12/17/2025.
@FD1000 you stated the following yesterday in another MFO thread¹. "Given this environment, it’s important that at least one voice consistently presents perspectives from the other side to maintain balance and encourage genuine debate".
This is yet another opportunity to engage in genuine debate. I encourage your participation!
Reminder: Quoting White House press releases, disseminating right-wing propaganda, invoking imaginary TDS, and blaming President Biden for everything is not genuine debate. I look forward to hearing from you!
Maybe they will have containers of trump condoms to hand out at events? Who will entertain? Nugent? Kid Rock? Kanye? Dimebag Darrell? A totally sane bunch!
"Cutting business regulations and taxes would usher in extraordinary economic growth that would boost the prosperity of hardworking Americans, they insisted, leaving behind those unwilling to work."
"Except it didn’t. A February 2025 report from RAND, a nonprofit, nonpartisan research organization, written by Carter C. Price found that if the system in place before 1975 had stayed in place, the bottom 90% of Americans would have had almost $80 trillion more in 2023 than they did. When Democratic president Joe Biden took office in 2021, he set out to restore the economic system in place before 1981, protecting workers, boosting infrastructure investment, breaking up monopolies, and protecting consumers."
"It worked. Far from being the economic 'disaster' Trump claimed, the economy he inherited was, according to The Economist, 'the envy of the world.' 'The American economy has left other rich countries in the dust,' Simon Rabinovitch and Henry Curr wrote. If Trump had left that system in place, he would have gotten credit for a booming economy as the investments made under Biden took hold."
"Instead, he undermined that government with dramatic layoffs and undermined that economy with tariffs, continued deregulation, and additional tax cuts for the wealthy and corporations while cutting the tax credits that supported the Affordable Care Act healthcare insurance markets. On Wednesday, he was reduced to promising payments of $1776 to military personnel, implying that money would come from tariffs. But fact checkers noted immediately that any such payments would come from money Congress appropriated to subsidize housing allowances for service members."
Comments: If Donald J. Trump just continued President Biden's successful economic policies, the current state of the economy would be significantly improved! Trump was presented an easy path to enhance the financial security for so many ordinary Americans but this apparently wasn't a high priority despite his campaign rhetoric.
"On November 19, 2025, Congress passed H.R. 4405, the Epstein Files Transparency Act, and although there was none of the usual publicity and fanfare President Donald Trump enjoys around a bill signing, the White House said that Trump signed it the same day, making it a law."
"The law required that the Department of Justice must justify all redactions with 'a written justification published in the Federal Register and submitted to Congress.'"
"Otherwise, it said, records could not be 'withheld, delayed, or redacted on the basis of embarrassment, reputational harm, or political sensitivity, including to any government official, public figure, or foreign dignitary.'"
"In the afternoon, the department began to release the required materials. But despite the law’s specification that the department release ALL the records, it released just a fraction of the required materials, saying it would release more later. Missing were any of the FBI interviews with survivors or internal Justice Department memos about charging decisions."
"There are very few images of Epstein with Trump, despite their close relationship. Instead, the files focused on former Democratic president Bill Clinton, whose office responded with a statement saying: 'The White House hasn’t been hiding these files for months only to dump them late on a Friday to protect Bill Clinton. This is about shielding themselves from what comes next, or from what they’ll try and hide forever. So they can release as many grainy 20–plus-year-old photos as they want, but this isn’t about Bill Clinton. Never has, never will be.'"
"And then there were the redactions. So much of the material was redacted that, in front of television cameras, Jake Tapper of CNN scrolled through an entirely-blacked-out 100-page document on his phone and said: 'That’s the transparency we’re getting here.'"
"'Donald Trump and the Department of Justice are now violating federal law as they continue covering up the facts and the evidence about Jeffrey Epstein’s decades-long, billion-dollar, international sex trafficking ring,' the two wrote. 'For months, [Attorney General] Pam Bondi has denied survivors the transparency and accountability they have demanded and deserve and has defied the Oversight Committee’s subpoena. The Department of Justice is now making clear it intends to defy Congress itself, even as it gives star treatment to Epstein’s convicted co-conspirator, Ghislaine Maxwell.'"
"Now, with their disregard for the Epstein Files Transparency Act, they are also treating voters, especially their own MAGA voters who stood behind Trump because he promised to release the Epstein files, with outright contempt."
@FD1000 Knowing that you have your finger on the pulse of MAGA voters, what has been MAGA's reaction to the utter contempt exhibited by the Trump administration?
If Trump had left that system in place, he would have gotten credit for a booming economy as the investments made under Biden took hold."
"Instead, he undermined that government with dramatic layoffs and undermined that economy with tariffs, continued deregulation, and additional tax cuts for the wealthy and corporations while cutting the tax credits that supported the Affordable Care Act healthcare insurance markets."
This sounds very much like what I have been saying all along. The guy is an id10t, in tech jargon. A lifetime of screw-ups with, zero actual benchmarking, has created the biggest case of Dunning-Kreuger in history. He really thinks that he has done an incredible job. I actually now realize, he believes his own bullshit. Like all narcissists. He is so good at messaging to his believers, because he is a believer too! Despite everything he says being at total odds with empirical data.
That’s where you should have stayed. We were better off without you.
I can confirm that this information is 100% accurate.
Some have to stay and complain constantly, no matter what and be blind when their party brought us the worst inflation, DEI and unaffordability in 4 decades.
I was just going to thank you for the Siegel review and analysis, but then you had to go and post total bullshit like this
"After almost a year of Trump’s second term, I and many other people — including, very likely, you — are feeling exhausted, distraught, and sickened by what’s happened to our country and the world."
"As Times columnist Bret Stephens puts it, we are being led by the most loathsome human being ever to occupy the White House — a petty, hollow, squalid, ogre-in-chief. Every day that goes by seems to bring uglier vindictiveness, bigger lies, wilder boasts, and worse policies."
"The cruelty is almost unbearable — the destruction of USAID, the pursuit of undocumented immigrants, the breakup of families, the arrests and detentions without due process, the bombing of small boats in the Caribbean and killing of more than 100 people, and so on. The fact it’s being done in our name, by the United States of America, is heartbreaking."
"We are not powerless, of course. Together we are making significant progress against this scourge. The ogre is not able to do as much damage now as he did initially. The slumbering good giant of America is awakening. But the vile man in the Oval Office continues to say and do horrible things."
Comments: Some U.S. residents just don't give a damn as long as they are comfortable and making money!
That’s where you should have stayed. We were better off without you.
I can confirm that this information is 100% accurate.
Some have to stay and complain constantly, no matter what and be blind when their party brought us the worst inflation, DEI and unaffordability in 4 decades.
I was just going to thank you for the Siegel review and analysis, but then you had to go and post total bullshit like this
jeez, man
He is digging deep into the well of trolling and talking points for this one. Another whataboutism. A standard debate fallacy. The notion being that not being intolerant towards others elevates incompetence. And that woman, persons of color and any minorities cannot perform as well as the basic white man. Big irony that he is minority too. As are all his relatives. A people who have faced much hate, intolerance and stereotyping throughout their existence. As any student of history would be well aware.
If asked what these 'DEI" comments mean, he would run for cover. No way to lay it out there without revealing the hate and racism involved. It is essentially a "dog whistle".
Clearly, his idea of "genuine debate".
Genuine debate would be pointing out that 2/3 of the stimulus trotted out, which eventually generated transitory inflation in 2022, came directly from the first trump administration. And that in October 2020, just months before Biden's advanced his own stimulus legislation, trump signed his second huge stimulus, threatening to veto it, "if they didn't go much bigger". Obviously maga was not the least bit concerned about inflation coming from trump, And if re-elected trump would have spent just as much as Biden. Much of that (BTW) was the CHIPs act with has been widely applauded.
As usual, everything must be distorted, taken out of context, or mis-represented. A sign of desperation. Though I do appreciate the opportunity to set the record straight for those who may otherwise buy into the BS. "Balance" one might say.
If you look up the definition of internet troll, you see this guys pic.
He just throws out MAGA propaganda, knowing full well that nobody here is falling for it. However, as far as taking the bait, a number of posters here seem to love it.
Comments
PolitiFact fact-checked Trump's speech.
Donald J. Trump is the undisputed Dean of Deceit!
"The picture Trump painted also skewed the facts.
Trump exaggerated, by trillions of dollars, the amount of expected foreign investment
he has attracted to the U.S. He overstated the historic scale of tax cuts in his domestic spending law
and its savings for older Americans, and he repeated false talking points about the number of immigrants
in the country illegally and their origin.
He said crime has been at record levels, but violent crime rates were roughly twice as high in the early 1990s."
"While Trump repeated some statements we have fact-checked before, we took a closer look at his big-picture summation of the economy, drug prices, the newly announced military dividends and tax refunds."
https://www.politifact.com/article/2025/dec/18/fact-checking-trump-speech-warrior-dividend/
hanging in the White House. A plaque under the photo of President Barack Obama says he
'was one of the most divisive political figures in American History,' who 'passed the highly ineffective ‘Unaffordable’ Care Act.'"
"Under a photograph of an autopen, with which Trump replaced the portrait of Biden,
the plaque begins: 'Sleepy Joe Biden was, by far, the worst President in American History.
Taking office as a result of the most corrupt Election ever seen in the United States,
Biden oversaw a series of unprecedented disasters that brought our Nation to the brink of destruction….'"
Comments: President Donald J. Trump's debilitated mental state is very concerning.
We should provide extensive support to help put Trump out of his misery once and for all.
According to Ryan J. Reilly of NBC News, who obtained portions of Smith’s opening statement,
Smith told the committee that he and his team found 'proof beyond a reasonable doubt'
that Trump engaged in a 'criminal scheme' to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election."
"Chair Jim Jordan (R-OH) subpoenaed Smith earlier this month, rejecting Smith’s offer to testify in public.
Jordan was among those claiming to be outraged at the news that Smith had obtained the call records
of nine congressional Republicans related to the president’s attempt to overturn the results of the election.
Those records listed who was called and the time, date, and length of the call, without information about the content of it."
"In 2022 the House Select Committee to Investigate the January 6 Attack on the U.S. Capitol
revealed that Trump and Jordan had a ten-minute phone call on the morning of January 6.
That afternoon, Jordan objected to the counting of the votes that would certify Democrat Joe Biden
as president. Jordan refused to cooperate with the committee when it asked for more information."
"Smith told the committee that the phone records 'were lawfully subpoenaed and were relevant
to complete a comprehensive' investigation. He continued: 'January 6 was an attack on the structure
of our democracy in which over 100 heroic law enforcement officers were assaulted.
Over 160 individuals later pled guilty to assaulting police officers that day.
Exploiting that violence, President Trump and his associates tried to call Members of Congress
in furtherance of their criminal scheme, urging them to further delay certification of the 2020 election.'
'I didn’t choose those Members,' Smith said, 'President Trump did.'"
"Republicans were hoping to undermine Smith and to portray him as part of a Department of Justice
weaponized under the Biden administration. 'Jack Smith should be in jail—if not prison,'
Representative Troy Nehls (R-TX), a member of the Judiciary Committee, told Hailey Fuchs
and Kyle Cheney of Politico. 'He’s a crook. Jack Smith is a crook, and he needs to be held accountable
for all his games that he played.'"
"After Smith testified, ranking member of the Judiciary Committee Jamie Raskin (D-MD) said Jordan
'made an excellent decision in not allowing Jack Smith to testify publicly, because had he done so,
it would have been absolutely devastating to the president and all the president’s men involved in the insurrectionary activities of January 6.'"
Comments: Section Three of the 14th Amendment states that anyone who has previously taken an oath
to support the Constitution and subsequently engages in an insurrection is ineligible to be President,
Vice-President, Senator, Representative, etc.
Donald J. Trump rightfully belongs in the "Big House" and not in the White House!
@FD1000 how do you justify providing unequivocal support for this illegitimate president?
In another MFO thread¹ you stated: "Given this environment, it’s important that at least one voice
consistently presents perspectives from the other side to maintain balance and encourage genuine debate."
I present you this opportunity to engage in genuine debate — excluding White House talking points
and overt political propaganda.
¹ https://www.mutualfundobserver.com/discuss/discussion/comment/204057/#Comment_204057
The post by @Observant1, also yesterday, on economic concerns, still a top priority for Americans, was compelling. This seems like the perfect moment for you to step up, present the counterargument, and actually do what you claimed.
Almost every single economist in the world predicted this disastrous turn of events. He and his supporters have tried putting the blame on the FED, Biden, China, Canada, Democrats, the list is sure to expand.
But, people are slowly wising up. It has only taken months to see this incompetent economic policy unravel. What will the next six months bring? It is fair to assume that it will only get worse for trump and his entire entourage.
Now, perhaps we can have a "genuine debate", with one side trotting out WH talking points and deflections?
The GOP is counting on these people to blame "Obamacare". The Dems would be wise to stay on message and make sure that everyone knows who took away their affordable health care. Hammer that message home at every opportunity.
Much higher prices for food, energy, durable goods, automobiles, and now healthcare. Such a deal for the folks who voted based on promises that will never be fulfilled.
Let's hear a "genuine debate" on that.
The WH is preparing another multi-billion dollar bailout.
No sketchy "good week" posts this week from the peanut gallery, as the markets continue to digest lackluster economic data. Apparently, voters do care about affordability, and appear unconvinced by false claims or "lower prices". the mere fact that the WH and POTUS are attempting this gaslight, indicates that they know they have screwed up!
Rep. Thomas Massie, Republican of Kentucky, wrote that 'regardless of how you feel
about Rob Reiner this is inappropriate and disrespectful discourse about a man
who was just brutally murdered.' Rep. Michael Lawler, Republican of New York, said
'this statement is wrong.'"
"Jenna Ellis, Trump’s former lawyer who’s now a conservative radio host, wrote that
'this is a horrible example from Trump (and surprising considering the two attempts on his own life)
and should be condemned by everyone with any decency.' New York Times columnist Bret Stephens said:
'We are led by the most loathsome human being ever to occupy the White House.'"
"Stephens went on to charge that Trump had debased America:
In every grotesque social media post; in every cabinet meeting devoted,
North Korea-like, to adulating him; in every executive-order-signing ceremony
intended to make him appear like a Chinese emperor; in every fawning reference
to all the peace he’s supposedly brought the world; in every Neronic enlargement
of the White House’s East Wing; in every classless dig at his predecessor;
in every shady deal his family is striking to enrich itself; in every White House gathering
of tech billionaires paying him court (in the literal senses of both “pay” and “court”);
in every visiting foreign leader who learns to abase himself to avoid some capricious tariff
or other punishment — in all this and more, our standards as a nation are being debased,
our manners barbarized.”
"I’ve worked for three presidents, one Republican and two Democrats.
I’ve seen presidents up close. The job is overwhelmingly difficult. It takes a toll.
But I have never seen anything remotely like what has happened to Donald Trump."
"His chief of staff, Suzy Wiles, told Chris Whipple in an interview that appeared in
Tuesday’s Vanity Fair that Trump has an 'alcoholic’s personality' because
he 'operates [with] a view that there’s nothing he can’t do. Nothing, zero, nothing.'"
"I don’t want to alarm you, and I hesitate to even mention this,
but I couldn’t sleep knowing that Trump has the power to launch a nuclear bomb."
"As commander-in-chief, he is the only person in the United States with the authority to launch a nuke.
No one else need be consulted before he does. No one else can veto such an order.
Not even the vice president or secretary of defense has the power to stop it.
I hope to god he doesn’t. I don’t think he would."
"But what if he’s provoked? What if he feels that his manhood or his authority or his status
is being threatened? What if he just wants to demonstrate to Americans and the world how strong he is?
Again, I doubt this will happen, but the risk is not zero."
"It’s a risk that neither the United States nor the rest of the world can afford to take.
I don’t think I’m being alarmist. If anything, I worry that we’ve become so inured to Trump’s madness
that we’re not alarmist enough."
"Trump must be removed from office as soon as possible.
Either Section 4 of the 25th Amendment must be invoked — because he is 'unable to discharge the powers
and duties of his office' — or he must be impeached and convicted under Section 4 of Article II
of the Constitution for 'treason, bribery, or other high crimes and misdemeanors.'"
B. Stephens.
@FD1000 you stated the following yesterday in another MFO thread¹.
"Given this environment, it’s important that at least one voice consistently presents
perspectives from the other side to maintain balance and encourage genuine debate".
This is yet another opportunity to engage in genuine debate. I encourage your participation!
Reminder: Quoting White House press releases, disseminating right-wing propaganda,
invoking imaginary TDS, and blaming President Biden for everything is not genuine debate.
I look forward to hearing from you!
¹ https://www.mutualfundobserver.com/discuss/discussion/comment/204057/#Comment_204057
Guessing it will be half empty, like his rallies.
It's possible but they will need additional sizes beyond small.
In case my reference was not clear, one of the recently released Epstein photos was of trump condoms at Epstein's island.
that would boost the prosperity of hardworking Americans, they insisted,
leaving behind those unwilling to work."
"Except it didn’t. A February 2025 report from RAND, a nonprofit, nonpartisan research organization,
written by Carter C. Price found that if the system in place before 1975 had stayed in place,
the bottom 90% of Americans would have had almost $80 trillion more in 2023 than they did.
When Democratic president Joe Biden took office in 2021, he set out to restore the economic system
in place before 1981, protecting workers, boosting infrastructure investment, breaking up monopolies,
and protecting consumers."
"It worked. Far from being the economic 'disaster' Trump claimed, the economy he inherited was,
according to The Economist, 'the envy of the world.' 'The American economy has left other
rich countries in the dust,' Simon Rabinovitch and Henry Curr wrote.
If Trump had left that system in place, he would have gotten credit for a booming economy
as the investments made under Biden took hold."
"Instead, he undermined that government with dramatic layoffs and undermined that economy
with tariffs, continued deregulation, and additional tax cuts for the wealthy
and corporations while cutting the tax credits that supported the Affordable Care Act
healthcare insurance markets. On Wednesday, he was reduced to promising payments of $1776
to military personnel, implying that money would come from tariffs.
But fact checkers noted immediately that any such payments would come from money Congress
appropriated to subsidize housing allowances for service members."
Comments: If Donald J. Trump just continued President Biden's successful economic policies,
the current state of the economy would be significantly improved!
Trump was presented an easy path to enhance the financial security for so many ordinary Americans
but this apparently wasn't a high priority despite his campaign rhetoric.
"The law required that the Department of Justice must justify all redactions with 'a written justification published in the Federal Register and submitted to Congress.'"
"Otherwise, it said, records could not be 'withheld, delayed, or redacted on the basis of embarrassment, reputational harm, or political sensitivity, including to any government official, public figure, or foreign dignitary.'"
"In the afternoon, the department began to release the required materials. But despite the law’s specification that the department release ALL the records, it released just a fraction of the required materials, saying it would release more later. Missing were any of the FBI interviews with survivors or internal Justice Department memos about charging decisions."
"There are very few images of Epstein with Trump, despite their close relationship. Instead, the files focused on former Democratic president Bill Clinton, whose office responded with a statement saying: 'The White House hasn’t been hiding these files for months only to dump them late on a Friday to protect Bill Clinton. This is about shielding themselves from what comes next, or from what they’ll try and hide forever. So they can release as many grainy 20–plus-year-old photos as they want, but this isn’t about Bill Clinton. Never has, never will be.'"
"And then there were the redactions. So much of the material was redacted that, in front of television cameras, Jake Tapper of CNN scrolled through an entirely-blacked-out 100-page document on his phone and said: 'That’s the transparency we’re getting here.'"
"'Donald Trump and the Department of Justice are now violating federal law as they continue covering up the facts and the evidence about Jeffrey Epstein’s decades-long, billion-dollar, international sex trafficking ring,' the two wrote. 'For months, [Attorney General] Pam Bondi has denied survivors the transparency and accountability they have demanded and deserve and has defied the Oversight Committee’s subpoena. The Department of Justice is now making clear it intends to defy Congress itself, even as it gives star treatment to Epstein’s convicted co-conspirator, Ghislaine Maxwell.'"
"Now, with their disregard for the Epstein Files Transparency Act, they are also treating voters, especially their own MAGA voters who stood behind Trump because he promised to release the Epstein files, with outright contempt."
@FD1000
Knowing that you have your finger on the pulse of MAGA voters,
what has been MAGA's reaction to the utter contempt exhibited by the Trump administration?
"Instead, he undermined that government with dramatic layoffs and undermined that economy with tariffs, continued deregulation, and additional tax cuts for the wealthy
and corporations while cutting the tax credits that supported the Affordable Care Act
healthcare insurance markets."
This sounds very much like what I have been saying all along. The guy is an id10t, in tech jargon. A lifetime of screw-ups with, zero actual benchmarking, has created the biggest case of Dunning-Kreuger in history. He really thinks that he has done an incredible job. I actually now realize, he believes his own bullshit. Like all narcissists. He is so good at messaging to his believers, because he is a believer too! Despite everything he says being at total odds with empirical data.
jeez, man
are feeling exhausted, distraught, and sickened by what’s happened to our country and the world."
"As Times columnist Bret Stephens puts it, we are being led by the most loathsome human being
ever to occupy the White House — a petty, hollow, squalid, ogre-in-chief.
Every day that goes by seems to bring uglier vindictiveness, bigger lies, wilder boasts, and worse policies."
"The cruelty is almost unbearable — the destruction of USAID, the pursuit of undocumented
immigrants, the breakup of families, the arrests and detentions without due process,
the bombing of small boats in the Caribbean and killing of more than 100 people, and so on.
The fact it’s being done in our name, by the United States of America, is heartbreaking."
"We are not powerless, of course.
Together we are making significant progress against this scourge.
The ogre is not able to do as much damage now as he did initially.
The slumbering good giant of America is awakening.
But the vile man in the Oval Office continues to say and do horrible things."
Comments: Some U.S. residents just don't give a damn as long as they are comfortable and making money!
If asked what these 'DEI" comments mean, he would run for cover. No way to lay it out there without revealing the hate and racism involved. It is essentially a "dog whistle".
Clearly, his idea of "genuine debate".
Genuine debate would be pointing out that 2/3 of the stimulus trotted out, which eventually generated transitory inflation in 2022, came directly from the first trump administration. And that in October 2020, just months before Biden's advanced his own stimulus legislation, trump signed his second huge stimulus, threatening to veto it, "if they didn't go much bigger". Obviously maga was not the least bit concerned about inflation coming from trump, And if re-elected trump would have spent just as much as Biden. Much of that (BTW) was the CHIPs act with has been widely applauded.
As usual, everything must be distorted, taken out of context, or mis-represented. A sign of desperation. Though I do appreciate the opportunity to set the record straight for those who may otherwise buy into the BS. "Balance" one might say.
He just throws out MAGA propaganda, knowing full well that nobody here is falling for it. However, as far as taking the bait, a number of posters here seem to love it.
It's really not a debate, though. Far from it.