Remember that Trump’s real purpose in continuously needling and threatening to annex Canada, Greenland, and Panama is so he’ll have something to regurgitate whenever he needs a distraction and wants the media to focus on something other than one of his many damaging scandals or authoritarian power grabs, or just when he feels the media isn’t focused on him and he feels a need to be the center of attention again.
Because there are enough of them to win elections.
EDIT: Downvotes don’t change reality, people. There are enough people who support these efforts to sway elections. It’s why Republicans refuse to stand up to Trump in the first place – standing up to him is political suicide in many of these areas. You can continue to not care about their opinions, but all that will do is leave you wondering why you keep losing to them.
If you want to combat this, you need to figure out what they believe and why they believe it. Then you need to figure out which ones are just party-line MAGA to the end and are unreachable, and which ones have concerns that can be addressed and negotiated on, and try to work on those. But continuing to not care about their opinions while trying to force an agenda that they already said in 2024 that they don’t want is a great way to ensure that you keep losing.
I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again. If you’re trying to win an election, and 51% of the people you need to vote for you are concerned about monkeys flying out of your ass, you had better come up with a plan to address the flying monkey problem. You can try to appeal to logic and reason by saying that there are obviously no monkeys flying out of your ass, but you’ll be doing it during your concession speech.
He had no intention of being dignified. He does what he does because it gets him the attention he seeks. If he showed up dignified, he wouldn’t be the center of attention.
This was not an accident. First, it gets him to stand out from the crowd, draw all the attention to himself, and make it all about him which is what he lives and breathes for. Second, it gets the media to focus on something other than him eliminating due process, having judges arrested, using the DOJ to attack perceived enemies, deporting US citizens, and completely ignoring court rulings while those who have the power to stop it sit back and either do nothing or actively support it.
So I figure give it a week and Trump will pull like $500 million in funding.
In unrelated news, Harvard will fire these guys in about 2 weeks.
So, everybody around here who keeps saying “There are laws preventing this!” and “Even Trump won’t directly defy court orders like that!”…
Now what?
This is the justice system that you think is going to keep Trump in check and hold him accountable? They’re much more likely to rubber-stamp his agenda and give him more power. And no, that’s not hyperbole or sarcasm. It’s what the courts have been doing, and it’s what John Roberts recently signaled he’d sign on for.
If you believe for half a second that our justice system is going to hold the line against Trump, I’ve got some sweet, sweet Martian beachfront property you might be interested in. Musk recently said he’s sending a ship there soon, so get in on the ground floor now!
I never fucking want to hear “Trump will never be able to do that, because that’s illegal!” from you people again. If there is nobody willing or able to enforce the law, the “law” becomes nothing more than a suggestion that can and will be ignored when inconvenient. And right now, nobody seems either willing or able to hold Trump to account for anything.
I know the Trump train is going full steam ahead and Vance is just along for the ride. And I know who’s driving the train. But is there nobody pulling Vance aside and telling him that every once in a while he needs to learn to shut the fuck up?
It’s one thing for Trump to say it himself. He’s an incoherent moron who can’t put together a coherent thought, and can be written off like a homeless person in the park preaching to the pigeons. But JD Vance is an articulate, educated individual. But IMO, the fact that he’s actually coherent just makes it worse when he says it because that means actual, significant thought has been put into it, which also means coherent thought has been put into implementing it.
Just think of how much more dangerous Trump would be if he were actually a coherent, functioning person. That’s JD Vance.
Can Trump deport suspected undocumented migrants without due process? “No. It’s not complicated. Anyone that tries to inject nuance into this simple question is not to be taken seriously.” Except he’s doing just that.
Can Trump completely ignore the rulings of the court system up to and including the Supreme Court? “No. It’s not complicated. Anyone that tries to inject nuance into this simple question is not to be taken seriously.” Except he’s doing just that.
Can Trump target specific people, companies, or organizations with punitive executive orders unless they bend to his will or do his bidding? “No. It’s not complicated. Anyone that tries to inject nuance into this simple question is not to be taken seriously.” Except he’s doing just that.
Can Trump withhold federal funding from universities and other organizations that don’t adopt Trump-friendly policies and give him direct control over their operations? “No. It’s not complicated. Anyone that tries to inject nuance into this simple question is not to be taken seriously.” Except he’s doing just that.
Can Trump threaten executive, legislative, or otherwise punitive action against news organizations and reporters who report on him unfavorably? “No. It’s not complicated. Anyone that tries to inject nuance into this simple question is not to be taken seriously.” Except he’s doing just that.
Can Trump unilaterally implement and rescind tariffs unilaterally, based on nothing but his personal whims? “No. It’s not complicated. Anyone that tries to inject nuance into this simple question is not to be taken seriously.” Except he’s doing just that.
I could go on and on, but I’m sure you get the idea by now.
Asking “can” he do something is irrelevant. The actual questions to ask are if there is anybody with the power and authority to stop him, do they have the ability to enforce it, and are they willing to use that power? If the answer to those questions are “no”, then the answer to whether or not Trump “can” do something is “He can, and he will, because fuck you that’s why.”
If there is nobody willing or able to enforce the law, those laws are mere suggestions that can be ignored when inconvenient.