Having a midlife crisis and suddenly dressing like you’re really into the world’s shittiest rap-rock band generally doesn’t endear you with the public. Especially not when you’re laying people off by the tens of thousands.

I really doubt there will ever be an invasion of Canada. Barely anyone in America would go along with a massive war (and that’s what it would require). Congress doesn’t want it — not even Republicans. The business community doesn’t want it. Maybe a few hardcore MAGA types would be willing to fight for him but in reality, most MAGA types are old, fat slobs, not young people of fighting age.

Plus, we couldn’t occupy Iraq and Afghanistan. There’s no way we’d be able to occupy all of Canada. (Especially Quebec. It seems like they’d sooner fight to the death than become Americans.)

Poor people in NYC don’t typically have cars or live in that part of Manhattan and there’s tons of public transportation options in that area. So, this is more like a tax on upper class people who refuse to ride the subway to pay for necessary upgrades to the subway and bus system. There’s even NJ Transit and the Long Island Railroad for the suburbs. (Not many NYC residents care what Staten Island thinks.)

Trump probably just hates it because it’s a progressive tax. But he left NYC and lives in Florida or his golf courses (and, occasionally, DC) so he doesn’t really get a say.

I know the point of this is probably just intimidation but 35 companies? Are there 35 social networks that moderate content? Why is Apple included? Is there some conspiracy theory that they’re censoring conservative App Store reviews?

Alaska gets the most federal dollars, per capita, is anyone is wondering why she’s pretending to care. Something like a third of the state’s budget comes from the federal government.

A unprovoked war, I guess, would be an obvious one for me. A debt default would probably lead to one since everyone’s retirement account would be fucked.

I mean, I’d join one now if unions and major non-profits organized one. But I’m self-employed so it’s not a risk for me. I get why a lot of people can’t take the risk of being fired.

They didn’t charge him.

They didn’t charge him. I imagine NOPD had bigger issues with Philly fans than some guy they probably half agree with.

How can you be a fan of Dolly Parton and homophobic? One of her best stories is when she entered a drag queen Dolly Parton look-a-like contest and lost. https://www.yahoo.com/entertainment/claim-dolly-parton-entered-look-130000474.html

I feel like Trump voters knew exactly who and what they were voting for. Everyone told them, including Trump. Project 2025 was available for everyone to read but Trump even said, “To me the most beautiful word in the dictionary is 'tariff’.” There were no secrets this election.

No one wins a nuclear war. But also, this seems like a pipe dream. Israel’s Iron Dome is protecting a country the size of New Jersey against relatively unsophisticated missiles. I’m sure the Pentagon would love an American Iron Dome that can stop ICBMs but it would probably cost more than the entire world’s GDP just to cover the West Coast. And then it’d probably be obsolete before it was ever finished.

It’s also the student aid programs and a ton of other university-level stuff. Maybe the student aid programs can be shifted to Treasury or something but the Education Department doesn’t really do much K-12 policy stuff since, as you said, that’s a state and local thing. It’s mostly just non-controversial grants to states.

Maybe it doesn’t need to be a whole department but turning into an agency under another department isn’t going to save much money, if any. It’s just moving things around on an org chart.

I think it’s largely about a lack of opportunity for, especially but not exclusively, blue collar workers¹ and a perceived loss of status. There seems to be a lot of young men across the West and elsewhere who are struggling to build a career in the modern economy and being rejected by women (in part due to their anger) when, to them, it feels like just a generation or two ago, they would have been handed a middle class life and been the breadwinner for a family already.

Nevermind that a generation or two ago, that status came at the expense of others. To them, it feels like lost status. So, they’re easily manipulated by the far right saying, “It’s not you. It’s [insert scapegoat: women, immigrants, whatever]. We’ll give you a sense of purpose.”

¹ I only say blue collar because of the shift in rich countries from manufacturing to services, whether high paid or low paid. But whole white collar professions have disappeared just due to computers.

One theme was that Kendrick’s life is like a video game so I’m pretty sure it was just the PlayStation buttons.

In a way, there were two themes: Kendrick rapping about his life while the choreography and Samuel Jackson as Uncle Sam making a statement that “The flag and America don’t belong to fascists.” (I guess a third theme was “Fuck Drake” but he couldn’t just not play the biggest song of the year that just won 5 Grammy Awards and has over a billion plays on Spotify.)

I’m probably reading too much into it — if that’s even possible with Kendrick — but a lot of what he criticizes Drake about applies equally to Trump. “Certified loverboy? Certified pedophile.” “I hear you like 'em young / You better never go to cell block one.” Kendrick obviously didn’t know Trump would be there when they planned the show but even if it was unintentional, I like that Trump and his ilk got to find out one of the most popular artists in America won a rap battle by mocking an adult for fucking teenagers.

And Kendrick Lamar is famously Christian and makes references to God frequently in his lyrics. Although, I doubt they consider the black church “Christian” since prosperity gospel megachurch bullshit strays so far from Christ that they probably can’t recognize an actual Christian any better than they can recognize a fire beat.

I was maybe 13 or 14 when I smoked the worst weed ever out of a pipe made out of a Coca-Cola can. And then I went to McDonald’s and ate like 4 Cajun McChicken sandwiches.

The only reason we still have pennies is the zinc mining companies bribing Congress. They’re the only losers here. (And they aren’t just going to close the zinc mines. So, the workers/miners probably won’t even be hurt. Just some owners/shareholders.)

An invasion of Canada would result in so many Americans defecting and fighting for Canada or not cooperating and probably a Civil War when the west coast states (and possibly New England) secede. I imagine the military leadership would sooner stage a coup than cooperate and invade/occupy Canada. Plus, the entire world would side with Canada.

It’s the ramblings of a senile buffoon. There’s absolutely no one else calling for this (or invading Greenland/Panama) and no support from 80% of Americans — and close to 100% with people of fighting age. Even most MAGA idiots are isolationists.

And don’t forget, basically every major U.S. city is extremely blue. When you look at a red state/blue state map, remember that it’s actually an urban/rural divide. Port cities are especially blue. (Look at Louisiana for an example. A deep red state but Orleans Parish went 82% for Harris/Walz. Good luck winning any war with 90% of the port cities in full revolt.)

Yale claiming lack of funding when it’s got a $40 billion endowment is pretty laughable.

The first modern hospital — as in science based and not getting your humours balanced — to provide gender affirming care was opened in Berlin in 1919. Not a lot new they’re doing.

https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/the-forgotten-history-of-the-worlds-first-trans-clinic/