Drill Baby Drill...the US Politics Thread (Part 2)

https://x.com/krassenstein/status/1897044746012647676

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So Trump , who proclaimed that Zelinskyy got to play the tough guy, himself plays the tough guy, and gets put in his box by Trudeau (apparently spineless) and a Mexican female president ?

Maybe its time to be put into a care home Donald and let the world move on.

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From the Guardian:

Trump to defend trade war in major address to Congress tonight

Jason Miller, a top adviser to Donald Trump, says the president will defend his trade war to Americans when he speaks to a joint session of Congress tonight.

“I would say that he’s going to lean into it and he’s going to talk about how increasing tariffs can actually go and close the trade deficits … [in] January we saw a record trade deficit, particularly when it comes to countries such as Canada, Mexico, China. And how, if we don’t go and do this now, we’re going to be completely wiped out by certain industries here in the United States,” Miller told CNN in an interview.

“Ultimately the costs on this are going to be carried by the producers and the foreign countries as opposed to Americans,” he added, repeating a common argument of the administration that economists are skeptical of.

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https://x.com/JohnJHarwood/status/1897044659618136488

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The chaos is part of the point. It creates an incentive to invest in the US to avoid the uncertainty. Cancelling the tariffs now would eliminate the need for American consumers to bear those costs. The only long-term solution is disengagement from a culture capable of producing this - nothing the United States says or commits to can be trusted.

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On that note, this is, I think, a very good thread on just that (and on what conclusions one should draw from it). I admit, many of his points are close to my hearts and some may have seen me write a few of these points from time to time.

Thread by @terjehelland on Thread Reader App – Thread Reader App?

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This is just mind-blowing.

Who the fuck is she to say this about American veterans? Who the fuck is Captain Bonespurs to make this judgement? I know veterans skewed Republican, despite Trump’s rich history of complete disrespect for them, but this is simply insulting.

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We may need to pretend that he won, you know, bring him the good crayons or something.

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Anyone have this clip of the Ocasio-Cortez interview with NPR? The guy asks about her holding a “know your rights forum”, and he asks if she was giving advice to “illegals”. She says she was giving advice to all of her constituents. I watched it this morning, but I can’t seem to find the clip.

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Guess which worm, who has been hammering the China, Taiwan, China, Taiwan; since 2016; is now out saying this ? The main ideolgoue behind cut Europe off to defend Taiwan.

“I’ve always said that Taiwan is very important to the United States, but as you said, it’s not an existential interest . . . The core American interest is in denying China regional hegemony.”

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Ok, silly of me to play games, but it is of course, dear https://x.com/ElbridgeColby

Who now says this, after Trump admin yesterday and today talks about squizing Taiwan and moving the vital industry from Taiwan to the US, “in case something happens to Taiwan” (Trump).

Justin Beiber greatest hits ? Or better still William Shatners greatest hits album.

His picture, by the way, is Velázquez’s La rendición de Breda.

Do you think he gets the fucking joke?

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Help me out here…I know the painting but not catching the joke either

This is what I love the most. When someone says something that I did not know at all, which leads me to read an entire wikipedia article. Thank you. I really appreciate these moments. An interesting painting with interesting history indeed !

Nor can I. Just guesses, but I am not comfortable guessing like that. Surrender is maybe a guess, I suppose.

I have seen the painting in Madrid, and the tour went out of the way to emphasize the elements reflecting how Spinola refused triumphalism, but I don’t know if that is the allusion or I am just missing something

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Velázquez was a court painter (hired by the monarchy) but he’s believed to be strongly anti-monarchy and anti-colonization, because he’d sneak certain symbols into his paintings to mock the ruling classes, as it were, and their pseudo-intellectual taste.

He’d use a lot of symbolic “dog-whistles”, if you like, to satire the ruling classes; they were delighted with their portraits, whilst everybody else was laughing at them.

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I didn’t expect my wee comment to receive so much attention, to be honest. But I stand by it.

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Lol. Seriously though, I would worry a lot if I was in Taiwain. The invasion is coming.
https://x.com/kenmoriyasu/status/1897032194000101657

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