Election Year or Fear!

[MadAmster]

In previous posts in this thread since the US elections in November, and also prior to that, I have mentioned my belief that Trump wants to be a dictator. That thought started with his pre election comment to Christians that "if you vote for me now, you won't have to in 4 year's time" that. to me, sounded very much like "there won't be elections in 2028". Here's something that is, apparently, going to be put through the House and the Senate in the not too distant future. Dictatorship becoming a fact? It certainly looks that way to me...

If this is approved, this will be end of our country as we know it.
This IS the Enabling Act of the 1930s.
Everyone needs to understand the significance and the weight of this. This isn’t fear mongering, I will attach the executive order.
You need to force this in front of everyone supporting MAGA in your life right now. Talk to your parents, talk to your friends. This is our last chance we are in this together. This is still subject to the rule of law, but if somehow he gets this through, which is more likely than not at the rate we’re going, we are done. The United States will be authoritarian by definition.
��This Executive Order does the following:
❧ All federal agencies, including independent regulatory commissions, are now subject to direct White House control.
❧ Regulations cannot be issued without presidential approval.
❧ The Office of Management and Budget (OM can now withhold funding from independent agencies if they don’t align with White House priorities.
❧ All federal employees must follow the President’s and Attorney General’s interpretation of the law, eliminating legal independence.
❧ A White House Liaison is to be installed in every independent regulatory agency to enforce direct presidential control.
⚠️ This is the biggest executive power grab in U.S. history. ⚠️
This formally ends the concept of an “independent” regulatory agency, dismantling one of the last barriers to absolute executive power.
�� This order effectively erases the last major restraints on executive power. �� The federal government no longer operates with checks and balances. �� Regulations and laws are now dictated solely by the President. �� If left unchecked, this is the moment the U.S. ceases to function as a democratic republic.
1️⃣ The President Now Controls All Regulatory Agencies
✅ The SEC, FTC, FCC, and FEC are no longer independent.
The Stock Market is now subject to White House control, enabling insider trading, favoritism, and targeting of political opponents. Antitrust laws can be selectively enforced, allowing administration-friendly monopolies to expand unchecked. Political opponents in the tech sector, media, or finance can be targeted with regulatory action while allies are protected. Elections are now influenced by direct White House oversight of the Federal Election Commission (FEC).
✅ The FDA, EPA, and consumer protection agencies are fully politicized.
Drug approvals, food safety regulations, and environmental policies can be rewritten for political or corporate interests. Climate change regulations can be erased overnight. Scientific research is now subject to White House approval before public release.
�� Implication: There is no longer any neutral enforcement of economic, environmental, or election laws. Everything is now dictated by political loyalty.
2️⃣ The White House Can Block Agency Budgets or Direct Funds Elsewhere
✅ The OMB can now adjust funding allocations for independent agencies.
This gives the President the power to defund agencies without needing Congress. Regulatory agencies that challenge presidential policies will be quietly strangled of resources. Agencies loyal to the President will receive full funding—even illegally. �� Implication: Congress no longer controls federal spending on regulatory enforcement. The executive branch can choke out opposition agencies and reward allies.
3️⃣ The President & Attorney General Have Final Say on All Legal Interpretations ✅ All federal employees must follow White House interpretations of the law.
The Attorney General’s opinions override agency lawyers, inspectors general, and independent counsel. Agencies cannot adopt their own interpretations of legal statutes—everything must align with the President’s views. The President can rewrite federal legal interpretations overnight. �� Implication: Legal consistency is gone. Agencies cannot push back against corrupt, illegal, or unconstitutional directives because the President’s interpretation is the only interpretation allowed.
4️⃣ Installing White House Liaisons in All Regulatory Agencies ✅ A “White House Liaison” will be placed in every independent agency.
This ensures constant presidential oversight of daily operations. These liaisons will report agency actions back to the White House and enforce political compliance. Agency directors will no longer have the ability to act without White House approval.
�� Implication: There is now a direct enforcement arm inside every regulatory body. Even agencies that resist presidential control will be internally monitored and controlled.
�� Every regulatory body—from financial markets to environmental protections—is now politicized. �� Congress no longer controls federal funding—agencies must obey the White House or risk defunding. �� The President’s legal interpretations override all agency autonomy, eliminating independent enforcement of federal laws. �� The federal bureaucracy, once designed to be resistant to corruption, is now completely subject to presidential loyalty.


All comments welcome.

[MadAmster]

Here's another thing I spotted online, it details a lot of weird things the Don has done/said that should have normal, sensible folk up in arms but are things his supporters seem very happy with...

A real question from a Trump supporter: ‘Why do liberals think Trump supporters are stupid?’

THE SERIOUS ANSWER: Here’s what the majority of anti-Trump voters honestly feel about Trump supporters en masse:

That when you saw a man who had owned a fraudulent University, intent on scamming poor people, you thought "Fine." (https://www.usatoday.com/.../trump-u....../502387002/)

That when you saw a man who had made it his business practice to stiff his creditors, you said, "Okay." (https://www.thedailybeast.com/trump-hotel-paid-millions...)

That when you heard him proudly brag about his own history of ***ual abuse, you said, "No problem." (https://abcnews.go.com/.../list-trum...users.../story...)

That when he made up stories about seeing Muslim-Americans in the thousands cheering the destruction of the World Trade Center, you said, "Not an issue." (https://www.washingtonpost.com/.../donald-trumps.../)

That when you saw him brag that he could shoot a man on Fifth Avenue and you wouldn't care, you exclaimed, "He sure knows me." (https://www.usatoday.com/.../preside...../4073405002/)

That when you heard him relating a story of an elderly guest of his country club, an 80-year old man, who fell off a stage and hit his head, to Trump replied: “‘Oh my God, that’s disgusting,’ and I turned away. I couldn’t—you know, he was right in front of me, and I turned away. I didn’t want to touch him. He was bleeding all over the place. And I felt terrible, because it was a beautiful white marble floor, and now it had changed color. Became very red.” You said, "That's cool!" (https://www.gq.com/story/donald-trum...rd-stern-story)

That when you saw him mock the disabled, you thought it was the funniest thing you ever saw. (https://www.nbcnews.com/.../donald-t...iticized-after...)

That when you heard him brag that he doesn't read books, you said, "Well, who has time?" (https://www.theatlantic.com/.../amer...rst.../549794/)

That when the Central Park Five were compensated as innocent men convicted of a crime they didn't commit, and he angrily said that they should still be in prison, you said, "That makes sense." (https://www.usatoday.com/.../what-tr...../1501321001/)

That when you heard him tell his supporters to beat up protesters and that he would hire attorneys, you thought, "Yes!" (https://www.latimes.com/.../la-na-tr...paign-protests...)

That when you heard him tell one rally to confiscate a man's coat before throwing him out into the freezing cold, you said, "What a great guy!" (https://www.independent.co.uk/.../donald-trump-orders...)

That you have watched the parade of neo-Nazis and white supremacists with whom he curries favor, while refusing to condemn outright Nazis, and you have said, "Thumbs up!" (https://www.theatlantic.com/.../why-...ump.../567320/)

That you hear him unable to talk to foreign dignitaries without insulting their countries and demanding that they praise his electoral win, you said, "That's the way I want my President to be." (https://www.huffpost.com/.../trump-insult-foreign...)

That you have watched him remove expertise from all layers of government in favor of people who make money off of eliminating protections in the industries they're supposed to be regulating and you have said, "What a genius!" (https://www.politico.com/.../138-trump-policy-changes...)

That you have heard him continue to profit from his businesses, in part by leveraging his position as President, to the point of overcharging the Secret Service for space in the properties he owns, and you have said, "That's smart!" (https://www.usnews.com/.../how-is-do...rump-profiting...)

That you have heard him say that it was difficult to help Puerto Rico because it was in the middle of water and you have said, "That makes sense." (https://www.washingtonpost.com/.../t...-big-ocean.../)

That you have seen him start fights with every country from Canada to New Zealand while praising Russia and quote, "falling in love" with the dictator of North Korea, and you have said, "That's statesmanship!" (https://www.cnn.com/.../donald-trump....../index.html)

That Trump separated children from their families and put them in cages, managed to lose track of 1500 kids, has opened a tent city incarceration camp in the desert in Texas - he explains that they’re just “animals” - and you say, “Well, OK then.” (https://www.nbcnews.com/.../more-5-400-children-split...)

That you have witnessed all the thousand and one other manifestations of corruption and low moral character and outright animalistic rudeness and contempt for you, the working American voter, and you still show up grinning and wearing your MAGA hats and threatening to beat up anybody who says otherwise. (https://www.americanprogress.org/......nting-cost.../)

What you don't get, Trump supporters, is that our succumbing to frustration and shaking our heads, thinking of you as stupid, may very well be wrong and unhelpful, but it's also... hear me... charitable.

Because if you're NOT stupid, we must turn to other explanations, and most of them are less flattering.

- Adam-Troy Castro


Are they really sleepwalking into serfdom? One could be excused for thinking so.

[Trickytreesreds]

Just remaining on topic Tricky and you know I seldom respond to your video clips.

Not much wrong with my reading but just to be clear, you wrote?

?He?s a horrible piece of work is Putin, but the EU pushed him into a corner. Let?s not forget that.?

You followed that up with?

?Folks forget with Russians that they trust the west very little. They were happy with the buffer zone of the iron curtain after WW2. Since that fell, they feel encroached on ever since and the more of those areas join NATO and the EU, the worse they get.?

No bending your words, but that seems like a defence of Putin and of recent Russian actions to me. Even your attempted justification seems to me to attach blame to the EU however I?m happy to let others decide where your sympathies lie.

jesus wept, how is that defending him?

Those comments are facts. I know you understand history, but are we not allowed to quote it now?

Everyone knows these facts and politicians should be wary any actions they take that rattle those facts , are complicit in the situation.
The EU and western politicians knew the risks and did it anyway.
That is not defending Putin, he's a maniac and knows that unless he keeps complete control, he's toast from within.

Amazing how even little old me, could see the risks, but all these clever politicians couldn't.
Did they learn nothing at school?

Here's a little light reading for you, about the psychology of the nutter and his lust for power.
You can heap all the blame on Putin as much as you want, but the EU in particular did its part,

https://www.latimes.com/world-nation...lped-shape-him

[Trickytreesreds]

I am still waiting RA for your excuse to Labour imposing suppression on people now with right wing views. It has been lowered from far right/Nazi/Fascists, to those not in agreement with this givernment.

The old lady had a visit from 2 plain clothes cops for talking about the Labour councillors whatsap group and their anti jew/ racist/ mysoginistic comments and all she said was, they should do the decent thing and resign.
The cops admitted a complaint had been made by one of those councillors and even though no crime had been committed, they were there to offer words of "advice". WTF? no crime, yet 2 cops are there to tell you stop criticising Labour party officials?

It isn't the first time either.

Starmers speech in Scotland- "do you know what Reform and Farage are doing in parliament"? "They are voting against our employment rights bill"? So apparently you have to vote wth Starmer now, or you are a threat.

Then there was the Welsh royal marine, who said on Facebook that all this illegal immigration was a threat to public safety. He was arrested/charged/remanded/went to court after a Labour staff member reported him to police. The jury took just 17 mins to aquit him.

This government is the only one in the world, who have forced Apple to give them access to everyones private photos/ texts/chats?

So when Maddy talks about dictatorships, perhaps looking closer to home should be a priority?

[ramAnag]

Tricky, as I said yesterday, I’m happy to let others decide where your sympathies lie.
Yesterday you had a difference of opinion with MA during which, while you don’t actively support Putin, you use the word ‘but’ and proceed to try and justify the behaviour of Putin and the Russians under his leadership.
While not actually condoning such behaviour you are excusing or defending it and if you don’t recognise that there’s no point in continuing.

As for waiting for my response to your Talk TV clip. You’ll have a long wait and you know that, imo, life is too short to pay any attention whatsoever to the garbage peddled by channels employing the likes of Mike Graham and Jeremy Kyle.

Suggest you take a close look at MA’s two morning pieces on Trump. I doubt you’ll like it but it might provide some more intelligent food for thought than your usual staple of GB News and Talk TV.

[MadAmster]

I'm actually with TTR to an extent on Starmer. He voiced his feelings over certain things and that saw some people getting lengthy sentences for posts on Facebook, one of which was 3 years. Way OTT and was, IMO, that long down to Starmer's "interference".

Compare that to the MP who was sent down for 10 weeks for physically assaulting a constituent on the street in the early hours... he gets to keep his job, he is being paid, it seems, while serving his sentence and will return to the House once released. If it had been you or I knocking seven bells out of someone, most, if not all, of us would have been sacked. Unfair. The bloke should go.

[Geoff Parkstone]

I'm actually with TTR to an extent on Starmer. He voiced his feelings over certain things and that saw some people getting lengthy sentences for posts on Facebook, one of which was 3 years. Way OTT and was, IMO, that long down to Starmer's "interference".

Compare that to the MP who was sent down for 10 weeks for physically assaulting a constituent on the street in the early hours... he gets to keep his job, he is being paid, it seems, while serving his sentence and will return to the House once released. If it had been you or I knocking seven bells out of someone, most, if not all, of us would have been sacked. Unfair. The bloke should go.

Agree with you here MA and so inferentially with Tricky. I'm becoming increasingly concerned by the irrational double standards being imposed under the toolmakers boy.

[SithHappens]

I'm actually with TTR to an extent on Starmer. He voiced his feelings over certain things and that saw some people getting lengthy sentences for posts on Facebook, one of which was 3 years. Way OTT and was, IMO, that long down to Starmer's "interference".

Compare that to the MP who was sent down for 10 weeks for physically assaulting a constituent on the street in the early hours... he gets to keep his job, he is being paid, it seems, while serving his sentence and will return to the House once released. If it had been you or I knocking seven bells out of someone, most, if not all, of us would have been sacked. Unfair. The bloke should go.

One of the people arrested for comments online is Derek Wilson, a reform candidate who has on a number of occasions called for starmer to be assassinated.

[Geoff Parkstone]

Seems that the trend nowadays is that talking about doing something is more of a crime than actually doing it, even if there is no mens rea. Not condoning Wilson's comments but .....

[SithHappens]

Seems that the trend nowadays is that talking about doing something is more of a crime than actually doing it, even if there is no mens rea. Not condoning Wilson's comments but .....

Yeah I expect he doesn't really mean it. I suppose in the wake of Jo Cox and David Amess though the police have to be seen taking it seriously. Imagine if they did nothing and something did happen though.