The 47th U.S. President

[Live in Phoenix]

This thread can be used to chart the…accomplishments of the newly-elected President. Or the periods of quiet, for that matter.

[Calvin Cooke]

This thread can be used to chart thegeometry dash meltdown…accomplishments of the newly-elected President. Or the periods of quiet, for that matter.

It doesn't seem to have much to do with the music theme

[Live in Phoenix]

This thread can be used to chart thegeometry dash meltdown…accomplishments of the newly-elected President. Or the periods of quiet, for that matter.

It doesn't seem to have much to do with the music theme

Indeed. We are literally in the off-topic section.


RFK Jr’s many controversies: From dumping a bear in Central Park to a worm eating his brain
Robert F. Kennedy Jr., an anti-vaccine activist and former independent presidential candidate, has been tapped to lead the Department of Health and Human Services under Donald Trump’s government.
https://www.independent.co.uk/news/worl ... 47544.html

[antlerboeing]

This thread can be used to chart the…accomplishments of the newly-elected President. Or the periods of quiet, for that matter.

Such a thread can be an engaging way to document their initiatives, policies, and impact over time.

[Live in Phoenix]

Sigh…


Trump declines to rule out ‘military or economic’ force to expand U.S.

He said the United States should acquire Greenland, threatened to retake the Panama Canal and mused about using “economic force” to make Canada the 51st American state.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics ... of-mexico/

[Pierre]

I remember a South Park episode which predicted a war between Canada and the U.S. It's fascinating to see how accurate caricatures can be in predicting the future when the real world becomes a caricature of itself.

[Sweepstakes Ron]

I'm sending this is all just bluster on his part, like "build the wall" eight years ago. Doesn't make it any less exasperating that we're stuck with four more years of this hot air from the fucking president.

[Honorio]

Hi my friends, I hope not to offend anyone with this post....

In November I decided to make a personal boycott of American cultural products but I've waited until today mainly to being able to participate in the 2000s poll (in vain, although I've been listening to the American 00s albums first I missed some of them, 200 albums were waaay too much for my limited spare time).

My intention is not to listen to American music, not to watch American films or TV series and not to read American books or comic books (apart from not buying American products) for a whole year (with one exception I'll say later). I'm perfectly aware that most artists I'm going to stop listening to (and many American citizens!) are against the policies Trump is going to implement. But I'm also aware that a wide majority of Americans bought wholeheartedly his hate speech and denialist discourse and are gladly leaving all power in the hands of an oligarchy of billionares. And it's not Trump fault, he is very clear about his intentions, it's the American people who are to blame. But I have no right to complain, people vote what they want, that's democracy after all. And I completely understand that Americans want to put America first, so I hope you understand that for a year I want to put America last.

And of course I know that this silly protest on my part is absolutely futile and useless, the money I pay for my subscription to streaming platforms like Spotify will go Taylor Swift anyway. But I hope that my refusal to listen to American music for a year will lead me on a path of discovery, apart from deepening my love for the music of Spain, France and the UK I plan to listen to music from geographic points not so well known to me, such as Eastern Europe, Latin America or Asia.

And yes, the exception to the rule: I'm going to impose a tariff (Trump-style) on American music, the only music I'm allowed to listen to must appear in the best Acclaimed Music Forum thread ever.

[jamieW]

Hi my friends, I hope not to offend anyone with this post....

Hi, Honorio. You certainly aren't offending this American! When Trump was first elected in 2016, I knew I'd never feel the same way about this country again and knew that I would move out of it someday. As it stands, our family has been researching ways and saving money to move to Canada soon (we hope!). There is no longer any denying that Donald Trump IS the United States, and I primarily blame the voters, as well, for a lack of education, enlightenment, and values. If you voted for Trump a second time, you knew full-well who he is, from his bragging about assaulting women, to his devaluing of marginalized, persecuted populations, to his attempt to subvert our democracy. Trump is the symptom; his supporters are the disease.

Many thanks to you for your courage and convictions, Honorio! If the Republicans in Congress had any spine whatsoever, we wouldn't be in this predicament. I wish you the very best, and you can never go wrong focusing on sonofsam's lists at any time! I appreciate you bringing this up because I've grown so tired of every entity of American culture normalizing this. There is absolutely nothing normal about the last 8+ years...

[Moeboid]

For the first time, I genuinely have no idea where the US is heading. Most presidents, and presidencies, are reasonably predictable. They continue the rough, general trajectory of US politics, modulated a bit by their own personal convictions/promises.

It might be the same under Trump, but it also might not be. Trump appears to me as someone who has no understanding of, and perhaps even no interest in, politics. On top of that, he is very lazy. For that reason, I think that he may serve as a useful idiot for some of the more aspirational and politically savvy people around him, many of whom, for the record, I think are straight up fascists.

Most of Trump's words and promises are basically meaningless, in my opinion. If they are a sign of what's to come, it's only by coincidence. He's someone who puts no thought into what he says, so I generally think analysing it is a waste of time. At best, his words are a reflection of the implicit messages he's absorbed from passively watching Fox News (or worse) all day.

Overall, I think there are some things that are guaranteed to get worse. The biggest and most obvious one is progress on climate change. The ruling class has no material interest in addressing climate change, as their wealth protects them from essentially all of its effects. Climate change will hit along class lines, and for those right at the bottom, climate change is a literally existential threat. The ruling class don't care about that, but they at least had to pretend to under the Democrats. Now, they can basically do whatever they want.

Things are also certain to get worse for the average American, especially those who happen to be a minority. I wish I could say that I expect that to be a wakeup call to those who voted for him, but I don't. No matter how clear it is that minorities are not responsible for the misery of the American people, they will always be scapegoated.

Internationally, things are less clear. A ceasefire in Gaza is surprising and welcome, but only a fool would expect it to last. I can only guess what happens next, but Trump's cabinet seems every bit as Zionist as Biden's, and more ruthless in character. The people of Palestine still face an existential threat.

There is reason to be optimistic about deescalating tensions with Russia and perhaps even China, and that would be genuinely great if it happens, but Trump is so erratic that they could just as easily head in the opposite direction. His aspirations to take control of Greenland and Panama also don't bode well for global stability.

Whatever happens with Trump, I hope that the American people finally realise that voting Democrat can't save them. Not only are they an awful party, but their failings are what give rise to people like Trump. I have no idea what the solution is, but the US political system requires some drastic changes.

[Holden]

As a resident of the United States, I simply pray that all of his campaign promises were smoke in the wind.

Of all of his agenda items, the mass deportation probably scares me the most, despite the fact that it will not affect me or any of my loved ones.

I don’t think the people of the United States are ready for the horror and brutality of trying to deport 20,000,000 people. To those ten democrats that recently bent the knee and voted to give a filibuster-proof majority to the Laken Riley act, I hope the hatred trump continues to pelt at you is worth the blood on your hands.

[Honorio]

Hi, Honorio. You certainly aren't offending this American! When Trump was first elected in 2016, I knew I'd never feel the same way about this country again and knew that I would move out of it someday. As it stands, our family has been researching ways and saving money to move to Canada soon (we hope!). There is no longer any denying that Donald Trump IS the United States, and I primarily blame the voters, as well, for a lack of education, enlightenment, and values. If you voted for Trump a second time, you knew full-well who he is, from his bragging about assaulting women, to his devaluing of marginalized, persecuted populations, to his attempt to subvert our democracy. Trump is the symptom; his supporters are the disease.

Many thanks to you for your courage and convictions, Honorio! If the Republicans in Congress had any spine whatsoever, we wouldn't be in this predicament. I wish you the very best, and you can never go wrong focusing on sonofsam's lists at any time! I appreciate you bringing this up because I've grown so tired of every entity of American culture normalizing this. There is absolutely nothing normal about the last 8+ years...

Thank you very much for your words, jamieW!
Agree with what you’re saying (also with Moeboid and Holden comments). And jamieW, good luck in Canada! But be careful you don’t become part of the US again…

[Mushroom Soup]

Of all of his agenda items, the mass deportation probably scares me the most, despite the fact that it will not affect me or any of my loved ones.

They've already confirmed that it will cost the taxpayers over 1 billion just to physically send people to "round up" immigrants. Not anyone rich, of course- no, that money comes out of taxpayers' pockets. And that's nothing to what it will mean for jobs, food, grocery prices. Just mass deportation will cost the very, very, very stupid taxpaying American citizens a King's ransom for their toxic, ignorant, xenophobic and racist voting habits.

To say nothing of the emotional pain and suffering.

[FrankLotion]

Of all of his agenda items, the mass deportation probably scares me the most, despite the fact that it will not affect me or any of my loved ones.

They've already confirmed that it will cost the taxpayers over 1 billion just to physically send people to "round up" immigrants. Not anyone rich, of course- no, that money comes out of taxpayers' pockets. And that's nothing to what it will mean for jobs, food, grocery prices. Just mass deportation will cost the very, very, very stupid taxpaying American citizens a King's ransom for their toxic, ignorant, xenophobic and racist voting habits.

To say nothing of the emotional pain and suffering.

And let’s not forget the very real possibility that ICE will continue to inflict harm to any person held in detention during that process. This is the same administration that oversaw the forced sterilization of immigrants under their care, something that somehow no one is talking about anymore. It’s one of the truly evil and borderline genocidal atrocities that’s been committed here in my lifetime and I can’t imagine the generational trauma that will cause.

This time Trump has no possible re-election ahead of him to keep him accountable. I don’t even want to think about what he’s willing to do now.