The Donald vs Big Tech

[Emphyrio]

Was Maher not a vocal critic of Trump? And vice versa, obviously, cos Trump is too thin-skinned to simply take any form of criticism. Up until this week anyway, when the two of them had a sit down, which was apparently very civil.

[Black Shepherd Carnage]

Just in the sense that Maher may have done more rants about "woke" over the last few years than even Tucker Carlson, which was ultimately helping no one but MAGA. You just have to revisit any of the pieces he did about the student protestors to remember how conservative he is deep down. Not at all surprising he has discovered he has more in common with Trump than what differentiates them: both unbearable, smarmy, know-it-all-but-thick, self-interested rich-boy cocks.

[Emphyrio]

Much of that is correct but to paraphrase some quote I recently read, what is a party in power supposed to do for their population? Make them better off.

I think we can all agree that the democrats took their eye off the ball and got side tracked with the culture war stuff, instead of making the population better off. Was it a worthwhile fight? Maybe, maybe not but that is what cost them the election and allowed that idiot get in.

I'm all for fair representation but DEI was a very easy stick the Maga crowd could use to beat the Dems with, to just use one example.

I guess what I'm saying is I see astfgls point of view but I'm not getting too involved in the debate. Passive observation is more than enough for me.

[Black Shepherd Carnage]

We're on the same page, more or less. I don't think the DNC got side-tracked though: it's a party of majority centrist liberals, all on various lobby payrolls, all resisting any kind of deep change; all the "woke" stuff was a very cheap way for the DNC to appear progressive without actually being progressive in concrete resource terms (see also FFG). So "we're good because woke" is just as shallow imo as "we're good because anti-woke", but the latter is still comparatively the crueler of the two positions on a human level. Don't trust or believe anything cruel people say, unless they're telling you about cruel acts they hope to commit. And even at that, don't believe them if they tell you they don't intend to be cruel to you.

[Emphyrio]

all the "woke" stuff was a very cheap way for the DNC to appear progressive without actually being progressive in concrete resource terms (see also FFG). 

All the "woke" stuff by the Dems was fluff. There was nothing really meaningful behind it, nor was there going to be much change. But, I think they got too involved in it. Traditional politics of actual policies was entirely lacking. Harris was clueless as a candidate in that regard.

"So "we're good because woke" is just as shallow imo as "we're good because anti-woke", but the latter is still comparatively the crueler of the two positions on a human level."

Can't argue with that and, much like you, the Dems being the lesser of two evils would have been enough for me to vote for them, regardless of lack of policy, but we're at where we're at.

[astfgyl]

I'm sure there'll be a sense of buyer's remorse from certain sections of trump voters unless money starts going into pockets very soon.

I do agree that Democrats lost more than conservatives won, and the whole culture war thing was an easy target that Democrats needed to distance themselves from, but they didn't.

Making people who work richer would be good policy, same as it should be here but I don't feel it in my pocket here either

[Mooncat]

Yeah I think it's less to do with the dems actually being "woke" or not and more that they were associated with it, and woke is currently on the downswing in terms of its place in popular culture, so I think that hurt them a fair bit.

Realistically though people tend to mainly vote based on the economy and rarely are informed as to why the economy is the way it is, so they just blame the government whether it was their fault or not, which is one of the biggest reasons why the dems are out (along with having shite candidates). Trump is currently absolutely tanking the economy in a way that is very obviously the government's fault, so the tide won't be too long before turning on him from all but his staunchest supporters. The real question is whether there will even be a real vote in 4yrs...

[Black Shepherd Carnage]

Bukele has rejected the notion of helping to return the unlawfully deported and currently incarcerated Kilmar Abrego Garcia. The level of what is commonly referred to as Stalinism has been reached in the US: the party makes no errors, therefore there can be no errors to correct, regardless of the gravity of the concrete human consequences.
https://eu.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2025/04/14/trump-kilmar-bukele-el-salvador-prison/83079141007/

Still not surprising. We can say what we like about the shitty DNC, the introspective question, for anyone who didn't see this kind of shit coming from MAGA, remains: Why not? Why didn't you see this coming? What in you was so easily distracted by culture war nonsense that you didn't see this coming? And if you identify it, think about how to get rid of it so no one else can use it to hoodwink you again.

[Mooncat]

Bukele has rejected the notion of helping to return the unlawfully deported and currently incarcerated Kilmar Abrego Garcia. The level of what is commonly referred to as Stalinism has been reached in the US: the party makes no errors, therefore there can be no errors to correct, regardless of the gravity of the concrete human consequences.
https://eu.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2025/04/14/trump-kilmar-bukele-el-salvador-prison/83079141007/

Still not surprising. We can say what we like about the shitty DNC, the introspective question, for anyone who didn't see this kind of shit coming from MAGA, remains: Why not? Why didn't you see this coming? What in you was so easily distracted by culture war nonsense that you didn't see this coming? And if you identify it, think about how to get rid of it so no one else can use it to hoodwink you again.

A lot of the more right-leaning folks on this forum are noticeably conspicuous by their absence on this thread of late...

[Ducky]

Especially after what they wrote elsewhere on the forum. "Can't see another point of view"... yeah, sorry I don't agree with the current US dictatorship.

[Black Shepherd Carnage]

I'm not really thinking about "I told you so": looking forward, folk need to realize that some of their personal unrecognized and unresolved issues are genuine liabilities to society. The RN in France, if they got into power, would do MAGA-esque shit. Ditto for Vox in Spain, AfD in Germany, Reform in the UK, etc., etc. And given the global scale of modern communication, anyone anywhere in the world can either amplify or diminish the chances of that happening. So, as an illustration, the more exposure a cock like Andrew Tate gets in the English speaking world makes it more likely that he'll get greater exposure in other spheres and, hey presto, a boost in popularity for Vox among young males in Spain, and so on. And all those far right* movements know that's how the dynamic works, which is precisely why they're so chummy with each other despite their surface level "isolationism."

*Also hope, in passing, everyone's gotten over their propaganda-triggered confusion over what this term means.

[astfgyl]

Bukele has rejected the notion of helping to return the unlawfully deported and currently incarcerated Kilmar Abrego Garcia. The level of what is commonly referred to as Stalinism has been reached in the US: the party makes no errors, therefore there can be no errors to correct, regardless of the gravity of the concrete human consequences.
https://eu.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2025/04/14/trump-kilmar-bukele-el-salvador-prison/83079141007/

Still not surprising. We can say what we like about the shitty DNC, the introspective question, for anyone who didn't see this kind of shit coming from MAGA, remains: Why not? Why didn't you see this coming? What in you was so easily distracted by culture war nonsense that you didn't see this coming? And if you identify it, think about how to get rid of it so no one else can use it to hoodwink you again.

A lot of the more right-leaning folks on this forum are noticeably conspicuous by their absence on this thread of late...

I'm still here!!

[Mooncat]

Bukele has rejected the notion of helping to return the unlawfully deported and currently incarcerated Kilmar Abrego Garcia. The level of what is commonly referred to as Stalinism has been reached in the US: the party makes no errors, therefore there can be no errors to correct, regardless of the gravity of the concrete human consequences.
https://eu.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2025/04/14/trump-kilmar-bukele-el-salvador-prison/83079141007/

Still not surprising. We can say what we like about the shitty DNC, the introspective question, for anyone who didn't see this kind of shit coming from MAGA, remains: Why not? Why didn't you see this coming? What in you was so easily distracted by culture war nonsense that you didn't see this coming? And if you identify it, think about how to get rid of it so no one else can use it to hoodwink you again.

A lot of the more right-leaning folks on this forum are noticeably conspicuous by their absence on this thread of late...

I'm still here!!

I actually did consider mentioning you by name as the exception  Fair play to you for being able to take stock and question previously held beliefs ideas though, not a lot of people would. That's why I'm curious where some of the other folk are landing now. Are they questioning, or are there still mental gymnastics going on. It's not even about completely going the other way and changing your belief system, just about questioning what's happening right now and how you feel about it.

[astfgyl]

I think Maga did see a lot of this coming and it's what they wanted because they were blaming their being poorer on paying for foreign wars and paying for illegals, or refugees, or economic migrants.. whichever name one prefers to put on it.

It will be interesting if he hasn't dramatically done something by the midterms to make people feel the money

[Black Shepherd Carnage]

In case of continued failure, he'll just blame it on someone or something else. The millions who voted for him this time all either genuinely believe he had an election stolen from him or are fine with him having acted as though that were the case, to the extreme detriment of US social cohesion. These people are not in full control of their faculties. They are engineered to be uninquisitive in ways that span their entire existences. Do not question: accept on authority, whether that authority be God or Trump, his servant/instrument. Perfectly persuadable minds.