I noticed that in the final meeting between Trump and King Charles that Charles turned up with a load of medals being displayed (the news is a bit disjointed, I think that was just before Charles went to Arlington to pay his respects to fallen soldiers, and in those circumstances he wears medals, though it could have been afterwards). I know the only medal Charles really earned would be the one for long service in the Royal Navy, but it was a stark contrast to Donald "bone spurs" Trump with no medals. Charles could have attached and removed those medals in the car to/from Arlington, what was his intention in choosing to wear those medals standing next to Trump?
...I detected a fair degree of calculation and awareness of the terrain in his baiting of Candece Owens, especially his degradation of her physical attractiveness relative to Brigitte Macron, even if the only point was to amuse himself by provoking a few fireworks in reply.
A week or so ago, Trump posted a fake TIME magazine cover announcing Candace Owens as "Vile Person Of The Year", accompanied by an extremely unflattering(by conventional standards) photo of her, which some interpreted as a racist caricature.
But CO just dropped her reply video, cheerfully stating that she herself had been the original poster of the photo several years ago, and that it showed her in a condition of mold-related neurotoxic poisoning.
(For anyone keeping track, the general consensus seems to be that Laura Loomer is the person in Trump's circle behind some of his most outrageous attacks on the anti-neocon conservatives.)
I noticed that in the final meeting between Trump and King Charles that Charles turned up with a load of medals being displayed (the news is a bit disjointed, I think that was just before Charles went to Arlington to pay his respects to fallen soldiers, and in those circumstances he wears medals, though it could have been afterwards). I know the only medal Charles really earned would be the one for long service in the Royal Navy, but it was a stark contrast to Donald "bone spurs" Trump with no medals. Charles could have attached and removed those medals in the car to/from Arlington, what was his intention in choosing to wear those medals standing next to Trump?
Not sure, but I think "subliminally reminding Americans that their president got a spurious deferral during the Vietnam War" is a pretty unlikely explanation for Charles' motivations there.
Am I the only one who immediately thought of the evil organization in C.S. Lewis' excellent novel, That Hideous Strength, N.I.C.E. (the National Institute of Co-ordinated Experiments)?
In April 2026, U.S. President Donald Trump said he supported a proposal to rename Immigration and Customs Enforcement to the “National Immigration and Customs Enforcement,” meaning agents would be called "NICE" agents.
I noticed that in the final meeting between Trump and King Charles that Charles turned up with a load of medals being displayed (the news is a bit disjointed, I think that was just before Charles went to Arlington to pay his respects to fallen soldiers, and in those circumstances he wears medals, though it could have been afterwards). I know the only medal Charles really earned would be the one for long service in the Royal Navy, but it was a stark contrast to Donald "bone spurs" Trump with no medals. Charles could have attached and removed those medals in the car to/from Arlington, what was his intention in choosing to wear those medals standing next to Trump?
Not sure, but I think "subliminally reminding Americans that their president got a spurious deferral during the Vietnam War" is a pretty unlikely explanation for Charles' motivations there.
I thought the American military were supposed to be very good at ceremonial events. But I noticed they still managed to get the Union Flag upside down during the ceremony at Arlington.
I noticed that in the final meeting between Trump and King Charles that Charles turned up with a load of medals being displayed (the news is a bit disjointed, I think that was just before Charles went to Arlington to pay his respects to fallen soldiers, and in those circumstances he wears medals, though it could have been afterwards). I know the only medal Charles really earned would be the one for long service in the Royal Navy, but it was a stark contrast to Donald "bone spurs" Trump with no medals. Charles could have attached and removed those medals in the car to/from Arlington, what was his intention in choosing to wear those medals standing next to Trump?
Not sure, but I think "subliminally reminding Americans that their president got a spurious deferral during the Vietnam War" is a pretty unlikely explanation for Charles' motivations there.
I thought the American military were supposed to be very good at ceremonial events. But I noticed they still managed to get the Union Flag upside down during the ceremony at Arlington.
To be fair many Brits do too. It is really easy to do. It looks like there is no right way up
I noticed that in the final meeting between Trump and King Charles that Charles turned up with a load of medals being displayed (the news is a bit disjointed, I think that was just before Charles went to Arlington to pay his respects to fallen soldiers, and in those circumstances he wears medals, though it could have been afterwards). I know the only medal Charles really earned would be the one for long service in the Royal Navy, but it was a stark contrast to Donald "bone spurs" Trump with no medals. Charles could have attached and removed those medals in the car to/from Arlington, what was his intention in choosing to wear those medals standing next to Trump?
The King wore an array of medals and decorations at the state dinner, as well (as one does).
I can't imagine either the King or his staff thinking that he should alter his dress in the car. I don't think there's any deeper significance than "he was on his way to pay respects at Arlington, so dressed for the occasion".
I noticed that in the final meeting between Trump and King Charles that Charles turned up with a load of medals being displayed (the news is a bit disjointed, I think that was just before Charles went to Arlington to pay his respects to fallen soldiers, and in those circumstances he wears medals, though it could have been afterwards). I know the only medal Charles really earned would be the one for long service in the Royal Navy, but it was a stark contrast to Donald "bone spurs" Trump with no medals. Charles could have attached and removed those medals in the car to/from Arlington, what was his intention in choosing to wear those medals standing next to Trump?
Not sure, but I think "subliminally reminding Americans that their president got a spurious deferral during the Vietnam War" is a pretty unlikely explanation for Charles' motivations there.
I thought the American military were supposed to be very good at ceremonial events. But I noticed they still managed to get the Union Flag upside down during the ceremony at Arlington.
At least it wasn’t the Australian flag, which was briefly put up (to be fair, not by the military) on the streets of Washington a few days prior to the visit. Fortunately, someone realized the error fairly quickly.
It’s a myth, apparently, but I’ve heard it argued that an upside down flag is a distress signal.
It happens quite a lot of course. Pity the official version doesn’t have a Welsh dragon in the centre. Better to look at than a printed sign somewhere saying “this way up”.
I noticed that in the final meeting between Trump and King Charles that Charles turned up with a load of medals being displayed (the news is a bit disjointed, I think that was just before Charles went to Arlington to pay his respects to fallen soldiers, and in those circumstances he wears medals, though it could have been afterwards). I know the only medal Charles really earned would be the one for long service in the Royal Navy, but it was a stark contrast to Donald "bone spurs" Trump with no medals. Charles could have attached and removed those medals in the car to/from Arlington, what was his intention in choosing to wear those medals standing next to Trump?
The King wore an array of medals and decorations at the state dinner, as well (as one does).
I can't imagine either the King or his staff thinking that he should alter his dress in the car. I don't think there's any deeper significance than "he was on his way to pay respects at Arlington, so dressed for the occasion".
He certainly wore the medals at Arlington to dress for the occasion - he almost always wears the medals (or, at least the associated ribbons) whenever he's at military occasions, and always when he attends war memorials, military cemeteries and other remembrance events.
Though, as far as I can tell there's only one medal that he's actually earned (for long service in the Royal Navy). I wonder how veterans with medals that they earned through active service feel about him showing off a lot of honorific medals unrelated to actual military service. But, that's the nature of royalty - royals get given lots of stuff they haven't worked for.
It’s a myth, apparently, but I’ve heard it argued that an upside down flag is a distress signal.
It happens quite a lot of course. Pity the official version doesn’t have a Welsh dragon in the centre. Better to look at than a printed sign somewhere saying “this way up”.
I was once told that the white on the union flag represents the white on the Welsh flag. Wrong but nice.
As to wearing medals. As a someone who has worked in hospitality most of their life medals are often worn at a formal occasion military or not over here.
Though, as far as I can tell there's only one medal that he's actually earned (for long service in the Royal Navy). I wonder how veterans with medals that they earned through active service feel about him showing off a lot of honorific medals unrelated to actual military service. But, that's the nature of royalty - royals get given lots of stuff they haven't worked for.
I suppose it's a bit like regimental animals - everyone knows their rank and decorations are a conceipt
While I do not know the protocol for the Union Jack, we were taught in school an upside-down American flag is a sign of distress. Been seeing the upside-down American flag in many pictures of No Kings Events.
While I do not know the protocol for the Union Jack, we were taught in school an upside-down American flag is a sign of distress. Been seeing the upside-down American flag in many pictures of No Kings Events.
Per the US Flag Code, 4 U.S.C. §8(a):
The flag should never be displayed with the union down, except as a signal of dire distress in instances of extreme danger to life or property.
(The “union” is the blue part with the stars.)
I think primarily this has been a signal at sea.
And, of course, the First Amendment guarantee of freedom of speech means that this portion of the Flag Code is, except with regard to the government and the military, more like a suggestion of best practices.
Flying the American flag upside down as a signal of distress has definitely entered colloquial understanding here. I've seen the flag flown upside down at multiple protests in the last year and a half. I've considered buying one to fly out front of our building upside down on July 4.
Flying the American flag upside down as a signal of distress has definitely entered colloquial understanding here. I've seen the flag flown upside down at multiple protests in the last year and a half. I've considered buying one to fly out front of our building upside down on July 4.
Tempting.
In the past, I have always flown the flag properly, just to show my neighbors this old liberal is just as patriotic as they.
I am thinking the upside-down flag would show I am even more patriotic than them.
Thanks for the idea, Ruth (If you have not patented the idea by then).
The problem I see with flying the flag upside down in protest, is that if someone really needs to do so because they are in distress it would have lost that meaning.
The problem I see with flying the flag upside down in protest, is that if someone really needs to do so because they are in distress it would have lost that meaning.
I think the risk of confusion is minimal in the case of a flag on a home or at a rally. Calling 9-1-1 is going to be a lot faster and more effective.
And as I said earlier, I think an upside-down flag as a signal of distress is historically mainly a naval practice. I would suspect it has largely been replaced by more effective ways of signaling.
That said, it might be worth noting that upside-down flags were used by Trump-supporting “Stop the Steal” protesters after January 6, 2021. An upside-down flag was spotted at Justice Alito’s house on January 17, 2021.
That said, it might be worth noting that upside-down flags were used by Trump-supporting “Stop the Steal” protesters after January 6, 2021. An upside-down flag was spotted at Justice Alito’s house on January 17, 2021.
At the end of the day, all the upside-down flag is technically conveying is "I think this country is being governed badly", without actually saying who among the powers-that-be are the bad rulers, eg. Democrats will mean Trump and his administration; Republicans will mean the legislators who certified the 2016 results, judges who rule against Trump's policies etc.
That said, it might be worth noting that upside-down flags were used by Trump-supporting “Stop the Steal” protesters after January 6, 2021. An upside-down flag was spotted at Justice Alito’s house on January 17, 2021.
At the end of the day, all the upside-down flag is technically conveying is "I think this country is being governed badly", without actually saying who among the powers-that-be are the bad rulers, eg. Democrats will mean Trump and his administration; Republicans will mean the legislators who certified the 2016 results, judges who rule against Trump's policies etc.
I cannot say all Republicans were upset with the congress people who certified the 2020 results, after all close to half of the people who certified the results were Republican; not can I say it will only be Democrats who would fly the flag upside down because of the Trump administration.
BTW concerning the flag being flown upside down out of Justice Alito's house, it is thought Alito's wife hung the flag upside down, not necessarily the Justice.
I cannot say all Republicans were upset with the congress people who certified the 2020 results, after all close to half of the people who certified the results were Republican; not can I say it will only be Democrats who would fly the flag upside down because of the Trump administration.
Well, sure, but there are at least some Republicans who think the certification was evil, and if those particular Republicans were to say that America is in crisis, the certification would for them be Exhibit A.
Other Republicans might mean eg. that it's a crisis that abortion hasn't yet been criminalized nationwide, or whatever. Point is, a symbol meaning simply "America is in distress" doesn't tell you much about what the person thinks the actual problems are.
BTW concerning the flag being flown upside down out of Justice Alito's house, it is thought Alito's wife hung the flag upside down, not necessarily the Justice.
I think it’s more accurate to say Alito said his wife, not he, was the one who is fond of flying flags, i.e., blamed his wife. He also said he wasn’t aware of it.
Even if you buy his excuses, it’s still his house. And given that he’s been a federal judge since 1990, I doubt there’s anyone in his house who doesn’t understand both the Code of Conduct for United States Judges, even if the Supremes have declined to make that Code applicable to themselves, as well as the general publicity doing something like that will bring.
Though, as far as I can tell there's only one medal that he's actually earned (for long service in the Royal Navy). I wonder how veterans with medals that they earned through active service feel about him showing off a lot of honorific medals unrelated to actual military service. But, that's the nature of royalty - royals get given lots of stuff they haven't worked for.
As I understand it, the general feeling is positive, although individual opinions will naturally vary. The medals the King wore are (apart from his naval service medal that you mention) various commemorative medals (for his coronation, for his mother's various jubilees), the Canadian Forces Decoration, and so on. Lots of people have those medals. Mr. Google tells me that about 400,000 people are entitled to wear the King's Coronation Medal, for example. I don't think anyone begrudges the fact that the King is one of them.
I have to say Trump is getting weirder and weirder. It is no wonder this thread had sunk down onto the third page of the Recent Discussions before it is being picked up again.
First of all, was anyone following the glaring example of grift Trump and his boys set up?
Shortly after retaking the office of president, Trump sued the IRS for the unauthorized release of his tax returns. The suit was for $10 billion dollars. Think of it. Trump suing the government he is the leader of. When the federal court raised concerns about the legality of that idea, he said his lawyers were talking with government lawyers which he named for a settlement. The court comes back questioning the conflict of interest. He then moves to dismiss the lawsuit, but his people agreed with his people to set up a slush fund of $1.8 billion to dole out checks to people who have been harmed by the weaponization of the government. They will set up a commission which will terminate in Dec. 2028, just before his term of office expires. The commission will be named by Trump, of course.
Looks like he is not going to ask congress to pay for that slush fund, and the commissioners will not be approved by the Senate either.
How convenient.
Over the weekend Trump announced if Iran does not capitulate, he will obliterate the country, a favorite word of his.
Today, Trump announces at the request of several of the Gulf States, he is postponing the invasion.
Sounds like someone chickened out again.
Meanwhile, Trump and his henchmen are practicing revenge politics. Senator Cassidy, one of the few Republicans who voted for finding Trump guilty in the last impeachment trial has been forced to quit the Republican race in Louisiana. I wonder if Cassidy could run as an Independent in the general election.
And attack dog Hegseth went to Kentucky to go after Representative Massey. No one remembers any previous Secretary of War Defense ever doing that before.
This is to say nothing about Trump not being worried about the financial situation of Americans.
And his approval rating keeps sinking to new lows every time he opens his pie hole.
Should I mention something about his special prayer rally? Probably not, but some commentators said third graders could have read his Bible passage better
I'll also say that if Trump is determined to re-orient his foreign-policy into a neo-con position, it makes total sense that he'd try and turn his followers against Tucker, Candace, and that whole gang.
Candace Owens just released an interview with Hunter Biden. Based on the trailer, they seemed to be getting along swimmingly.
At one point, Hunter told the vociferously anti-zionist Owens, "My father never tried to turn Gaza into a giant casino run by Jared Kushner." Which overlooks the fact that a) Trump hasn't actually done that either, and likely never will, and b) Joe Biden sanctioned Israeli behaviour that was scarcely better than what they're doing now.
Anyway, hopefully Hunter appearing with such questionable company will disabuse certain of my American acquaintances of their erstwhile notion that he'd be a good candidate for president.
Anyway, hopefully Hunter appearing with such questionable company will disabuse certain of my American acquaintances of their erstwhile notion that he'd be a good candidate for president.
I know of no credible political commentator even thinking that. The only time he has been mentioned is in satirical sketches on Saturday Night Live, or The Onion and some late-night monologues. You might have caught a TikTok or YouTube parody.
Other than that, I wonder what your acquaintances have been smoking or snorting.
Meanwhile, Trump and his henchmen are practicing revenge politics. Senator Cassidy, one of the few Republicans who voted for finding Trump guilty in the last impeachment trial has been forced to quit the Republican race in Louisiana. I wonder if Cassidy could run as an Independent in the general election.
And attack dog Hegseth went to Kentucky to go after Representative Massey. No one remembers any previous Secretary of War Defense ever doing that before.
The Kentucky 4th District will be an interesting case. I watched an interview a coupla hours back between Massie and George Stephanopoulos, in which Massie opined that he was better protected than Cassidy against Trump's vengeful machinations, specifically mentioning all the support he has from "pro-life" and 2A types. Though I would've assumed Cassidy had similar backers?
Should I mention something about his special prayer rally? Probably not, but some commentators said third graders could have read his Bible passage better
The target audience for a stunt like that mostly don't give a rat's ass how well he reads the passage, the intended reaction is just sonething like "Praise the Lord, we finally have a president who acknowledges this is a Christian country."
I know of no credible political commentator even thinking that. The only time he has been mentioned is in satirical sketches on Saturday Night Live, or The Onion and some late-night monologues. You might have caught a TikTok or YouTube parody.
Other than that, I wonder what your acquaintances have been smoking or snorting.
The people saying this were on-line acquaintances, not professional commentators. But no, they did seem sincere in their desire to see him enter politics. I think this was based largely on his having supposedly made a good impression on a few interviews he did last year, and I suspect their fervour has dissipated since then.
Overall, I'd agree with you. "I was a crackhead, but now I'm not" is not the kind of redemption-arc that's gonna win over many skeptics.
Meanwhile, Trump and his henchmen are practicing revenge politics. Senator Cassidy, one of the few Republicans who voted for finding Trump guilty in the last impeachment trial has been forced to quit the Republican race in Louisiana. I wonder if Cassidy could run as an Independent in the general election.
And attack dog Hegseth went to Kentucky to go after Representative Massey. No one remembers any previous Secretary of War Defense ever doing that before.
The Kentucky 4th District will be an interesting case. I watched an interview a coupla hours back between Massie and George Stephanopoulos, in which Massie opined that he was better protected than Cassidy against Trump's vengeful machinations, specifically mentioning all the support he has from "pro-life" and 2A types. Though I would've assumed Cassidy had similar backers?
The optimistic analysis now emerging(seen in The Guardian, for example) is that the internal fanaticism of MAGA is going into overdrive at the same time that the overall popularity of the Republican Party is tanking.
Of course, there's likely also a pessimistic analysis. I will note that, at least on the social media I personally follow(ie. YouTube comments), overall opinion on the 4th District primary seems to lean heavily pro-Massie, with even legacy media fora full of stuff like "AIPAC just bought itself a victory".
Most of the pro-Gallrein opinion seems to be on one channel, Fox News, with a suspiciously non-barking dog being the lack of explicit reasons cited for opposing Massie, beyond "Stupid RINO". His deviancy on the border gets mentioned a bit, but other than that, most of his attackers seem reluctant to advance much critique of his shortcomings. I suspect this is at least partly because his two most prominent heterodoxies, ie. pro-disclosure on Epstein and antiwar on the mideast, are positions that most of MAGA would support, had their hero Trump not reversed himself on those questions.
Comments
A week or so ago, Trump posted a fake TIME magazine cover announcing Candace Owens as "Vile Person Of The Year", accompanied by an extremely unflattering(by conventional standards) photo of her, which some interpreted as a racist caricature.
But CO just dropped her reply video, cheerfully stating that she herself had been the original poster of the photo several years ago, and that it showed her in a condition of mold-related neurotoxic poisoning.
(For anyone keeping track, the general consensus seems to be that Laura Loomer is the person in Trump's circle behind some of his most outrageous attacks on the anti-neocon conservatives.)
Not sure, but I think "subliminally reminding Americans that their president got a spurious deferral during the Vietnam War" is a pretty unlikely explanation for Charles' motivations there.
https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/ice-nice-name-change/
I thought the American military were supposed to be very good at ceremonial events. But I noticed they still managed to get the Union Flag upside down during the ceremony at Arlington.
To be fair many Brits do too. It is really easy to do. It looks like there is no right way up
The King wore an array of medals and decorations at the state dinner, as well (as one does).
I can't imagine either the King or his staff thinking that he should alter his dress in the car. I don't think there's any deeper significance than "he was on his way to pay respects at Arlington, so dressed for the occasion".
It happens quite a lot of course. Pity the official version doesn’t have a Welsh dragon in the centre. Better to look at than a printed sign somewhere saying “this way up”.
Though, as far as I can tell there's only one medal that he's actually earned (for long service in the Royal Navy). I wonder how veterans with medals that they earned through active service feel about him showing off a lot of honorific medals unrelated to actual military service. But, that's the nature of royalty - royals get given lots of stuff they haven't worked for.
I was once told that the white on the union flag represents the white on the Welsh flag. Wrong but nice.
As to wearing medals. As a someone who has worked in hospitality most of their life medals are often worn at a formal occasion military or not over here.
I think the Welsh deserve a dragon!
Bet you didn't know we had two flags!!!
I suppose it's a bit like regimental animals - everyone knows their rank and decorations are a conceipt
I think primarily this has been a signal at sea.
And, of course, the First Amendment guarantee of freedom of speech means that this portion of the Flag Code is, except with regard to the government and the military, more like a suggestion of best practices.
Tempting.
In the past, I have always flown the flag properly, just to show my neighbors this old liberal is just as patriotic as they.
I am thinking the upside-down flag would show I am even more patriotic than them.
Thanks for the idea, Ruth (If you have not patented the idea by then).
And as I said earlier, I think an upside-down flag as a signal of distress is historically mainly a naval practice. I would suspect it has largely been replaced by more effective ways of signaling.
That said, it might be worth noting that upside-down flags were used by Trump-supporting “Stop the Steal” protesters after January 6, 2021. An upside-down flag was spotted at Justice Alito’s house on January 17, 2021.
At the end of the day, all the upside-down flag is technically conveying is "I think this country is being governed badly", without actually saying who among the powers-that-be are the bad rulers, eg. Democrats will mean Trump and his administration; Republicans will mean the legislators who certified the 2016 results, judges who rule against Trump's policies etc.
Sorry. That should be "the 2020 results".
I cannot say all Republicans were upset with the congress people who certified the 2020 results, after all close to half of the people who certified the results were Republican; not can I say it will only be Democrats who would fly the flag upside down because of the Trump administration.
BTW concerning the flag being flown upside down out of Justice Alito's house, it is thought Alito's wife hung the flag upside down, not necessarily the Justice.
Well, sure, but there are at least some Republicans who think the certification was evil, and if those particular Republicans were to say that America is in crisis, the certification would for them be Exhibit A.
Other Republicans might mean eg. that it's a crisis that abortion hasn't yet been criminalized nationwide, or whatever. Point is, a symbol meaning simply "America is in distress" doesn't tell you much about what the person thinks the actual problems are.
Even if you buy his excuses, it’s still his house. And given that he’s been a federal judge since 1990, I doubt there’s anyone in his house who doesn’t understand both the Code of Conduct for United States Judges, even if the Supremes have declined to make that Code applicable to themselves, as well as the general publicity doing something like that will bring.
As I understand it, the general feeling is positive, although individual opinions will naturally vary. The medals the King wore are (apart from his naval service medal that you mention) various commemorative medals (for his coronation, for his mother's various jubilees), the Canadian Forces Decoration, and so on. Lots of people have those medals. Mr. Google tells me that about 400,000 people are entitled to wear the King's Coronation Medal, for example. I don't think anyone begrudges the fact that the King is one of them.
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2026/may/04/trump-iran-threat-us-vessels
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2026/may/06/donald-trump-iran-war-deal-us-bombing
First of all, was anyone following the glaring example of grift Trump and his boys set up?
Shortly after retaking the office of president, Trump sued the IRS for the unauthorized release of his tax returns. The suit was for $10 billion dollars. Think of it. Trump suing the government he is the leader of. When the federal court raised concerns about the legality of that idea, he said his lawyers were talking with government lawyers which he named for a settlement. The court comes back questioning the conflict of interest. He then moves to dismiss the lawsuit, but his people agreed with his people to set up a slush fund of $1.8 billion to dole out checks to people who have been harmed by the weaponization of the government. They will set up a commission which will terminate in Dec. 2028, just before his term of office expires. The commission will be named by Trump, of course.
Looks like he is not going to ask congress to pay for that slush fund, and the commissioners will not be approved by the Senate either.
How convenient.
Over the weekend Trump announced if Iran does not capitulate, he will obliterate the country, a favorite word of his.
Today, Trump announces at the request of several of the Gulf States, he is postponing the invasion.
Sounds like someone chickened out again.
Meanwhile, Trump and his henchmen are practicing revenge politics. Senator Cassidy, one of the few Republicans who voted for finding Trump guilty in the last impeachment trial has been forced to quit the Republican race in Louisiana. I wonder if Cassidy could run as an Independent in the general election.
And attack dog Hegseth went to Kentucky to go after Representative Massey. No one remembers any previous Secretary of War Defense ever doing that before.
This is to say nothing about Trump not being worried about the financial situation of Americans.
And his approval rating keeps sinking to new lows every time he opens his pie hole.
Should I mention something about his special prayer rally? Probably not, but some commentators said third graders could have read his Bible passage better
The circus goes on.
Candace Owens just released an interview with Hunter Biden. Based on the trailer, they seemed to be getting along swimmingly.
At one point, Hunter told the vociferously anti-zionist Owens, "My father never tried to turn Gaza into a giant casino run by Jared Kushner." Which overlooks the fact that a) Trump hasn't actually done that either, and likely never will, and b) Joe Biden sanctioned Israeli behaviour that was scarcely better than what they're doing now.
Anyway, hopefully Hunter appearing with such questionable company will disabuse certain of my American acquaintances of their erstwhile notion that he'd be a good candidate for president.
I know of no credible political commentator even thinking that. The only time he has been mentioned is in satirical sketches on Saturday Night Live, or The Onion and some late-night monologues. You might have caught a TikTok or YouTube parody.
Other than that, I wonder what your acquaintances have been smoking or snorting.
The Kentucky 4th District will be an interesting case. I watched an interview a coupla hours back between Massie and George Stephanopoulos, in which Massie opined that he was better protected than Cassidy against Trump's vengeful machinations, specifically mentioning all the support he has from "pro-life" and 2A types. Though I would've assumed Cassidy had similar backers?
The target audience for a stunt like that mostly don't give a rat's ass how well he reads the passage, the intended reaction is just sonething like "Praise the Lord, we finally have a president who acknowledges this is a Christian country."
The people saying this were on-line acquaintances, not professional commentators. But no, they did seem sincere in their desire to see him enter politics. I think this was based largely on his having supposedly made a good impression on a few interviews he did last year, and I suspect their fervour has dissipated since then.
Overall, I'd agree with you. "I was a crackhead, but now I'm not" is not the kind of redemption-arc that's gonna win over many skeptics.
Massie lost the primary to the MAGA candidate.
Of course, there's likely also a pessimistic analysis. I will note that, at least on the social media I personally follow(ie. YouTube comments), overall opinion on the 4th District primary seems to lean heavily pro-Massie, with even legacy media fora full of stuff like "AIPAC just bought itself a victory".
Most of the pro-Gallrein opinion seems to be on one channel, Fox News, with a suspiciously non-barking dog being the lack of explicit reasons cited for opposing Massie, beyond "Stupid RINO". His deviancy on the border gets mentioned a bit, but other than that, most of his attackers seem reluctant to advance much critique of his shortcomings. I suspect this is at least partly because his two most prominent heterodoxies, ie. pro-disclosure on Epstein and antiwar on the mideast, are positions that most of MAGA would support, had their hero Trump not reversed himself on those questions.