Laura Loomer has now posted that the Alligator Alcatraz will provide 65 million meals for alligators.
For reference, there are more or less 65 million people in the United States of Latino descent, most of them citizens. This is just a straight up call for ethnic cleansing masquerading as a not-very-funny "joke".
Talk about racial slurs. Drumpf used a slur beginning with S and ending with k--has a y in the middle-- in referring to some Jewish bankers. He claims he did not know it was a racist term. I think I learned that way back in grade school.
Laura Loomer has now posted that the Alligator Alcatraz will provide 65 million meals for alligators.
For reference, there are more or less 65 million people in the United States of Latino descent, most of them citizens. This is just a straight up call for ethnic cleansing masquerading as a not-very-funny "joke".
Genocide. Not ethnic cleansing. Genocide.
My thanks to @Crœsos for explaining the alligator reference - it had escaped my understanding.
Genocide, maybe, but please gods it never happens, and that those who wish for it are soon eaten by Daemons themselves...
I wonder if trump has a reason for so often raising a clenched fist as a greeting, as in leaving the plane in Texas to bring aid and comfort to the grieving crowds? It certainly makes sense to me that he would not be showing the open hand of generosity.
I think we can assume that it is not a "Black Power" salute (although Faux News would never call it that--but remember when they labeled Obama doing a fist bump as a "terrorist fist bump"?)
But to answer the question, after his ear was shot last year, he held up a fist to show he was okay. Since then, he has been treating the raised fist as some sort of personal trademark. It is predictable, stupid and thoughtless--so pretty much on-brand for Trump.
It's been said that Trump has very small hands, considering his height and bulk, so I wondered if perhaps the clenched fist was intended to conceal his short fingers...
I'm not a football fan, and wouldn't normally pay any attention to reports of a game ... but, I found myself watching the Chelsea captain lift up that big, heavy looking trophy and hoping he'd drop it on the head of the tangerine traitor who was bizarrely standing up there (I don't recall seeing any similar occasion where there was anyone other than the players who had just won, and possibly team manager, present when the trophy is lifted up like that).
I'm not a football fan, and wouldn't normally pay any attention to reports of a game ... but, I found myself watching the Chelsea captain lift up that big, heavy looking trophy and hoping he'd drop it on the head of the tangerine traitor who was bizarrely standing up there (I don't recall seeing any similar occasion where there was anyone other than the players who had just won, and possibly team manager, present when the trophy is lifted up like that).
It is being rumoured that he forgot where he was. His cognitive ability has once again been called into question.
It could just be he likes being part of a winning side.
Laura Loomer has now posted that the Alligator Alcatraz will provide 65 million meals for alligators.
For reference, there are more or less 65 million people in the United States of Latino descent, most of them citizens. This is just a straight up call for ethnic cleansing masquerading as a not-very-funny "joke".
Genocide. Not ethnic cleansing. Genocide.
I didn't know there was a difference until now. I've now looked it up and found an academic explanation of the difference. Thank you.
The God-Emperor is making a state visit to Ukland, at a time when Parliament is in recess, which should avoid some embarrassment on the part of the government - however abhorrent the wretched man might be, he's still a very important Head of State, and must be treated with much sycophancy grovelling respect:
I'm not a football fan, and wouldn't normally pay any attention to reports of a game ... but, I found myself watching the Chelsea captain lift up that big, heavy looking trophy and hoping he'd drop it on the head of the tangerine traitor who was bizarrely standing up there (I don't recall seeing any similar occasion where there was anyone other than the players who had just won, and possibly team manager, present when the trophy is lifted up like that).
Be careful what you wish for. Under 18 U.S. Code § 871, it is a federal offense to knowingly and willfully threaten to inflict bodily harm, kidnap, or kill the President, Vice President, or others in the presidential line of succession. This includes threats made in writing, verbally, or electronically—even on social media.
It is known the Secret Services monitors social media. While I don't think a normal president would take your comment seriously, there is not telling what this president might do.
Oh, it's OK ... I don't wish bodily harm on him. I wouldn't mind someone knocking some sense into his thick skull though, for his own good and the good of America and the rest of the world.
I'd like to see him get his goons to deport me. That really would be beyond any reasonable reach of his capability.
Oh, it's OK ... I don't wish bodily harm on him. I wouldn't mind someone knocking some sense into his thick skull though, for his own good and the good of America and the rest of the world.
I'd like to see him get his goons to deport me. That really would be beyond any reasonable reach of his capability.
Need I remind you how shitty our extradition treaty with the US is? I wouldn't put it past Trump to have someone extradited purely for the purposes of rendering them to South Sudan.
If you have a taste for US madness, I was once denied entry from Canada to attend a business meeting in Michigan on the grounds that I was stealing jobs from US citizens (we actually helped to create jobs at a plant in Grand Rapids). I was told I had to have a B1/B2 visa if I ever wanted to enter the country again, despite our children and grandchildren being there.
Months later at the visa interview at the US consulate in Toronto the consular official started asking questions that made no sense, and it turned out that the immigration record showed that I had been deported from Port Huron in Michigan, to London, England, presumably in the car that I arrived in. The record was never corrected - they don't like to do that in case it comes in useful later - but I got my visa. That was only one of my US border stories...
You never know - he might deport you to England...
Meanwhile, The Lord Of The World threatens Russia with sanctions. No doubt Putin is shaking in his shoes, but I thought he and Trump were soulmates?
From what can be gained from the news these sanctions seem harder than they actually are. The news is saying Trump has done it to look tough but any real problems will be avoided.
Just caught up with latest news from the BBC. Moscow is not that bothered. Their stock exchange rose over 2%. Trump has also given any country who trades with Russia 50 days notice of higher tariffs on them. Moscow seems to think it can do something about that in the 50 days..
Speaking of Trump's base, I keep reading about how upset some of them are that he's not releasing all the Epstein files, which were supposed to reveal a lot of high-profile Democrats involved in sexually abusing minors. I don't want to get my hopes up about this turning at least some of his base against him, but if it did, his ability to threaten Republican members of Congress with primary challengers.
Just caught up with latest news from the BBC. Moscow is not that bothered. Their stock exchange rose over 2%. Trump has also given any country who trades with Russia 50 days notice of higher tariffs on them. Moscow seems to think it can do something about that in the 50 days..
50 days is an aeon in trumpworld. Nobody can guess what might happen in that time, least of all, trump. Might as well ignore it.
Speaking of Trump's base, I keep reading about how upset some of them are that he's not releasing all the Epstein files, which were supposed to reveal a lot of high-profile Democrats involved in sexually abusing minors. I don't want to get my hopes up about this turning at least some of his base against him, but if it did, his ability to threaten Republican members of Congress with primary challengers.
The fallout is testing the power that the president holds over his most loyal followers, the ones who’ve trusted him all along and who believed they would learn a whole lot more about the Epstein saga if they returned Trump to office.
Trump will know that his base want some more big names to be brought down by the "secret Epstein files". But there are no "secret Epstein files". So one possible solution would be for Trump to fabricate some "secret Epstein files". Then he could frame some unpopular political rivals (Elon Musk? Mitt Romney? Gavin Newsom?) using these fake "files". They probably wouldn't actually be convicted. But it would enable Trump to appear to be on the side of his base.
Speaking of Trump's base, I keep reading about how upset some of them are that he's not releasing all the Epstein files, which were supposed to reveal a lot of high-profile Democrats involved in sexually abusing minors. I don't want to get my hopes up about this turning at least some of his base against him, but if it did, his ability to threaten Republican members of Congress with primary challengers.
Even assuming that the documents mention Democrats as well, and that Trump's involvement with Epstein was more along the lines of Stephen Hawking's than Ghislaine Maxwell's, it's still not great optics if people to see his name there. A certain section of MAGA has its roots at least partly in movements around child-protection etc(see "The Franklin Cover-Up"), and won't be mollified by thinking if it's Trump on the island, it must be okay.
And a few days back we had Tucker Carlson basically telling the whole world that everyone in Washington DC believes Epstein was running a giant honey-trap for Mossad. I'm pretty skeptical about that one myself, but it does show some of the fault lines on the right.
All that said, I predicted at the time of Trump's "Shut up about Epstein!" post that he could probably just wait it out for about a week, and it'll lapse out of the news cycle. I think I've got a few more 'till I'm proven right, but we'll see.
Speaking of Trump's base, I keep reading about how upset some of them are that he's not releasing all the Epstein files, which were supposed to reveal a lot of high-profile Democrats involved in sexually abusing minors. I don't want to get my hopes up about this turning at least some of his base against him, but if it did, his ability to threaten Republican members of Congress with primary challengers.
Even assuming that the documents mention Democrats as well, and that Trump's involvement with Epstein was more along the lines of Stephen Hawking's than Ghislaine Maxwell's, it's still not great optics if people to see his name there. A certain section of MAGA has its roots at least partly in movements around child-protection etc(see "The Franklin Cover-Up"), and won't be mollified by thinking if it's Trump on the island, it must be okay.
And a few days back we had Tucker Carlson basically telling the whole world that everyone in Washington DC believes Epstein was running a giant honey-trap for Mossad. I'm pretty skeptical about that one myself, but it does show some of the fault lines on the right.
All that said, I predicted at the time of Trump's "Shut up about Epstein!" post that he could probably just wait it out for about a week, and it'll lapse out of the news cycle. I think I've got a few more 'till I'm proven right, but we'll see.
There is a chance that this could not go away as quickly as a week. It is international news as well. Prince Andrew’s connections to Epstein, whilst not big news any more it has not gone away.
It's gone away on Fox news and most of the other major MAGA media voices. A few are still talking about it, but Trump said to move on and most of them have bent the knee. This piece discusses the current state or play, for those who don't want to sully their browser histories with the likes of Fox news and Charlie Kirk et al.: https://www.msnbc.com/opinion/msnbc-opinion/trump-jeffrey-epstein-fox-news-maga-media-rcna218870
Almost no one is content with the amount the government has shared: Just 3% of Americans say they are satisfied with it. A sizable chunk of the public either says it doesn’t matter to them either way (29%) or that they haven’t heard enough about the case to say (17%).
...
Very conservative Republicans and Republican-leaning independents are far more likely to be dissatisfied than are those who consider themselves somewhat conservative (48% vs. 40%). At the same time, Democratic-aligned liberals are also more likely than moderates or conservatives who at least lean toward the party to express dissatisfaction (70% vs. 52%).
And in both parties, independents who lean toward either party are more dissatisfied than are self-identified partisans: 68% of Democratic-leaning independents are dissatisfied and 53% of Republican-leaning independents are dissatisfied. In both cases, dissatisfaction among independents leaning toward a party outpaces dissatisfaction among self-identified partisans by double digits.
This suggests to me that the more extreme folks among us who are also very politically engaged are the ones most unhappy about this - so my guess is that ordinary MAGA folks are not happy about the files not being released. The big media people have to do what Trump says or they'll lose access to him. Regular people can do what they like. So I wonder if they follow the MAGA media lead or not.
Just realized I forgot someone important -- Joe Rogan hasn't moved on, ranted about it at length on his podcast yesterday. Not a MAGA guy per se, but he went with Trump on Elon Musk's recommendation and took a lot of his bro audience with him.
So Trump posted this earlier today on Truth Social:
The Radical Left Democrats have hit pay dirt, again! Just like with the FAKE and fully discredited Steele Dossier, the lying 51 “Intelligence” Agents, the Laptop from Hell, which the Dems swore had come from Russia (No, it came from Hunter Biden’s bathroom!), and even the Russia, Russia, Russia Scam itself, a totally fake and made up story used in order to hide Crooked Hillary Clinton’s big loss in the 2016 Presidential Election, these Scams and Hoaxes are all the Democrats are good at - It’s all they have - They are no good at governing, no good at policy, and no good at picking winning candidates. Also, unlike Republicans, they stick together like glue. Their new SCAM is what we will forever call the Jeffrey Epstein Hoax, and my PAST supporters have bought into this “bullshit,” hook, line, and sinker. They haven’t learned their lesson, and probably never will, even after being conned by the Lunatic Left for 8 long years. I have had more success in 6 months than perhaps any President in our Country’s history, and all these people want to talk about, with strong prodding by the Fake News and the success starved Dems, is the Jeffrey Epstein Hoax. Let these weaklings continue forward and do the Democrats work, don’t even think about talking of our incredible and unprecedented success, because I don’t want their support anymore! Thank you for your attention to this matter.
MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!
Meanwhile, I see that the God-Emperor is back-tracking on his idea that Ukraine should bomb Moscow.
No doubt President Zelenskyy, who is a decent, sensible, pragmatic, human being, is duly grateful for the God-Emperor's advice and sagacity.
I’ve debated whether to say anything, so I’ll just say this: I wonder whether I’m the only shipmate—particularly the only American shipmate—who finds the repeated references to “the God-Emperor” really tiresome and unhelpful.
I’ve debated whether to say anything, so I’ll just say this: I wonder whether I’m the only shipmate—particularly the only American shipmate—who finds the repeated references to “the God-Emperor” really tiresome and unhelpful.
Well, "unhelpful" implies that people are using the phrase in order to accomplish something, but failing. AFAICT, the only purpose of the phrase is to mock the view of Trump taken by his followers, ie. they view him as a near-godlike figure with an inalienable right to rule.
Which does seem to be the way a lotta them see him, so I'd say it's not entirely inaccurate. Though I personally don't find the humourous use of derogatory monikers as if they were neutral descriptors a particularly hilarious trope, myself.
The insult-disguised-as-descriptor I never liked was "Little Boots" to describe George W. Bush. I get that it was a reference to Caligula, but apart from them both being viewed as bad leaders, I don't see a lot of similarities between Bush and the received image of Caligula.
So Trump posted this earlier today on Truth Social:
The Radical Left Democrats have hit pay dirt, again! Just like with the FAKE and fully discredited Steele Dossier, the lying 51 “Intelligence” Agents, the Laptop from Hell, which the Dems swore had come from Russia (No, it came from Hunter Biden’s bathroom!), and even the Russia, Russia, Russia Scam itself, a totally fake and made up story used in order to hide Crooked Hillary Clinton’s big loss in the 2016 Presidential Election, these Scams and Hoaxes are all the Democrats are good at - It’s all they have - They are no good at governing, no good at policy, and no good at picking winning candidates. Also, unlike Republicans, they stick together like glue. Their new SCAM is what we will forever call the Jeffrey Epstein Hoax, and my PAST supporters have bought into this “bullshit,” hook, line, and sinker. They haven’t learned their lesson, and probably never will, even after being conned by the Lunatic Left for 8 long years. I have had more success in 6 months than perhaps any President in our Country’s history, and all these people want to talk about, with strong prodding by the Fake News and the success starved Dems, is the Jeffrey Epstein Hoax. Let these weaklings continue forward and do the Democrats work, don’t even think about talking of our incredible and unprecedented success, because I don’t want their support anymore! Thank you for your attention to this matter.
MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!
It’ll be interesting to see how this plays out.
I could easily be convinced that the Epstein Files are on their way out of the news cycle and headed into the same graveyard as every other supposedly lethal scandal to befall Trump. But it is curious that he, himself, now seems to be the one bringing it up when everyone else is starting to forget about it, almost as if he thinks the story still has life in it, and is desperately trying to control the narrative.
Just realized I forgot someone important -- Joe Rogan hasn't moved on, ranted about it at length on his podcast yesterday. Not a MAGA guy per se, but he went with Trump on Elon Musk's recommendation and took a lot of his bro audience with him.
Rogan also attacked the denial of due process in Trump's immigration crackdown.
I’ve debated whether to say anything, so I’ll just say this: I wonder whether I’m the only shipmate—particularly the only American shipmate—who finds the repeated references to “the God-Emperor” really tiresome and unhelpful.
Well, "unhelpful" implies that people are using the phrase in order to accomplish something, but failing.
That may be what you’re inferring. The implication I intended was unhelpful to discussion.
This is Hell, so I realize discussion isn’t the primary thing to expect here. But this thread probably leans as much or more to discussion than to Hellish rants.
I’ve said before how I feel about avoiding naming Trump, instead using names or terms meant to be demeaning. Put bluntly, I think it’s generally silly and juvenile. But more seriously, I also think it can indicate a dismissiveness that risks failing to take Trump seriously. The situation is much too serious for playground taunts. I think that’s what bothers me about “the God-Emperor.”
Seeing that my references to the God-Emperor are causing offence, I will refrain from using that term, and will obligingly fuck off out of this thread.
@Bishops Finger, you certainly don’t need to fuck off out of the thread. Frankly, maybe I’m the one who needs to do that.
For clarity, I would not say your use of “the God-Emperor” causes me any offense I fact, I intentionally did not say that, choosing instead to say I find it tiresome and unhelpful. Perhaps the even better descriptor would be that I find it frustrating.
This is Hell. People should say what they want to say. But this being Hell, others may react.
And as I acknowledged, I may be the only one bothered here, in which case I’m quite ready to be ignored. But I thought it worth asking the question, if only to figure out if it’s just me that’s bothered.
But more seriously, I also think it can indicate a dismissiveness that risks failing to take Trump seriously. The situation is much too serious for playground taunts. I think that’s what bothers me about “the God-Emperor.”
"God-Emperor," "Drumpf," "the orange menace," "short-fingered vulgarian," which was hilarious when Spy magazine writers came up with it in the late 80s -- using such epithets makes it sound like people are having fun thinking of things to call Trump while his administration is ruining people's lives and causing people's deaths.
At the same time, I think it helps people to process their emotions about him, at least a little bit. And various shipmates are at different places in this whole thing. I was using epithets before things got a little too real here. People in my city have been detained by ICE and deported. I'm concerned about a young friend who looks like the people being grabbed off the street. I have a friend who carries his passport everywhere he goes because his new mission in life is confronting ICE agents on the street -- what else is old white guy privilege for, he asks. I don't get why people who aren't affected -- not yet affected; if up-ending the post-war economic order doesn't get you, the climate change will -- have so much emotion about him, but I have a lot of emotion about him despite my life going on as normal. Until and unless things get a lot worse, I have the privilege to choose whether to be affected by what's going on, and yet I'm venting my rage regularly. So that's my current perspective on "God-Emperor" and the like.
Thank you, @Ruth, for highlighting the tension in various perspectives, particularly “it helps people to process their emotions about him, at least a little bit.” I will sit with that a while.
You mentioned “Drumpf,” and that is the epithet for Trump I see here that I do find borderline offensive, or at least very problematic. I find it borderline offensive or problematic for a couple of reasons.
First, it’s an epithet that relies on the perceived humorousness of the German Drumpf. What a funny, German-sounding word. And it seems to me clearly intended to draw a German=Nazi/fascist connection. I think that’s not good.
Second, it’s used because Drumpf was the Trump family surname until some ancestor of Trump’s changed it to sound more English/American. And that’s the story of lots of Americans descended from immigrants. I suppose it could be said that using Drumpf could serve as a reminder to Trump of his own immigrant heritage. But it strikes me as intended to mock. Especially in the current atmosphere, I think mocking anyone’s immigrant heritage in any way is inexcusable; it’s feeding the problem instead of fighting it.
Okay, I’ll try to step off my soapbox now. And I’ll try to be more cognizant that others may come from a different place on all this than I do.
I would not carry my passport on the street in the USA if I could avoid it. If it falls into the hands of DHS thugs you may never see it again. They are an outlaw gang and always have been.
Thank you to Ruth for the book recommendation of Illiberal America by Steven Hahn. I was going to post that on the tangent thread about popular academic books but I can't find it so hope you don't mind it here.
Yikes, I think I missed this however many pages ago - you're very welcome.
Going back to the Epstein fiasco. Trump really lost it yesterday when a reporter asked him about it in the oval office. What follows is an Occupy Democrats report found on their facebook page, but other news outlets also had similar reports:
BREAKING: Donald Trump is confronted about the Jeffrey Epstein scandal during an Oval Office meeting with the Prime Minister of Bahrain and explodes into a rant that it's a "hoax" and slams his "stupid" and "foolish" supporters for believing it.
He's coming apart at the seams and humiliating us on the world stage...
"Mr. President, I know you want to move past all of this intrigue over the Epstein files but I do want to ask you to clarify something you said this morning. You said this was all a 'hoax,'" said a reporter.
"A big hoax!" interjected Trump.
Earlier today, Trump blasted out a lengthy Truth Social post called the Epstein story a "hoax" and whined that his "PAST supporters" have "bought into this bullshit" and so he no longer wants their support.
"Has your attorney general told you this was a hoax? What evidence have you seen?" the reporter asked.
"No, it's not the attorney general. No, I know it's a hoax... It's started by Democrats. It's been run by the Democrats for four years," said Trump. "You had Christopher Wray and these characters and Comey before him and uh..."
Christopher Wray was appointed as the FBI Director by Trump in 2017. By no metric was he a Democratic operative.
"It's a bad group. It started— Actually look at the Steele Dossier that turned out to be a total hoax. The fifty one agents, the intelligence, the so-called intelligence agents," Trump continued. "It was a hoax."
"It's all be a big hoax. It's perpetrated by the Democrats and some stupid Republicans and foolish Republicans fall into the net and so they and do the Democrats' work," he went on. "Uh, the Democrats are good for nothing other than these hoaxes. They're bad for policy. They're bad for picking candidates that can get elected like in, uh, New York we have a Communist running. He may get elected to it actually but he'll destroy the city."
As has been explained ad nauseam in countless publications, Democratic Socialist Zohran Mamdani is not a Communist and this random potshot from Trump just demonstrates how desperate he is to find a distraction from Epstein.
"Uh, no, no... I call it the Epstein Hoax," Trump went on. "Takes a lot of time and effort. Instead of talking about the great achievements we've had, a great gentleman yesterday as you know went on CNBC and he made the statement that Trump may go down as the greatest president of all in the United States and instead of talking about the things we've achieved..."
Tellingly, Trump is not explaining how or why the Epstein story is a hoax. He's too lazy to even do the legwork of constructing a convincing narrative. He's simply hoping that his supporters are gullible and obedient enough to go along with him on this narrative.
First, his Attorney General Pam Bondi said that Epstein's client list was waiting on her desk for review. Then her Justice Department said that there was no list, no evidence of a blackmail ring, and no evidence that Epstein was murdered. Then, Trump said that the Epstein files do exist but that Barack Obama wrote them so they should be ignored.
Furthermore, the idea that Trump will go down in history as the "greatest president of all" is downright laughable. He will be remembered as one of the greatest mistakes this country has ever made. His tariffs have devastated the world economy and driven our allies into the arms of China, his ICE crackdowns are tearing apart innocent families, and his "big, beautiful, bill" will leave millions of Americans without health insurance by cutting $1 trillion from Medicaid.
"We've had tremendous achievement, they're wasting their time with, uh, a guy who obviously had some very serious problems who died three, four years ago," added Trump, who once called Epstein a "terrific guy."
"Uh, I'd rather talk about the success we've had with the economy, the best we've ever had, and all of the things we've done, including in the Middle East," he said. "I mean you see it. Instead, they want to talk about the Epstein hoax. And the sad part is it's people that are really doing the Democrats' work. They're stupid people."
At this point, the only "stupid people" are those who still believe that Trump is telling the truth about Epstein.
But as I understand it, the idea that there are "secret Epstein client lists" is indeed false. So annoying as it may be that Trump previously encouraged this conspiracy theory, he is correct to want it squished now and people of good will should encourage this squishing?
But as I understand it, the idea that there are "secret Epstein client lists" is indeed false. So annoying as it may be that Trump previously encouraged this conspiracy theory, he is correct to want it squished now and people of good will should encourage this squishing?
Well, they could just release the files, and people will see for themselves that there's no client list.
Or not. I don't know if there's an obligation of the government to release files just for the purpose of squelching rumours. I do suspect that Trump's current panic(to the point where he's attacking his own base for their interest in the story) is likely due not to his name being on any client list, but because his own involvement with Epstein was about as substantial as what he's alleging about Democrats, and some people will think where there's smoke there's fire.
The AP has a nice summary of the situation. My take-away is that there has been a gigantic hoax--and it is the one that Trump and his cronies perpetrated in suggesting that Epstein's death was anything other than the suicide it appeared to be.
Comments
Genocide. Not ethnic cleansing. Genocide.
My thanks to @Crœsos for explaining the alligator reference - it had escaped my understanding.
Genocide, maybe, but please gods it never happens, and that those who wish for it are soon eaten by Daemons themselves...
But to answer the question, after his ear was shot last year, he held up a fist to show he was okay. Since then, he has been treating the raised fist as some sort of personal trademark. It is predictable, stupid and thoughtless--so pretty much on-brand for Trump.
It is being rumoured that he forgot where he was. His cognitive ability has once again been called into question.
It could just be he likes being part of a winning side.
I didn't know there was a difference until now. I've now looked it up and found an academic explanation of the difference. Thank you.
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/jul/14/king-charles-schedules-trump-state-visit-for-when-uk-parliament-is-in-recess
Be careful what you wish for. Under 18 U.S. Code § 871, it is a federal offense to knowingly and willfully threaten to inflict bodily harm, kidnap, or kill the President, Vice President, or others in the presidential line of succession. This includes threats made in writing, verbally, or electronically—even on social media.
It is known the Secret Services monitors social media. While I don't think a normal president would take your comment seriously, there is not telling what this president might do.
Grounds for deportation?
I'd like to see him get his goons to deport me. That really would be beyond any reasonable reach of his capability.
Meanwhile, The Lord Of The World threatens Russia with sanctions. No doubt Putin is shaking in his shoes, but I thought he and Trump were soulmates?
Need I remind you how shitty our extradition treaty with the US is? I wouldn't put it past Trump to have someone extradited purely for the purposes of rendering them to South Sudan.
Months later at the visa interview at the US consulate in Toronto the consular official started asking questions that made no sense, and it turned out that the immigration record showed that I had been deported from Port Huron in Michigan, to London, England, presumably in the car that I arrived in. The record was never corrected - they don't like to do that in case it comes in useful later - but I got my visa. That was only one of my US border stories...
It began under GW Bush and continues.
From what can be gained from the news these sanctions seem harder than they actually are. The news is saying Trump has done it to look tough but any real problems will be avoided.
50 days is an aeon in trumpworld. Nobody can guess what might happen in that time, least of all, trump. Might as well ignore it.
NYT's take on it (gift link)
And Politico's take
Even assuming that the documents mention Democrats as well, and that Trump's involvement with Epstein was more along the lines of Stephen Hawking's than Ghislaine Maxwell's, it's still not great optics if people to see his name there. A certain section of MAGA has its roots at least partly in movements around child-protection etc(see "The Franklin Cover-Up"), and won't be mollified by thinking if it's Trump on the island, it must be okay.
And a few days back we had Tucker Carlson basically telling the whole world that everyone in Washington DC believes Epstein was running a giant honey-trap for Mossad. I'm pretty skeptical about that one myself, but it does show some of the fault lines on the right.
All that said, I predicted at the time of Trump's "Shut up about Epstein!" post that he could probably just wait it out for about a week, and it'll lapse out of the news cycle. I think I've got a few more 'till I'm proven right, but we'll see.
There is a chance that this could not go away as quickly as a week. It is international news as well. Prince Andrew’s connections to Epstein, whilst not big news any more it has not gone away.
This does not tell us what the rank and file MAGA people think, though. CNN did a survey - https://www.cnn.com/2025/07/15/politics/jeffrey-epstein-cnn-poll. The interesting things about this to me:
This suggests to me that the more extreme folks among us who are also very politically engaged are the ones most unhappy about this - so my guess is that ordinary MAGA folks are not happy about the files not being released. The big media people have to do what Trump says or they'll lose access to him. Regular people can do what they like. So I wonder if they follow the MAGA media lead or not.
Meanwhile, I see that the God-Emperor is back-tracking on his idea that Ukraine should bomb Moscow.
No doubt President Zelenskyy, who is a decent, sensible, pragmatic, human being, is duly grateful for the God-Emperor's advice and sagacity.
Just realized I forgot someone important -- Joe Rogan hasn't moved on, ranted about it at length on his podcast yesterday. Not a MAGA guy per se, but he went with Trump on Elon Musk's recommendation and took a lot of his bro audience with him.
I’ve debated whether to say anything, so I’ll just say this: I wonder whether I’m the only shipmate—particularly the only American shipmate—who finds the repeated references to “the God-Emperor” really tiresome and unhelpful.
Well, "unhelpful" implies that people are using the phrase in order to accomplish something, but failing. AFAICT, the only purpose of the phrase is to mock the view of Trump taken by his followers, ie. they view him as a near-godlike figure with an inalienable right to rule.
Which does seem to be the way a lotta them see him, so I'd say it's not entirely inaccurate. Though I personally don't find the humourous use of derogatory monikers as if they were neutral descriptors a particularly hilarious trope, myself.
I could easily be convinced that the Epstein Files are on their way out of the news cycle and headed into the same graveyard as every other supposedly lethal scandal to befall Trump. But it is curious that he, himself, now seems to be the one bringing it up when everyone else is starting to forget about it, almost as if he thinks the story still has life in it, and is desperately trying to control the narrative.
Rogan also attacked the denial of due process in Trump's immigration crackdown.
This is Hell, so I realize discussion isn’t the primary thing to expect here. But this thread probably leans as much or more to discussion than to Hellish rants.
I’ve said before how I feel about avoiding naming Trump, instead using names or terms meant to be demeaning. Put bluntly, I think it’s generally silly and juvenile. But more seriously, I also think it can indicate a dismissiveness that risks failing to take Trump seriously. The situation is much too serious for playground taunts. I think that’s what bothers me about “the God-Emperor.”
But I readily admit it may just be me.
For clarity, I would not say your use of “the God-Emperor” causes me any offense I fact, I intentionally did not say that, choosing instead to say I find it tiresome and unhelpful. Perhaps the even better descriptor would be that I find it frustrating.
This is Hell. People should say what they want to say. But this being Hell, others may react.
And as I acknowledged, I may be the only one bothered here, in which case I’m quite ready to be ignored. But I thought it worth asking the question, if only to figure out if it’s just me that’s bothered.
"God-Emperor," "Drumpf," "the orange menace," "short-fingered vulgarian," which was hilarious when Spy magazine writers came up with it in the late 80s -- using such epithets makes it sound like people are having fun thinking of things to call Trump while his administration is ruining people's lives and causing people's deaths.
At the same time, I think it helps people to process their emotions about him, at least a little bit. And various shipmates are at different places in this whole thing. I was using epithets before things got a little too real here. People in my city have been detained by ICE and deported. I'm concerned about a young friend who looks like the people being grabbed off the street. I have a friend who carries his passport everywhere he goes because his new mission in life is confronting ICE agents on the street -- what else is old white guy privilege for, he asks. I don't get why people who aren't affected -- not yet affected; if up-ending the post-war economic order doesn't get you, the climate change will -- have so much emotion about him, but I have a lot of emotion about him despite my life going on as normal. Until and unless things get a lot worse, I have the privilege to choose whether to be affected by what's going on, and yet I'm venting my rage regularly. So that's my current perspective on "God-Emperor" and the like.
You mentioned “Drumpf,” and that is the epithet for Trump I see here that I do find borderline offensive, or at least very problematic. I find it borderline offensive or problematic for a couple of reasons.
First, it’s an epithet that relies on the perceived humorousness of the German Drumpf. What a funny, German-sounding word. And it seems to me clearly intended to draw a German=Nazi/fascist connection. I think that’s not good.
Second, it’s used because Drumpf was the Trump family surname until some ancestor of Trump’s changed it to sound more English/American. And that’s the story of lots of Americans descended from immigrants. I suppose it could be said that using Drumpf could serve as a reminder to Trump of his own immigrant heritage. But it strikes me as intended to mock. Especially in the current atmosphere, I think mocking anyone’s immigrant heritage in any way is inexcusable; it’s feeding the problem instead of fighting it.
Okay, I’ll try to step off my soapbox now. And I’ll try to be more cognizant that others may come from a different place on all this than I do.
Yikes, I think I missed this however many pages ago - you're very welcome.
Well, they could just release the files, and people will see for themselves that there's no client list.
Or not. I don't know if there's an obligation of the government to release files just for the purpose of squelching rumours. I do suspect that Trump's current panic(to the point where he's attacking his own base for their interest in the story) is likely due not to his name being on any client list, but because his own involvement with Epstein was about as substantial as what he's alleging about Democrats, and some people will think where there's smoke there's fire.
Dafyd Hell Host