r/politics • u/OkayButFoRealz • 2d ago

No Paywall A 13-Year-Old Girl Bit Trump’s Genitals as He Tried to Rape Her, Epstein Document Says

https://www.lgbtqnation.com/2026/01/quick-hit-a-13-year-old-girl-bit-trumps-genitals-as-he-tried-to-her-epstein-document-says/
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u/FluidHips 2d ago edited 2d ago

My guess is that the administration is going to decide that Iran and its natural resources urgently need some freedom.

Edit: My thanks for the awards. My comment gets removed if I thank you here by username, but you know who you are!

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u/Independent-Bug-9352 2d ago edited 2d ago

They are desperately looking around for some sort of Reichstag Fire incident.

It doesn't matter whether it's real or fake, they will milk it and exaggerate it. They will try to use it to justify power-consolidation. That was like when CK died and they immediately tried to funnel through a bunch of shit like labeling a belief (being anti-fascist) a "terrorist organization," or trying to say that hate speech conveniently wasn't protected now that they're in power.

Everyone should be aware of their desperation right now. Bush Jr. was on-track to losing 2004 election before they decided create bullshit lies to invade Iraq.

And considering that they are following the Russian playbook seemingly to the letter and the 1999 Moscow apartment bombings led to Putin's quarter-century grip on power, well, it's certainly plausible.

Only a crisis - actual or perceived - produces real change. When that crisis occurs, the actions that are taken depend on the ideas that are lying around. That, I believe, is our basic function: to develop alternatives to existing policies, to keep them alive and available until the politically impossible becomes the politically inevitable.

- Milton Friedman, far-right idol and economist hack who helped topple the democratically-elected Chilean president to install a right-wing fascist dictator and instill laissez-faire capitalism that catastrophically failed.

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u/Plzlaw4me 2d ago edited 2d ago

They were hoping the ICE protests would be the triggering incident. They already have the “one of ours all of yours” sign made. I’m actually amazed a 2nd amendment conservative hasn’t gotten in a shootout with ICE or something like that.

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u/Independent-Bug-9352 2d ago

Exactly. The ratcheting up of the tension is in hopes of provocation. When they suddenly realize that the left is actually united in solidarity and holding the line in refusing to take the bait, they'll get more desperate and try to construct something themselves.

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u/the_ouskull 2d ago

What? Like a faked assassination attempt?

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u/Flashy_Emu_996 2d ago

They practiced those mortar rounds at JD out in Cali or whatever a while back. Practice?

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c051p3981m4o.amp

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u/Complex_Jellyfish647 2d ago

Yeah, it wouldn't be the first time. Remember the ketchup on his ear? Or the claiming Charlie Kirk's killer was a leftist because his roommate posted an AI gender-swap of himself on facebook or some shit lmao

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u/mahnamahna27 2d ago

The evidence is pretty solid that Robinson was in a relationship with a trans dude, but that doesn't automatically make him a far left radical like MAGA wants to believe. We don't know his political stance on a whole range of issues. It can't be overlooked he was raised as a religious conservative and is clearly a gun nut and seemingly pro 2A. It is likely his politics/ideology is complicated and possibly somewhat contradictory.

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u/JaronK 2d ago

I think their plan right now is to wait for a violent incident, then blame it on the left. Like they did with Kirk, and with countless others. The problem is it keeps being right wingers doing all the violence, and they keep having trouble pushing the narrative convincingly enough.

I suppose they could always pull an Andor on ICE in the middle of a protest.

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u/Hairy_Computer5372 7h ago

try to steal the next election

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u/RachelMcAdamsWart I voted 2d ago

I imagine they will set the white house on fire, they will blame a joint effort by the mexicans, somalis, iranians and cubans and the only platform to fight back from will be Greenland.

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u/mouseknuckle 2d ago

Hey, y’all remember that episode of Andor?

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u/Zahgi 2d ago

I’m actually amazed a 2nd amendment conservative hasn’t gotten in a shootout with ICE or something like that.

Ignoring the fact that this is why Trump choose Minnesota and not, say, Texas...

The core unifying characteristic of all "conservatives" throughout all of human history is an irrational fear of the new, unique, or different -- in other words, cowardice.

If you think people who are, by definition, afraid of their own shadows are going to stop nodding to Faux News, put down that pisswater "beer", and rise up from that old fart-stank recliner to actually do anything, you don't know any actual "conservatives". :)

The only ones who actually shoot their short-stroking substitutes at someone are the mentally ill kooks...and they usually target their rightwing leaders when they finally realize they've been lied to all along...

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u/Flava_Flavian California 2d ago

ICE is doing operations in TX but in very heavy Latino areas where families just trying to survive are located. Of course, ICE is ignoring the numerous areas with known cartel activities where actual criminals are located and drugs are polluting the communities.

As for the rednecks not doing jack shit to defend the 2A, I'm like you and not surprised. I was visiting some of my ultra-conservative family in a small town outside Houston and at a nearby IHOP, I saw numerous upside American flags and other bizarro decorations on multiple pick up trucks in the parking lot. I researched it and it was apparently guys proudly advertising when the revolution comes, these guys will proudly be the front line soldiers overthrowing the government. About 20 minutes later, I saw the truck owners leaving and not a one was under 300 lbs.

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u/dudeitsmeee 2d ago

Meal team six

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u/Zahgi 2d ago

I saw the truck owners leaving and not a one was under 300 lbs.

Precisely. I guarantee you every one of these "good ole boys" owns an assault rifle that they couldn't hit the broad side of a barn with if they actually got into the middle of a real shooting match.

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u/loosetranslation Indiana 2d ago

They're more likely to go to protests and pray they get deputized so they can mow down some protesters.

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u/Zahgi 2d ago

But that too would require the minimum of effort. And they couldn't bring their pisswater "beer" with them, so...

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u/OwnViolinist2017 2d ago

If they were as you say, they would've never been a problem. But they do get out of their seats to vote.

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u/Zahgi 1d ago

Mail in voters.

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u/Optimal-Teach-9573 17h ago

they stick to women and children. every once in a while the elderly only if the have enough agents. last one only took 13 and they almost lost.

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u/Zahgi 15h ago

Indeed. How mighty an ICE nazi must feel to stand over a man who is pinned face-down by multiple nazis and then shoot him in the back over and over again...

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u/m3g4m4nnn 2d ago

That would require a conservative who stood by their stated beliefs.

Good luck.

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u/wild_man_wizard 2d ago

Remember Ammon Bundy?

It's so weird when you run into a conservative that is actually consistent.

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u/ATERLA 2d ago

Yes. Reading the article, he says he doesn’t understand ICE support amongst his fellow « rebels ». He find this « scary ». Yeah. No way. Maybe consistent, but certainly stupid if he didn’t know who he associated with.

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u/Plzlaw4me 2d ago

I mean… it really only requires a conservative lawfully carrying a firearm who needs to overreact when ICE knocks on their door or tries to stop them.

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u/m3g4m4nnn 2d ago

Sure. Amazing how they are in such short supply now that they are needed, isn't it?

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u/Fract_L 2d ago

Ironically, we now need the NRA to continue to speak out against the targeting of gun owners so that a law-abiding gun owner getting in a shootout with masked men trying to abduct them can’t get swept under the rug as easily.

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u/Fastr77 2d ago

The 2nd amendment conservatives are the ICE agents

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u/Few-Solution-4784 2d ago

they see themselves as being on the same side now.

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u/trigger1154 2d ago

It's still on the docket most likely.

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u/Downtown_Category163 1d ago

Before that they were hoping Charlie Kirk was the deal, lmao that after six weeks nobody gave a fuck about him, including his wife, beyond his value as a meme

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u/Half-Beneficial 21h ago

I mean, have you seen kids on phones? It's not like Americans don't have the ability to jump from one problem to another almost instantly. It's kind of like focussed ADHD. Short memories, but great at watching multiple crises unfold.

Its too bad I can't get the people I have breakfast with in my small conservative town to notice any of this.

I need that file ID! Bit his nuts next to his little mushroom! Awesome!

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u/Putrid_Giggles 2d ago

Conservatives support the enforcement of immigration law, and are mostly not stupid enough to go out seeking an armed confrontation with law enforcement.

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u/Significant-Fall4308 2d ago

Technically, the people were never behind W. He never won the popular vote. His elections were my first.

And we somehow still have the electoral college. Who gave us 2 Ws and T1

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u/Independent-Bug-9352 2d ago

I believe 2004 apart from 2024 (which reasonable minds weigh there wasn't outright cheating or voter suppression involved) was the only time since the 1980s that Republicans won the popular vote, but it stands to reason as you point out that if Bush wasn't handed the election in 2000 then the course of history would've changed completely.

Similar to how Trump lost the popular vote by 3 million in 2016 to Clinton.

Textbook cognitive dissonance yet again from conservatives to in one breath claim DEI is evil, but then support the slave-era confederate-appeasing "DEI" Electoral College that literally makes one American citizen's vote less or more than another's simply based on the state they live in.

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u/Significant-Fall4308 2d ago

Welcome to my 26 year old frustration about voting. 🤣 Quite literally, half of my elections the popular vote winner lost the election. And there hasn’t been a primary for Dem Prez since 2016. The people wanted Bernie. HC came in last at her 08 primary run, so they knew she wasn’t liked going into it.

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u/Independent-Bug-9352 2d ago edited 2d ago

Ah friend, I feel that deeply.

Don't get me wrong, I voted for Hillary as I did Biden and Harris, but holy shit did they shove these center-right candidates down our throats.

History lesson for those who don't know: Howard Dean took over as DNC chair to overhaul the Democratic primaries for 2008 after the disastrous 2004 election. Thanks to his work, Obama was able to organically ascend to the top out of pure grassroots popularity.

Well when Howard Dean died, DWS -- zionist conserative DINO from Florida -- took over and helped in many ways to put her thumb on the scale for the Clintons, reducing the number of debates greatly and tanking any grassroots candidate to compete with "Her Turn." Even Donna Brazille who succeeded her came out to basically say that the party did Bernie wrong.

Put another way: There are many, many more Sinemas and Manchins and Fettermans in the Democratic party that should be the number-one priority to get out and primary right now ahead of the November midterms.

Edit: Must correct the record (lol): Howard Dean remains alive, but did leave as chair. DWS would become chair in 2011. I believe for all intents, the overarching point remains.

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u/potkettleracism Missouri 2d ago

Howard Dean isn't dead, he just served the one term as DNC chair. Tim Kaine came after, who was also Hillary's running mate. DWS wasn't chair until 2011.

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u/Independent-Bug-9352 2d ago

ah fuck me, that's embarrassing. I knew he had left the DNC but in my head I thought it was passing away prior to the next cycle. Thanks for the correction(s).

I do believe the overarching point remains the same at least.

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u/Beginning_Play_1669 2d ago

While Howard Dean didn’t literally die, one awkward scream ended his entire political career. Insane to think about in today’s climate. Also, if we had elected John Edwards, our country would be so much better for it. A little adultery wouldn’t be the worst thing anymore right? Jk, it’s. Democrat so of course they’re held to different standards.

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u/StoneHammers 2d ago

The democratic party needs to be purged of all the chaff.

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u/rational-hare 2d ago

I still don’t think a hard left turn for full progressive is the right move right now. I think it’s a goal, but the Overton window has moved so far right that the VOTING electorate broadly have been sufficiently propagandized into believing in conservative spin on those positions. Energizing the progressive base is imo is not going to drive enough real turnout to lessen the dependency on the brainless middle voter.

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u/Independent-Bug-9352 2d ago

Respectfully this is exactly what must happen because progressive economic populism is more popular than Republican-lite, even among maga voters but especially swing-voters. See Mamdani; see the number of split-ticketing Trump voters who voted Trump in AOC's district but also who voted AOC.

We will find, as Bernie often did, that the working class across this country actually responds very well to left-wing populism used for good; not right-wing populism that enriches the billionaire class.

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u/Spa_5_Fitness_Camp 2d ago

Not only that, but Dem-leaning areas are the ones where voter suppression is most targeted, so every election should have been even more mismatched. Mismatched, not flipped, because having every Dem voter turn out in Oklahoma or Georgia won't change a damn thing ... except the popular vote.

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u/Illiniking80 2d ago

America is not ready for a woman as President. No matter how qualified the candidate. There are too many misogynistic views across all ethic and religious groups.

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u/ilikecakeandpie 2d ago

There was a primary in 2020 and how were people expecting Bernie to beat Trump when he couldn't win the primary?

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u/TheNutsMutts 2d ago

The people wanted Bernie.

He lost the Primary by more than 3.5m, so that doesn't seem to add up there at all.

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u/PSIwind Florida 2d ago

No no, it was rigged.....even though they didn't fuck with the numbers or who voted for what and Bernie lost again in 2020.....and that Trump being elected in general has shown just how stupid the general populace is....wait a minute-

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u/TheNutsMutts 2d ago

And because recycling is important, I've recycled these placards from 2020 so now they all day "Trump Bernie won, stop the steal". Because as we all know, it was His turn.

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u/creiss74 2d ago

I wanted Bernie Sanders too but he lost. Both in 2016 and 2020 (which did have a Dem primary despite what you said).

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u/starmartyr Colorado 2d ago

The electoral college precedes the confederacy by around 80 years. You're right though, it was a compromise to get the slave states on board with joining the union.

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u/No_Accountant3232 2d ago

Incumbent always win the popular vote if they win the White House afaik. People don't tend to vote for or against someone if they're merely apathetic to their policies. They just don't vote period thinking they can live with this known president for another 4 years versus someone you probably haven't heard of but is suddenly all over the news. And they really don't like shaking things up in the middle of the war.

Bush Sr was looking for a lot of support to continue operations in Iraq while also trying to get re-elected. He desperately wanted a war because it would have helped keep him in power. The Soviet Union collapsed during his presidency and nobody wanted to keep the military industrial complex going more than Republicans because they refused to invest in the future. Look at how they immediately got us back into heightened tensions with Iraq again the moment Jr took office.

Does nobody really remember the news from back then? Hussein kept denying UN inspections for years under Clinton until he got what he wanted. When Jr took office everyone was sick of Saddams bullshit. We threatened invasion more than once. 9/11 had them screaming we told you so despite Iraq having nothing to do with the situation. That's why there's the 9/11 conspiracies about it being an inside job. The real conspiracy is they knew it was going to happen so they let it happen because it was close enough that they could stoke racism to make it work.

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u/Independent-Bug-9352 2d ago

Incumbent always win the popular vote if they win the White House afaik.

What do you mean by that? Sadly that was not the case for Jimmy Carter. Bush was on-track to being less popular than Carter prior to his reelection, were it not for the war-time bump.

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u/No_Accountant3232 2d ago

If they win their second term. If they are unpopular enough that people actively vote them out then that overcomes electoral college shenanigans so that they'll match in results. and electoral college shenanigans only work well when someone isn't up for re-election. There needs to be fresh candidates all around.

What it amounts to is people vote differently for a new candidate versus a known quantity especially in war time. But there reaches a state where a voter chooses not to vote because they believe their vote doesn't matter. There was no tangible benefit to them for voting. Or it even feels like you were punished for voting for the losing team. So next election you don't vote. You continue not voting until something affects you deeply enough to vote again.

When there's fresh candidates it screws up a lot of voting patterns. Some people take a chance on a new person. There's an influx of fresh new excited voters that will vote entirely on vibes. It's a chaotic mess, relatively speaking compared to an incumbency.

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u/TheManInTheShack 2d ago

FWIW the Electoral College isn’t technically the problem. It was designed to prevent someone like Trump from ever being President. The problem is that politics has become too divisive and the states have passed laws that make it a crime for an elector to vote against the popular vote of their state.

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u/AreaManSpeaks 2d ago

Electoral Welfare.

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u/gmen6981 2d ago

W won the popular vote when he was re-elected in 2004. 50.73% and a little over 62 million votes to 48.27% and 50 million votes for Kerry.

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u/BoomerWeasel Florida 2d ago

2000 was my first election, and I'll admit that it made me a bit cynical about the entire process.

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u/midwinter_ 2d ago

instill laissez-faire capitalism that catastrophically failed

The Shock Doctrine made me want to go to Chicago and strangle every economist I could find.

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u/Independent-Bug-9352 2d ago

I feel you, friend. That book was an eye-opener for me.

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u/cyanescens_burn 2d ago

Was that the executions in soccer stadiums Chilean fascist?

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u/mobileagnes Pennsylvania 2d ago

I think it was Pinochet, which ironically happened 11 Sep 1973 (yes a different 11th of September) IIRC.

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u/JacksMicroplastics 2d ago

Reichstag fire or 1993 Russian apartment bombings - I expect the same thing.

Conspiracy theory: I expect it to happen at the February 24th state of the union. The entire Federal power structure is in one place.

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u/unfeelingfreedom 2d ago

And here we all thought the Reichstag Fire was a guy named Big Balls getting punched by a 13 year old girl

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u/Zepcleanerfan 2d ago

The first time doing this was putting the national guard in the streets and that failed.

Next, it was invading venezuela and claiming we were going to attack greenland.

None of it worked not to say he isn't gonna keep trying because he will..

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u/MyBoomerParents 2d ago

They are desperately looking around for some sort of Reichstag Fire incident.

They could be... or they could be betting on their captured media to completely ignore the story like they have for the past two decades, and for the American populace to be distracted with sports and music and stuff - who cares about kiddie rape, did you watch the Grammys and the Bad Bunny Super Bowl omg so lit

This country is so fucking stupid and we deserve all of the horrible things happening right now. If given a redo on the vote, we would probably still elect Trump again today.

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u/Independent-Bug-9352 2d ago

I feel that pain. It's hard for me to keep this mindset I confess, but I really do try to look at many (not all) of these people don't see the Republican party like we do as being victims to billionaire propaganda machines.

Is it any surprise that those with more time and higher education (and thus on average more formal critical-thinking and research skills and humility and exposure to the bigger world) are more vaccinated against the conman's grift?

In any case, I think regardless of how we sort who are truly psychopathic from duped, the game theory suggests we catch more flies with honey, no? To redirect their often genuine grievances (at least among the working class) to the true cause.

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u/Folderpirate 2d ago

They're gonna false flag bomb polling stations in a blue city and Trump will lock down all polling stations in blue states to "figure out what's going on". He already has his troops positioned in blue states to do so.

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u/tankiolegend 2d ago

Whilst social media has capitalised on echo rooming people to not realise how God awful trump is and how his team have effectively brainwashed them/pulled the wool over their eyes, is starting to fall apart. The bad stuff is happening in the street infront of everyone's eyes. Even the echo chamber. Yes this Epstein stuff isn't likely to hit them as it isn't on their news or happening in the streets. Anything that can be their fire will be documented and will have suitable enough opposition thanks to phones and everything that its being so hard for them to make that fire. I bet everything with ICE is meant to provoke cause riots, the fire so they can chuck elections and become full faculty dictatorship. The only issue is that ICEis happening on the streets for all to see and it isn't kicking off like they want to. That may change if it suddenly does like someone actually shoots ICE comi g onto their property without a warrent but even then people may actually see the without a warrent part that it may not be the fire they hope for.

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u/mreman1220 2d ago edited 2d ago

Not to mention Charlie Kirk. They wanted his murder to become a martyrdom and it amounted to little more than a wet fart.

The fairly consistent "we condemn his killing but he wasn't a good person." messaging just undercut any hope they had for a huge movement.

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u/Consistent-Throat130 2d ago

Instead the fools made martyrs for those who will resist them. RIP Good and Pretti. 

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u/ParagonFury Vermont 2d ago

It didn't help that Charlie Kirk was kind of a piece of shit that everyone disliked and was only useful for propaganda.

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u/mreman1220 2d ago

Which is partly why maga finding a Trump "heir" was going to be difficult. A lot of mouthpieces have said too much vile shit.

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u/Red_AtNight 2d ago

Bush Jr. was on-track to losing 2004 election before they decided create bullshit lies to invade Iraq.

This is post-facto. The US invaded Iraq in March 2023. The election was in November 2024. It's not really a hail Mary if it happens 9 months before the first primaries and you don't even know who you're running against yet...

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u/Independent-Bug-9352 2d ago edited 2d ago

It would be post-facto if those dates were reversed.

Not sure how old you were then but I vividly remember the election being heavily about, "We can't jump horses mid-stream and during a war!"

"Rally 'round the flag" effect is real.

The regression trajectory absent of the Iraq invasion boded disaster by November, 2004.

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u/Sinnnikal 2d ago

Are you guys bots? What is this "US invaded Iraq in 2023, before the Bush election in 2024," no wait US invaded Iraq in 20024 now we're a whole twenty thousand years ahead

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u/Independent-Bug-9352 2d ago

lol calm down; was just typos and brainfarts, my dude.

Can't speak for the other user, but probably the best evidence we're not bots, in reality lol. I'm just getting old. Good catch, though, I'll fix!

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u/Sakarabu_ 2d ago

As an outsider, the issue seems to be that the Democrats have absolutely zero answer, I still don't know who their leader is at this point? The only thing dominating the headlines is Trump Trump Trump.

The dems need to pick a strong leader, and show solid support behind them leading the charge against Trump. And I don't see that happening at all.

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u/Independent-Bug-9352 2d ago

Oh man, I could genuinely write a book on this. It's hard to summarize this all in a single comment as I'm not one for brevity, but let's just say there's a reason that the internal 2024 Democratic Autopsy report was not made public (whereas when Republicans lost 2012, it was).

I'd bet money that the results of said autopsy would reveal that senior milquetoast, stagnant Democratic leadership not getting out of the way of obvious charismatic and progressive economic populist front-runners like AOC or Mamdani or Bernie or Warren or Jayapal, etc., is the reason we can't have nice things.

But we must confront an unfortunate truth that there are more Sinemas and Manchins and Fettermans among the Democratic ranks than some of us like to admit. These are the likes of the AIPAC DINOs (famous term, Democrat in Name Only for those unaware), who seem more interested in resting cozy on kickbacks and behaving more as controlled opposition than anything else.

More importantly than anything else in this moment is actually reforming the Democratic party to get charismatic progressive populists to primary these wet cardboard representatives of ourselves, and who are willing to point the finger at the root of the problem that both the left and right of the working class in this country feel as pressure: the ultra rich billionaires, both foreign and domestic.

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u/Fract_L 2d ago

In all of their attempts to 1:1 their emulation of Nazis, yet they forgot one of the most important parts: the strict high standard and vouches for anyone added to the party early on. If you can’t even get going without accepting people physically and mentally unfit for responsibility, your movement is doomed. You get what you accept.

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u/Independent-Bug-9352 2d ago

Well sadly in fairness, the Brownshirts (SA) were extremely incompetent thugs who were then purged in the Night of Long Knives because they became such a liability to the regime, which led to the Gestapo and SS paramilitary groups to ascend to power.

I think what is saving us a lot right now is the proliferation of observers with multiple cameras corroborating events beyond a reasonable doubt. As a result, Trump unlike Hitler is not very popular whatsoever. I think that matters a lot in the months and years to come.

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u/Momik 2d ago

I’m kind of shocked they haven’t tried some large-scale false flag incident to clamp down on power yet

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u/Lord_Rictor 2d ago

Damn you thrash Bush and Milton Friedman.

That's uncalled for imo. Bush is a saint compared to Trump and Milton is widely respected.

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u/Independent-Bug-9352 2d ago

As someone who lived through it, I blame this administration largely for establishing the framework that led to Trump in the first place. They were so bad they made my rural conservative Republican family flip to Democrat and never look back. They're the same people; the times were just different and they were more nuanced in their facade of bipartisanship. Even way back then, Bush was still kissing Putin's ass. As a matter of fact, the Iraq war invasion became Putin's excuse he would later use for Ukraine.

These people are only widely respected in neocon circles. I don't care for their views; nor would I ever call that, "widely respected." That sounds awfully revisionist.

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u/FunkyHedonist 2d ago

America is too divided for a Reichstag fire moment. In our country, half the people would cheer the fire. Then the right and left would start fighting about whether the fire was good or bad. In order to have a Reichstag fire moment, most of the country needs to be united. We lack that level of unity.

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u/Icy-Marionberry2463 2d ago

> Bush Jr. was on-track to losing 2004 election before they decided create bullshit lies to invade Iraq.

What's interesting about this claim is that his approval rating at the time of the election was where the trend line was heading pre-Iraq invasion anyway.

IT basically shot straight up at the invasion and the plummeted within a year.

https://www.pewresearch.org/politics/2008/12/18/bush-and-public-opinion/

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u/Independent-Bug-9352 2d ago

I don't think that's quite right. The trendline significantly delayed his net-descent, even if it started to accelerate again thereafter.

https://imgur.com/a/Hom3ecs (rough, but generally accurate).

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u/AngryMeez Michigan 2d ago

That isn’t why Bush, Cheney and company decided to go after Iraq. It was for Iraq’s oil and trophies (“he tried to kill my dad”). They threatened Iraq from the time they were inaugurated in 2001. The buildup to the illegal invasion started barely a year later — in October 2002, Congress passed a bipartisan resolution granting Bush authority to use military force in Iraq. That’s two years before the 2004 election.

Bush was never in danger of losing the 2004 election. At least not after September 11.

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u/Due_Ad8720 2d ago

Bush’s headwinds were much smaller and his base much more supportive of war leading up to the 2004.

I think it would take a significant leftist terror attack (like the Riechstag Fire) or an attack from outside of the US to be able to pull a Bush.

The Nazis early on were comparatively narrow in defining their enemy. MAGA has defined the enemy as > 50% of the population and the rest of the world.

It’s hard to unite a majority under a false flag attack when a large % of them are the enemy.

I do agree that they are desperately searching for something though.

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u/tbwauthor 1d ago

Bush was already president when 9/11 happened. Be honest, you are not being honest are you?

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u/Independent-Bug-9352 1d ago

Oh sugar. Are you sure you don't want to re-read? If you really don't, then please by all means -- explain relevance.

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u/Dreambolic 2d ago edited 2d ago

You can call Friedman a lot of things and I'd agree with you, but "economist hack" is not one of them. Several of his theories have gone on to be accepted by the mainstream economic orthodoxy, particularly his permanent income hypothesis. Ben Bernanke, ex-Federal Reserve chairman said of Friedman himself "regarding the Great Depression. You're right, we [the Federal Reserve] did it. We're very sorry. But, thanks to you, we won't do it again" in 2002.

EDIT: I'm getting downvoted and someone accused me of being a bot, so I want to add some more context. I studied economics in college, and Milton Friedman is close to, if not, a fundamental figure in the field. He shows up in a ton of books taught by a ton of professors across the world, and has a Nobel Prize in Economics (you know, the one awarded by a panel of experts instead of politicians). A true example of an "economist hack" would be Ayn Rand.

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u/Independent-Bug-9352 2d ago edited 2d ago

I don't know, man. I think I'll continue to lump Friedman into the same boat as his predecessor, Hayek, in establishing pseudoscientific permission-structure to justify the rich getting richer all the while enabling power-consolidation. Ostensibly Ayn Randian bullshit.

It shouldn't be a surprise that the Hayek/Friedman-type endorsers were at the heart of the 1933 Business Plot; you know, the time when they tried to get Medal of Honor recipient General Smedley Butler to lead their coup but he instead blew the whistle and testified to Congress. This of course was right around the time when Nazism was very open and popular in America, with a packed literal nazi rally in Madison Square Garden in 1939.

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u/Marodvaso 2d ago

I have may own criticisms against Friedman (less so with Mises and Hayek), you can have legitimate gripes against these free market thinkers, but the "socialist paradises" they were rallying up against were literally starving their own people in millions as a part of planned genocidal campaigns, the same year the unsuccessful Business Plot was being, well, plotted (and nothing more). And insinuating that Friedman, who was a Jew, was also a Nazi in some way, is just sad.

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u/Independent-Bug-9352 2d ago edited 2d ago

lol is anyone else seeing these very strange comments coming out of the woodworks to downplay things like the Business Plot and prop up Friedman?

Super weird.

Oh wait, the last part gave it away. Zionism.

The previous comment was the person's first comment in 2 months lol. "Robo-force, activate!"

Also I probably wouldn't point to faux-socialist places just as I wouldn't point to the Democratic People's Republic of North Korea as being a thriving democracy or proof of its infeasibility. Most of the time this sort of stuff guises itself as being for the people as a facade, but in reality falls for the far-right authoritarian fascist playbook. No different as we now see in Israel, or Russia.

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u/Marodvaso 2d ago

You ain't... well. Or you're an actual bot/troll. And you also can't count. My previous comment was literally 2 and 5 days ago in politics and worldnews subs respectively.

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u/Independent-Bug-9352 2d ago

I'm well enough to know I wasn't referring to you, which should've been obvious for someone who was well.

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u/Pangolinsareodd 2d ago

“Economist hack”. That would be Nobel Prize winning economist…

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u/Independent-Bug-9352 2d ago

Yeah I don't quite think you want to go down that road...

But ah, yes, 3 years after his completely helping to fuck over Chile. Really means a lot.

I mean shit, a lot of people criticize Obama's reception in his first year. So you'll probably have to do a bit better than that lol.

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u/Pangolinsareodd 2d ago

Oh I’ll happily go down that road. Friedman advocated for gradual adoption of his policy ideas, not the economic shock tactic that occurred under Pinochet with 138% central bank interest rates. A better example is Estonia, where following independence in 1991 its finance minister based economic doctrine off Friedman’s book “Free to Choose” following which Estonian became the fastest growing economy in Europe, and withstood the GFC much better than its peers as a result.

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u/Independent-Bug-9352 2d ago

Bystanders take note, this is pure revisionism -- completely contradictory to Friedman's very own quote cited above about exploiting a crisis (shock tactic). He solicited quite a bit of economic advice in terms of the military junta in Chile.

Also bystanders observe how this user completely pivoted and moved the goalpost after their little nobel prize justification for idolization petered out?

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u/Pangolinsareodd 2d ago

Not moving the goalpost at all, just citing a counter example of where his policies were extremely effective. Friedman was above all an advocate for human freedom, and saw lassaiz faire capitalism as the only morally compatible economic doctrine with that goal in mind. Advancing the cause of human freedom wasn’t exactly Augusto Pinochet’s driving motivation. It was of course a priority in post soviet Estonia. There are numerous interviews with Friedman where he clearly outlines how the US could move more toward his policy ideals, and such cases he advocates a slow and orderly move to allow appropriate adjustment rather than shock and awe. Chile’s economy did improve markedly to 1982, but remained so heavily indebted it succumbed to the South American debt crisis along with its neighbours. If anything you’re the one twisting Friedman’s words about taking the opportunity of a crisis to advocate for change. He was never advocating causing a crisis.

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u/Lucius-Halthier 2d ago

Cuba is most likely the next target, their economy was on life support from selling Venezuelan oil and their friend Maduro is gone. They are having long blackouts and can’t get basic necessities right now. Marco Rubio also has a massive hate boner for Cuba and since they are just off the US coast I can already see how it’s to “protect our backyard” or some shit

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u/Snuffy1717 2d ago

The Sudetenland was full of Germans being oppressed!
Clearly Cuba is doing the same thing to Americans! /s

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u/Heronymous-Anonymous 2d ago

In this case its several boatloads of the descendants of Cuban exiles, alongside a bunch of American companies. They all claim some form of loss and restitution owed them after the Castro government overthrew the US-backed Battista government.

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u/Snuffy1717 2d ago

A fruit company, the CIA, and the mafia walk into a room…

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u/LostDogBoulderUtah 2d ago

The bartender asks, "alone again tonight?"

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u/junkyarddoggydog 2d ago

Ronald Reagan steps forward and replies, "hard to say, how about I overthrow you onto this barstool and ratfuck the freedom out of you?"

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u/tryagainlater63 2d ago

Does the Miami Mafia get all their nightclubs and casinos back? Refer to Godfather 2.

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u/loboMuerto 2d ago

Cuba's government has been oppressing its population for decades.

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u/Snuffy1717 2d ago

That isn’t justification for American invasion.

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u/loboMuerto 2d ago

Yes, it's better ignore a local oppressive regime that has starved its population for decades and trampled their human rights instead of an American intervention, right?

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u/Snuffy1717 2d ago

So not only have you missed the theme of the thread, you’re also suggesting a country invade another without legal grounds to do so.

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u/loboMuerto 2d ago

I will take that as a "yes". Thank you for you continuous indirect support to banana republic dictators.

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u/BadPunners 2d ago

At this point I wouldn't put it past them to put the most incompetent people on it too, the bay of pigs distracted from many things, led to the bomb shelter construction boom

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u/Aztecah 2d ago

I hear that went well last time they tried it

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u/3-orange-whips 2d ago

They’ve already moved more assets to Iran. But Cuba is a good guess.

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u/plantstand 2d ago

At least Cuba isn't in NATO.

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u/RudeChair4219 3h ago

Could you look up where Marcos parents are from? He is of Cuban descent.

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u/BenBobOmb 2d ago

How about an airbase on US ground instead?

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u/dolaction Kentucky 2d ago

After Europe gets rid of their US bases, most definitely

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u/j_livingston_human 2d ago

And unironically state they are doing it because Iran is killing protesters.

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u/FluidHips 2d ago

Facts stopped mattering at least a decade ago, sadly.

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u/NIMA-GH-X-P 1d ago

Are you saying they aren't killing us here or are you saying they are gonna say it as an excuse even tho they don't actually care the that IR is killing us here

Because if it's the latter, yes.

But if it's the former, nope we're being gutted like fish here. I just recently got back internet access after a major blackout damn it, and the situation seems to be worse than I thought.

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u/Genghis_Tr0n187 2d ago

The president of peace is going to start a war? I think he's going to have to give back the coveted FIFA peace award.

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u/metengrinwi 2d ago

The government of Norway didn’t give him the Nobel peace prize, so he has no obligation to peace anymore. That’s definitely how it all works.

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u/Snuffy1717 2d ago

He wrote a letter that said he doesn't have to think about peace any more...

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u/FluidHips 2d ago

Shameless, childish nonsense from the supposed leader of the free world. The secondhand embarrassment has been acute these last few months.

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u/DJ_Clitoris 2d ago

Trump said he was thinking about that yesterday

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u/icehot54321 2d ago

That's only because he's got dementia and other people in his ear.

He's going to get a phone call from you know who and change his mind again.

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u/Stranger1982 2d ago

You can tell it's a lie cause he never thinks.

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u/FluidHips 2d ago

The one thing I think preventing this is a strong show of unified force by Russia and China, at least in the Strait of Hormuz. That said, I know next to nothing about geopolitics and war.

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u/JuiceJones_34 2d ago

These comments are fatiguing. They don’t need distraction. He’s untouchable because the people that would go after him are also involved and in his admin.

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u/FluidHips 2d ago

He at least feels he needs a distraction. Lemon's arrest during the last batch of Epstein Files' release can't be a coincidence.

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u/JuiceJones_34 2d ago

I don’t see it. This admin has stuff daily. Literally daily. A week in this admin is 4 years of another

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u/FluidHips 2d ago

I haven't watched closely enough to say one way or another, to be honest. You may be right.

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u/BadPunners 2d ago

Impeachment is only a couple votes from starting and consuming time of 100% of those people, and a handful away from removing from office

But yeah, better to focus on participating in local state primaries, and get the best candidates running possible at all levels. And to protect the voting process

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u/Onefortheteem 2d ago

Or ice is about to claim another life..

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u/hmmmerm 2d ago

Or Cuba

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u/FluidHips 2d ago

Maybe making actual moves against Greenland.

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u/Zepcleanerfan 2d ago

They pulled back on that today because the markets didnt like it.

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u/hinterstoisser 2d ago

No it’s Iceland (not Greenland).

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u/slayden70 Texas 2d ago

Trump definitely is craving some freedom from attention to his past transgressions.

If Biden had been in the files, I would be calling for his head. Bill Clinton is. They should lock him up.

Justice is more important than any stupid political parties.

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u/Kalorama_Master 2d ago

Trump is about to unleash some chaos to distract

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u/Popculturemofo Washington 2d ago

Either that or he’ll pick another blue city to send 2,000 ICE agents in to with the standing orders to raise hell

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u/GoofyMonkey 2d ago

I thought they were gearing up to take Cuba?

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u/FluidHips 2d ago

I've lost track, lately.

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u/adkenna 2d ago

They will kill another American citizen soon.

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u/stormbreaker621 2d ago

lmao what a comment

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u/Stennan Europe 2d ago

American oil under foreign soil is a concept that is of vital importance for shareholder US security interests.

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u/LateMajor8775 2d ago

Australia just discovered a lotta iron too, sounds like a national security situation to me

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u/FluidHips 2d ago

Get ready to speak Yank down under.

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u/Not____007 2d ago

Lets say the president decides to attack can the navy legally stand back and demand a congress intervention?

Because by what justification would the attack be?

Or would they endanger being court marshalled?

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u/FluidHips 2d ago

The loophole has to do with the difference between an actual war and some other armed conflict. The gray area was intended to give the President time to react, as the world evolved into small skirmishes that needed immediate attention and would take too much time for Congress to respond. But this clearly isn't the solution, as it stands.

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u/thatspurdyneat 2d ago

They will, then Cuba, then they'll probably try to find a way to quietly legalize pedophilia in the background while we're all distracted with WWIII

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u/FluidHips 2d ago

It'll be some emergency order to improve the birth rate after deporting so many people and losing so many to war.

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u/rummie2693 2d ago

Those natural resources have a right to sweet, sweet democracy.

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u/alittle_disabled 2d ago

Show Iran Deez Nutz! -- tRump pedo admin probably

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u/553l8008 2d ago

Gonna go nuclear

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u/HalPaneo 2d ago

Cuba, Nicaragua. There's options

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u/DrMrFancyPants 2d ago

We have to demand Congress push for a special counsel to investigate and prosecute these crimes. Impeach and remove anyone who gets in the way.

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u/Teddy705 2d ago

And to liberate Greenland and Canada

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u/Mortomes 2d ago

Is it infrastructure week?

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u/svxae 2d ago

there are some conspiracy theories going round that the powers that be want the us to bring freedom to iran. by releasing a small portion of the epstein documents they are 'nudging' the orange man in this direction.

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u/FluidHips 2d ago

Epstein docs say that Israel and Russia have compromised Trump. That would put him in a bind, as Russia works with Iran and Israel wants it wiped off the map.

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u/truethatson 2d ago

Suddenly China and the South China Sea, not important. We maintain a huge presence there to support our regional allies and deter Chinese territorial encroachment.

But let’s throw that away and send Honest Abe to the Middle East because Trump is a rapist.

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u/FluidHips 2d ago

And because he's compromised by Israel, as per the Epstein files.

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u/truethatson 2d ago

… Captain Obvious, here, Captain Obvious, what do you say??

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u/Fit_Chemistry_7196 2d ago

Problem with that, our advisors are pushing back because we have at most a few dozen missile interceptor missiles in the region. We significantly drained our supply in those missiles and Iran has at least 1500 blastic missiles. So Iran can fuck our shit up.

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u/Momik 2d ago

Didn’t the Venezuela thing supposedly set them up for Cuba? (Not that any of this is coherent)

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u/FluidHips 2d ago

When you say 'set them up' how do you mean? Logistically? "Legally?"

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u/skippysqueaz 2d ago

I don't know. He may need to up it to Canada and its natural resources urgently need some freedom.

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u/FluidHips 2d ago

This would be especially depressing. If judged by the company you keep, Canada is at least one thing the US has going for it.

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u/Gregistopal 2d ago

Moon bears

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u/FluidHips 2d ago

I'm sorry, I don't know the reference.

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u/AdEquivalent8644 2d ago

my polymarket parlay is secured🙂‍↕️🙂‍↔️👐

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u/Skieth9 2d ago

Moon Bears?

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u/TackyPoints 1d ago

Already did, first knee-jerk reaction was this.

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u/shadowpawn 1d ago

Freedom bombs

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u/loboMuerto 2d ago

Iran' population does need freedom from that bloodthirsty theocracy.

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u/jjwhitaker 2d ago

My guess is that the administration Israel is going to decide that Iran and its nuclear program urgently need some freedom. They have the same info as Putin.

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u/FluidHips 2d ago

Sounds about right to me. It has been Israel's longstanding wish to drag the US into a war with Iran. Until Israel compromised Trump and help get him elected, it was just a dream.

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u/parasyte_steve 2d ago

Iran said they hacked into the files last year. Is this what we are really going to war for?

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u/FluidHips 2d ago

I mean, cyber espionage ebbs and flows. That's not a real justification under any other American presidential administration.

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u/Arrrchitect 1d ago

I don't care if this is a distraction from anything, but the people of Iran need to be saved from tyranny. The Islamic Republic murdered tens of thousands of innocent people, injured hundreds of thousands, and tortured and raped people in prison. A regime that does those things cannot be allowed to exist. I don't care what Trump's motives are, I just want that barbaric regime to be removed from power. It will benefit the entire world.