They’re at least being performative with each other.

Absolutely. I was specifically referring to sanctions, which are unlikely anyway, but possible.

Europe needs to take real action. You want Ukraine to actually win? Go make it happen. You can do it.

Putin is not going to use nukes to win Ukraine. Kowtowing encourages nuclear proliferation.

America, even this America, does not want war with Europe. They may sabre rattle, but nothing outside of sanctions will come of it. And if all goes reasonably, the US should hopefully be an ally again in four years.

You need to work on your military. Ukraine is the place to do that.

The US is in this mess because none of the good guys would take bold action. EU, you’re the good guys now. Will you do anything?

You should be able to (at some point) accumulate enough wealth that you can live at least half your life in luxury without ever working another day.

That should be a difficult , but possibly attainable goal.

You should not be able to accumulate enough wealth to make hundreds of people commit their life’s work solely to your whims. You should not be able to accumulate enough wealth to just buy politics.

That’s what’s fundamentally broken in our system. It’s fixable, if the right people want to.

No. As of 7 days ago, he has not been paid the $50 billion. The judge’s order is holding for now.

https://www.theregister.com/2025/03/12/elon_musk_appeals_voided_pay_package/

Did that actually get paid out? Last I heard the judge said no, multiple times.

But he’s an idiot, and if Vance sees a legit opening he might jump at it.

“I go back and forth between thinking Trump is a cynical asshole like Nixon who wouldn’t be that bad (and might even prove useful) or that he’s America’s Hitler,” he wrote privately to an associate on Facebook in 2016.

In another 2016 interview about his book, Vance told a reporter that, although his background would have made him a natural Trump supporter, “the reason, ultimately, that I am not … is because I think that (Trump) is the most-raw expression of a massive finger pointed at other people.”

He did win the popular vote this time. Not by much. He absolutely does not have a mandate.

Popular vote 77,302,580[2] 75,017,613[2]

Why not? We all know Vance is pretending for the position. If he sees a real shot, he might take it.

Nobody likes Trump as a person. They’re all just grifting.

The trick is getting enough to turn at once, and getting them all to know that there’s enough. A dumb one might rat it out because of greed, but they should know that doesn’t work. If they’re in that position, there’s no further loyalty rewards. The best they can hope for is avoiding retribution, and that’s not even guaranteed.

It’s literally a quote from his debate vs Hillary.

The independent Republicans were all pushed out of the party when they opposed Trump. Some were beaten in primaries, most saw it coming and retired.

I think it might be easier for them to access closed buildings and servers. I think it makes it easier for them to shut down agencies they don’t like, such as the department of education. And I doubt the federal workers would get back pay this time as they have in the past.

The shutdown would screw a lot of people. The CR could be worse. And the Democrats, as usual, are left to be the only adults in the room. Yeah , the Republicans might eat more blame, questionably, but a lot of people would get hurt regardless.

A shutdown can allow them to dismantle the government faster.

The numbers in that “bullet ballots” post were lies. They were convincing if true, but they just weren’t true. North Carolina didn’t have 7.1% bullet ballots, for instance, and the swing states weren’t significantly different from their surrounding states, as he claimed they were.

Part of the reason that post sounded so good is that he gave easily verifiable numbers. But those numbers didn’t verify.

This is the Clinton-era way of thinking. A losing campaign must have done everything wrong, and a winning campaign must have done everything right.

AOC’s district leaned way more heavily towards Trump. Either they cheated literally everywhere or the results were valid.

There was a misleading post about “bullet ballots”, but if you looked into the numbers they didn’t check out.

As long as there’s a clear confirmation dialog.

https://mastodon.social/users/thelinuxEXP/statuses/114150049642765849

Afaik that’s mostly FUD and was debunked.

I’m still not happy with Mozilla throwing money down the AI toilet.

You don’t do that in America (if you want to win). You take an existing party and push it in your direction. That’s how the party of Reagan is embracing tariffs.