Political Roundtable Part XXXIV

[AFM]

This seems to be a big deal. Gifted article so you fellas can read it:

https://www.nytimes.com/2025/04/30/opinion/musk-doge-data-ai.html?unlocked_article_code=1.Dk8.X8YM.ntACPYevPIxQ&smid=url-share

"‘This Is What We Were Always Scared of’: DOGE Is Building a Surveillance State"

Some federal workers have been told that DOGE is using artificial intelligence to sift through their communications to identify people who harbor anti-Musk or -Trump sentiment (and presumably punish or fire them).

What this amounts to is a stunningly fast reversal of our long history of siloing government data to prevent its misuse. In their first 100 days, Mr. Musk and Mr. Trump have knocked down the barriers that were intended to prevent them from creating dossiers on every U.S. resident. Now they seem to be building a defining feature of many authoritarian regimes: comprehensive files on everyone so they can punish those who protest.

[dobrojim]

For the record, and I'm sure you know this, I've been
calling the GOP a cult for at least 10 years, probably
more like 24 years since we had mindless GOP-bots
justify the Iraq war by saying we have to fight them
over there so we don't have to fight them here. Which
we all know was complete bullspit.i

PS watching Golfy's sycophantic cabinet heap praise
on him completely validates the point.

[doclinkin]

Trump crashing the economy is actually the opening the Ds need to right this ship. But they have to take advantage. Let's wait and see what the midterms are like.

I think the disaster of Trump cannibalizing Social Security and Medicare to feed red meat to billionaires is what could flip this country to a social democracy. Didn't Karl Marx say capitalism has to fail before socialism could actually take root? At the point where you have trillionaires ripping apart our safety net to siphon tax dollars to their own pockets and schemes, we have reached complete failure. I heard stories 3rd hand about folks who worked in the revenue dept where the Department of Grift and Extortion removed all oversight or enforcement over crapto-currency. It has become a two way valve to funnel untraceable grift directly into the pockets of the foxes in the henhouse, or out into the ether where it disappears. Some very bad people have to be paying for very bad things to happen for their direct benefit.

[Zonkerbl]

Trump crashing the economy is actually the opening the Ds need to right this ship. But they have to take advantage. Let's wait and see what the midterms are like.

I think the disaster of Trump cannibalizing Social Security and Medicare to feed red meat to billionaires is what could flip this country to a social democracy. Didn't Karl Marx say capitalism has to fail before socialism could actually take root? At the point where you have trillionaires ripping apart our safety net to siphon tax dollars to their own pockets and schemes, we have reached complete failure. I heard stories 3rd hand about folks who worked in the revenue dept where the Department of Grift and Extortion removed all oversight or enforcement over crapto-currency. It has become a two way valve to funnel untraceable grift directly into the pockets of the foxes in the henhouse, or out into the ether where it disappears. Some very bad people have to be paying for very bad things to happen for their direct benefit.

Department of Grift and Extortion

Holy crap that's funny

[Bonscott]

The question is did the the democrats in DC learn anything or will they appoint the worst possible candidate to run in 2028 ?
If they have any intelligence at all (they haven't shown any yet) then they'll get someone somewhat decent,they sure didn't in 2024

[dckingsfan]

Fascinating.

Those that voted for Trump are now like, "I am just an independent and I would have voted for a D if they were more like Trump."

Let's be clear, those independents and libertarians are never voting D. Yet, they will always blame everything on the Ds. Literally blaming the most stupid POTUS we have ever had on the Ds. Not on themselves for voting for this knucklehead but on everyone else.

[Zonkerbl]

I think some brave soul has to stand up and tell these so-called "independents" that voting for Trump is evil.

Hey! The emperor has no clothes!

[closg00]

Trump crashing the economy is actually the opening the Ds need to right this ship. But they have to take advantage. Let's wait and see what the midterms are like.

I think the disaster of Trump cannibalizing Social Security and Medicare to feed red meat to billionaires is what could flip this country to a social democracy. Didn't Karl Marx say capitalism has to fail before socialism could actually take root? At the point where you have trillionaires ripping apart our safety net to siphon tax dollars to their own pockets and schemes, we have reached complete failure. I heard stories 3rd hand about folks who worked in the revenue dept where the Department of Grift and Extortion removed all oversight or enforcement over crapto-currency. It has become a two way valve to funnel untraceable grift directly into the pockets of the foxes in the henhouse, or out into the ether where it disappears. Some very bad people have to be paying for very bad things to happen for their direct benefit.

This administration has two goals:
1. Completely destroy as-much government as they can (very successful)
2. Get that permanent tax cut for millionaires/Billionaires

Once this ^ has been accomplished, they won’t GAF. Why? Because there will be no money or votes to put everything back as it was, perhaps bits and pieces here and there, but they can walk-away from it all after they get that tax cut.

[Zonkerbl]

Well you can get a lot of savings cutting military expenditures by 90%

[The Consiglieri]

The question is did the the democrats in DC learn anything or will they appoint the worst possible candidate to run in 2028 ?
If they have any intelligence at all (they haven't shown any yet) then they'll get someone somewhat decent,they sure didn't in 2024

4

That's the excuse for voting for a vile, lying, corrupt, evil, wannabe Mussolini piece of ----, and his even more evil, and more cynical dip---- cabinet? Really?

I always find this take really depressing and a fundamental indictment of the country, rather than Kamala, or Hillary for that matter.

Republican's have rolled out an incompetent, addled, wannabe Mussolini 3 times in a row.

It's not the Dem's fault, this piece of ---- won 2 of 3, it's America's fault, the entire countries.

That this idiot can win even 30% of a national election, let alone 47-50%, is a total indictment of the country full stop.

Kamala was a perfectly gray, vanilla, candidate, a centrist prosecutor (no self-respecting far left anything would have run for the prosecutors office at any level back in the eighties and nineties, the idea that's she a far left communist was always idiotic) went to a prestigious university, yes to law school, passed the Bar, won multiple elections in California including DA, and Senator Elections. Not a great or even good candidate, just a bang average politician on her best day, who also obliterated Trump (who smashed the Republicans) in their one head to head debate.

The country chose a monster instead, TWICE, in 3 cycles, and rolled out their biggest ever vote in 2020 in a defeat against Biden, to boot.

It's an indictment of the country, especially of Republicans and the supposedly Christian Moral Majority (farcical joke), its an indictment of the Dems and DNC too, and it's an indictment of us, fundamentally, that we couldn't come together, everyone, and recognize this joke and his supporters for what they are. Corrupt, vile, swindlers, low rent pieces of ----. But enough people hate the country, hate each other, and prefer to punish their enemies to lifting one another up, that this pathetic joke did what he did the past 8 years+/3 election cycles. At least Germany in 1932 had the excuse of WWI and it's horrors+the treaty of Versailles viciousness, plus the Spanish Flu, plus hyperinflation, maybe the worst the modern world has ever seen, and the onset of the Great Depression. What excuse do we have? None. American Exceptionalism my ---.

[The Consiglieri]

Trump crashing the economy is actually the opening the Ds need to right this ship. But they have to take advantage. Let's wait and see what the midterms are like.

I think the disaster of Trump cannibalizing Social Security and Medicare to feed red meat to billionaires is what could flip this country to a social democracy. Didn't Karl Marx say capitalism has to fail before socialism could actually take root? At the point where you have trillionaires ripping apart our safety net to siphon tax dollars to their own pockets and schemes, we have reached complete failure. I heard stories 3rd hand about folks who worked in the revenue dept where the Department of Grift and Extortion removed all oversight or enforcement over crapto-currency. It has become a two way valve to funnel untraceable grift directly into the pockets of the foxes in the henhouse, or out into the ether where it disappears. Some very bad people have to be paying for very bad things to happen for their direct benefit.

This administration has two goals:
1. Completely destroy as-much government as they can (very successful)
2. Get that permanent tax cut for millionaires/Billionaires

Once this ^ has been accomplished, they won’t GAF. Why? Because there will be no money or votes to put everything back as it was, perhaps bits and pieces here and there, but they can walk-away from it all after they get that tax cut.

I think those are the two they will try to accomplish through the Executive Branch and a supine Congress. I also think they plan to go after all of Trump's enemies systematically, and eject as many brown and black people, and liberals as they can from the country. So there's two more objectives beyond that. I would agree that the parties objectives are finishing off the job of breaking government they've been engaged in since 1981, and enriching their donor class, but the other two objectives are Trump's --- dreams (along with Tariffs lol, forgot that one).

So yeah, it's five things:
1. Completely destroy the Govt.
2. Get the Permanent Tax Cut
3. Punish all of Trumps enemies.
4. Eject all legal and illegal immigrants, preferably, brown, black and liberals citizens as well, wherever, and whenever possible.
5. Finally play the Tariff game he's always dreamed of, both trying to punish other countries, and getting obeisance from all the rich ----'s that made fun of him when he was a Manhattan Real Estate idiot, and a corrupt president his first cycle through specialized tariff removal's after said individuals have groveled to the degree Trump requires, and greased his palms.

[dobrojim]

I wonder where in Moscow Bonscott lives.

[closg00]

I think the disaster of Trump cannibalizing Social Security and Medicare to feed red meat to billionaires is what could flip this country to a social democracy. Didn't Karl Marx say capitalism has to fail before socialism could actually take root? At the point where you have trillionaires ripping apart our safety net to siphon tax dollars to their own pockets and schemes, we have reached complete failure. I heard stories 3rd hand about folks who worked in the revenue dept where the Department of Grift and Extortion removed all oversight or enforcement over crapto-currency. It has become a two way valve to funnel untraceable grift directly into the pockets of the foxes in the henhouse, or out into the ether where it disappears. Some very bad people have to be paying for very bad things to happen for their direct benefit.

This administration has two goals:
1. Completely destroy as-much government as they can (very successful)
2. Get that permanent tax cut for millionaires/Billionaires

Once this ^ has been accomplished, they won’t GAF. Why? Because there will be no money or votes to put everything back as it was, perhaps bits and pieces here and there, but they can walk-away from it all after they get that tax cut.

I think those are the two they will try to accomplish through the Executive Branch and a supine Congress. I also think they plan to go after all of Trump's enemies systematically, and eject as many brown and black people, and liberals as they can from the country. So there's two more objectives beyond that. I would agree that the parties objectives are finishing off the job of breaking government they've been engaged in since 1981, and enriching their donor class, but the other two objectives are Trump's --- dreams (along with Tariffs lol, forgot that one).

So yeah, it's five things:
1. Completely destroy the Govt.
2. Get the Permanent Tax Cut
3. Punish all of Trumps enemies.
4. Eject all legal and illegal immigrants, preferably, brown, black and liberals citizens as well, wherever, and whenever possible.
5. Finally play the Tariff game he's always dreamed of, both trying to punish other countries, and getting obeisance from all the rich ----'s that made fun of him when he was a Manhattan Real Estate idiot, and a corrupt president his first cycle through specialized tariff removal's after said individuals have groveled to the degree Trump requires, and greased his palms.

Agree, and BTW, there are PLENTY of white illegals in the U.S. from Europe and elsewhere, Visa overstayers etc. As-far as I know, there has been zero effort to find and deport white folks who are here "illegally"

[The Consiglieri]

I think if they could prove they were liberals, they'd bounce them too, I've also heard about more than one story of European and Australian Backpackers getting swept up in this. I think in a generalized sense, the stink of racism is always hinted at, and often outright emanating from ICE and about 35-40% of his supporters, and of course from him. That being said, I think they also just want fewer immigrants, period, from anywhere.

The weirdest thing to me, has always been that they don't ever seem to understand that most of these people are more conservative than liberal, and just desperate to take care of their families and be left alone. They'd be majority Republican voters, if not for the blatantly obvious bigotry in play, and even w/the blatantly obvious bigotry in play, they still grab a strong minority, and in this recent election, a majority, of legal Latino Immigrants for instance.

There is just such willful stupidity in all of this.

#1You have them shooting themselves in the foot with their own potential voters being harassed.

#2 You have the rich donor class, wanting this cheap illegal labor pool available for lowering the costs of production in various fields.

#3 You have the anti-immigrant sometimes racists, sometimes just wanting a stronger border, who don't understand that other policies almost uniformly would raise the prices on a wide variety of products they depend upon while they live often paycheck to paycheck (I know I live in such a fashion ).

It's just incredibly idiotic.

I have no problem with stronger borders, all countries have borders, and border policies, we shouldn't be any different, but at the same time, what we should pursue are stricter border controls, with paths to potential citizenship alongside. Not a pendulum swing back and forth between unenforced borders (sounds like '21-'22), to heavily enforced ('24), to just racist horse ---- ('25).

So beyond sick of this.

[montestewart]

I think some brave soul has to stand up and tell these so-called "independents" that voting for Trump is evil.

Hey! The emperor has no clothes!

That's way too much orange man for me

[payitforward]

The question is did the the democrats in DC learn anything or will they appoint the worst possible candidate to run in 2028 ?
If they have any intelligence at all (they haven't shown any yet) then they'll get someone somewhat decent,they sure didn't in 2024

This is, simply, a disgusting post.

[Zonkerbl]

I'm not saying Bonscott is a bad person or deserves ill treatment. Generally speaking, however, anyone who believes Trump has the right to ignore the Constitution and deport U.S. citizens without due process is evil, traitorous scum, and I hope they get deported. After all, if due process is no longer a thing, that applies to everybody. Would be glad to do it myself if necessary.

https://www.npr.org/2025/05/04/g-s1-64239/does-a-president-need-to-uphold-the-constitution-trump-says-i-dont-know

[Zonkerbl]

Wouldn't that be an amazing result of all of this, that everybody whose ancestors arrived after 1492 ends up getting deported.

[payitforward]

I'm not saying Bonscott is a bad person or deserves ill treatment. Generally speaking, however, anyone who believes Trump has the right to ignore the Constitution and deport U.S. citizens without due process is evil, traitorous scum, and I hope they get deported. After all, if due process is no longer a thing, that applies to everybody. Would be glad to do it myself if necessary....

Let me know if you need a hand. It would be a pleasure.

[payitforward]

Watching that disgusting piece of scum dress himself up as the Pope made me physically ill.