Trump's Second Term

lionking said:
Serious question. I believe that Gavin Newsom has shown that smart ridicule is the best weapon to use against Trump. Why haven’t Democrat leaders and politicians adopted this strategy en masse? It works and only really upsets rusted on MAGAs, but pisses off Trump royally. Gloves off guys.
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Democrats ? Who's that ?
 
lionking said:
Serious question. I believe that Gavin Newsom has shown that smart ridicule is the best weapon to use against Trump. Why haven’t Democrat leaders and politicians adopted this strategy en masse? It works and only really upsets rusted on MAGAs, but pisses off Trump royally. Gloves off guys.
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Calling them out for being weird during the election campaign worked really well, too.
 
As of the close of the day on September 4, my positive/negative score on the Trump administration stands at -1229.


4 September 2025
-1: Trump again says the Epstein files are a hoax made up by James Comey, Barack Obama, and Joe Biden [576]
-1: The administration axes Biden-era rule that forced airlines to compensate passengers for flight delays and cancellations.
-1: Headline: Trump rebrands Department of Defense as Department of War (BBC)
-1: Senator Markwayne Mullin (R-OK) blames measles outbreaks on foreigners and not unvaccinated Americans [577]

References:
576. Donald Trump on Jeffrey Epstein: “These files were made up by Comey, they were made up by Obama, they were made up by Biden.”

577. Kasie: “More kids died in this country of measles this year than in decades.”
Mullin: “We can talk about the open southern border and what caused that. We’re not talking about measles outbreaks from kids that were born and raised here. We’re talking about ones that were brought over here illegally. And you can make that connection. No one can argue that.”

3 September 2025
-1: US military jets overfly an outdoor press conference held by victims of Epstein’s child-trafficking ring
-1: Trump responds to the press conferences by calling the Epstein ring a “Democratic hoax”
-1: Trump further claims the hoax is being perpetrated to distract from him “ending seven wars” [563]
-1: Trump again shows he knows nothing about drainage basins [564]
-1: Trump rants that “windmills” “destroy everything” [565]
-1: Headline: Judge overturns Trump administration funding cuts to Harvard (BBC)
-1: JD Vance says the legal basis for the killing of 11 Venezuelans was they were doing something illegal [566]
-1: Energy Secretary Chris White says he’s working on AIs to cure cancer (what?) [567]
-1: Reports on social media show RFK Jr saying shrimp with negligible radioactivity could turn people into aliens [568]
-1: RFK Jr did not testify under oath in his appearance before the senate committee hearing [569]
-1: RFK Jr says the USA’s disastrous performance in the COVID Pandemic was due to the CDC’s mishandling of it [570]
-1: RFK Jr lies about why he had the head of the CDC fired [571]
-1: RFK Jr says he doesn’t know how many Americans died from COVID during the pandemic [572]
-1: RFK Jr was unaware of the press conference held yesterday by the survivors of the Epstein ring [573]
-1: RFK Jr says Trump deserves prize for Operation Warp Speed but claims the vaccine killed more people than COVID [574]
-1: RFK Jr says it’s “mythology” to claim that vaccines eliminated polio [575]
-1: Headline: House Republicans approve new panel to ‘uncover all the facts’ of January 6 attack (Guardian)

References:
563. Trump: “So what they are trying to do with the Epstein hoax is get people to talk about that instead of speaking about the tremendous success like ending seven wars.”

564. Trump: “Newsom didn’t allow the water to come from the Pacific Northwest. I demanded that to be open. If that were open. You wouldn’t have had the fire because all the sprinklers would’ve worked in the houses.”

565. Trump: “We’re not allowing windmills in this country. They destroy the views, the vistas, the plains, the beautiful plains. I’m not talking about airplanes. They destroyed them too, I guess. I’m talking about the kind of plains that you ride a horse on.”

566. Q: “On the Venezuela vessel strike, what legal authority were you guys working under?:
JD Vance: “The legal authority is there are people who are bringing -- literal terrorists -- who are bringing deadly drugs into our country’

567. Energy Secretary Chris Wright: “I’m working every day on using AI to figure out how to cure cancer or launch fusion energy or understand dark matter. Our Defense Department is trying to figure out how to keep America safe. We’re using different applications. God bless the First Lady. She of course is wiser than all of us.”

568. Kennedy: This is a photograph of the alien from the movie “Alien.” This is what you could end up looking like if you eat some of the raw frozen shrimp being sent to the United States by other countries. How could you end up looking like the alien in the “Alien”? Because the shrimp was radioactive.

569. (Via Xitter) Senator Wyden requested that, based on his history of bald-faced lying, RFKJr be sworn in for yesterday’s hearing, so he would be under oath. Committee chair Senator Crapo (R-ID) refused.

570. Kennedy said in his opening statement that the CDC shakeup was justified because the agency failed “miserably during COVID, when its disastrous, nonsensical policies destroyed small businesses, violated civil liberties, closed our schools and caused generational damage in doing so, masked infants with no science, [and] heightened economic inequality. And yet all those oppressive and unscientific interventions failed to do anything about the disease itself,” he said. “We literally did worse than any other country in the world and the people at CDC who oversaw that process ... are the people who will be leaving.”

571. Warren: “Did you tell the head of the CDC that if she refused to sign off on your changes to the childhood vaccine schedule, that she had to resign?”
RFK Jr: “No. I told her she had to resign because I asked her ‘are you a trustworthy person?” and she said no.”
Warren: “This is not what she has said.”

572. Warner: “Do you accept the fact that 1 million Americans died from COVID?”
RFK Jr: “I don’t know how many died.”
Warner: “You’re the secretary of health and human services. You don’t have any idea how many Americans died from COVID?”
RFK Jr: “I don’t think anybody knows that because there was so much data chaos coming out of the CDC.”

573. Cantwell: “Do you think the women on the steps of the Capitol were a hoax yesterday?”
RFK Jr: “I don’t know about any women on the steps of the Capitol.”
Cantwell: “The women who were talking about Epstein. Were they perpetuating a hoax?”
RFK Jr: “I have no idea what they were saying. This is my first time hearing about it.”

574. Sen. Bill Cassidy: “Do you agree with me that President Trump deserves a Nobel Prize for Operation Warp Speed?”
RFK: “Absolutely.”
Sen. Bill Cassidy: “But you just told Sen. Bennet that the COVID vaccine killed more people than COVID?”

575. RFK Jr. said it’s “mythology” to claim that vaccines eliminated polio and suggested the banning of DDT is what actually eliminated polio, not vaccines.

2 September 2025
0: Pete Hegseth says Biden Administration policies drove Russia and China closer together [561]
-2: US Forces sink a Venezuelan boat claimed to be carrying drugs, killing 11 people (-2 for illegal)
-1: Trump moves Space Command HQ from Colorado to Alabama because Colorado allows mail-in voting
-1: Trump: “Without the United States, everything in the world would die ... I settled seven wars.”
-1: Trump claims, without evidence, “We’ve taken in almost $17 trillion of investment.”
-1: RFK Jr, in an NYT op-ed, claims trust in CDC was eroded before he came into fix it [562]

References:
561: Pete Hegseth: “Unfortunately, the weakness of the previous administration has driven Russia and China closer together. That’s a terrible development of a lack of American leadership and a lack of American strength.”

562. Kennedy: “The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention was once the world’s most trusted guardian of public health. Its mission—protecting Americans from infectious disease—was clear and noble. But over the decades, bureaucratic inertia, politicized science and mission creep have corroded that purpose and squandered public trust.”

1 September 2025
-1: Trump declares trade with India has been a one-sided disaster [560]
-1: Trump awards criminal Rudy Giuliani the Presidential Medal of Freedom

Reference:
560. Trump: “What few people understand is that we do very little business with India, but they do a tremendous amount of business with us. In other words, they sell us massive amounts of goods, their biggest “client,” but we sell them very little - Until now a totally one sided relationship, and it has been for many decades. The reason is that India has charged us, until now, such high Tariffs, the most of any country, that our businesses are unable to sell into India. It has been a totally one sided disaster! Also, India buys most of its oil and military products from Russia, very little from the U.S. They have now offered to cut their Tariffs to nothing, but it’s getting late. They should have done so years ago. Just some simple facts for people to ponder!!!”

30 August 2025
0: Trump makes the news by not making the news (not seen publicly for 4 days)
-1: Headline: Trump administration moves to fire most Voice of America journalists (BBC)
-1: Headline: Inside the program cuts, workforce purges, and secretive reorganization of the USDA (grist.org)
-1: Kristi Noem: “I do know that LA wouldn’t be standing today if President Trump hadn’t taken action.”


29 August 2025
-1: Headline: Most Trump tariffs ruled illegal by appeals court, dealing major blow to trade policy (CNBC)
-1: Predictably, Trump lambastes the court for its decision [559]
-1: Trump revokes former vice-president Kamala Harris’ security detail
-1: Headline: Chaos swirls at U.S. CDC amid messy Trump admin effort to oust director (CBC)
-1: Dr. Debra Houry, deputy director and chief medical officer, resigns
-1: Dr. Demetre Daskalakis, director of the National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases, resigns
-1: Dr. Daniel Jernigan, director of the National Center for Emerging and Zoonotic Infectious Diseases, resigns
-1: Jim O’Neill, new head of the CDC, supported ivermectin and hydroxychloroquine during the COVID pandemic
-1: Charles Borges, Social Security’s chief data officer, resigns after disclosing massive data heist by DOGE

Reference:
559. Trump: “ALL TARIFFS ARE STILL IN EFFECT! Today a Highly Partisan Appeals Court incorrectly said that our Tariffs should be removed, but they know the United States of America will win in the end. If these Tariffs ever went away, it would be a total disaster for the Country. It would make us financially weak, and we have to be strong. The U.S.A. will no longer tolerate enormous Trade Deficits and unfair Tariffs and Non Tariff Trade Barriers imposed by other Countries, friend or foe, that undermine our Manufacturers, Farmers, and everyone else. If allowed to stand, this Decision would literally destroy the United States of America. At the start of this Labor Day weekend, we should all remember that TARIFFS are the best tool to help our Workers, and support Companies that produce great MADE IN AMERICA products. For many years, Tariffs were allowed to be used against us by our uncaring and unwise Politicians. Now, with the help of the United States Supreme Court, we will use them to the benefit of our Nation, and Make America Rich, Strong, and Powerful Again! Thank you for your attention to this matter.”
 
If you are in the US doing business, the moment you meet your client you are illegally "working" and can be arrested. And so is every technician to every factory that show up to repair the device in the plant. I actually worked with a German who came to fix our packaging machine in my last job. All he had was a passport and visa for limited tourist visit.
ash.renee411
Hyundai
They said they were targeting 4 workers.They detained almost 500 — including visiting Korean staff.So let’s be clear: the U.S. just turned business travelers into detainees.If this is what happens on a factory visit, why would the world feel safe flying here for the World Cup?
 
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lionking said:
Serious question. I believe that Gavin Newsom has shown that smart ridicule is the best weapon to use against Trump. Why haven’t Democrat leaders and politicians adopted this strategy en masse? It works and only really upsets rusted on MAGAs, but pisses off Trump royally. Gloves off guys.
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Why haven't they? Sounds a little like you're invoking an old issue about how comparatively bad Democrats are at messaging to start with, on top of everything else - like the mess with Mamdani showing again how hollow the "Blue no matter who" slogan is when it isn't being used to support the more conservative and corrupt parts of the party. With that said, the sentiment of "Do SOMETHING, Democrats!" is rather widely shared -

Democrats return to Trump's Washington after getting an earful of 'do something' at home
The party is confronting its lack of real power in the capital after a summer of town halls and rallies.
 
Tero said:
If you are in the US doing business, the moment you meet your client you are illegally "working" and can be arrested. And so is every technician to every factory that show up to repair the device in the plant. I actually worked with a German who came to fix our packaging machine in my last job. All he had was a passport and visa for limited tourist visit.
ash.renee411
Hyundai
They said they were targeting 4 workers.They detained almost 500 — including visiting Korean staff.So let’s be clear: the U.S. just turned business travelers into detainees.If this is what happens on a factory visit, why would the world feel safe flying here for the World Cup?
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And a factory being built in the USA which is what Trump wants.... Going to be very hard to build all these new factories he wants without importing expertise, and even construction work needs experts.
 
When I was working for AT&T (later Lucent Technologies) (1988 - 2001) I used to travel to the US regularly to attend planning meetings. It never even occurred to me that I might need a work visa. I suppose the travel department might have arranged it, but if so they never mentioned it.
 
Pixel42 said:
When I was working for AT&T (later Lucent Technologies) (1988 - 2001) I used to travel to the US regularly to attend planning meetings. It never even occurred to me that I might need a work visa. I suppose the travel department might have arranged it, but if so they never mentioned it.
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Really? From around 1986 I had a B1-B2 visa, the B1 part of which covered Business, which includes consulting with business colleagues. That was cancelled when ESTAs were introduced, which cover much the same. However, it doesn't appear to cover regular working outside of meetings.

Visitor Visa

Generally, a citizen of a foreign country who wishes to enter the United States must first obtain a visa, either a nonimmigrant visa for a temporary stay, or an immigrant visa for permanent residence. Visitor visas are nonimmigrant visas for persons who want to enter the United States...
travel.state.gov travel.state.gov
 
Pixel42 said:
When I was working for AT&T (later Lucent Technologies) (1988 - 2001) I used to travel to the US regularly to attend planning meetings. It never even occurred to me that I might need a work visa. I suppose the travel department might have arranged it, but if so they never mentioned it.
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Certainly didn't recently. At the immigration application just mentioned it was a business trip on the form and my outgoing flight.

LAX was surprisingly efficient.
 
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Yes, I also said "business trip" when asked and on the form, and gave the date and flight of my return (usually just a few days later). That always seemed to be sufficient.
 
Andy_Ross said:
US hasn't won a war since the name was changed to the Woke Department of Defence!


Hegseth: After winning a war for Independence in 1789, George Washington established the war department. This country won every major war after that. To include World War I and World War II. Total victory. !50 years after that, we changed the name. We haven’t won a major war since.
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Actually, the Department of War was renamed the Department of the Army. At the time, the Department of the Navy was a separate cabinet-level department. The two, along with the recently created Department of the Air Force, were all placed under the new Department of Defense and lost their cabinet-level status.
 
jimbob said:
Certainly didn't recently. At the immigration application just mentioned it was a business trip on the form and my outgoing flight.

LAX was surprisingly efficient.
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Recently you'd have been applying for an ESTA, under the visa waiver scheme, I'd have thought.
 
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