Just look up the movie “Office Space” it pretty well summarizes it all.

JD Vance is a douche canoe who would ramp it up 2x or 3x and would likely do the bidding of whatever master he follows now.

But no one likes the guy and I doubt he could inspire Trumps followers to the same degree Trump does. Without that rabid core base his power falls apart. Without a true leader, MAGA will start going at each others throats. There are too many factions both held together and held in check by Trump.

I have one on my keychain. I can always find my keychain in the dark…

Funny thing the 1828 Tariff of Abomination, The Smoot Hawley Tariff and Donald’s Liquidation Day Tariff are all roughly a hundred years apart. Living memory of the consequences of such tariffs need to die out completely before a new generation tries this stupidity.

It’s the same with the nativist bullshit. Memory of the peak of Know Nothing, KKK and now MAGA bullshit has to die out before it is tried again.

My only hope is that this is viewed as the high water mark of the MAGA movement. MAGA incompetence is on full display.

As much as I disagreed with Sen. Chuck Shumers decision to roll over on the budget. Shutting down the government and giving MAGA any excuse to blame Democrats for this economic slowdown would have been a bad call. Donald and the Republicans now solely own this disaster.

For the MAGA faithful it won’t make a difference but for independents, moderates and low information voters this could be a huge turning point.

Pull your money from the stock market. Park it in gold or other inflation resistant assets.

Boycott the economy in general. Think what did your grandparents or great grand parents do during the Great Depression. Buy from thrift shops or make do. Do not buy consume more than you need to. Stop taking trips or other extravagances.

Obstruct the agenda at every level attend rally’s and town halls. Become politically active. Buy a burner phone and only use that it for those activities. Put it in a faraday bag when not in use, never use it in and around your home.

Stock up on guns bought from independent parties. Buy your ammo with cash. Learn to use your weapon find groups of like minded people and team up with them.

Parties and what they represent evolve over time. America is going through a rapid evolution currently.

Since the end of the Cold War America has pursued or engaged in free trade and Neo Liberalism and the War on Terror.

The result is there are significant sections of the populace that feel left behind by our economy as wealth inequality builds. They see their jobs going over seas and an ineffectual government that has failed at protecting them economically and has failed in the War on Terror. Add to it a powerful propaganda machine in the form of our news and social media and it is a recipe for change… What that change will end up shaping into may not be the future you want.

This is the backlash. After the Democratic establishment has ignored unions and the working man. Leaving them open to the populist out reach of Donald Trump.

Never mind that Trump will never deliver any of what he promised. The fact is he now has the power and is using it to break up the system that has been in place since WW2. Which benefits a small number of oligarchs who want to cement their power over the US.

I suspect we will see a shift in the next mid-term election (if it takes place) and a realignment of the Democratic Party toward populism. We as a people have to figure out how to fight corporate propaganda and their hegemony over social media.

That is if Trump doesn’t kill our Democracy first.

I cashed out in November.

Its painfully obvious to anyone who can do math that Trumps policy’s would destabilize an already weakening market.

Buffet has a long history of stockpiling cash when the market becomes far too speculative. He’s also flat out said millionaires and billionaires aren’t taxed fairly compared to the working class.

I think Trump is trying to appeal to blue collar workers who have seen their jobs disappear. Tariffs are his ham fisted way of trying to appeal to them.

Trump is a fool though. It isn’t the 60s anymore and manufacturing won’t work in the US without inputs from Canada and Mexico.

Trump’s popularity is lower than any President at this point in their presidency. I think there are a lot of “moderates” and uninformed voters who are starting to regret their choice.

Once he starts axing Medicare/medicare and going after social security and other popular programs it is only going to get worse.

Just remember there will be roughly 20 to 30 percent who are hard core MAGA who will never change their minds no matter how bad it gets.

Give it 30 to 60 days and the Trump Presidency will collapse.

He’s pissing off too many people. He has the lowest approval rating at this point in his Presidency. He has MAGA stalwarts like the New York Post running front page articles against his dealings with Russia.

The stock market is starting to show cracks because of his malfeasance on tariffs and his treatment of allies.

He’s going after the FBI, CIA, and every other alphabet agency. Say what you want about them, they are filled with people who now fear for their jobs in a way they have never had to. That is not how a large agency runs long term.

Finally they need to pass a budget and raise the debt ceiling. All things Republicans have proven incapable of on their own. At some point they will need to come and ask the Democrats for help in doing this or the government will default on the Republicans watch. At that point it will be game over. Trump will look weak and impotent.

I don’t think Trump will have taken over enough of the government to overcome all of these challenges and hold onto power on his own.

If he slows down and consolidates power maybe there will be a different outcome. But that’s not what project 2025 outlines. They want to break everything in the first 100 days. Hopefully he will have broken his own base in the process.

This is the pump before the dump. Institutional investors are slowly exiting and retail investors are making up most of the volume.

We were due for a correction or crash but Biden and the Fed held it off long enough for the election. There is a lot of money sitting on the sidelines waiting to grab assets, housing etc on the cheap.

Grifters like Trump can’t wait to get it started. In every crisis there is opportunity what Trump does with this crisis will likely reshape our government.

FDIC insured up to $250,000 per account. So it’s mainly the little guys who enjoy the protection. FDIC did make all accounts even those over $250,000 whole.

But yes if the Orange Baboon and Electric Hitler decide to fuck with the FDIC I would pull the bulk of my funds and look for offshore safe havens.

Elite centrists have dominated the Democratic party since Clinton. They love to take a “responsible” center left position and try to grab centrists. Unions, minorities and people on the left have no recourse but to continue to vote for them because the Republicans were soo much worse.

Trump’s super power has always been his ability to say anything it takes to get votes yet deliver very little. Because of this he can say appealing things to unions and minorities who have been disenfranchised which undermines Democrats.

The generation of boomers who have lead the Democratic Party since Clinton is literally dying out. These next few election cycles are going to be interesting as the next generation of Xers and Millennials have a different opinion of government and are much more militant and vocal.

People would kill themselves by over consuming it.

Panera bread had a charged lemonade energy drink and two people died.

I apologize, I stopped reading about halfway through your post.

A lot of the call outs in this thread to delete your social media go outside and touch grass are spot on. You’re way too deep in social media and the 24hr news cycle.

I work in an industry that is very much conservative. Even the devoted MAGA people I meet are generally very nice if you speak with them outside of politics. A handful of the ones that seek out and want to talk politics (which is rare) are calm and I usually can get them to acknowledge the shortcomings of Trump when I start questioning the inconsistencies of his policies.

Our politics have grown courser and more extreme because of social media and the news cycle. The MAGA politicians of the Republican party take extreme positions to get attention. Moderation is ignored because it doesn’t grab headlines.

Yes Republican policies and very bad for our nation. But it doesn’t mean common citizens share those views. Usually it is much more nuanced.

China isn’t the dependable partner it used to be. Basing your entire supply chain in China introduces too much risk. Apple has been sourcing production to other countries for a while.