Post New

British news channels are portraying Trump as a dictator targeting and removing opponents and militarising city streets, thoughts?

Yeah, it’s true.

Yet most folks in the US are oblivious to it, or just too lazy to care maybe. Most people here don’t support this slide into authoritarianism, but many have this feeling that it can’t really happen to us. I’ve got news for people— it’s definitely happening.

If this was occurring in France, the people would be setting cars on fire and shutting down cities.

The TDS board is that way ---------------->

British news channels are portraying Trump as a dictator targeting and removing opponents and militarising city streets, thoughts?

I have some thoughts, but this is the wrong board for them. I replied here:

https://www.shrewdm.com/MB?pid=280540877

Yes, go fuck yourself, that’s all I have right now! Democrat party is an organized crime syndicate, we aren’t even started!!!

"Yesterday was Golden. Today it's crazy! In the future--we're doomed".

That's our script and its been the script for at least the past 150 years. There's been no change, and there likely won't be. Learn how the human mind works. No its not "different" this time. OK, it's LITERALLY different. But its not WORSE than half the country boiling under no AC, middle class bread lines in the 30s, blacks in the back of the bus or working for nothing, race riots burning down cities in the 60s, 18% mortgages in 70s, financial system collapse in 2008, etc etc

But, you say, we never had a crazy dictator ruthlessly kicking people out of the country like THIS! Yeah, got to go back a couple Presidents to top that one. The historic all-time record, unpublicized 3.1 MILLION deportations under "deporter in chief" Obama. Who was that racist dictator--kicking out people of color by the millions?! Oh....maybe he wasn't a racist? Just doing his job? Making sure people who lived here legally belonged here? Trump could only dream of Obama numbers--his pace has no chance of matching! (FWIW I do NOT like Trump).

These are the good ole days. Which we need to remember IN THE FUTURE--just like our romanticized past: 60's, 70's, 80s, and 90s--really are NOT that good! Nor as bad as we all believe in the moment. This is just the way our mind works. Ignoring this can be very expensive --this could have prompted you to sell your stock 4 months ago and miss 23% of ALL the market gains since stocks have existed. You don't need to be anything approaching a genius. You need to understand the games your mind plays with you which will make you act in ways you'll later regret-- and you need to understand history. Just IMO

In other words, nothing is ever as good or as bad as it seems.

<<In other words, nothing is ever as good or as bad as it seems.<<

Always, yes.

Except that every once in a while it is as bad or as good as it seems. You have to be historically aware, not as a casual observer but as someone who has studied it, and insightful about the signs to know when those times are. You can’t just dismiss everything as an overreaction. Once in a while, it’s actually the right response.

You can’t just dismiss everything as an overreaction. Once in a while, it’s actually the right response.

You have a point. There is strong evidence mounting every day that the entire democrat party is no less than an organized crime syndicate. The reaction should be swift and relentless!

<<Once in a while, it’s actually the right response.>>

Absolutely, for sure. And the time to respond to that is months or years in advance. And the determination it WAS the actual proper response is learned long afterwards. Warren has “responded” to the next crisis in a major way several years in advance. He’s got it…whatever the heck it is…nailed! Doesn’t know when it’ll be and likely doesn’t know how big a deal it will be even WHEN it happens. But he’s done his reacting in advance. He was not a net seller on liberation day or liberation month that I can see. That was a fools game,

Otherwise, you’re falling into the biggest trap the market sets.

I have said essentially the same thing to hyperbolic reactions to our ever heated national political landscape, but this time truly is different. American citizens can be disappeared off the street by masked agents of the state, with "reasonable suspicion" of being undocumented, and be reditioned to a Uganda or South Sudan without ever once being seen by a judge. The current government is putting in place legal mechanisms for the suspension of the 4th Amendment and the arrest, detention, and deportation of American citizens. The language used by the president, and his supporters, about his political opponents is similar to the language used by every genocidal regime about their internal enemies.

I lived in South Africa under apartheid in the 1980s and never did I think the racist regime would end in my lifetime. It ended in a moment. One thing I have learned is that the status quo is hard to change, until it isn't, and that moment often arrives instantaneously. Russell Vought and Stephen Miller are the real power behind Trump and these dudes are truly dangerous. They simply do not believe in democracy, but they believe they can use democracy to achieve their ends.

We live in dangerous times. It's a shame I reached retirement age at this particular moment in time.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DxoEamaG7yg&t=151s

"I have said essentially the same thing to hyperbolic reactions to our ever heated national political landscape, but this time truly is different. American citizens can be disappeared off the street by masked agents of the state, with "reasonable suspicion" of being undocumented, and be reditioned to a Uganda or South Sudan without ever once being seen by a judge. The current government is putting in place legal mechanisms for the suspension of the 4th Amendment and the arrest, detention, and deportation of American citizens. The language used by the president, and his supporters, about his political opponents is similar to the language used by every genocidal regime about their internal enemies.

I lived in South Africa under apartheid in the 1980s and never did I think the racist regime would end in my lifetime. It ended in a moment. One thing I have learned is that the status quo is hard to change, until it isn't, and that moment often arrives instantaneously. Russell Vought and Stephen Miller are the real power behind Trump and these dudes are truly dangerous. They simply do not believe in democracy, but they believe they can use democracy to achieve their ends.

We live in dangerous times. It's a shame I reached retirement age at this particular moment in time."

Yes, Dangerous times indeed.

Imagine we had 1/2 of America deluded by a media machine convinced that an individual with dementia, didn't have dementia, and should be the President of the USA! And then when he couldn't hide behind the curtain any longer, they replaced him with a giggling Socialist who cannot string two sentences together. All the while the people behind the curtain, were IGNORING LAWS, flooding our country with illegal citizens, to suit their voting objectives. And in a bizzaro world of fairness, believe giving people who break our laws and not having contributed a thing to our country should be given shelter, food, and medical care on the backs of hard working Americans. Additionally they believe that non-citizens should vote in our elections. All of it driven be some scheme to perpetuate policies of discrimination as the norm and ignoring meritocracy and marginalize US citizens. They put criminals on pedestals and ignore victims.

And when America said enough, the losing party screams and yells about the lawlessness of the remedy!

"And when America said enough, the losing party screams and yells about the lawlessness of the remedy!

Over 70 million Americans voted for Trump. The map of presidential election results - county by county - is Exhibit A of the stark reality.

The losing party, suffering from a severe case of TDS, completely sells out of the US market thinking that the world has lost faith in the US and that American exceptionalism is over. Moreover, they continue to double down on this flawed view.

Whoops

Warren Buffett: Never Bet Against America
"In this country the opportunities have always won out over the problems over time."
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JPlRNQtjOHc

Urspider: And in a bizzaro world of fairness, believe giving people who break our laws and not having contributed a thing to our country should be given shelter, food, and medical care on the backs of hard working Americans.


Did you write "not having contributed a thing to our country"?

The Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy studied tax payments made by undocumented workers and found that in 2022 they paid $96.7 billion in federal, state, and local taxes. Of that amount, $59.4 billion, was paid to the federal government while the remaining $37.3 billion was paid to state and local governments.

For every 1 million undocumented immigrants who reside in the country, public services receive $8.9 billion in additional tax revenue.

In 2022, undocumented immigrants paid $25.7 billion in Social Security taxes, $6.4 billion in Medicare taxes, and $1.8 billion in unemployment insurance taxes but are barred from accessing those programs. (They are ineligible for Medicaid, except in emergency cases or specific state-funded programs.)

Finally, how do they "suit their voting objectives"?

It is illegal for noncitizens to vote in federal or state elections in the United States.


https://itep.org/undocumented-immigrants-taxes-202....

Not sure what your point is here regarding my point, but you convinced me … Americans SHOULD be disappeared by masked government agents and renditioned to South Sudan without due process. What was I thinking? Now who should get to decide which Americans should be targeted?

Did you write "not having contributed a thing to our country"?

The Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy studied tax payments made by undocumented workers and found that in 2022 they paid $96.7 billion in federal, state, and local taxes. Of that amount, $59.4 billion, was paid to the federal government while the remaining $37.3 billion was paid to state and local governments.

True, but you're short changing them. Undocumented workers are producers and consumers in our economy. Many of them take jobs that few citizens will do. Some of them serve in the armed forces. Some of them support families with spouses and children who are citizens. Their tax payments are just the tip of the iceberg of their contributions.

British news channels are portraying Trump as a dictator targeting and removing opponents and militarising city streets, thoughts?

Blackswanny, just back from England after participating in the yearly 24h race with 2CV´s in Snetterton. When I left last Thursday I left a Berkshire board that deserved that name (again). After coming back I am greeted by a board where I have to wade through a political thread with already 18 messages --- a thread the OT even labelled "Trump" (can it be more provocative?).

May I ask why you had to start this here(!), of course exactly knowing what would happen?

May I ask why you had to start this here(!), of course exactly knowing what would happen?

I can answer for him/her. He/she is a left wing - criminal loving piece of garbage!!! Show me a thread started by a Trump supporter on this board, 99.7% will be started by a left wing, American hating delusional douche-bag 😃

I don't have any particular political persuasion, I'm most interested in what's best for UK plc when I vote.

As to the question; it's extreme what's going on and am pondering how investible America is right now, ezp taking into account valuations.

Is it all about to implode....?

Said: When I left last Thursday I left a Berkshire board that deserved that name (again). After coming back I am greeted by a board where I have to wade through a political thread with already 18 messages --- a thread the OT even labelled "Trump" (can it be more provocative?).

May I ask why you had to start this here(!), of course exactly knowing what would happen?

Umm, perhaps you're jet-lagged but this ain't the Berkshire board.

As to the question; it's extreme what's going on and am pondering how investible America is right now, ezp taking into account valuations.

Is it all about to implode....?

Blackswanny,

I’ve been trying to figure this out since Trump was astonishingly re-elected. My wife and I were born in the US and she is the democratic leader in the small city we live in. She has worked hard to plan and facilitate various protests for some of the most egregious illegal executive orders, but there is just not much involvement here. Granted, we are in a MAGA dominated state, but you would think more people would be freaking out about all this. But they really aren’t. Much to my wife’s dismay (she’s perpetually positive) I’m convinced we are headed to full autocracy.

I asked the question about investing under autocratic governments early after the election on the Berkshire board, and there was no consensus that it would be an absolute disaster, but I fear we have one of the dumbest autocrats with Trump. His “policies” are absolutely all over the place, from unpredictable high tariffs to killing science investment to deporting much of our hard working population, and now he is actively trying to control the Fed. I recently saw an inflation chart from when Erdogan took over Turkey’s central bank and lowered rates during rising inflation, and it’s not a pretty sight.

https://share.icloud.com/photos/0a6R4ICwmsFPI0GKq2...

The US economy is obviously larger and more resilient than Turkey, but still, I don’t see how things don’t eventually implode here in the US under this radically unpredictable environment. And I don’t really see how we will vote republicans out of office in the mid terms because they are actively working at rigging the election with the illegal extreme map gerrymandering in Texas to add 5 more seats in Congress. Plus, I have a feeling he will deploy the military during the mid terms to ensure “election security”, but in effect to further suppress votes from scared minorities and others who don’t want the confrontation when they try to vote. If they win the midterms, my prediction is the democrats will never win another election.

So that’s my cheery view of the situation! 😩

I’m looking for ways to get out, to live in another country, but I’m getting older and don’t really relish the idea of starting all over in a foreign country where I don’t know the language, customs, banking, etc. So I just sit here, like the soon to be boiled frog, with all our Berkshire stock, richer than probably 99% of the population, but totally unsure of what to do with it or how to preserve it in this environment.

How’s the UK? At least I would know the language.

Me: Umm, perhaps you're jet-lagged but this ain't the Berkshire board.

I see from reading the Berkshire board just now that Manlobbi moved the "Trump" thread from there to here -- kind of dropping a turd in the punchbowl-style -- without explanation here.

You have to go to the Berkshire board to understand why this showed up here... or maybe I'm slow, not having had my coffee yet.

As to the question; it's extreme what's going on

Most definitely.
and am pondering how investible America is right now, ezp taking into account valuations.

Trump is taking over all aspects of America. To answer your question, I’d examine Trump’s past performance as CEO of his various enterprises/casinos

Is it all about to implode....?

I’m trying to figure out the physics of a simultaneous implosion and explosion. In attempting to model the phenomenon, I’m looking at the time frame:

Minus 1 milli-second > Big Bang > Plus one milli-second.

Haven’t come to any definite conclusions as some key data is still lacking, but picture is beginning to come into focus.

Over 70 million Americans voted for Trump. The map of presidential election results - county by county - is Exhibit A of the stark reality.

When you look at Exhibit A (map of presidential election results by county) and get verklempt looking at all the red, remember that even with all that overwhelming red color, Mr. Trump couldn’t get 50% of the popular vote.

Why?

It goes back to something I learned in civics class many, many years ago; people vote, not land.

I’m trying to figure out the physics of a simultaneous implosion and explosion. In attempting to model the phenomenon, I’m looking at the time frame:

Minus 1 milli-second > Big Bang > Plus one milli-second.

This roughly how the most powerful nuclear bombs work. A fusion bomb (the bigger boom) is encased inside a fission bomb (a smaller boom). The fission bomb squeezes - or implodes - the fusion bomb which sets off the fusion bomb’s uncontained reaction. So it’s a boom followed by a BOOM.

—Peter

goes back to something I learned in civics class many, many years ago; people vote, not land.

Yes, but how many of those people in blue counties are “Real Americans”?

Yes, but how many of those people in blue counties are “Real Americans”?

We'll all find out in the 2030 census.

We'll all find out in the 2030 census.

Not unless you amend the Constitution.

Yes, but how many of those people in blue counties are “Real Americans”?

We'll all find out in the 2030 census.

Not if Donnie makes moves to glom onto the census data. Then you'll find people (illegals, etc.) not cooperating, which is what Trump wants. So expect a move to glom onto the data, in which case we won't find out.

U
Imagine we had 1/2 of America deluded by a media machine convinced that an individual with dementia, didn't have dementia, and should be the President of the USA! And then when he couldn't hide behind the curtain any longer, they replaced him with a giggling Socialist who cannot string two sentences together. All the while the people behind the curtain, were IGNORING LAWS, flooding our country with illegal citizens, to suit their voting objectives. And in a bizzaro world of fairness, believe giving people who break our laws and not having contributed a thing to our country should be given shelter, food, and medical care on the backs of hard working Americans. Additionally they believe that non-citizens should vote in our elections. All of it driven be some scheme to perpetuate policies of discrimination as the norm and ignoring meritocracy and marginalize US citizens. They put criminals on pedestals and ignore victims.

And when America said enough, the losing party screams and yells about the lawlessness of the remedy!

Biggest _______ I've seen in a while. Harris isn't a giggling socialist, and probably can speak much better than you can. Non citizens can't vote in federal elections, a few states allow local voting. If they get medical care, it's through emergency care supported by states with some indirect support from the fed. Don't you mean on the backs of billionaires who keep shoving all taxes down on the working class? That you believe and state that non citizens vote in our elections means you long ago departed from reality for some MAGA Q world, confirmed by thinking there is a scheme to discriminate against US citizens, glorify criminals, ignore victims. You are waaAAaayy out there. Come back to earth, there's not enough air that far out. Come back.

there's not enough air that far out

Wrong question. Given its stated position ("not on THIS planet"), an oxygen/nitrogen atmosphere would probably kill it pretty quickly. Which means it is likely NOT HUMAN.

Not unless you amend the Constitution.

Don't need to.

https://www.dhs.gov/news/2025/08/14/secretary-noem...

WASHINGTON — Today, Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Kristi Noem announced that in her first 200 days as Secretary, the U.S. has seen a decline of approximately 1.6 million illegal aliens across the country.

the U.S. has seen a decline of approximately 1.6 million illegal aliens across the country.

Based on a Center for Immigration Studies Report

...the CIS report itself includes caveats, suggesting the decline might be overstated due to immigrants' reluctance to respond to surveys amid stepped-up enforcement. (Ya think?) Additionally, the figures conflict with data from other sources, like the Census Bureau's official numbers and the Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse (TRAC), which has found that deportation figures are often exaggerated, and the foreign-born population has actually been at an all-time high....

Since they aren't doing well at deporting folks... viola! a favorable estimate.

viola! a favorable estimate.

Your viola was made in 1743 by a Viennese craftsman. Bring it to Sotheby’s, and Voila!
You could be a rich man!

Your viola was made in 1743 by a Viennese craftsman.

My Viola played for the Twins and won a World Series in 1987 and a Cy Young the following year. 😉

Since they aren't doing well at deporting folks... viola! a favorable estimate.

As was explained, offer incentives to leave and people will take them.

They’re leaving on their own.

Not if Donnie makes moves to glom onto the census data. Then you'll find people (illegals, etc.) not cooperating, which is what Trump wants. So expect a move to glom onto the data, in which case we won't find out.

Yeah, we will.
The democrats are screaming bloody murder because they’ve been allowed to rig the game for years.

Now we have Trump.

No more foreign money from ActBlue. No more laundering taxpayer money through USAID.

And soon - vastly fewer illegals with which to give blue states extra Congressional seats they don’t deserve.

vastly fewer illegals with which to

bankrupt the farmers in the remaining red states. No FEMA--remember? LOL !!!

Post New

US Policy FAQ

---

Contact Shrewd'm
Contact the developer of these message boards.