No place for a president who will not defend the constitution

[Kishkumen]

By the way, the Florida housing market is flagging. Guess people are figuring out they would be living in MAGA central, and they are choosing not to.

[Some Schmo]

So why not move to California? Why do you choose to be surrounded by and governed by losers?

Why don’t you move to Russia?

This is the most germane question. Russia is exactly what these idiots are looking for. It's got the fascism, the racism, and all the propaganda these idiots could possible consume. Why are they living in this failed country when there's one exactly like they want right around the corner?

Why are they fighting for an America that never existed?

[Jersey Girl]

Why are they fighting for an America that never existed?

Your post just reminded me of something. Billy Joel describes a encounter where a younger person complained about the complicated world they live in and told Joel to the effect that he was lucky he lived in an easier time period in US History.

Which led to him writing this, you know, about when American was supposedly greater than it is now. Some other America that we should strive to recreate. Notice the mention of Trump's mentor, Roy Cohn.

We Didn't Start the Fire

[Verse 1]
Harry Truman, Doris Day
Red China, Johnnie Ray
South Pacific
Walter Winchell, Joe DiMaggio
Joe McCarthy, Richard Nixon
Studebaker, Television
North Korea, South Korea
Marilyn Monroe

[Brief instrumental interlude]

Rosenbergs, H-Bomb
Sugar Ray, Panmunjom
Brando, The King And I,
And The Catcher In The Rye
Eisenhower, vaccine
England's got a new queen
Marciano, Liberace
Santayana goodbye

[Chorus]
We didn't start the fire
It was always burning
Since the world's been turning
We didn't start the fire
No, we didn't light it
But we tried to fight it


[Verse 2]
Joseph Stalin, Malenkov
Nasser and Prokofiev
Rockefeller, Campanella
Communist Bloc
Roy Cohn, Juan Peron
Toscanini, Dacron
Dien Bien Phu Falls, "Rock Around the Clock"
Einstein, James Dean
Brooklyn's got a winning team
Davy Crockett, Peter Pan
Elvis Presley, Disneyland
Bardot, Budapest, Alabama, Khrushchev
Princess Grace, Peyton Place
Trouble in the Suez

[Chorus]
We didn't start the fire
It was always burning
Since the world's been turning
We didn't start the fire
No, we didn't light it
But we tried to fight it

[Verse 3]
Little Rock, Pasternak
Mickey Mantle, Kerouac
Sputnik, Zhou En-lai
Bridge On The River Kwai
Lebanon, Charles de Gaulle
California baseball
Starkweather Homicide
Children of Thalidomide
Buddy Holly, Ben-Hur
Space Monkey, Mafia
Hula Hoops, Castro
Edsel is a no-go
U-2, Syngman Rhee
Payola and Kennedy
Chubby Checker, Psycho
Belgians in the Congo


[Chorus]
We didn't start the fire
It was always burning
Since the world's been turning
We didn't start the fire
No, we didn't light it
But we tried to fight it

[Verse 4]
Hemingway, Eichmann
Stranger in a Strange Land
Dylan, Berlin
Bay of Pigs invasion
Lawrence of Arabia
British Beatlemania
Ole Miss, John Glenn
Liston beats Patterson
Pope Paul, Malcolm X
British Politician sex
J.F.K. blown away
What else do I have to say?

[Chorus]
We didn't start the fire
It was always burning
Since the world's been turning
We didn't start the fire
No, we didn't light it
But we tried to fight it
[Verse 5]
Birth control, Ho Chi Minh
Richard Nixon back again
Moonshot, Woodstock
Watergate, punk rock
Begin, Reagan, Palestine
Terror on the airline
Ayatollahs in Iran
Russians in Afghanistan
Wheel of Fortune, Sally Ride
Heavy metal suicide
Foreign debts, homeless vets
AIDS, crack, Bernie Goetz
Hypodermics on the shores
China's under martial law
Rock and Roller cola wars
I can't take it anymore

[Chorus]
We didn't start the fire
It was always burning
Since the world's been turning
We didn't start the fire
But when we are gone
It will still burn on, and on
And on, and on

[Outro]
We didn't start the fire
It was always burning
Since the world's been turning
We didn't start the fire
No, we didn't light it
But we tried to fight it
We didn't start the fire
It was always burning
Since the world's been turning
We didn't start the fire
No, we didn't light it
But we tried to fight it
We didn't start the fire
It was always burning
Since the world's been turning
We didn't start the fire
No, we didn't light it
But we tried to fight it
We didn't start the fire
It was always burning
Since the world's been turning

[Chap]

Now it appears that Trump thinks he is not obliged to uphold his oath to preserve the Constitution - despite having uttered these words on his inauguration:

""I do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will faithfully execute the Office of President of the United States, and will to the best of my ability, preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States."

Or maybe he just can't remember saying that?


Trump says, ‘I don’t know,’ when asked if he’s required to uphold Constitution

Washington Post, updated today:

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. — President Donald Trump, asked during an interview on NBC News’s “Meet the Press with Kristen Welker,” whether he believes that he needs to uphold the Constitution during his presidency, responded, “I don’t know.”
The comment came as Trump remained adamant that he wanted to ship undocumented immigrants out of the country and said it was inconceivable to hear millions of cases in court, insisting he needed the power to quickly remove people he said were murderers and drug dealers.
“I was elected to get them the hell out of here, and the courts are holding me from doing it,” he said.
Pressed on whether he still needs to abide by the Constitution, he said, “I don’t know.”

<insert deity of choice> Bless America!

[Kishkumen]

Now it appears that Trump thinks he is not obliged to uphold his oath to preserve the Constitution - despite having uttered these words on his inauguration:

Yep! Stunning! But we still see people supporting this far-right lunatic. Of course, their understanding of the Constitution has already proven to be abysmal, as they clearly do not understand things like due process. We should not be surprised that their dear leader Donald does not think he is obliged to follow the Constitution, and we should not expect them to care about it either.

[Some Schmo]

Now it appears that Trump thinks he is not obliged to uphold his oath to preserve the Constitution - despite having uttered these words on his inauguration:

Yep! Stunning! But we still see people supporting this far-right lunatic. Of course, their understanding of the Constitution has already proven to be abysmal, as they clearly do not understand things like due process. We should not be surprised that their dear leader Donald does not think he is obliged to follow the Constitution, and we should not expect them to care about it either.

We have direct experience with Trump defying his oath the last time he was sworn in. Jan 6th was Trump's major Screw you to the Constitution.

I believe everyone who voted for him is a traitor to the Constitution, whether they know it or not. It's impossible to understate how dumb a Trump vote was. I mean, we're talking braindead stupid.

[Gadianton]

Of course, their understanding of the Constitution has already proven to be abysmal

Their understanding of any related topic is abysmal. It comes with the territory. Right-wing discourse has taken on a life of its own that precludes rationality. Weirdly, it also precludes humor and a whole lot of other things, and seems stunted emotionally perhaps more than intellectually. Intellectually, there is no Res Ipsa* of right-wing thought. There is nowhere on the Internet I can go and find a sane and Intelligent person arguing for Donald Trump coherently. It probably can't happen because it's impossible. You literally need to be a boring fruitcake, a weird achievement of its own, to be on the team.

On this board, there is probably only one Trumper (over the time of the board) who with some discipline could do better, the others simply don't have the aptitude to learn any academic subject well enough to discuss it.

That doesn't mean there aren't Trump supporters intelligent in the usual sense. It could be engineers who don't appreciate 'soft' disciplines, and combined with conspiracy thinking, precludes them from coherency. It could be high IQ low education types who get trapped in cults and conspiracy easier than just about anybody else. You could have brilliant but corrupt lawyers, but even those aren't very plentiful due to the credibility lengths they need to go to make their defense, and they probably aren't Trump supporters per se, but riding the gravy train.

Scott Bessant and Stephen Miran could be suggested, but Miran has distanced himself from the whitepaper he wrote on tariffs that got him tagged, and all he can do when it comes to Trump now that he's the guy, is evade the subject. It would be quite astounding if he were an actual Trumper (I can't rule it out) rather than a fellow grifter, or if not a grifter, and opportunist who -- I hope to God -- is very carefully trying to be the voice of reason without getting fired. But, you will find no Stephen Miran on the Internet defending Trump at a level that a first-year econ student can't see through. Bessent in public discourse sounds like an absolute fool. The right-wingers who do speak somewhat intelligent on tariffs (but not nearly intelligent enough for a serious discussion) are those pushing back on Trump, like Ben Shapiro. But he is probably a fellow grifter, not ever a Trumper per se.

*since Res's absent others have stepped up admirably.

[Kishkumen]

Their understanding of any related topic is abysmal. It comes with the territory. Right-wing discourse has taken on a life of its own that precludes rationality. Weirdly, it also precludes humor and a whole lot of other things, and seems stunted emotionally perhaps more than intellectually. Intellectually, there is no Res Ipsa* of right-wing thought. There is nowhere on the Internet I can go and find a sane and Intelligent person arguing for Donald Trump coherently. It probably can't happen because it's impossible. You literally need to be a boring fruitcake, a weird achievement of its own, to be on the team.

On this board, there is probably only one Trumper (over the time of the board) who with some discipline could do better, the others simply don't have the aptitude to learn any academic subject well enough to discuss it.

That doesn't mean there aren't Trump supporters intelligent in the usual sense. It could be engineers who don't appreciate 'soft' disciplines, and combined with conspiracy thinking, precludes them from coherency. It could be high IQ low education types who get trapped in cults and conspiracy easier than just about anybody else. You could have brilliant but corrupt lawyers, but even those aren't very plentiful due to the credibility lengths they need to go to make their defense, and they probably aren't Trump supporters per se, but riding the gravy train.

Scott Bessant and Stephen Miran could be suggested, but Miran has distanced himself from the whitepaper he wrote on tariffs that got him tagged, and all he can do when it comes to Trump now that he's the guy, is evade the subject. It would be quite astounding if he were an actual Trumper (I can't rule it out) rather than a fellow grifter, or if not a grifter, and opportunist who -- I hope to God -- is very carefully trying to be the voice of reason without getting fired. But, you will find no Stephen Miran on the Internet defending Trump at a level that a first-year econ student can't see through. Bessent in public discourse sounds like an absolute fool. The right-wingers who do speak somewhat intelligent on tariffs (but not nearly intelligent enough for a serious discussion) are those pushing back on Trump, like Ben Shapiro. But he is probably a fellow grifter, not ever a Trumper per se.

*since Res's absent others have stepped up admirably.

Many excellent points as usual, Dean Robbers. Stupid, ignorant, or amoral. We are dealing with a perfects storm of sociopaths, grifters, racists, anti-intellectuals, ignoramuses, narcissists, and the deceived in the MAGA extremist movement. I am willing to believe that a very big chunk consists of those who are ignorant and/or deceived, and that among them not a few have high IQs.

I don't think many people ever fully grasped that sustaining our constitutional democratic republic requires a lot of effort, a lot of vigilance, and a lot of concentration. Knowing the Constitution is an essential place to start. The Constitution is the set of ground rules for how we operate. Once you let go of it, you are involved in an entirely different enterprise. Many MAGA folk have cast their lot in with Trump against the Constitution.

I can't really blame people for forgetting the crucial nature of the Constitution. It used to be that your average conservative had a better command of the Constitution than people on the left. And, that may be true today, but this knowledge did sometimes travel with a concomitant burden of fringe constitutional theory, which, in the end, could easily compromise commitment to the Constitution itself. Now we are definitely in a place where that view has got the upperhand. Oh, sure, the Constitution is important, as long as you read in the special fringe right stuff along with it. If a mainstream view of the Constitution gets in the way, it can be dismissed out of hand because obviously these normies are not reading the Constitution in the right way.

[Philo Sofee]

How about punishing all the a-holes back in D.C.?

I suppose that we could send them to a prison in El Salvador.

Start with Trump, Vance and his cabinet and I'm all in........

[Philo Sofee]

Well, ajax. If 51% voted for Trump then they clearly voted for a loser. Are you following the news? Whatever he hasn't already walked back on his own, the courts are walking back for him. He's losing case after case, day after day. Musk is now losing 1 BILLION DOLLARS per day in Tesla stocks and he's preparing to get out of Dodge, I mean, DOGE before his affiliation with Trump (and his own actions) destroys him completely.

Trump is currently failing at every damn thing he's attempted. When he's confronted with his claims, he denies the words that came out of his own mouth even though he's documented on camera as having said them. Walmart, Target, and Home Depot issued a warning directly to Trump telling him that the public will start seeing empty shelves in approx. 10 days.

Republican elected officials are turning on him.
Citizens who voted for him are turning on him.
Billionaires are turning on him.
FOX is turning on him.

The only thing he's succeeding at is FAILING.

Now if only the law would wake up and do something with him.....