The Dolphins Make Me Cry.com - Forums

We don't even talk about it anymore on here, but every single aspect of everything he's doing is fucking awful in every respect.

I am so beaten down that I used to come on here and talk politics every day (I still do it in my personal life with my friends and family) but I just don't have the stomach to argue with people who think that any of this is good.

But there comes a point where I feel like I need to check in with the Trump faithful.  War, tariffs, absolute corruption, anti-democracy at every turn.  Sound off if you have something to say, I guess.

I get the war and tarrifs but can you please give me examples of "absolute corruption, anti-democracy at every turn". Seems pretty vague to ask for the other point of view.

He is actively and regularly committing corruption, market manipulation, and enriching himself and his family and his allies by getting a taste of deals -- he is actively getting bribes and everything with these crypto scams and various grifts and things he's selling.  There are too many to innumerate.  Along with this, he's using the government for his personal vendettas that are going after his crimes.  He fired everyone involved in the various investigations, for example.  He is also personally going after them with the DOJ with unwarranted claims of criminal acts, which is costing them money and time to defend, despite being baseless.

He's the most corrupt president we've ever had, by a long shot.  And it's just out in the open, but there's nobody willing to check him because he has cronies at every position.

You're wasting your time, Dave.  I try to have this discussion with my dad and he just goes on about "Biden's autopen" and "Hunter Biden's laptop" like it's all the same thing.  He has literally told me that he believes Trump "is the smartest president ever" because of "how easily he handles all of his opposition."  They are a cult; everything they accused us of about "worshipping Obama" is not only true for Trump, but 10x worse.  

(Relatedly: my dad does not have cable TV and yet has watched so many Fox News clips on YouTube that his plasma television has the Fox News logo burned into the screen.)

It's all the same cycle depending on which side you're on. Back and forth, year after year, decade after decade. No matter what anyone here says the swinging pendelum is going to continue swinging back and forth. Just like every other average everyday nobody, I have no control over the any of it. So I made the choice not to worry about it too much anymore. Modern day politics is like professional wrestling

This sort of high-minded "Like the tides, politics are an irresistible cyclical force beyond the control of mere peons like you and I"-type discourse from conservatives like yourself would have been a welcome change during, say, 2021-2024.

Trump is a different animal.  He's tearing down American democracy.  We will probably survive it because he's stepped in it so bad between ICE, tariffs, Iran, and Epstein -- but this isn't the normal ebb and flow of politics.

Both sides-ng is such cowardly bullshit and a way not to take responsibility for where we are.

This latest Trump fiasco with Iran and gas prices going through the roof might be the final nail in Trumps coffin. I think you are going to see more republicans willing to break ranks with Trump over the next couple of years. His time is coming to a close and I think even he knows it as he seems even more willing than before to move away from republican values. Some from within his own party are going to start calling him out, perhaps even Fox news. Don't get me wrong, most are going to be loyal to Trump to the bitter end, but it's the guy on the fence that he's going to lose if he hasn't already.

I'm completely convinced that Trump is not going to allow free midterm elections.

I hope I'm wrong, but Trump is currently the greatest evil facing humanity, and evil doesn't like giving up power.

That ship has sailed.  There won't be fair and free midterm elections.  The real question is has Trump fucked everything so bad that even with unfair elections can he be defeated. 

Projection much? You say that because you can't see anything but what you want to see. While I can admit that Republicans AND Democrats are the problem. You only see Republicans as the problem. And that my friend, is the real cowardly bullshit.

In reality the politicians are to blame for the current situations in the US and world. And moving forward, that will continue to be the status quo. Just like it has been since before I was born. And nothing is going to change it. Your emotions are being manipulated and you don't even know it. Anyhow, I have a life to enjoy and that's my ultimate goal. If you want to spend your life trying to empty the ocean with a bucket, then best of luck to you.

Dude, you went from "Democrats are the problem" to "Both Democrats and Republicans are the problem."  This does not make you a Brave Truth Teller; it just means that even when Republicans are clearly the ones with total control and they're screwing everything up, you still need to cling to blaming the Democrats.

Typical predictable reply, yawn......

You say that like anyone is shocked to see a conservative say "Don't forget to blame the Democrats too."

The Democrats are feckless, but this isn't shared fuckery.  All of the grifting and tariffs and warring and economic shitstorm and anti-scientific garbage is coming from the one party that controls all levers of government.  The Democrats used some pronouns in their twitter bio.  It's not a both-sides thing.

Historically, if you want to blame corporate Dems, sure -- but right now, for the last ten years, this isn't a shared responsibility.

You're certainly entitled to your opinion. But like I said, nothing is really going to change. The left and the right will just try to one up each other as the pendulum swings back and forth.

So what you're really trying to imply in the reader's mind is that, "The left gets no blame for anything and the right is fully responsible for all of the world's problems". Gotcha, thanks for the clairification

I mean....I'm not a fan of dems and I don't think that they have done a good job of representing the left, and instead have eaten up the corporate middle, but this isn't a matter of pendulum swinging.

We aren't in a shit storm because Trump and his cronies are too conservative.  We're in a shit-storm because we are an illiberal (small L) government run by an authoritarian.

We voted for a grifter and known criminal with no moral center and he's grifting and criming without morals and held up by oligarchs.  He tested the fences and they failed.  You can blame the Dems for "not knowing what time it is" and I think the mistake is thinking that the pendulum will swing back without completely upending the system.  We need to codify laws.  I don't want a liberal version of authoritarianism where we have our 4 years of breaking laws instead.

More than likely the left will win the midterms and then the presidency. And then you'll have the next level of what we have now, just in the opposite direction. Tit for tat. But, I could be wrong

Can you expand on that?  I think you are wrong, because I don't even know what that would look like.  Trump has his own secret police that he's deploying around the country to areas where he doesn't have support.  Do you expect the Dems to take over and release the secret police to conservative towns?

Do you think that we're going to use the arm of the government to close out conservative media?  Do you think we're going to go after institutions with a conservative slant and sue them and shut them down? 

What is the liberal version of Trump?  What pendulum swing could it even be?  Do you expect President Gavin Newsome to start putting his name on buildings, minting his own coins, and doing his own crypto scams and bribes?

Obviously the answer is no, but what does the pendulum swing even look like?

I'm being geniune in asking because the swing isn't going to go from a right-wing authoritarian to a left-wing authoritarian -- at least I certainly hope not.

You never know what's going to happen. Unless of course you recognize and see the patterns and cycles. No president in my lifetime has affected my life to any great extent. And I'm fairly confident that if Trump wasn't currently the president, that life wouldn't be that much different. But sure, Trump is the cause of all your problems, all my problems, and all of everyone's problems. My life is so much better since I learned to "tune out" most of the noise.

Again, it would have been refreshing to hear this Enlightened Perspective of "Both parties are bad and it makes no difference which one is in power" when Obama or Biden were busy destroying the republic.

Because hearing it today just sounds like you're making excuses for your guys shitting the bed.

If you want to blame the left when the left is in power, fine.
But you didn't hear me pushing this weak "Politics really don't matter and both parties are going to be terrible regardless" nonsense 4 years ago like I was too scared to defend what Democrats were doing.  Give an actual defense for this conservative governance, or don't and just admit that Republicans who are in power are screwing up.  This "Actually I realized both sides are terrible" BS isn't fooling anyone.

After the end of WW2 the US led a campaign of denazification in Germany.

Ok, if you say so.

No, he is not the cause of ALL of my problems.  But he is the cause of SOME of my problems.  And he seems to be actively working to make things worse for this country.  That is the opposite of his job responsibility

That campaign was conducted at gunpoint by an occupying foreign military.

so it's not likely to be relevant to this discussion

That's interesting. What exactly are "SOME" of your problems that are caused exclusively by Trump?

Here's an example of the type of corruption that is just normal under Trump:

Justice Department agrees to pay ex-Trump adviser Michael Flynn in settlement over wrongful prosecution lawsuit (https://www.cnn.com/2026/03/25/politics/michael-flynn-settlement-justice-department)

The Justice Department has reached a settlement with Michael Flynn, Donald Trump’s former national security adviser who sued the government for millions of dollars over what he alleged to be a wrongful prosecution.

In a brief court filing Wednesday, lawyers for both Flynn and the Justice Department said they reached an agreement to drop the lawsuit and for Flynn to receive “settlement funds.” While the filing did not include the amount of money, or elaborate on any other terms of the settlement, a person familiar with the matter said Flynn would receive more than $1 million in the agreement.

Flynn sued the government for $50 million, alleging that the FBI tried to entrap him in the early days of the Trump administration.

---

In other words, Trump's DOJ agreed to pay a Trump ally a $1 million settlement for "wrongful prosecution" by the first Trump Administration.
This is on top of Trump suing the US government (i.e. himself) for $10 billion (https://www.npr.org/2026/02/18/nx-s1-5702503/trump-government-lawsuits-pay-himself-billions) for "wrongful treatment"; a claim where his own appointees will determine whether to settle with their boss.

I will give three:

1) Inflation.  While Presidents rarely have direct effect on the economy.  Trumps tariffs and needless war with Iran have directly cost me more money to acquire the things I need to live.

2) I had to come into work on my day off, because a coworker of mine who is a US Citizen and was born in Puerto Rico was detained by ICE.

3) I had to send a condolence card to a different coworker, when his nephew's wife died because she couldn't get necessary medical treatment during a miscarriage that was direct result of the repeal of Roe v.Wade.

As a MAGA faithful I am sure you actually see number #2 as a good thing, because a real American got extra hours of employment at the expense of a fake American 

And you might point out that #3 didn't actually directly affect me and the purchase of a card was purely optional on behalf.  But you will only do that if you are psychopath. 

And maybe if you are a complete moron you will try to argue that Trump didn't actually arrest my coworker. And Trump didn't repeal Roe v. Wade he only appointed people who did. But that is like arguing that Hitler didn't actually murder Anne Frank.

Seems like you're having a tough time right now. Thanks for sharing your experiences and hardships. I sincerely hope things turn around for you in life.

Call me a psychopath if you will but I'm not buying a card for a coworker because of their nephew's wife. Fuck that.

I am not saying not buying a condolence card would make you a psychopath.

 I am saying that if you claim my coworker's pain did not affect me then you a psychopath. 

Well well, leftists

(https://scontent.ftpa1-2.fna.fbcdn.net/v/t39.30808-6/667573772_27404112672521809_5308348082376613583_n.jpg?stp=cp6_dst-jpg_s640x640_tt6&_nc_cat=102&ccb=1-7&_nc_sid=7b2446&_nc_ohc=yFzeTigZTqoQ7kNvwHsds61&_nc_oc=AdroYbvna56oADnc4sKxzY8L4xL_k4DvmPQAIVI6M662BZQJ91PEG-AgJ4CYWdx3PQI1RzAkqjPoAGwMdglTOJQg&_nc_zt=23&_nc_ht=scontent.ftpa1-2.fna&_nc_gid=fTqMq4vJbWVNvYVX3V2rJg&_nc_ss=7a3a8&oh=00_Af2iDyqpyyQgYi0nzBkHpvuP_JtVFf2lIPwVAaVcJDDFTA&oe=69DDA3C7)

Not entirely true as I paid $5.90 for diesel the other day. That's basically $6 a gallon. $150 and still didn't fill up. If we don't succeed in regime change and giving the country back to the Persians I will then be upset because it was all for naught. They were not a Muslim country prior to the takeover and were great allies to the US. In my opinion, we should have helped them in 1979 and have lost many lives over the years for not doing so.

Regime change takes a decade of consistency, a willing coalition of world allies and those within the region, someone to hand it to, and boots on the ground.  And political stability.   And money to rebuild/stabilize, etc.

There's no way Trump was ever going to do any of that.  

Trump is going to have to make a "deal" worse than when he went in just to stay above disaster and to keep the straight open.

Agreed.   The way that regime treats women is barbaric and any regime that does that should be abolished.

Trump on March 9th: "We won. In the first hour it was over."
Trump on March 11th: the war will be over "any time I want it to end."
Trump on March 12th: "They are pretty much at the end of the line. It doesn’t mean we are going to end it immediately, it is only a question of when."
Trump on March 24th: "We’ve won this war. This war has been won."
Trump on April 7th: "Total and complete victory. 100%. No question about it."

Today: Iran refuses to lift Strait of Hormuz blockade, testing fragile ceasefire (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fM6Ky0o7EtI)

Trump lies to your face over and over and you never learn a thing.

(http://viperbeam.com/forum/fell_for_it_again.jpg)

I bet you posted something similar on May 1, 2003.

(https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/b5/Mission_Accomplished_banner_on_the_USS_Abraham_Lincoln_%28CVN-72%29_%281%29.jpg)

We are no closer to concluding this war now than we were to concluding that one then.

You will be precisely as "upset" with Donald Trump as you were when you criticized him in 2024, which is to say that you will vote for him again if you have the chance.

Fortunately I won't have to. Hopefully Rubio or DeSantis is the person I will be pulling the lever for. Both of which, I have voted to be the GOP nominee against Trump. It just didn't happen.

I know you don't believe me, but to my "MAGA" buddies they think I hate Trump. I'm always calling them out on the things he does that I find stupid.

In shocking late-breaking news, water is wet and fire is hot:

Vance says no agreement with Iran after marathon talks in Pakistan  (https://www.cnn.com/2026/04/12/world/live-news/iran-us-war-talks-trump)

FELL
FOR
IT
AGAIN

It is because he does not know how to negotiate, he needs to read the art of the deal.

Rich coming from someone who supports an administration that has ELMININATED more rights for women than any other US president. 

If you think that this war has anything whatsoever to do with Iran's human rights you are beyond delusional,

It seems like the real purpose of the Iran War is for Trump and his cronies to profit from stock manipulation.

Right before every time Trump gets in front of a camera and pronounces "The war is over, we won the war," there is a huge amount of stock transactions that just so happen to capitalize on the market movement from whatever Trump just said.

but Solyndra ummm uhhh Burisma

Seems just a bit dramatic doesn't it? Iran has forced a mandatory dress code on women with limitations on travel, marriage, and child custody except by husband approval. THe husband can legally take multiple wives and the wife can do nothing about it.  removal from judicial roles, and restriction of what jobs they can hold.Their testimony only counts as 1/2 that of a man. Women are barred from watching certain sports in stadiums. There are no laws protecting against domestic violence or sexual harassment or being beheaded by your husband.

I'm curious as to what "women's rights" you think have been eliminated by Trump?  The right to murder an unborn person? That was the Supreme Court. I'm at a loss as to what else you could be thinking but you never cease to amaze me.

I am in agreement that Iran sucks and their treatment towards women, in general, sucks even worse.  I hope they get toppled.

But I am under no fantasy that we are fighting in Iran because we give one iota of shit about that.

Trump made a miscalculation.  He thought that his time to strike was now, because of Israeli intel -- Bibi convinced him to move, against the better advice of his people.  Now Iran is in a stronger position and Trump has no way out.  He's acting a fool trying everything, but that's not how smart diplomacy works, so he's just making it worse.

The straight isn't Iran's to operate, nor ours to give away, so we need them to stop what is essentially piracy and blocking the boats, but we have no leverage.  It's really a quagmire.

I am not defending Iran. But only a fucking moron thinks that the war is about giving women greater rights in Iran. 

One example is the gutting access for women to access medical care including in cases where the woman has died is a direct result of Trump appointment of judges with the intent of dying women medical care. 

Others include:

-- on his first day an executive order prohibiting all programs that promote inclusion, diversity or equity for women.

--reversed policies intended to close the gender pay gap.

--weakened Title IX rules, making it easier for schools to dismiss sexual harassment and assault complaints.

--made it harder for federal employees to file sexual harassment claims.

-- eliminated monuments and plaques celebrating women's contributions at federal monuments.

-- making it harder to file unfair pay and labor practices.

And that is just what I can think of off the top of my head,

First, I'll say is that I am sure glad I bought a Tesla in 2024. None of this energy stuff affects me directly anymore. SC's grid is based off of nuclear, coal, and natural gas. The KWs I charge the car with are cheap and that's been great. I do worry about my employees and family though. To offset some of the cost of my employees' drive to work, I often have them stop at various courts/police departments on the way in, so they can take advantage mileage payments at the end of the month. Makes a dent but doesn't solve it.

I don't like the war in Iran, though if it slows down the ambitions of China in Taiwan, I think that'll at least be a good secondary effect. I do agree that it was a miscalculation by Trump to go in there, thinking we could blast them and that they'd topple. Sociopaths cling to power better than anyone else, and most leaders are sociopaths at an at least sub-clinical level. Iran is no different. You'd need to put boots on the ground (which I just can't see Trump doing) to really topple them, and so we are stuck.

I am annoyed that, from what I can see, Trump's universal tariffs caused PCE to reverse it's deflationary trajectory last year. CPI is not as much affected, but people, as I understand it, are more affected by PCE, and I can't understand why you would gamble on tariffs when you could take the easy win of allowing the inflation to cool and negotiate individual trade deals with various countries that you thought were taking advantage of you, and if said negotiations failed THEN tariff them.

As one may expect from my prior postings here, I strongly object to Trump's targeting of Pope Leo in retaliation for the latter's criticism of the former's warlike tendencies. I think the Pope is correct, prudentially, here with regards to the fact that the world is getting more and more belligerent and balkanized, and we should attempt to reverse this trend and work towards peace. War is hell, and our grandfathers all knew it from horrible personal experience. We do not need yet another generation of en masse PTSD'd Americans. Two of my employees are vets, and both have been to war zones (Afghanistan and Mogadishu). You can see their strong reactions to violence. They abhor those weirdly popular videos of Russians and Ukrainians getting bombed by drones. There's something to that, IMO.

In my home state this year, Republican majorities are pushing many bills. Some of them are great, and some are terrible. But all are caught in a giant clusterf*ck, because it is clear that, at the national level, the Republican party will likely get a shellacking for it's improper handling of the economy, and now this war. In a sense, I'm kind of grateful, as any horrible bills would pass into law in my state much more quickly if Trump hadn't fumbled the ball (IMO) so hard. But honestly, I would rather the country be in better shape and eat the horrible bills at home.

I think that Trump'll be impeached, again. I don't think he'll be convicted in the Senate, as that would be a nuclear outcome that would turn him into a martyr and trigger an enormous conflict internally. I think the Dems will probably attempt to manage out the remainder of his term after the elections this year, but will probably go a little too hard and squander the political capital they'll gain by his fumbling, leading to a really intense battle in 2028 for the presidency. If the Reps were smart, they'd tap DeSantis for prez then, because he'll then be free of all the shenanigans that've happened in DC during this administration. I think the Dems will counter with Gavin, obviously, but I think he's so oily and gross that people will largely reject him (I see Newsome as Clinton with creepy plastic surgery and zero charisma outside of his base), leading to a tight election in 2028, which is exactly what we don't need (a mandate and the clarity that comes with it being preferable).

We'll see!

I am not sure if it does that to the extent people are claiming.  Yes, it does limit China's ability to stockpile oil in preparation for the invasion.  But the war is taking a toll on the US Navy.  And a strong US navy is the #1 deterrent to said invasion.  I suspect China will be able to refill its oil reserves much quicker than the US will be able to refurbish and redeploy it navy from the Strait of Hormuz to the Sea of Taiwan. 

Do you have solar panels?  I also have an EV and I bought solar panels back in 2017, but my heating/cooking is natural gas and I expect prices to rise.  It's a global market for fossil fuel, and even if natural gas isn't directly affected by the war with Iran, I expect other fuel prices to increase significantly (for what it's worth, I expect the cost of solar panels to increase too).

I think the wars in Ukraine and Iran only make a war in Taiwan more likely.
China is looking at the limp world response to militant authoritarianism on the rise and may conclude that the juice is worth the squeeze.

As a person who will not be voting for Newsom in a Democratic presidential primary, I find it strange that someone would look at him as oily and gross while thinking Ron DeSantis is a great alternative.  DeSantis is a worm and a toady; he's a guy who's ambitious enough to try to run against Trump but yellow enough to try to do so while refusing to attack him.  I can't imagine Newsom running against Biden in the 2024 primary and praising his amazing job as president while also saying, "But vote for me instead of him in the primary."  If you don't want to run, just stay out of the race.

No solar panels yet. House needed a new roof last year and a full reno this year. Total cost: $211,824. Nbd, but it delays getting a solar roof and a powerwall, which, yes, are the next steps. Gotta convince wife to not hate musk enough to buy a tesla as well.

I think the issue with China is that it sees Russia flailing in Ukraine. It sees the US massacring the leadership of Iran. It notices that it's own oil supply, which is heavily reliant on Iran, being cut off by this war. It recalls that none of its generals have seen war, and the last war they were in (with Vietnam) didn't pan out well for them. I think it's an effective deterrent, but I take your point.

I will agree that DeSantis lost some shine after the 2024 election, but I also think there aren't really any other good candidates out there on the right, unless there's a serious upswing in the economy and general feeling of the country's populace. Who else do you pick? Thune? No. Rubio? I like him, but no. Vance? No. Polarizing, weird. So whom? DeSantis.

I realize you might actually want to support Tesla for political reasons, but if that's not the case: there are many other EV manufacturers, and basically all of them have access to Tesla's supercharging network now (which was Tesla's main structural advantage in the past).  Hyundai makes two highly-reviewed EVs (Ioniq 5 and Ioniq 6), Rivian makes a good truck and SUV, and there's a lot of options in-between.

Even before Musk became a Trumpist, I didn't like Tesla because I don't like touchscreens, and Tesla funnels everything through the touchscreen (I do have a Tesla Powerwall for my house, though).  I bought a BMW i4 in summer 2024 and it has worked out very well.

I think Republicans are probably going to have to stick with celebrities going forward; their economic policies are just too unpopular otherwise.  If I had to guess, I'd say someone like Tucker Carlson or Joe Rogan would be the best bet.  If Donald Trump proved anything, it's that the American electorate doesn't give the slightest damn about experience.

^^^ A Tucker Carlson-Joe Rogan ticket would be fucking hilarious...

Honestly, I like the touchscreen and I preferred the Tesla brand bc the electric vehicle *is* it's product (rather than just an option within the bigger line of vehicles) and because the FSD is just hard to beat. A lot of my weeks involved 1000 miles or more of driving, and the Tesla I bought handles it without any issue, every time, week after week. It's lead to me having a great deal more energy and patience when I get home, because my head and eyes are not as tired from holding attention for long periods of time.

I was T-boned in the Tesla once, and while the repair did take a while, I probably would've rolled over had it not had the low center of gravity. So, idk, seems to be a great car to me, politics aside.

I've held off on buying electric based vehicles for as long as I could, but my old Chevy Equinox was on its last legs as the tranny was about to go out.   I found a really good deal on a 2024 Kia Sportage Hybrid (self charging).   I'm amazed at the gas mileage it gets in the city.   I'm not ready to go full electric and probably never will, but with gas being what it is, self charging hybrid is a much better way to go.