Trump sucks

[Dave Gray]

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.

[MyGodWearsAHoodie]

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 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,

[SCFinfan]

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!

[MyGodWearsAHoodie]

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 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.