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47 sats \ 14 replies \ @kepford 17 Nov \ parent \ on: In Surprise Reversal, Trump Now Supports GOP Release Of Epstein Files Politics_And_Law
Nah, it's just Trump being Trump. He's been protecting people. I haven't seen evidence of mental decline. Just a political man.
In his first term he was unorthodox, but he always had an uncanny sense of detecting which way the political winds were blowing. He would go off script and cause himself a little pain once in a while, but always recover. Now, he seems to have lost that sense, and is causing himself real political damage with his base.
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He's losing moderates with the heavy-handedness of his ICE enforcement (which I predicted would happen if he went down that route). He's also losing some with his tariff chaos, but I'm not as convinced how large this effect is. Moreso if the economy isn't doing well he's gonna lose support among everyone.
As for his base, I'm not sure what they're upset about... is it really the Epstein files? I know there are some fractures amongst the base over Israel (recent drama regarding Tucker Carlsen)
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Regarding his base, I would say these:
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Israel First policy. Yeah, that really matters
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Epstein flip flop. He stoked the issue, then waffled.
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Abandoned Isolationism
He preached America first, then got pulled by Israel into Iran. Now, it looks like there isn't an international conflict he's not willing to pursue (as a distraction?)
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I don't think it's as a distraction. I think he wants his legacy to be foreign policy. Plus I think his family has tons of business interests in the middle east, all of which align with Saudi Arabia / Israel, and not with Iran / Palestinians
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Yeah. That very well may be. Thinking about support among his base, I think Israel is a real problem for a few reasons. Number 1, of course, is that nobody wants to see pieces of dead babies. But, I also think that Trump's support is closely tied to his image as a strong leader. Netanyahu has repeatedly made him look like an ineffectual errand boy.
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Indeed. I really think most of this problem is Netanyahu. It seems to me he has all the incentive to continue killing Palestinians. He is the threat to Zionism. If their movement was smart they would reject his leadership.
When I read the letter supposedly from Kirk he made excellent points. I know many read this as his rejection of Zionism. I read it more as good advice for Zionists.
There is a cognitive dissonance that we are supposed to oppose ethno-nationalism and yet that is what Israel actually is. The Zionist movement has done an excellent job radicalizing people against their movement. They remind me of the progressive movement. They both create what they claim to hate. Honestly, I think it's intentional. Not from the rank and file but from the top of these movements. They seem to want to keep people on edge and divided. Easier to rule.
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Immigration especially more aggressive ice enforcement
Ice is only getting started
Wait till an ice agent gets killed and then you will see more aggressive take no prisoners approach
I voted for this
I actually support arresting illegal immigrants at hospitals and emergency rooms and ICU
I realize the optics look bad but who cares
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Well... the problem is we share space with people that disagree with how to use the money stolen from us. The problem is only about a third of the people actually ever vote for rulers. So there never really is a "mandate" from the people. The problem is that about a third of the country has lost their minds and they don't care either. When people don't care they start doing crazy shit.
The left created this situation by refusing compromises over the years and enough people got fed up (like you) and don't care. A man figured out he'd run on doing what these people want. Shocking that this worked. Both sides really just care about forcing their will on everyone else. It's not great.
The voters are constantly manipulated and promised solutions but those in power have little incentive to actually find solutions. It will end in war. The only question to me is when and how bloody.
Neither side wants to reduce the scope and power of the federal government. They just want power. If we were the US of the 1900s maybe that would work. If we had rejected multi-culturalism maybe it could have worked longer. If people would have realized that socialism is an actual cancer maybe we could have avoided this. But here we are.
It ends in war. It doesn't have to but sure seems like what the two parties are hell bent on doing.
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Illegal immigration is completely out of control now.
It's impossible to be 'reasonable' about illegal immigration today.
Sanctuary cities and states are blatantly unconstitutional.
The executives at NGOs are now multi millionaires because they receive tax dollars to provide housing, food, health care and transportation for illegal aliens. Not only stealing tax dollars but also money laundering and embezzlement. Governors, mayors and other politicians and bureaucrats are complicit.
Everything about this is beyond unconscionable.
There won't be war until ICE agents are killed... then all bets are off
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I was amazed he won moderates over given what he ran on. It wasn't a favorable moderate platform and I think if the Dems had run anyone decent then there is a strong likelihood Trump wouldnt have one.
He promised millions being deported and utilizing every tool in the tool box which is exactly what we are seeing. His still is 110% heavy handed but.... he said he would do it. The tariffs and economy as a whole is going to depend on those investments actually coming through. If they do he will look like a genius if they fail to a fool.
Just like Trump ran on illegal immigration he spent a ton of time bashing the Biden Admin on the files. Bondi had even made a comment on the list/files being on her desk and she was going to go through and pass it along to the American people but later went there is no list. The base expected the list.
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I actually think Trump's moderate appeal was very simple:
- Be able to string together a coherent sentence, which neither Biden nor Kamala were able to do
- Acknowledge that illegal immigration is a problem and it shouldn't be so easy to get into the country (secure the border vs. deporting millions)
- Push back against woke radicalism
- Prioritize domestic affairs over international entanglements
If he just stuck to these things his popularity would be soaring.
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The ICE framing that Trump has made is very short sighted. The optics are bad. He doesn't care. What I see is more people being reactionary moving farther towards open borders.
The reality is what we are seeing is a result of political government's failure to fix a problem. These clowns had many chances to fix the issue but refuse to do so. Reagan tried and others as well. Both parties created this problem. What is happening now is a result of these failures. But Trump is gonna wear all the blame because he really doesn't seem to care.
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Yeah, not saying he isn't as sharp. But he is miles ahead of Biden mentally.
Honestly it seems likely he has smarter people around him. He has always been influenced by those around him. Now he has smarter people manipulating him. I'm convinced Trump has very little ideology.
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