Rich wonders where the old gang went, so maybe some will drift back and explain why they remain happy that they voted for Trump.

I think Trump has arrived as would be dictator. Clearly he wants all the power of Congress and the courts vested in the Executive Branch, as long as it's under him, of course.

Trump has broadly imposed tariffs on whatever country has him pissed off at the moment, which is the province of Congress, except under limited circumstances.

Trump has downsized federal agencies and impounded federal funds without the direct authorization of Congress. Since the GOP Congress is composed of spineless Trumpian lapdogs, why not do it legally and have Congress do it?

Trump, through brainless Kristi Noem, had idiot ICE agents arresting and detaining people who "might" be illegal aliens, without warrants - that are required by law - and on flimsy evidence, like appearing to be Hispanic. Weird thing, the southwestern US was once part of Mexico, so there are many, many thousands of Mexican-Americans who are US citizens. One such citizen who works in construction has been detained twice by ICE despite having documents proving his US citizenship. He has joined a class action lawsuit against ICE and Homeland Security and Noem. One of these days, masked ICE agents, without producing ID, arriving in unmarked vehicles, and without warrants are going to break into a building and get shot by a person defending himself against an unknown armed intruder. I don't normally wish anyone ill will, but I think agents who behave thusly absolutely deserve to be shot, this being America and all.

Trump has ordered National Guard troops into several cities directly against the express wishes of governors and mayors. Again, this power is reserved for the select instances where states or cities are out of compliance with the law, such as occurred in Mississippi and Alabama during federal enforcement of the Civil Rights Act.

Trump, through lapdog Brendan Carr at the FCC, has violated the 4th Amendment by censoring and attempting to censor broadcasters, and also extorted payments from ABC and CBS. So Trump is opposed to free speech that criticizes or is "mean" to him. He really is trying to follow in the footsteps of his authoritarian hero in Hungary, maybe N. Korea too?

Trump has called Democrats "communist fascists," clearly articulating that he doesn't understand what either of those terms mean. Trump is unhinged from reality, insisting that Portland, OR is a war zone that is burning down because FOX News showed film clips of current protest against ICE along with a clip of the major protest and riot that occurred in 2020.

Oh, and aren't you thrilled that you get to pay taxes to Trump so that he can bail out soybean farmers in Iowa, Kentucky, and Arkansas who cannot sell their crop due to Trump's tariff on China. So China decided to buy their soybeans from Brazil instead. All part of "the Art of the Deal," right? Gotta' love it when Trump voters get what they voted for. All hail Fascist dictator Trump! No more 1st Amendment, no 4th Amendment, stay tuned and see how many more rights and freedoms you lose!

What's to be upset about? Getting rid of all those brown folks who don't speak English is a good thing, right? They don't belong, even if their ancestor were here first, because they lost a war or made a "deal" (treaty). I can say what I want; it's those folks who don't 'Murica that get in trouble.

On a semi-serious note, though, usurping the work of Congress at least assures something gets done. The Congress-critters have abrogated their responsibilities to govern, to demand performance for monies spent, and so on. Our government works when all three legs of the stool actually do what the Constitution set out for them and then respect the decisions of the other branches who (supposedly) represent the voters.

Especially when I was younger it seemed obvious to me that some countries were not really capable of a democratic-type of government because they did not possess the education, thought processes, and willingness to participate. They just wanted to be told what to do.

Here we go again. Trump said he would be a dictator on day 1 insinuating this by signing executive orders, just like every other recent president has done. Are they all dictators too?



Economists are pretty mixed on if the tariffs are good or bad. As it stands, unemployment went from 4.2% in August 2024 to 4.1% in June of 2025 and has been holding steady since. The stonk markets are also performing reasonably well with the DJI being around 9.9% YTD. The headline inflation rate was about 2.9% in the last year which is lower than the historical average of 3.29%. It looks like overall things are pretty healthy at the moment unaffected by any tariffs. Do you even have any metrics to back up your claims bruh, or is this more typical Salmo G. nonsense?



He trimmed the government fat a bit? Man… that’s so terrible.



Embellishment. According to The NY Times, 15 American citizens have been detained and none were actually arrested. Over 400,000 have been deported and 1,600,000 have self-deported. The people arrested were for obstructing or assaulting LE. Get your facts straight bruh.



Liberal cities with liberal policies who aren’t arresting antifa and letting them destroy our cities. If local LE is instructed to stand down against crime, law and order must be maintained and it is the role of the national guard to be dispatched when there is civil unrest. You should go live on downtown Seattle or Portland. You belong there bruh.



Let’s see… Trump has won multiple lawsuits against ABC News, CBS, Facebook, Meta, Twitter, YouTube and had other suits against The NY Times, CNN, and the Washington Post. Maybe they should just stick to the facts instead of focusing on slanderous bullschit. Maybe you should stick to facts as well and not post bullchit?




According to google AI, fascism is defined by dictatorial leadership, an emphasis on a social hierarchy, and the forcible suppression of opposition. This is left-wing authoritarianism and is a suitable definition. Communist fascists with communist being the adjective describing the type of fascist. You are more detached from reality and lately Rich G appears more lucid in his thoughts than yourself.



Yeah. Nobody is losing their rights. More nonsense and bullchit that you continue to post. I didn’t vote for Trump in 2016 or 2020, but I did in 2024 and clearly he was the better of the two options.


Streamer

climateman. When you come here illegally and dont show up for your asylum court date, you then have an order of removal placed for you. Pretty simple. Good job comparing Mexicans to actual indigenous peoples of america.

"Trump said he would be a dictator on day 1 insinuating this by signing executive orders, just like every other recent president has done. Are they all dictators too? "

Every president produces some EOs. Trump is the clear leader of using EOs, and using them to legislate things he likely couldn't get Congress to pass.

"Economists are pretty mixed on if the tariffs are good or bad"

The preponderance of economists say that the way Trump is imposing and using tariffs is definitely bad for Americans, and ultimately the US economy. Inflation is heading back up, due largely to tariffs. The tariffs on Canadian softwood is increasing construction costs and tariffs on steel and aluminum are causing US automakers to reduce production - the very industry that Trump said would surge as a result of his policies.

"He trimmed the government fat a bit? Man… that’s so terrible. "

And the way he went about it was beyond stupid - thanks to you Trump voters. And now the Feds are having to try to rehire thousands of fired federal workers, having discovered that the federal agencies don't run by themselves.

"The people arrested were for obstructing or assaulting LE."

ICE always alleges obstruction when they don't have a real charge to use. No wonder the charges get dismissed when American citizens are arrested. I'm not defending illegal immigration; I think the only aliens who should be in the country are the ones who enter and stay legally. I'm objecting to the way Kristi and Homan are going about it. And I honestly hope masked, unbadged, unidentified agents breaking in without warrants are shot and killed for the simple reason that actions should have consequences. (Play stupid games; win stupid prizes.) I've no problem if they remove their masks, display proper LE ID, and execute valid warrants. I mean, after all, following the law is what people do in a "nation of laws," what the US used to be.

"Liberal cities with liberal policies who aren’t arresting antifa and letting them destroy our cities. If local LE is instructed to stand down against crime, law and order must be maintained and it is the role of the national guard to be dispatched when there is civil unrest."

In 2020 the politics of Portland and Seattle were beyond stupid. No argument there. However, that doesn't represent today. Portland is not at war, nor is there any insurrection there. If there were, the governor is perfectly capable of deciding whether or not to call out the National Guard. The purpose of the NG is to serve cities, state, and nation during emergencies, not to placate a maniac fascist president. There is no emergency in Portland or Seattle. And this is not a defense of the way either city is managing homeless populations.

" Trump has won multiple lawsuits against ABC News, CBS, Facebook, Meta, Twitter, YouTube and had other suits against The NY Times, CNN, and the Washington Post"

Trump hasn't won any such lawsuits. ABC, CBS, FB/Meta decided to just pay off Trump in hopes of currying favor, not realizing that when you pay off a bully, they just come back for more. NYT realized this and let Trump/DOJ "bring it on." The court immediately dismissed Trump's lawsuit as lacking any merit and failure to invoke any applicable law. The broadcasters could have done the same, lawyers were saying Trump had no case, but ABC and CBS were involved in acquisitions and mergers that Trump's gov't. could disapprove, so they tried the payoff route. Note that when Disney fired Jimmy Kimmel and realized Americans were voting with the wallets by canceling Disney subscriptions, they reconsidered and restored his TV show, much to Trump's chagrin.

"According to google AI, fascism is defined by dictatorial leadership, an emphasis on a social hierarchy, and the forcible suppression of opposition."

Fascism typically occurs in right wing governments, i.e., currently Hungary and Turkey to a significant extent. Fascist governments don't own the means of production, but are frequently joined at the hip, like Trump just did with Intel and proposes doing with other industries, like mining in Ukraine and I think I just heard proposes with Canada (which I find weird cuz Canada is a major global player in the mining field.). Left wing authoritarianism usually is found under communist government, i.e., the government owns the means of production and dictates everyone's role within the society.

"Nobody is losing their rights."

Yet. Are you denying that Trump is trying to suppress 1st A free speech, as exemplified by coming down on ABC and CBS and the NYT? If you're paying attention at all, you have to notice that Trump is trying to silence any criticism of him. Thin skinned fvcker can't stand to have anyone say mean stuff about him.

What Trump ought to do is immediately end ALL social security payments.
Take the money that currently exists and put it toward the national debt.
Make people invest in their own retirement and be held accountable for doing so or not.

Hasn't he done enough illegal actions already?

Oh, and fvck you! I paid into SS since 1965. I want some of my money back, with interest. Don't you want yours?

Kristi Noem has rushed to Portland to save it from the ravages of war she heard about from Trump. Why the Oregon Republican Party even posted a photo of the city on fire on its X account. Only thing, that photo was taken in Ecuador(sp) in 2017. The city Noem rushed to inspect had maybe a dozen protestors making noise at the ICE center. One protestor dressed in a chicken costume invited her down from the roof top for a Subway sandwish. The National Guard troops, however, were busy protecting Voodoo Donuts, standing outside on the sidewalk, donut boxes in hand. "Oh no! They're eating the eclairs! They're eating the donuts!" Clearly these are dangerous times in Portland.

In other news, members of the Texas National Guard have arrived in Chicago to protect it from the massive crime. These members of the Texas NG look like they belong to Meal Team Six; they sure won't be chasing down any brown people, on foot anyway. Hah! Hegseth might have a point about too many fat troops.

Oh, and Chicago just completed a summer with the fewest murders since 1965. I don't think Chicago's crime rate is anything to brag about, but obviously Trump is trying to promote violence, not prevent it.

Federal employees take an oath to support and uphold the Constitution. This has never been a problem until Trump V 2.0. Trump wants to re-make the federal workforce that is absolutely loyal to him, irrespective of the Constitution.

Now federal job applicants are being asked, all the way down to the GS-5 level – that’s like a entry level secretary, office assistant, supply room stocker, etc.

“how they would help advance the president’s Executive Orders and policy priorities.”

Agency missions are prescribed by Congress, not the president. Congress writes the law, or enabling legislation that creates or modifies gov’t. agencies, often with a vague mission statement. So the mission is more specifically articulated in the form of regulations, which are part of federal law, and policies which are developed by the respective agency secretaries and their senior level directors. The job of the federal employee is to work for or help advance the agency mission, whatever that is. Generally the employee does that by completing the tasks assigned by his or her direct supervisor. How should a job seeker answer the stupid question, other than, “I’ll perform my assigned tasks.” But Trump’s loyalty test is for employees to do whatever Trump wants them to, not to perform tasks that are consistent with the agency mission and federal law.

Therefore Trump is an azzwipe. If you voted for Trump, you apparently value loyalty to a fascist dictator over loyalty to America and the US Constitution. Voting has consequences.

At some point those that have reaped the reward of milking the system need to give back and quit taking.
You boomers are screwing up everything for the next generation including the fishing.

Is that why you hate your parents?

Wrong again.
My family has done nothing but promote fish habitat and wildlife on their own dime since I was born.
I imagine the view from the windows of your Olympia house is different.

Don't worry though.
That big capital you see out the window will take care of you and yours.

Money has been taken out of every paycheck I've earned my whole life for social security.

And Medicare.

But you used the phrase, "you boomers," without excluding your own parents from the group. Stereotyping and generalizing is a good way to create misunderstanding.

Hah! Trump commutes the sentence of George Santos!. Big surprise - the con man in chief pardons another con man. What's next? He commutes or pardons Ghislane Maxwell? Birds of a feather. This is what Trump voters voted for. Hope you're satisfied.

He supports blind loyalty. He's telling folks he will cover for whatever they might do so long as they support him without question. Must be nice to know that he has your back.