2024 OT Election Day Thread: Donald Trump elected POTUS, GOP wins Senate and House of Representatives

The AfD identifies itself as being a "nazi party"? That's a pretty fascinating the party would come out and identify itself as nazi and still manage to obtain ~20%. You said it flopped though, how did it flop?

@uninspiredcup: Hehe. That's good.

To be fair, keeping up-to-date on the goings on in all these European countries must be tough. Ever tried figuring out the politics of the Balkans? China's got it sussed - invest but don't discuss.

Soft Power. Oh and if you don't care about geopolitics, it's so less people die. Which is always good considering these USAID expenditures are less than 1% of our budget.

Making a Movement: Joseph S. Nye, Jr. on the Importance of Soft Power | Harvard Kennedy School

But if you care only about Americans,

Farmers hit by a federal funding freeze scramble to respond ahead of spring thaw

Elon Musk Is Trying to Shut the CFPB. What Should Consumers Know? - Bloomberg

Woops.

Most modern racist, antisemitism and fascist parties typically do not announce they are these like the KKK dressed as spooky ghosts , it is not palatable to the public and limiting.

Instead they operate in a state of denial attempted to soft-ball their ideas, while fundamentally keeping them.

A good example of this is "Patriots", which is very popular in the UK.

Wrap yourself in a flag, say you care about your country, and it's def, def, not racism.

This is something in particular the British Nationalist Party attempted do, that many adopt now.

When Griffin took power, he sought to banish overt anti-Semitic discourse from the party. He informed party members that "we can get away with criticizing Zionists, but any criticism of Jews is likely to be legal and political suicide". In 2006, he complained that the "obsession" that many BNP members had with "the Jews" was "insane and politically disastrous". In 2004, the party selected a Jewish candidate, Pat Richardson, to stand for it during local council elections, something Tyndall lambasted as a "gimmick". References to Jews in BNP literature were often coded to hide the party's electorally unpalatable anti-Semitic ideas. For instance, the term "Zionists" was often used in party literature as a euphemism for "Jews". As noted by Macklin, Griffin still framed many of his arguments "within the parameters of recognizably anti-Semitic discourse". The BNP's literature is replete with references to a conspiratorial group who have sought to suppress nationalist sentiment among the British population, who have encouraged immigration and mixed-race relationships, and who are promoting the Islamification of the country. This group is likely a reference to the Jews, being an old fascist canard.

Sectors of the extreme-right were highly critical of Griffin's softening on the subject of the Jews, claiming that he had "sold out" to the 'Zionist Occupied Government'. In 2006, John Bean, editor of Identity, included an article in which he reassured BNP members that the party had not "sold out to the Jews" or "embraced Zionism" but that it remained "committed to fighting ... subversive Jews".^[205] Under Griffin, the BNP's website linked to other web pages that explicitly portrayed immigration as part of a Jewish conspiracy,^[206] while it also sold books that promoted Holocaust denial. In 2004, secretly filmed footage was captured in which Griffin was seen claiming that "the Jews simply bought the West, in terms of press and so on, for their own political ends".

Hmm I wonder how many of these lies some of the marks here fell for?

Fact check: Eight ways Elon Musk has misled Americans about government spending | CNN Politics

I know the condom one probably got a few of the marks.

Z, you really need to stop making accounts.

Oh, I see. They don't identify as nazis, but it's your interpretation of the party based on your own pre-conceived notions and applying a blanket moniker to it. That's a common labeling mechanism of the modern era though, so I don't blame you for it. How did the party flop though?

*crickets*

Kinda view China as like the Palpatine of countries, they sit and wait patiently and think about what they are going to do as they watch. 6d Chess.

America is now like Anakin throwing a fit about how it's not fair, outrageous and how they can be the most powerful something something ever.

Most of life skills derive from this movie.

@uninspiredcup: I'll admit, those references go over my head.

Interested to see how Merz works out. Just read he proposed conscription in the past. Bold move, and curious to see whether he gets it through. That would be bound to affect how his nation appraises potential conflict situations in future.

I think nowadays that stuff is really hard to get through in Western countries.

Ukriane is adopting a model SK, since NK is a threat, everything does their stint in army. Which makes total sense in the case with UKR. Have everything humanly possible prepared.

But other countries, hmm.. harder sell, we are so use to being comfy and safe, lot's of Europe countries love to complain about how it's all shit and we live in 1984, but in reality we are comfy and comfort ultimately makes people complacent.

Which you can argue is what happened with Nato.

-

Just found out about this as well which is really cool, Patriots are incredibly expensive so they will make knockoff ones cheaper.

https://ukrainetoday.org/ukraine-is-working-on-creating-its-own-analogue-of-the-patriot-system-zelensky/

Also the largest drone manufacturer in the world as well.

About 30% of the stuff they use now is internally made.

As the quote says, necessity is the mother of invention

Stuff like this is why they would be the best army for Europe.

@johndoh: As an independent voter, if the next President happens to be a Democrat and does a good job of it, by all means. Just remember why the US voted for Trump in the first place.

I was missed here? Well, it was a pleasure to post something that's not gloom and doom😁👌

Trump won because of people that are clueless actually.

Good start.

Achieving independence from the United States is a priority. The United States is relatively indifferent to the future of Ukraine, — Friedrich Merz.

Most people voted for Trump to fix inflation, which was caused primary from Covid and was world wide. So far it looks like he is doing the opposite and directly making it worse,

Consumer confidence dips in Trump's first month as tariff threats drive fears

'It’s very straightforward': Acer plans to raise the price of its PCs in the US by 10% in reaction to Trump's tech tariffs | PC Gamer

Is that based on the Lacks Justified Sources method?

That's some catty sass, Stevo.

Yep, good start...for the world. I wonder how long it will take until everyone realizes they don't need the US.

I propose we bus 🚌 all our jobless and homeless to the place of work of those who are responsible.

I wonder how long until they get tired of Elons bullshit and finally chuck him out.

According to polling he is greatly disliked by Americans. Most people would be in the background quiet, not him, a narcissist who must be in front of the public at all times.

The upside, he helped a far right-wing party fail, sure Germany's thankful.

@Stevo_the_gamer: You can believe in whatever narrative you want if it makes you feel better. I really don't see a point arguing with you on a narrative you are obviously quite invested in.

I see your antagonization and I shall raise you kindness. 😊

@uninspiredcup: Yup, Elon Musk is a terrible person but...

His unpopularity, especially here in europe helped the far right Völkisch Nationalist (the thing the Nazis believed in) lose, so he has that going for him.

Today, Sweden can announce new air defense systems worth 1,2 billion SEK coming to through package 18. It includes among other things the new anti-air system TRIDON Mk2. It can help defend against drones, cruise missiles, aircrafts and armored vehicles. (1/3)

2024, don't think it's ever been used on the field before.

It's pretty Swedish looking.

https://www.baesystems.com/en/product/tridon-mk2

https://ukdefencejournal.org.uk/bae-tridon-mk2-anti-air-system-to-make-debut/

Yup, that looks really swedish!

I said it before and I say it again. The current Swedish government has a LOT of problems, but their support for Ukraine aint one of them.

Polling suggests that the Red-Greens are likely to form a majority next election. So I hope either Ulf Kristersson steps up his game, or the inevitable Red-Green coalition keeps up the military spending and support for Ukraine.

We should all bet on when will Trump publicly fire Elmo.

So instead of voting a package or what not, the countries seem to be sending over stuff separately to avoid pissing about or bureaucracy.

They are releasing the billions of frozen Russian funds to them as well. Hopefully of all it.

Breaking: Canada will provide Ukraine with 25 LAV III infantry fighting vehicles, 4 F-16 trainers, ammunition and$5 billion in frozen Russian assets. The latter is a game changer if the trend spreads to the EU...

Well, apologies if you can't watch in your region, but man I'm so glad John Oliver is back. Recent piece on content moderation on Facebook, also mentioning Zuck chumming it up with Trump:

It gets worse.

Apparently they've edited that mineral deal for a third time, and it's supposidly no longer a scam. Think they should not sign anything, even if it's now acceptable, America cannot be trusted at all under Trump.

The United States just voted alongside Russia against a Ukrainian amendment in the United Nations General Assembly, which called for the withdrawal of Russian troops from Ukraine. The United States is now actively supporting Russia's occupation of Ukrainian territory.

Who is the community manager for this site?

MAGA traitors are the post cold-war plot twist no one saw coming.

They're going to be burnt by Trump's policy, maybe harder because red states are less wealthy than blue states and rely on more federal funding which is going away.

@mrbojangles25: Don't feed.

It's like he read my posts in this thread 😝. No, but it's an obvious conclusion. It's been 80 years. It's time for us Europeans to get out of the basement and become independent.

Very good take by Zakaria (he is usually very good imo):

He points out how it for a long time has been a US policy to stop territorial conquest and that has been a very succesful idea. He also discusses Trump's dealing with Ukraine his first turn and how that may influence him now.

Key quote: "It's true that Trump has found a lightning fast way to end the war: surrender"

One thing I think Euroean leaders and those in US supporting Ukraine should talk about much more is Ronald Reagan. Allthough history is always murky, as I understand it Reagan kept the economic pressure on the Soviets, by for example large military projects, and did not give an inch. Eventually the Soviet Union collapsed (i'm sure reality is far more complicated).

Anyway the contrast between Trump and Reagan is stark. By mentioning Reagan a lot perhaps it is possible to sow division among the GOP. That would put pressure on them and on Trump. What does the man with the world's biggest ego want his legacy to be?

@Sushiglutton: I was watching this guy (who's very good), and it doesn't even make sense even in the context of America.

Basically what he says is, almost no Americans trust Putin, like none, it's like 2%.

And as an economy, Europe is far superior to Russia.

Even Republicans, the vast majority barring the head cases support Ukraine.

So there is like no logical reason to these actions where it's beneficial.

Their is theory he's trying to coax Russia away from China, at the expense of everyone else but this would be stupidly misguided.

Also more conspiratorial stuff that Russia has something on him.

This was also something I read that was interesting, this is currently the third iteration of his mineral "deal".

https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/europe/ukraine-trump-zelensky-rare-earth-minerals-stefanishyna-b2703587.html

Basically, they are viewing him as a giant man-baby. Stroking his ego to manipulate him.

But that's more just a theory opinion piece.

All indicators seem to be that Europe plan to ignore USA, and try to beef up Ukraine as much as possible while Russia itself is dwindling.

For example when this war started, when it came to shells, it was 1 to 7+ on Russia' end. As pointed out by a general today, they have parity. That massive advantage has dissipated through time.

We stated before, the EU actually lacks military power but what it has over Russia is wealth, alongside billions of their own money frozen.

Trump wants to reset everything, get Russia back to 100%. It just doesn't make sense.

You can submit a "ticket" via the "help" hyperlink at the bottom of the page within the site footer. :)

Is that a no, tho? What's your source on that? Is it a...lacking justifiable source?

@mrbojangles25 said:

@Stevo_the_gamer said:

Is that based on the Lacks Justified Sources method?

That's some catty sass, Stevo.

Trademark is pending!

Which narrative though? lol I'm more than happy to agree to disagree.

@uninspiredcup:

Many of our countries have GDPs per capita several times Russia. What has always been holding europe back here is the lack of action. On a side note I hope something comes out of this.

@Stevo_the_gamer: For one, Your continous assertion that people are obsessed, despite continous evidence to the contrary.

Not even going to touch the topic related to the importance of expertise and education. Let's just agree to disagree on that one.

@uninspiredcup: "Toddler management" 😅

I think we will find out a lot of what's what in the next two weeks. Will Zelensky sign some form of a mineral deal? My bet is yes, but a much more balanced version I hope.

It may be that if we just kept pushing the west could break Russia. But it is backed by China, which has deep pockets. It could take years of grueling war. It's easy to sit here and support that, but when you see the horrible conditions at the frontline, it is a nighmare that I don't wish anyone. And there is of course not without risk to push a nuclear power to the brink of collapse.

So I don't think the Biden approach to just keep status quo until Russia collapses financially is that great either.

I watched some of the meeting between Macron and Trump and I thought it was pretty positive. Macron and Trump have a pretty funny chemistry. Trump claims he asked Putin about European peace keeping troops, which he accepted (?).

And who else can fact check Trump and make him smile 😁. Very nicely done by Macron

I feel a bit more optimistic than I did last week. Maybe this can turn out okey in the end?

I think no one really imagined we'd have such a vindictive, petty little **** as a president who doesn't actively work for the benefit of all Americans and sees large swaths of them as the enemy.

@Sushiglutton: What hoping (and is unlikely) is that they are just trying to waste his time.

Macron visited him just now, and you only just need to read the body language.

He litterally fact checks him in 2 seconds, something nobody in the white house appears to be doing.

He's clueless, has no concept of goodwill.

https://x.com/NoLieWithBTC/status/1894101103278531010

https://x.com/igorsushko/status/1894098991589023748

https://x.com/ArtCandee/status/1894088684057641405

https://x.com/ArtCandee/status/1894102931961414031

UK prime minister is coming to suck up, but I think Macron of France done a terrific job of picking him apart.

The Big Don is in a sulky mood today.

Presumably he exploded behind the scenes, and will declare war on France.

https://x.com/atrupar/status/1894120042049974503

Good on Macron for fact checking Trump.

Saw the video of Macron interrupting the orange traitor saying that first we should help Ukraine and then Russia should be the one paying for the damages as they are the aggressor. That piece of human garbage just sat there as if he was ready to be put out of his misery.

There will never be a concensus in Europe as states are much more autonomous than in the US but I hope this act of betrayal is the beginning of a new Europe. Not that I'm very optimistic about the future, because Europe's dependence of the US was both key for America's hegemony and the long lasting lack of large-scale conflicts. But it is what it is, people voted for a megalomaniac sociopat fully knowing what they were voting for. Hopefully their support for a war criminal and complicity with the pillaging of a war-torn ally will finally get egg prices to drop.

Im gonna leave this here for the shits and giggles lol

EU offers its own ‘win-win’ minerals deal to Ukraine

“The added value Europe offers is that we will never demand a deal that’s not mutually beneficial,” top official Stéphane Séjourné says.

February 25, 2025 3:59 am

The European Union offered its own agreement on "critical materials" to Ukraine on Monday, just as U.S. President Donald Trump claimed Washington was close to inking a deal with Kyiv for the rights to its vast natural resources.

Europe's Commissioner for Industrial Strategy Stéphane Séjourné said he'd pitched the rival proposal to Ukrainian officials he met in Kyiv during a visit by the European Commission to mark the third anniversary of Russia’s full-scale invasion.

"Twenty-one of the 30 critical materials Europe needs can be provided by Ukraine in a win-win partnership," Séjourné said, according to AFP.

And he noted pointedly: "The added value Europe offers is that we will never demand a deal that's not mutually beneficial."

Trump has made increasingly aggressive overtures toward Ukraine for the rights to its mineral riches, demanding as much as $500 billion in compensation for Washington's support for Kyiv in fending off Moscow’s invasion.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has so far refused to sign two draft agreements proposed by the Trump's administration, saying the terms — which the New York Times reported included Kyiv giving up minerals, oil and gas revenues, plus earnings from ports and other infrastructure to the tune of $500 billion — were too harsh.

“I will not sign what 10 generations of Ukrainians will have to pay back,” Zelenskyy said at a press conference Sunday.

But Trump insisted Monday that a “final deal” is “very close” and that it will include "rare earths and various other things.”

Ukraine holds huge deposits of critical elements and minerals, from lithium to titanium, which are vital to manufacturing modern technologies and highly coveted in the global race for resources.

It also has vast coal reserves, as well as oil, gas and uranium, but much of this is in territories under Russian control.

Buzzword.

How is US-Wokeism SoftPower? Looking at western countries, like Germany, it seems to rather erode power. Yes, humanitarian aid is vital to build good relations between nations, but since this is primarily against the out of control radical left ideologues...

Chinas Belt&Roads initiative is actually softpower, projecting real power, economic power. That's why Trump wanted the panama canal back in US hands. Nobody gives a crap about DEI in pakistan.

What are you people on? The economy was recovering quickly from the pandemic, but then "you guys" had to start a war with russia.

Russia’s invasion of Ukraine is severely setting back the global recovery and European economies are experiencing the greatest shockwaves of the conflict amid advanced economies

https://www.eurofi.net/wp-content/uploads/2022/12/the-eurofi-high-level-seminar_prague_ukraine-war-inflation-impacts_summary_september-2022.pdf

Ukraine war: US inflation reaches highest rate since 1981 as conflict pushes up energy prices

A key driver of inflation was fuel prices that surged after Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

https://news.sky.com/story/ukraine-war-us-inflation-reaches-highest-rate-since-1981-as-conflict-pushes-up-energy-prices-12588602

Russia's invasion of Ukraine has caused various political, humanitarian and economic crises around the world, and the economic consequences are now observed in the US, especially at gas stations. If the war continues, the United States will be prepared to resolve supply chain disruptions and limited resources (e.g. Wheat, oil, and natural gas) that could increase high inflation.

https://www.fortunejournals.com/articles/the-negative-impact-of-the-ukraine-war-on-the-us-economy.html

A big reason why large scale wars aren't happening anymore, because it is very expensive... for everybody. But sure, Trumps tariffs are the threat to the global economy, not the most devastating war fought futilely in Europe since WW2.

What gives you that idea? Do you have any proof? AfD reached a historic high - and they're celebrating it -, doubling the votes from the last Bundestagswahl (election) four years ago, quadroupling it within 12 years, while CDU and SPD lost significantly. What do you think, what will be in four years? Considering that "you guys" want to keep the bloodshed going, Germany - after three years of recession - will have to let in more refugees - burdening the social security system even more, including more abuse of social security - and then nations are required to bump their military budgets - and help Ukraine (they are already knocking again, demanding 80 billion from the new german government) - and economies wrecked... Where do you think your warmongering is going to end?

Btw. are you saying if Elon wasn't, Trump could ve beaten the democrats even more severly?

AfD made progress no doubt. But after all the hype I heard from other people say the were going to sweep. This aint it.

More importantly, it is VERY unlikely that the CDU will cooperate with them.

A pyrrhic victory is still a victory.

They had the support of the US government and Elon Musk with his huge following interfering and still went bust.

Reminds me of this bit from Braveheart where they are cheering and their is like, 10 of them left while everyone is dead in the background.

Pyrrhicsannosaurus victory

On top of this, Trump was actually unable to distinguish the parties, cheering the one actively saying, "let's get away from America"

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/other/trump-claims-german-election-results-vindicate-his-agenda-even-as-the-country-s-next-leader-breaks-away/ar-AA1zGelE

The sign of great leader, someone completely qualified for the job, no doubt.

@uninspiredcup: Also note that the AfD who are very much pro-Putin, may end up seeing significant losses if Europe Mobilizes against Russia. Which, with the US dropping support for Ukraine, we may likely see. As europeans mobilize to pick up the slack.

Some fairly bold claims from - President, Kyiv School of Economics; Minister of economy, Ukraine, 2019-2020; Associate professor, University of Pittsburgh

Though the problem with his argument is that main weapons that currently exist, are entirely dependent on American made.

And China itself, helped Russia, and is a (paper tiger) ally. But you can also argue Europe helped Russia by purchasing oil for years knowing it was a threat, which a lot of people ignore, and indeed Donald Trump 1st term complained about.

But China production rate and pricing from what i've read stomps on America.

And potentially China could make quite abit of money in rebuilding Ukraine as has established itself as construction and infrastructure development

But IDK. It would be ironic if Americas attempt at exploited resulted in such a bizarre scenario that they were ultimately booted out entirely of the conversation.

Seems very very unlikely to me, but he's the one with the big brain titles.

China - next! The EU is offering Ukraine a critical materials deal. If it’s serious, Ukraine could walk away from the U.S. offer. Unlike Washington, Brussels and London back Ukraine on security, and are willing to increase their support 1/

If this is a coordinated message to the U.S., it signals a bolder, more assertive EU and aligns Ukraine with the EU firmly The EU, I hear, start looking for ways to engage China, without the U.S. 2/

At the very least, I think, the EU should be buying some weapons or its inputs from China not the US. The U.S. won’t benefit, the EU will get more for its every Euro, and becomes more diversified. 3/

It will be pathetic if the end result of the Trump hardcore stance towards Ukraine and Europe will be that the U.S. lost the EU and U.K. as partners and pushed them away to China. I think we are far away from that outcome, but definitely moving in that direction 4X