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Trump skips FBI background checks for controversial cabinet picks,
challenging security clearance legality
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2024/nov/15/trump-cabinet-fbi-bac...
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|u/PacmanIncarnate - 21 hours
|
|I don’t get this. Trump isn’t the president right now. The FBI should
|definitely be running background checks on these people and there isn’t
|anything Trump has to say about that for a month.


  |u/-Raskyl - 21 hours
  |
  |Doesn't matter, last time around he forced people into positions even
  |after the background checks were run and they were found to be threats
  |and the fbi refused to ok them. *cough cough* Jared kushner *cough
  |cough*.  This time he has the supreme court granting him presidential
  |immunity for anything he calls an "official act", the congress and the
  |senate backing him up, has threatened to send the military after
  |people that come out against him, and said he thinks anyone that
  |criticizes a judge should be jailed, and an established precedent that
  |the background checks don't matter, he can just tell them to do it
  |anyway. No one is going to fight him on this because they know they
  |will get fired. And they won't win anyway.  Welcome to putins america,
  |this is only the beginning baby steps. The real scary shit will start
  |after he's actually in office.


    |u/81jmfk - 21 hours
    |
    |We’ve been told for years that the walls were closing in on him and
    |nothing happened. He had all those felony convictions and nothing
    |happened. Why would anyone be surprised he’s breaking rules and laws
    |and still nothing happens.


      |u/TertlFace - 21 hours
      |
      |I find the breathless gasps about “but but but THE LAW…” to be
      |disingenuous at best; outright stupid otherwise. He has never
      |faced consequences for anything. Now he has the SC and blanket
      |immunity. Lawsuits take years. He’s going to do whatever he wants
      |and laugh while lawyers file briefs as trucks full of people are
      |hauled away. He’s already proven that our institutions are *not*
      |resilient and able to check power. They will be even less so now.


        |u/81jmfk - 20 hours
        |
        |Like Elizabeth Warren complaining about Trump not signing the
        |ethics agreement. What’s the consequences?


          |u/TheConnASSeur - 19 hours
          |
          |Oh, you're going to make those millionaires so *mad* that
          |they're going to loudly *complain about it* and ask you for
          |more money while they debate about how bad that thing those
          |*other millionaires* did was. Also, it's literally the end of
          |world, but apparently not serious enough for them to be
          |*impolite* at this imaginary tea party we call congress. But
          |it's the fight of our lives! That they'll maybe get to after
          |brunch if the country club isn't too busy.    Our laws are all
          |imaginary. They cease to mean anything at all when not
          |enforced.


            |u/-boatsNhoes - 18 hours
            |
            |Eventually totalitarianism turns to mob rule when the plebs
            |rebel against elites.... At least we have that to look
            |forward to.


              |u/Thundermedic - 11 hours
              |
              |We are getting there. I’m curious to see exactly what
              |product the trump orange “fuckmoi” 2.0 exe will catalyze.
              |A pandemic saved him, gave him an excuse for just what
              |shitty decisions he made. It’s all under a microscope this
              |time, but he got smarter or at least followed a direction
              |because he knows to have other execute his plan this time.
              |He will be efficient this time in dismantling his foes….no
              |one will be left.   Thoughts and prayers.


              |u/DOMesticBRAT - 16 hours
              |
              |The elites have the entire U.S. military. There will never
              |be mob rule.


                |u/Angryg8tor - 15 hours
                |
                |The "Elites" are not the ones who serve in the military!


                |u/PassiveMenis88M - 15 hours
                |
                |You do realize the US military is not a monolith? The
                |elites don't own it, the volunteers do.


            |u/OPaddict69 - 16 hours
            |
            |well the laws are certainly enforced, just not against the
            |big wigs. We wouldnt have private prisons if the laws werent
            |enforced.


              |u/Tall_Play - 15 hours
              |
              |“Codes” are being enforced, the laws are just window
              |dressing


          |u/Hector_P_Catt - 13 hours
          |
          |What I don't get is, why doesn't he just sign that, and then
          |ignore it? It's not like an "ethics agreement" is going to
          |make him have actual ethics, after all.


          |u/Gone213 - 20 hours
          |
          |Nothing, her just bitching about it on twitter


            |u/Spiritual-Fix-4188 - 18 hours
            |
            |What do you want her to do? The Democrats only have the
            |power that the American people give them at the polls.


              |u/Gortex_Possum - 16 hours
              |
              |Dude, I don't know. But it's also not my job to come up
              |with strategy.   Republicans are so creative with how they
              |execute their agenda. Even when they don't have the votes
              |they are still trying things to see what works. Hundreds
              |and hundreds of bogus lawsuits every year go through the
              |court system specifically to see what they can get away
              |with. The Republicans never stop playing offense even when
              |they are the minority party and it pays off in the long
              |run for them.   If each political party was a burglar
              |trying to rob a house, the Republicans would be the guy to
              |check the front door, then the garage, then the windows,
              |then the chimney ect.    The Democrats would try to open
              |the front door, see that it's locked, then give up and
              |complain that they don't have enough money to rob the
              |house.


              |u/_thenational - 17 hours
              |
              |its so weird that whenever democrats are in power they sit
              |by helplessly complaining about republicans obstructing
              |them and then when republicans are in power they ignore
              |anything stopping them and multiply their power tenfold
              |dems played by a rulebook that no longer exists, and we
              |lost america because of it. trump wouldn't have been
              |stopped by half the shit biden was. we whine and complain
              |about an ineffective appointee in biden's administration
              |only to get told it'd be unethical or illegal to fire
              |them, meanwhile trump's entire government got fired at
              |least once during his presidency. if gaetz turns out to be
              |dead weight like garland do we really believe trump will
              |hesitate to fire him? oh wait, he already fired jeff
              |sessions so we don't even need to ask that question.
              |biden's presidency was 4 years of cowardice and millions
              |of people who cared 4 years ago are now apathetic and
              |hopeless because of it, and that's why they didn't bother
              |voting


                |u/inuvash255 - 17 hours
                |
                |on one hand, we shouldn't want our politicians to break
                |every rule to secure power  on the other hand, libs are
                |weak as fuck


                |u/AdItchy4438 - 17 hours
                |
                |This. The rulebook that the impeachers used against
                |Trump was thrown away long ago by Newt Gingrich and his
                |political descendants, esp Mitch McConnell


                |u/Gortex_Possum - 16 hours
                |
                |It's plain as day. Establishment Democrats are the
                |gatekeepers of progressive policy making, you have to go
                |through their bureaucracy if you want to be a
                |progressive lawmaker.   Except they keep allowing
                |themselves to be sabotaged again and again. Every looked
                |at that and concluded that the whole house has to come
                |down before we can get anything done again.


                  |u/After-Imagination-96 - 14 hours
                  |
                  |It's a 2 man con. With few exceptions every politician
                  |in DC wants what the GOP wants. 


              |u/Gone213 - 18 hours
              |
              |Supreme court gave biden carte Blanche to do whatever the
              |hell he wants to do.


                |u/roklpolgl - 18 hours
                |
                |Nah they ruled they decide what counts as an official
                |act.   Biden unlawful actions will be unofficial so
                |unprotected.   Trump’s unlawful actions will be official
                |acts and protected.   The experiment has failed.


                  |u/Prophet_Of_Loss - 18 hours
                  |
                  |Bingo. They purposely left 'official act' undefined.


                |u/Guuhatsu - 18 hours
                |
                |What?  Like seriously, what?  Was Biden in your comment
                |a typo, and you meant trump?


        |u/Gortex_Possum - 20 hours
        |
        |Seriously, he is the law now. The time to get serious about law
        |enforcement was years ago. 


        |u/_chococat_ - 11 hours
        |
        |I foresee the return of vigilante justice.


        |u/lou_sassoles - 6 hours
        |
        |He’s rich. He gets little fines for fraud and money laundering
        |his whole life.


      |u/DocJawbone - 20 hours
      |
      |I remember comforting myself with the idea that the teeth of
      |justice grind slow but grind fine.   Nope


        |u/gmishaolem - 19 hours
        |
        |What you forgot is that it's just you and me in the grinder.


          |u/DocJawbone - 18 hours
          |
          |Apparently so


      |u/Jackleme - 17 hours
      |
      |I blame Garland completely.  I feel like Jack Smith and his team
      |did everything they could with the time and challenges they had.
      |If he had been appointed in 2021.... I really think this would be
      |a different story.


      |u/Exciting-Delivery-96 - 19 hours
      |
      |The American people wanted this. He won. Now they get to see what
      |hell they brought upon this country.  Doesn’t matter, they’ll
      |still blame immigrants and the poor.


        |u/Unhappy-Farmer8627 - 18 hours
        |
        |27 percent of our eligible population voted in this election,
        |less than half of that elected trump. Less than 10 percent of
        |our population voted for him.  Put 100 people in a room, 7 of
        |them are going to be absolute fucking morons. While I don’t
        |think everyone who voted for him is dumb, the majority of them
        |are. Russia Saudi Arabia and China convinced like 8 percent of
        |our population to vote for this buffoon. I entirely blame Rupert
        |Murdoch for normalizing this bullshit on fox. How pathetic does
        |that make the democratic campaign though. They are even less
        |popular and more out of touch than a literal kremlin implant.
        |Russia just won the Cold War folks.


          |u/BadHombre2016 - 18 hours
          |
          |Trump received 76M votes. So you’re saying the US has a
          |population of 760M people?


            |u/syates21 - 17 hours
            |
            |Pretty funny for them to rant about dumb people while
            |projecting some serious innumeracy.


          |u/CyberInTheMembrane - 17 hours
          |
          |> 27 percent of our eligible population voted in this election
          |150 million votes have been counted, and the total population
          |of the USA is 335 million.  So according to you, 45% of the
          |total population = 27% of the eligible population.   Can you
          |expand on the math behind that? It's sure to be fascinating.


            |u/RecommendationSlow16 - 16 hours
            |
            |They also said "27% of the ELIGIBLE population"  Not sure
            |how many eligible voters there are, but it's probably less
            |than 300 million so more than 50% of eligible voters voted,
            |at least.


          |u/drewcandraw - 15 hours
          |
          |Trump won a slim majority of the popular vote. He picked up
          |~3M votes from his 2020 total, and Harris’ total was down ~15M
          |from Biden’s in 2020.  The Republicans were able to energize
          |their voters and Democratic voters either flipped or sat out.


            |u/Grimalkkin - 13 hours
            |
            |About 258mil people (as of 2021 consensus) are eligible to
            |vote or are at least 18yrs of age. However, only
            |approximately 150mil people voted and 76mil of those votes
            |went to Trump. This means that ~28% of the adult population
            |voted for Trump. I think that’s where their 27% number came
            |from.


          |u/fakemoose - 11 hours
          |
          |64% of the eligible voting population voted this past
          |election. Did you get the numbers backwards?


      |u/OneBillPhil - 20 hours
      |
      |IMO he has a mandate to break the rules. Nothing about Trump was
      |secret, the voters gave him three levels of government. 


      |u/bloodontherisers - 20 hours
      |
      |I think that is one of the reasons why people didn't show up to
      |vote, the sheer fact that he was the candidate again made them
      |feel like they had already lost, nothing mattered anymore and they
      |just gave up. That was the Democrats biggest failing the last 4
      |years was not holding Trump accountable, for fighting limp-wristed
      |and half-hearted. Obviously there were plenty of other reasons as
      |well, but I think that is something that is not being talked
      |about.


        |u/Dramatic-Heat-719 - 19 hours
        |
        |Merrick Garland is going to go down in history as being the king
        |of the candyasses.  The guy was more interested in appearing
        |neutral and apolitical that he didn’t do jack shit and he
        |deserves every smear he gets at this point. 


          |u/gmishaolem - 17 hours
          |
          |> The guy was more interested in appearing neutral and
          |apolitical   But that's exactly why both Obama and Biden
          |pushed for him: He was a placation. Biden especially is Mr.
          |Reach-Across-The-Aisle no matter what is happening on the
          |other side of the aisle. He's doing exactly what he was put in
          |to do; He just isn't doing all the other things he *should* be
          |doing.


            |u/justsikko - 15 hours
            |
            |I mean the guy was friends with Strom Thurmond. Anyone who
            |expected him to be anything other than the guy who wants to
            |befriend republicans was fooling themselves.


        |u/Hopsblues - 17 hours
        |
        |Media as well. people just pretended he didn't say and do the
        |shit he did. Thought he would go away. They miscalculated big
        |time. He should be in prison, instead he is potus and Putin
        |puppet.


        |u/janethefish - 15 hours
        |
        |At a minimum he should have gotten the same treatment other
        |leakers got.  He should have been in jail not on the campaign
        |trail. Yes maybe SCOTUS would have ratfucked it anyway, but it's
        |like they barely tried.


      |u/Royal_Bitch_Pudding - 20 hours
      |
      |Nothing is going to happen until the people are uncomfortable
      |enough


        |u/stinky_wizzleteet - 20 hours
        |
        |Bread and Circuses


        |u/kim_bong_un - 20 hours
        |
        |Well. 2 people got uncomfortable enough.


        |u/bobolly - 12 hours
        |
        |How many people have to be uncomfortable for things to be not ok
        |and corrected??


          |u/Royal_Bitch_Pudding - 12 hours
          |
          |A lot


        |u/Arfuuur - 18 hours
        |
        |guillotine


          |u/Royal_Bitch_Pudding - 13 hours
          |
          |That tends to be the natural progression unless they learn
          |their lesson in time.


      |u/Jffar - 19 hours
      |
      |Because it was all a setup. Biden hired a Republican member of the
      |Federalist society (traitorous group of thieves) to lead the DOJ.
      |Gaetz really isn't too different.


      |u/Few-Mind-1918 - 18 hours
      |
      |Just like the slap, it's all an act.


      |u/C00ke1896 - 15 hours
      |
      |He could rape and kill a woman live on TV and probably nothing
      |would happen.


    |u/jscarry - 19 hours
    |
    |"He thinks anyone who criticises a judge should be jailed"   That's
    |REAL fucking rich coming from him. I'm assuming that just doesn't
    |apply to him criticizing every single fucking judge he's ever been
    |in front of


      |u/Unhappy-Farmer8627 - 18 hours
      |
      |Trumps critique of media isn’t that media is biased. It’s that
      |it’s criticizing him and he doesn’t like that. He wants state run
      |media. He posted a video about it on his website. People in
      |America actually voted for someone who openly and loudly is
      |advocating for state run media like we are fucking North Korea. So
      |much for free speech. Between him and Elon. I don’t know who’s got
      |a worse track record. Elon constantly suspends and bans accounts
      |that mock him or he disagrees with but is totally cool with actual
      |natzis on it.


    |u/ThunderChild247 - 19 hours
    |
    |This might be one of the worst aspects of this kind of behaviour.
    |This is Putin’s victory. He’s spent years trying to destabilise
    |western democracies with the goal being to be able to say to
    |Russians “look how unstable democracy is, aren’t you glad you’ve got
    |me?”  He now has a president of the bastion of democracy, granted
    |effectively supreme power by the court, ignoring security concerns,
    |putting a suspected peadophile in charge of justice, a anti-vax
    |roadkill eater in charge of health, an accused foreign agent in
    |charge of intelligence and a TV host in charge of the military.
    |Whatever happens with Ukraine, Putin may well have already won the
    |war he’s been waging since he took power. He can point at America
    |and say “Democracy is a joke, freedom is chaos, stick with me.”


      |u/EagleOfMay - 18 hours
      |
      |It is the argument that the Chinese use all the time also.   I've
      |had multiple conversations with Chinese students who say that a
      |free press is a destabilizing influence and China is better run.
      |Yes, the wealthy buy food from different places that the poor
      |because you can't trust the food supply in China due to
      |corruption.   Being wealthy, that is a price they are willing to
      |pay.


      |u/RiffRaffCatillacCat - 16 hours
      |
      |Putin won because the GOP are willing co-conspirators in the
      |dismantling of American Democracy.


      |u/Hopsblues - 17 hours
      |
      |Bingo..we have today's winning post of the day. cheers!


    |u/Miatrouble - 21 hours
    |
    |Soon we will have our own political prisoners.  Oh wait!  That’s
    |like Cuba. We are going to be the new Cuba.


      |u/BMFDub - 20 hours
      |
      |Do we get the cool stuff like socialized medicine too?


        |u/FloridaMJ420 - 20 hours
        |
        |Nope, just the gulags!


    |u/Natty4Life420Blazeit - 19 hours
    |
    |Serious question - at the time why would Kushner have been
    |considered a threat?


      |u/Unhappy-Farmer8627 - 18 hours
      |
      |There’s obvious compromising information out there. A lot of what
      |the security clearance does is weeds through easy to find issues
      |someone might have that can be used against them. It can be
      |something seemingly innocent like lying about smoking weed. Then
      |all of a sudden a foreign government has that information and uses
      |it against you.   In this specific case I remember something
      |financial tying him to Saudis or something along those lines with
      |his father being a massive conflict of interest. Per usual trump
      |pushed it through. Kushner netted 200b or something like that
      |during trumps presidency. Totally normal. Thank god we don’t have
      |Kamala.


      |u/pathofdumbasses - 18 hours
      |
      |Assuming you are asking an honest question, His personal and
      |family business dealings. Google Jared Kushners father and do some
      |reading.


  |u/werther595 - 21 hours
  |
  |Can Biden request background checks? Don't we do background checks on
  |memebrrs of Congress as standard operating procedure?


    |u/Lockhartking - 20 hours
    |
    |Trump himself would fail a background check as a felon. What's it
    |matter anymore?


      |u/Hopsblues - 17 hours
      |
      |McDonald's wouldn't hire him.


      |u/iambecomesoil - 17 hours
      |
      |Musk would fail one as someone in contact with people under
      |sanction by the US and a known user of federally illegal
      |narcotics.


        |u/Lockhartking - 16 hours
        |
        |There are soooo many reasons


      |u/merrill_swing_away - 1 hour
      |
      |I guess Trump feels that he would most certainly fail a background
      |check so why bother with the others. Also, the others could come
      |back and say why are you doing a background check on us when you
      |are a 34 times convicted felon????


    |u/IsaystoImIsays - 21 hours
    |
    |Standard procedures are out the window for at least 4 years, maybe
    |more.


      |u/Worthyness - 17 hours
      |
      |Standard security protocol has found to be too inefficient, so
      |they just scrapped them. Why clog up the system with stuff like
      |background checks? Just hire whoever you want!


      |u/AgUnityDD - 16 hours
      |
      |__Definitely__ More than 4 years, more like most people's
      |[shortened] lifetime.


    |u/Bottle_Only - 21 hours
    |
    |Your country is over dude. Move on and move out.


      |u/NormalUse856 - 20 hours
      |
      |I always thought the US was impenetrable and couldn’t be seized by
      |a authoritarian figure ever, because of all the Intelligence
      |agencies, Congress, Senate, Pentagon etc. Turns out that it wasn’t
      |that difficult after all.


        |u/Bottle_Only - 20 hours
        |
        |Turns out when you're rich and famous and somebody tells you
        |that you can't, just do it anyway. If they stay stop, just say
        |no, if they say that's illegal, just ignore them. Anything short
        |of physical intervention is meaningless to these people. Law and
        |order, dignity and respect, honor and class are just make-
        |believe concepts apparently.


          |u/unWildBill - 20 hours
          |
          |What other nations with nukes and tanks and millions of troops
          |couldn’t do for centuries…one old dullard with a bunch of
          |sycophants who hated gays could accomplish by simply asking to
          |speak to the Manager


            |u/Soylent_Milk2021 - 20 hours
            |
            |We’re too far away (think oceans) from everyone else for
            |tanks and troops to matter. The only thing that can get us
            |will be bombs.


              |u/unWildBill - 19 hours
              |
              |They worked pretty well when we went to them


                |u/Soylent_Milk2021 - 19 hours
                |
                |That was close to a century ago. The world has changed,
                |or did you just wake up from a 80 year coma?


                  |u/unWildBill - 19 hours
                  |
                  |Yes,how is Peleliu going?


                |u/Soylent_Milk2021 - 19 hours
                |
                |We’re both saying that Trump’s putting us at risk,
                |right?


            |u/cedped - 17 hours
            |
            |That's how big empires crumble. The Roman and Ottoman
            |empires for example lasted centuries and controlled a huge
            |portion of the old world and their downfall didn't come from
            |foreign invasion but from internal power struggle and
            |corruption.


          |u/Epyon_ - 19 hours
          |
          |They arn't make-believe concepts they are concepts for people
          |they dont like.


          |u/DoctorZacharySmith - 20 hours
          |
          |They are make believe concepts. Always have been.   They
          |depend solely on whether people agree to them.   The problem
          |is that when people refuse, there have to be ramifications
          |The Democratic Party is literally incapable of making the GOP
          |face ramifications.


            |u/Soylent_Milk2021 - 19 hours
            |
            |Without consequences, there aren’t any laws. Same goes for
            |morals and societal norms.


              |u/DoctorZacharySmith - 13 hours
              |
              |Some people have internal motivations for being moral. To
              |them, being moral is it’s own reward.   They are always
              |the minority.


          |u/DonkeyTron42 - 18 hours
          |
          |I pin this on the corporate media.  Trump in power doing crazy
          |shit means big ratings so they did everything they could to
          |make sure he returned.


          |u/jasonbt751 - 20 hours
          |
          |That's why our constitution grants physical intervention when
          |tyranny raises its head. I'm against violence, but there are
          |plenty of crazies that will head that way if pushed too far on
          |both sides.  I believe America will be pushed to its limits,
          |and it will be up to the people to decide if a few dbags can
          |change the American experiment or not. Will we be idle and
          |allow our freedoms to be taken, or will we stand and fight for
          |our rights.


            |u/Lockhartking - 20 hours
            |
            |The republicans being in complete control of the government
            |have already said they plan on a constitutional convention
            |to completely rewrite the constitution... America is at its
            |limit now and come January it will be way past it.  This
            |will be the downfall of America and the rest of the world is
            |already hoping for that.


        |u/CCG14 - 19 hours
        |
        |There was a paper written in the 80s iirc by a Russian who said
        |you have to divide us from the inside and then conquer us. 
        |Well, what seems to be happening here?   It’s annoying to see
        |it, know it, and watch others vote for it. 


          |u/Thin-Professional379 - 19 hours
          |
          |Foundations of Geopolitics by Aleksandr Dugin.  His reaction
          |to the election: "We have won."


            |u/CCG14 - 19 hours
            |
            |That’s the one! Thank you!   Haven’t had my coffee yet. ☕️ I
            |was up way too late binging Andor. 🙃 oh the similarities. 


              |u/PejHod - 17 hours
              |
              |Painfully true. Love Andor!


        |u/Muffin_Appropriate - 19 hours
        |
        |You always start be defunding education. republicans started
        |doing that 50 years ago.  It was difficult. You just weren’t
        |paying attention


        |u/wirefox1 - 20 hours
        |
        |Doing away with the three tiers of government which was our
        |system of checks and balances was the final blow.


          |u/Muffin_Appropriate - 19 hours
          |
          |Defunding education was the first. If you were voting
          |republicans the past 50 years this is what you were doing.


            |u/wirefox1 - 19 hours
            |
            |I understand, but that hasn't happened yet (but now it's as
            |good as done).   They've been working on the dismantling
            |checks and balances since Bush, at least, and they've
            |accomplished it first.  Just saying.  It opens the door to
            |finish their goal of authoritarianism.


        |u/mrtomjones - 15 hours
        |
        |Turns out the US has let Russia and China destroy the cohesion
        |in its population through social media and the internet in
        |general. Much easier to do in a country like the US versus one
        |that rules like China or Russia do. Meanwhile both of them are
        |expanding their influence at ridiculous paces in Africa and
        |South America and other places. China just opened up a massive
        |port in Peru that is going to make them closer and avoid the US
        |for shipping


        |u/EduinBrutus - 18 hours
        |
        |Thats part of the lies you were told.  The bottom line is the Us
        |is a poor excuse for democracy and always has been.  Its shitty
        |outdated constitution is really being exposed now but the idea
        |it was every a decent democratic state is farcical.


        |u/Tex-Rob - 18 hours
        |
        |That line about fascism coming to the US wrapped in a flag and
        |holding a Bible couldn't have been more correct.


        |u/atropezones - 17 hours
        |
        |That's what shocks me. It not only was possible, it's looking to
        |be easy.


        |u/ITriedLightningTendr - 16 hours
        |
        |Where the hell did you get that idea


        |u/drunkshinobi - 13 hours
        |
        |A lot of people didn't. I had a lot of people tell my that this
        |type of stuff could never happen here. That our government, fbi,
        |cia, nsa, state laws, judges would all put a stop to it before
        |it ever got anywhere. This way of thinking made it easier for
        |them. The people sat by and waited for the government to protect
        |them. While the people in government that would have stopped it
        |were waiting to see if they had the support of the people to
        |take action. We should have been protesting and refusing to show
        |up for work on Jan 7th until the people responsible for Jan 6th
        |were held accountable.


        |u/ElectricalBook3 - 2 hours
        |
        |> I always thought the US was impenetrable and couldn’t be
        |seized by a authoritarian figure ever  Maybe not from without.
        |But it always had authoritarians within.
        |https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Business_Plot
        |https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eJ3RzGoQC4s


      |u/Hunter2222222222222 - 20 hours
      |
      |No one will take us.


      |u/Cultural-Sherbet-336 - 19 hours
      |
      |I prefer balkanization with the West Coast, great lakes regions,
      |and Northeast seceding.


      |u/HamunaHamunaHamuna - 18 hours
      |
      |I wonder how it feels like to be ruled over by criminals of a type
      |that even other criminals want to beat to death because they're so
      |awful. Pedophiles last longer in government than in prison in the
      |US.


      |u/cjthomp - 18 hours
      |
      |> and move out  Much harder to do than this throwaway phrase would
      |indicate.


      |u/Same-Cricket6277 - 18 hours
      |
      |Even falling apart id rather be in California than anywhere else
      |in the world. Thanks. 


    |u/Same_Recipe2729 - 20 hours
    |
    |He could, but congress doesn't need security clearance since they're
    |elected and his cabinet picks are all members of the executive
    |branch. Also since security clearance only exists as a function of
    |the executive branch and an executive order that was made by a
    |previous president, he'd be able to do whatever he wants with
    |security clearance as president since he's the head of the executive
    |branch.    https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Intelligenc
    |e_Community_Oversight#:~:text=Members%20of%20Congress%20are%20not,th
    |e%20need%2Dto%2Dknow.


      |u/mtaw - 13 hours
      |
      |I'm quite sure he can't. Certainly in the EU I know you can't -
      |background checks can only be done with the consent of he person
      |getting checked. Otherwise you have no legal basis to go
      |requesting their info, since they're not suspected of a crime or
      |anything.   Naturally if you refuse a check for a job that
      |requires it, they won't hire you. But as you say, nothing stops
      |the president from disregarding that since it's an executive-
      |branch rule and he governs the executive.


    |u/Chance_Fox_2296 - 18 hours
    |
    |Biden believes in "respect and decorum" even in the face of fascism.
    |That way, when the fascist are in control, Biden will pat himself on
    |the back for at least being "the last respectable" president. Good
    |things Biden has done aside, we have to remember this is still the
    |same dude who said Mr."literally shit his own pants while trying to
    |filibuster away civil rights" Strom Thurmond was a "good friend and
    |mentor" of his. He's a "reach across the aisle and shake hands with
    |a poop pants segregationist" *"bipartisan"* politician. He ain't
    |gonna do anything.


    |u/Battle_Fish - 16 hours
    |
    |I'm not sure what the standard procedure is but background checks
    |aren't required by the constitution.   The president can appoint
    |whoever he wants regardless of criminal background.   That person is
    |then approved by Congress and confirmed by the Senate.   Trump
    |doesn't need a criminal background check either. He can be a felon.
    |If you vote for him, that's on you. There's some restrictions on
    |age, must be born as an American, and not convicted of treason.
    |That's how politics goes.


      |u/arobkinca - 7 hours
      |
      |  > That person is then approved by Congress and confirmed by the
      |Senate.  Just the second part. The House has no say in
      |appointments.


    |u/John_T_Conover - 20 hours
    |
    |> Can Biden   I'm gonna go ahead and stop you right there. No, he
    |can't. He is spineless, doddering and stuck in trying to preserve
    |and play politics by the norms of 40 years ago.   There's a lot of
    |things the president could do now, especially with the SC decision
    |on presidential immunity, but Biden himself isn't capable of
    |swinging his dick around like that.


    |u/MischievousMollusk - 20 hours
    |
    |Biden doesn't do anything. He's unwilling to break the rules to save
    |the country he's so much a supposed patriot for so he'll just sit
    |out the last vestige of his presidency.


      |u/TheDamDog - 20 hours
      |
      |Not even rules, he's unwilling to break *decorum.*


      |u/MechanicalCookie25 - 19 hours
      |
      |Huge smile on his face welcoming Trump back to the White House.
      |Like huge smile


        |u/NihiloZero - 17 hours
        |
        |MAGA used to call Biden... "The Crypt Keeper."  But I never
        |really saw the resemblance until he sat there smiling with
        |Trump.


      |u/DoctorFenix - 19 hours
      |
      |I’m glad he’s going to sit home and eat popcorn while the country
      |crumbles.   I’m going to do the same thing.


  |u/interwebbed - 20 hours
  |
  |Nothing matters anymore, the law and justice is dead. He can and will
  |do anything he wants. We’re cooked tbh


  |u/kytheon - 19 hours
  |
  |Elon Musk just met with a UN envoy for Iran. It seems like they
  |already started their reign before anything official. And what do the
  |democrats do about it?


    |u/ghostwilliz - 6 hours
    |
    |They're going to "take the high road" or some stupid shit like that


  |u/Wooden-Frame2366 - 21 hours
  |
  |Exactly. WTF 🤬??


    |u/Gatorama - 19 hours
    |
    |This is why we always lose close elections. We appear as spineless
    |and toothless cowards. Come on Joe, do justice to the people who
    |voted for you.


      |u/justtakeapill - 18 hours
      |
      |Joe never even ordered Garland to do an investigation on Trump -
      |he's clueless. Until the Dems get some actual fighters who intend
      |on winning, I am done voting.


        |u/redbitumen - 14 hours
        |
        |So, your plan to not vote and just hope that dems start
        |fighting? lol classic lefty thought process


  |u/dre_bot - 18 hours
  |
  |People are suddenly surprised at how fascism works. Did you think
  |liberals were "overrating" or being hyperbolic calling him a fascist?
  |Now mfers pikachu shock face. There are no more rules, checks and
  |balances. In fact apparently, there never was. lol


  |u/Solid-Mud-8430 - 19 hours
  |
  |Where have you been for the last 8 years? Democrats will coddle
  |Republicans to no end out of fear of not wanting to come off as
  |"political." Anything they want, they get.   It's pretty much the main
  |reason a lot of their voter base didn't turn out for them. Why would
  |you go to bat for someone who has demonstrated they're not interested
  |in doing anything about this insanity?


  |u/I_PING_8-8-8-8 - 19 hours
  |
  |The FBI is with Trump, and the CIA and the NSA. And he will swap the
  |army around till every last leader is a loyalist. The Great Looting
  |will start. Protests will be squashed. The NSA with its new AI will
  |pro actively have homeland arrest people. Fear will reign. Tension
  |with China and Russia will be used as pretenser to make conscription
  |mandatory. Once there is nothing to loot in the US, they will invade
  |Canada and Mexico.


  |u/Mistform05 - 19 hours
  |
  |Democrats are cowards.


  |u/TheVog - 20 hours
  |
  |This should be one of those lightbulb moments for you and other
  |Americans who don't quite realize just how utterly fucked the U.S. is.
  |The last 8 years should have been a dead giveaway, but many remained
  |unconvinced for some reason. Time to wake up.


  |u/Busy-Dig8619 - 20 hours
  |
  |You have yo cooperate with standard background checks by providing a
  |shit-ton of information. Without cooperation they can investigate you,
  |but it won't be a background check... and depending on how you parse
  |it, could look like Biden ordering criminal investigations. 


    |u/DoctorFenix - 20 hours
    |
    |And this is why we’re here.   Democrats don’t want to seem like they
    |are attacking their adversaries, so Republicans are allowed to break
    |the law.   Meanwhile Republicans do not play by those same rules.
    |They investigate people openly without evidence or cause. And the
    |investigation itself is proof to other Republicans that someone did
    |something wrong.


      |u/William_d7 - 18 hours
      |
      |There’s a huge window of opportunity for a populist democrat to
      |start pull a McCarthy lite and start calling these people
      |communist stooges or something but everyone is too chickenshit. 


        |u/timmojo - 17 hours
        |
        |There's no shortage of politicians and media calling
        |republikkkans Russian assets. Accusations (or lack thereof)
        |aren't the problem. The problem is that the voting public has
        |shown repeatedly that they don't give a shit. That's the
        |difference between the McCarthy era and now -- the public cared
        |about Russian influence back then.


        |u/mlor - 17 hours
        |
        |I have been seriously asking for exactly this since the first
        |Trump administration.  As far as I can tell, I'm qualified as
        |hell:  * center-right growing up turned "radical" left because I
        |listen to people * no political experience to speak of other
        |than being class president (you bet I'll reference it as a
        |qualification) * old enough but not old as shit * huge asshole *
        |willing to call stupid shit "stupid shit" and dumbasses
        |"dumbasses" on national television * will say "I don't know, but
        |I'll fucking find out" when asked questions that I don't know
        |Obviously not me, but Jesus Christ find me a candidate that will
        |do this. How Trump doesn't get laughed at openly in interviews
        |and debates is beyond me.


  |u/Flush_Foot - 20 hours
  |
  |What makes it even… funnier?… to me is that it is still **his** FBI
  |Director!


  |u/El_Zapp - 20 hours
  |
  |Those people at the FBI are still humans who have families and
  |potentially need jobs. Trump is going to be the supreme leader come
  |January. People will keep their head down in hopes that the lightning
  |doesn’t hit them. The FBI is no different.


    |u/Lockhartking - 20 hours
    |
    |The efficiency team is going to eliminate the fbi altogether because
    |they are the ones that found all the classified at trumps house so
    |they must be corrupt.


      |u/CCG14 - 19 hours
      |
      |They’re also the ones who thwarted a plan by Iran to take Trumps
      |dome off but I’m sure Iran doesn’t really mean it. 


        |u/beren12 - 11 hours
        |
        |Shame they are so good at their jobs sometimes.


  |u/LordPennybag - 19 hours
  |
  |The FBI director was appointed by Trump to defend him and Biden didn't
  |want to look political.


  |u/Hemiak - 21 hours
  |
  |Should be is doing a lot of heavy lifting in your sentence.   I fully
  |agree.  These people should all be investigated (as usual). And a good
  |portion should probably be locked up.


    |u/TertlFace - 20 hours
    |
    |Merrick Garland *should* have pursued justice instead of deferring
    |to the please-don’t-hurt-me cowardly political stance. He spent all
    |his time worrying about the GOP calling him names and he let them
    |dictate the application of the law.


      |u/LordPennybag - 19 hours
      |
      |Garland was a bad joke from Obama and getting blocked turned him
      |into some figurehead for the Democrats.


      |u/Soylent_Milk2021 - 20 hours
      |
      |It wasn’t the GOP calling him names. He was trying to give the
      |benefit of the doubt and not stooping to GOP level. Want to see
      |the DOJ weaponized? Watch some reruns from the McCarthy Red Scare,
      |and then settle in with popcorn on Jan 21, 2025. There’s going to
      |be a show to remember coming up.


  |u/Bad_Demon - 18 hours
  |
  |Cause the rules only matter if you abide by them. Who is going to hold
  |him accountable? The system is already rigged in his favor he just
  |needed to take advantage of it


  |u/FL_Squirtle - 16 hours
  |
  |Literally everything this guy is doing is illegal and everyone knows
  |it. Everyone sees it and nobody with any power is doing anything g
  |about it.


  |u/MosquitoBloodBank - 15 hours
  |
  |Background checks are conducted by the OPM, not the FBI.   They aren't
  |receiving classified information at the moment, so there's no need for
  |a clearance.   The president has the constitution power to run the
  |government, which can involve disclosing classified material to
  |whoever the president wants.


  |u/ilmalnafs - 7 hours
  |
  |Hah, this guy not only thinks any rules and regulations matter in
  |relation to Trump, but he’s also under the impression that even a
  |single person in a position of power would enforce them against him.


|u/Past_Watercress_1897 - 22 hours
|
|Cause why ensure national security when there’s the deep state to worry
|about! /s


  |u/-Badger3- - 21 hours
  |
  |Nothing says “drain the swamp” like hiring an actual sex trafficker to
  |be your attorney general.


    |u/muchasveces82 - 20 hours
    |
    |When the president is a rapist they just let you do it.


      |u/AdvancedLanding - 19 hours
      |
      |When the president is a far Right wing billionaire Capitalist, the
      |Federal Government just lets you do anything to them.   If a real
      |Left wing president tried any of this, they would have been
      |arrested.   I don't know how much more Americans need to see to
      |realize that the judicial system and courts, the politicians, and
      |Oligarchs are completely okay with a Fascist president and a
      |Fascist takeover of the US. They know they'll keep making millions
      |in a Fascist America, it'll actually be easier.


        |u/Accomplished-Mix-745 - 19 hours
        |
        |That reminds me of when the FIFA was saying it’s easier to run
        |the World Cup in a dictatorship


          |u/AdvancedLanding - 18 hours
          |
          |Past 3 Republican present have said something to that effect.
          |Bush 1, 2, and Trump have said they wish the US was a
          |dictatorship.


            |u/Agreeable_Point7717 - 17 hours
            |
            |Bush's grandfather was possibly involved in the business
            |plot in 1933  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Business_Plot


            |u/Accomplished-Mix-745 - 18 hours
            |
            |I’m gonna trust but verify here. I believe/remember the
            |trump one but can you provide a source for the bushes?


              |u/AdvancedLanding - 18 hours
              |
              |Bush 2 https://www.c-span.org/video/?c4460866/user-clip-
              |bush-transition-comment-dictatorship  Bush 1 I read in a
              |book. But it's out there


                |u/Noslamah - 16 hours
                |
                |Just gonna be that guy and play devil's advocate for a
                |second, prefaced by the fact that I believe Bush 2 is a
                |war criminal and do not support him in any way
                |whatsoever, but I genuinely think you're misinterpreting
                |his words. He's explicitly saying that it's okay to
                |disagree with your political opponents. He's saying it
                |would be easier for HIM if he were dictator to get
                |things done. Not that a dictatorship would actually be
                |better or that he actually wants to be a dictator. In
                |fact, I'm fairly certain Obama said something exactly
                |like this (I found [this article](https://www.washington
                |examiner.com/policy/foreign-policy/690015/obama-it-
                |would-be-so-much-easier-to-be-the-president-of-china/)
                |which is not the instance I was thinking about, but it's
                |fairly close anyways) and I don't believe he actually
                |wants it either.   There are plenty of things to
                |criticize Bush for, but I really don't think that this
                |is one of them. And that said, Trump is a different
                |story entirely. Not only does he clearly want to be a
                |dictator and is actively working towards that, but he
                |has openly praised violent dictators like Putin and Kim
                |Jong Un and also said he wants to have the kind of
                |generals that Hitler had. There is a very, very big
                |difference between what he was saying and this joke
                |(which despite the headlines' suggestive use of the
                |quotation marks around the word "jokes", I actually
                |really think was a joke).


                |u/Accomplished-Mix-745 - 18 hours
                |
                |lol classic dumb statement followed by that weird laugh.
                |I lowkey miss him these days man. Shit is so bad right
                |now ow


                  |u/NihiloZero - 17 hours
                  |
                  |Now that you mention it... I'd never have thought that
                  |I'd give a vote to GWB over anyone.  But now he'd
                  |actually be the lesser evil.  Truly shocking.


            |u/Ndgrad78 - 12 hours
            |
            |  Bush #1 never said any such thing. Bush #2 was obviously
            |joking. Only the Orange idiot said it and was serious.


        |u/MotherTreacle3 - 19 hours
        |
        |If a real left wing person was in American politics they'd be
        |assassinated if they even looked at the presidency. Even people
        |like Bernie Sanders and AOC  would be considered pretty centrist
        |in most of the western world.


          |u/roryt67 - 16 hours
          |
          |In other words if I ran as an Atheist who thinks housing, food
          |and water, clothing, transportation, energy, communication,
          |health care and education from K to Master degree should be
          |100% free I have no chance at ever being President?   I will
          |either continue or suspend my campaign depending on the
          |feedback.


            |u/LA-Matt - 16 hours
            |
            |For what it’s worth, you would have my vote.


            |u/MotherTreacle3 - 15 hours
            |
            |Ask Martin Luther King Jr or Fred Hampton how that kind of
            |rhetoric worked out for them.


              |u/42Changes - 14 hours
              |
              |See also Bobby Kennedy.


              |u/rort67 - 12 hours
              |
              |Oh don't I know it. I have been a scholar of American
              |history for 50 years. Boat rockers don't last long usually
              |but we have to keep trying. Eventually the levee will
              |break.


            |u/joeltrane - 14 hours
            |
            |That’s been tried before. Power is too centralized and it
            |becomes corrupt as soon as you leave office (or you get
            |power hungry while in office).   We need a market system so
            |that individuals can retain some power over the goods we
            |need. But the government needs to step in and support people
            |who cannot afford market prices for their needs.


              |u/rort67 - 12 hours
              |
              |Worker owned businesses is a start. It's completely
              |foolish and obsolete for just a handful of people to run
              |large businesses and dictate the fates of thousands of
              |workers plus IMO the CEOs are just looking at the company
              |as a giant ATM. I'm going to start contacting all Democrat
              |members of Congress to immediately divest from large
              |corporate and billionaire donations. Get campaign money
              |$10 and $20 at a time from workers. That would be a huge
              |step forwards. Notice I didn't mention Republicans. Lost
              |cause I'm afraid for that group.


          |u/brutinator - 17 hours
          |
          |Given that far right parties made significant headway in
          |almost all european countries, I dunno how long thats gonna be
          |the case for.


            |u/JackryanUS - 15 hours
            |
            |The center left prevailed in almost every European election.


        |u/NihiloZero - 17 hours
        |
        |> They know they'll keep making millions in a Fascist America,
        |it'll actually be easier.  I think this is the colossal
        |miscalculation.  They think imposing tariffs while eliminating
        |taxes and social programs will make them more money, but it's
        |increasingly looking like the business-as-usual fabric of modern
        |American society is going to be torn asunder.    What if
        |defunding public schools has a negative impact?  What if
        |forcibly deporting 11 million people is economically disruptive?
        |What if banning vaccines and basic public health measures... is
        |bad for the broader economy?  What if closing all those
        |businesses that MAGA doesn't like isn't helpful for the economy?
        |What if cutting loose thousands of bureaucrats isn't helpful?
        |All those green dollars are based on faith in the American
        |system, but what happens when that faith is shattered and
        |inflation kicks into overdrive?  I suspect MAGA is going to
        |usher in hyperinflation and general instability.


          |u/Inevitable_Shift1365 - 16 hours
          |
          |You're not seeing the big picture. The billionaire oligarchs
          |are trying to burn it down so they can buy it back at fire
          |sale prices. They will ride crypto and cripple the dollar and
          |then once everybody's all aboard they will dump the crypto and
          |buy the devalued gold and real estate. I can't believe people
          |don't see this


        |u/SWARM_6 - 19 hours
        |
        |When... did we stop? Did we slow down? No. The nazis were
        |INSPIRED BY US. WE USED THEIR SCIENTISTS. WE KEPT THEM HIDDEN
        |FOR WHAT? Profit.


          |u/rocket_dragon - 19 hours
          |
          |The fascists are a small minority; everyone else is too busy
          |infighting to do anything about them.


          |u/Clovah - 18 hours
          |
          |I don’t disagree with your general premise but we use a lot of
          |technology on a daily basis that we would not have if it
          |wasn’t for keeping those scientists alive. People of a
          |singular passion rarely care much for or about politics - the
          |scientists were going to science regardless of who was paying
          |for their research.


        |u/WildBad7298 - 18 hours
        |
        |Half of the country is cheering on the fascists.


      |u/Sad-Wolverine6326 - 18 hours
      |
      |The voters let him do it.


      |u/ThirstyJohn - 19 hours
      |
      |He moved on that cabinet pick like a bitch.


    |u/SarahKnowles777 - 20 hours
    |
    |Meh, remember when he appointed DeJoy to head the USPS?  He
    |intentionally makes appointmentss to:  1)  destroy the department he
    |appoints them to  2)  enrich himself  3)  act out his dark triad
    |psychopathic tendencies  4)  troll


      |u/Foxy02016YT - 19 hours
      |
      |My dads a mailman, fuck DeJoy


        |u/Same-Improvement8493 - 18 hours
        |
        |Unfortunately - not for long.  These people are going to destroy
        |federal labor.


          |u/jmikehall - 18 hours
          |
          |Privatize baby, privatize. Fuck the loyal workers who’ve done
          |all they can to keep their jobs by running it correctly!


            |u/GuiltyEidolon - 17 hours
            |
            |They've been trying to privatize the USPS for decades now.
            |It's infuriating to think that this means they'll probably
            |succeed.


              |u/Jmacq1 - 16 hours
              |
              |And boy oh boy are a lot of rural voters gonna be hella
              |surprised when they get only weekly or monthly mail
              |deliveries, or maybe even none at all and have to drive 50
              |miles to a post office in order to get their mail.


                |u/cartcrash3286 - 15 hours
                |
                |Way things are today, they will probably make it
                |subscription based like everything else. Daily mail? Pay
                |more! Weekly mail? Pay a little less. Want your mail
                |picked up? There's a subscription or one time large fee
                |for that.


                  |u/theskepticalheretic - 13 hours
                  |
                  |Fun fact, you used to have to go to the post office to
                  |pick up mail. During the Civil War, home delivery was
                  |made a thing so the postmen wouldn't have to see lines
                  |of crying widows and children waiting for their
                  |husband's death note.


              |u/HandsomeBoggart - 14 hours
              |
              |Which is a stupid ass choice since all the private
              |shippers use USPS to do final delivery in rural areas.
              |Live in bumfuck Iowa? Ohio? Kansa? Oklahoma? Good job
              |voting Republican. They just abolished USPS and let FedEx
              |and UPS buy the pieces. Oh and now you no longer get
              |service in your area due to costs, or you pay 4x more.


        |u/cat_catcity - 19 hours
        |
        |My mom is a mail lady, absolutely fuck dejoy.


      |u/Voice-of-Calm - 19 hours
      |
      |Retired mail carrier, Fuck Dejoy.


      |u/ZebraImaginary9412 - 9 hours
      |
      |It makes me so angry that Biden kept DeJoy.


    |u/No_Scallion1094 - 20 hours
    |
    |It’s a smart play. If you’re a president with a history of rape,
    |sexual assault and underage stuff then you absolutely want an AG who
    |clearly doesn’t care about any of that (or really any illegal
    |activity).


      |u/LostinEmotion2024 - 20 hours
      |
      |Explains the Trump base quite well actually.


        |u/Varitan_Aivenor - 19 hours
        |
        |Men who want to protect themselves against possible future rape
        |charges are a big voting block it seems.


          |u/TheChangeYouFear - 19 hours
          |
          |Yup. Doesn't get much rapier than saying something like "Your
          |body, My choice".


            |u/Whitechapel726 - 19 hours
            |
            |I don’t generally support doxxing, but…..


              |u/iminyourfacebook - 18 hours
              |
              |And it's not like that shit wasn't already easy to piece
              |together for someone who wanted to get at him.  Nick
              |Fuentes had already pissed off the white supremacists he's
              |been desperately pandering to by being caught watching
              |[gay and femboy porn during a
              |stream,](https://www.jpost.com/omg/article-801627)
              |laughably blaming it on Mossad hacking him for him being
              |such a proud antisemite -- I *think* they've had their
              |hands a little too full as of late to worry about what a
              |far-right American Trump leg-humper is up to. He's also
              |extremely Catholic; all of that combined with his last
              |name has made him a frequent doxxing target and a lot of
              |the stuff that got posted on Xitter probably only took
              |that person about 15 minutes to track down and compile.
              |   These dorks having "their side" turn on them like
              |that always reminds me of when T\_D dramatically quit
              |Reddit in favor of "free speech absolutism" Voat back in
              |2017. [Their overdramatic departure "I'm running away from
              |home" note left for Reddit was fucking
              |hilarious!](https://archive.is/ysbVu)   Anyway, they were
              |back on Reddit within a couple of months because Voat had
              |been *heavily* brigaded by Stormfront soon after it went
              |live in 2015 -- and before "the fattening" sent *those*
              |kinds of Redditors to Voat -- and the neo-Nazis of
              |Stormfront took over just about every major subverse
              |(Voat's version of subreddits) and absolutely fucking
              |hated Trump, because as an establishment Republican, he
              |was all up in Israel's colon; neo-Nazis hating Jews, who
              |knew? ¯\\\_(ツ)_/¯  So after believing they were gonna be
              |welcomed with wide open arms, T\_D arrives at Voat only to
              |find out Voat already hates them almost as much as the
              |rest of Reddit did. Hilariously, their new T\_D subverse
              |was the *constant* target of brigades by the neo-Nazis,
              |and the regulars there who were constantly defending Trump
              |elsewhere on that site were getting harassed at every
              |turn. Suddenly, T\_D didn't like a taste of their own
              |medicine, and the mods fucking *hated* the baked-in,
              |impossible-to-disable public mod logs, because it
              |disproved their laughable "last bastion of free speech on
              |~~Reddit~~ Voat" slogan; not that anyone really needed the
              |proof since it was already blatant before and after they
              |left/returned to Reddit, Voat's publicly-accessible mod
              |logs were snitching on the mods every time they banned a
              |user or removed a comment. And you know how much Qult 45
              |hates transparency.


            |u/CaliNVJ - 17 hours
            |
            |The US has gone so nuts I am sitting here laughing about the
            |word (NOT CONCEPT) of “rapier”. Sadly you are correct.


          |u/LostinEmotion2024 - 19 hours
          |
          |Or men who don’t think sexual assault is that big of a deal is
          |possibly a big voting block.  We won’t begin to discuss the
          |seed seeded misogyny that exists but anyway - you were close


            |u/Hopsblues - 18 hours
            |
            |Yep, they sweep it under the rug when it's a conservative,
            |but if you make a hypothetical about 'what if' it was their
            |wife or daughter and they get bent out of shape real fast.


          |u/MotorcycleMosquito - 18 hours
          |
          |Russel Brand… Kanye West


      |u/discussatron - 19 hours
      |
      |He’ll protect Trump, and therefore himself. A crooked ruler needs
      |crooked law enforcement.


    |u/thiscouldbeben - 20 hours
    |
    |He’ll drain the swamp, then fill it with his own muck.


      |u/PomeloPepper - 19 hours
      |
      |The irony of that phrase! Swamps are part of a healthy ecosystem
      |and support a lot of different animals. They also help process out
      |pollution.


        |u/Hardcorish - 17 hours
        |
        |Trump hates anything good for the environment, so it still makes
        |perfect sense that he'd want to drain a swamp lol


        |u/LA-Matt - 16 hours
        |
        |The biggest irony of Trump’s “drain the swamp” slogan is that he
        |hired more lobbyists in his administration than ever before.
        |Four times more than the previous administration, in only four
        |years.   If anything, he embraced the swamp.
        |https://www.propublica.org/article/we-found-a-
        |staggering-281-lobbyists-whove-worked-in-the-trump-
        |administration


          |u/beren12 - 11 hours
          |
          |Turning the swap into a landfill.


      |u/KonigSteve - 19 hours
      |
      |Fill it with toxic waste maybe


        |u/Vladishun - 17 hours
        |
        |Toxic waste? You mean all that stuff filling up his adult
        |diapers?


      |u/PcPaulii2 - 19 hours
      |
      |Wish I could claim this as my own, but one line I heard was that
      |MAGA is the stuff you find AFTER you've drained the swamp. The
      |slimey, gooey, hard to contain, etc goop at the bottom.


      |u/MotorcycleMosquito - 18 hours
      |
      |Drain the swamp and fills it with toxic waste while his base does
      |bellyflops in the mud.


      |u/mortimusalexander - 18 hours
      |
      |*musk


    |u/Ermeter - 20 hours
    |
    |My theory is that Trump's cabinet consists of people with blackmail
    |on them. All who have proven to follow orders.


    |u/Aware_Material_9985 - 19 hours
    |
    |Or a possible Russian asset for the intelligence community or a
    |white supremacist for the DoD


    |u/SierraPapaWhiskey - 19 hours
    |
    |I’d rather the old swamp than this nuclear waste cesspool of Donnie
    |and the Dumbasses.


    |u/Fluggerblah - 20 hours
    |
    |dude watched dexter and thought that could apply to the fucking
    |government


  |u/DesignerFlaws - 21 hours
  |
  |Who needs background checks when they are handpicked by the chosen
  |one? /s.


  |u/Quakes-JD - 21 hours
  |
  |We should just trust him. He says he hires “the best people” so no
  |need for an FBI background check.   /s


    |u/no_f-s_given - 21 hours
    |
    |He *always* hires the best people.   Until he fires them shortly
    |after claiming they are terrible people, bad at their jobs, nobody
    |likes them, the worst, hardly knew them, etc.


      |u/MrsMel_of_Vina - 20 hours
      |
      |Scaramoucchi(sp?) only lasted two weeks, if I remember right.


        |u/Rineux - 20 hours
        |
        |11 days, or what is now known as 1 mooch


          |u/manyhippofarts - 20 hours
          |
          |Right. I heard that's how we're going to measure the tenure of
          |all these new folks he's hiring. We'll see how many mooches
          |they last. I give Gaetz about three mooches. Just over a
          |month.


            |u/Longjumping-Jello459 - 20 hours
            |
            |I honestly don't see him getting approved most Republicans
            |hate him his only saving grace is the fear of Trump's wrath.


              |u/manyhippofarts - 19 hours
              |
              |If I'm honest, I'm thinking that Gaetz was gonna quit
              |anyway in order to avoid the ethics report. Trump see this
              |as an opportunity to throw Gaetz a bone and use this
              |appointment as a legit reason to resign, rather than
              |having to resign for the reason of avoiding the ethics
              |report.   Trump knows he's a slime ball and could never
              |pass approval even if the senate was 100% Republican. He
              |never expected Gaetz to be AG. Gaetz is less damaged,
              |because he resigned for a legit patriotic reason, and now
              |he owes Trump. Also, now Trump can say "JFC you've already
              |killed one of my cabinet picks, are you gonna just kill
              |every single one like you did with Gaetz?"  It's a win for
              |Gaetz . But it's a win-win for Trump. I don't know why we
              |keep underestimating him.


                |u/Longjumping-Jello459 - 19 hours
                |
                |Trump doesn't seem to me to be one to plan ahead or
                |really at all now those around him certainly are
                |planning/scheming things.


                  |u/manyhippofarts - 19 hours
                  |
                  |Oh yeah absolutely. When I say "Trump", that's exactly
                  |what I mean. I don't expect him to do much beyond some
                  |golf and sharing well-done steak with heads of state.


        |u/Slim_Charleston - 20 hours
        |
        |11 days


        |u/BobasDad - 20 hours
        |
        |I just want to know if he can do the Fandango with thunderbolts
        |and lightning.


      |u/Goose1963 - 17 hours
      |
      |I’ve always had a lot of questions about this particular Human
      |Resources strategy.


    |u/Technical_Moose8478 - 20 hours
    |
    |If he hires the best people, why didn’t we listen to like 80% of
    |those when they said don’t vote for him?


    |u/Chelsie_girl1 - 20 hours
    |
    |He also does not pay best people he hires.


  |u/Daksout918 - 21 hours
  |
  |Um excuse me, he has a mandate which means he gets to do whatever he
  |wants /s


  |u/AccomplishedMoney205 - 20 hours
  |
  |A con man surrounds him self with conmen… of you thought 2016-2020 was
  |a shit show… ooohh booyyy


  |u/BlueShift42 - 20 hours
  |
  |He knows they have the same boss as him.


|u/SplendidPunkinButter - 22 hours
|
|Does “if you have nothing to hide then you have nothing to worry about”
|still apply? Because I can remember conservatives using that line plenty
|of times.


  |u/Glass1Man - 21 hours
  |
  |What happened to “trust, but verify”. - Skibidy Reagan


    |u/g0d15anath315t - 20 hours
    |
    |Ironically, originally a Russian proverb   doveryay, no proveryay


      |u/FightingInternet - 18 hours
      |
      |Oh, that's perfect. They should put that on our money.


  |u/-Raskyl - 21 hours
  |
  |This is like the "customer is always right" thing. People forget their
  |is more to the quote. Which is "the customer is always right, in
  |matters of taste". As in, they don't get to tell you how to run your
  |business or serve them. They only get to tell you what they think
  |looks good on them.  The part of the quote that seems to be missing
  |here is where they establish the disclaimer that this logic can only
  |be used to "own the libs" and in no way applies to themselves or those
  |they support.


    |u/smarterthanyoda - 21 hours
    |
    |That’s not quite right. The phrase originated in the early 20th
    |century and was clearly used in ways that go beyond matters of
    |taste. Sears put it more clearly when they said their employees
    |“satisfy the customer regardless of whether the customer is right or
    |wrong.”  They just counted on employees to have the common sense to
    |refuse unreasonable requests and consumers weren’t so entitled that
    |they would demand unreasonable accommodations.


      |u/awesomefutureperfect - 20 hours
      |
      |> They just counted on employees to have the common sense to
      |refuse unreasonable requests and consumers weren’t so entitled
      |that they would demand unreasonable accommodations.  The problem
      |is that the consumers got ahold of that paradigm and ran with the
      |idea that they could never be wrong no matter how hard they tried
      |to be wrong and no matter in how poor taste they behaved. Couple
      |that with the idea that the person with the money has power over
      |the person is earning money, that capital is always superior to
      |labor and mass media from reality TV to "prank" youtubers
      |portraying outrageous behavior that is imitate-able, having to
      |deal with the public is a hellish nightmare. No one likes dealing
      |with automated services, but serving the public is a job for
      |unfeeling robots not humans that can't deny service because their
      |programming wasn't designed to accomodate childish tantrum.


        |u/smarterthanyoda - 18 hours
        |
        |Retailers today don’t follow the “customer is always  right”
        |paradigm. That paradigm requires them to empower employees so
        |they can use their own judgment.   Instead, employers have
        |mostly moved to a policy-based paradigm where they remove
        |employees’ discretion and try to write policies that cover every
        |situation. This has led to good customers having bad experiences
        |when their situation doesn’t quite fit the policy. On the other
        |hand, bad customers learn to game the system and get benefits a
        |smart empowered employee wouldn’t have given.


        |u/SirMasonParker - 18 hours
        |
        |And the only times I have heard an actual customer say those
        |words to me, an employee, have been absolutely insane reasons in
        |my opinion. I heard it from a woman at a pizza joint when she
        |asked for sliced mozzarella instead of shredded and I told her
        |we didn't stock that product and it was not listed on the menu
        |as we didn't have it in the building. "Well, the customer is
        |always right!" Not about the items we literally do not sell!
        |Working at Costco a customer used that line to tell me that the
        |price of a TV should be lower because when he was looking at TVs
        |two years earlier they cost less and he budgeted around those
        |numbers. "The customer is always right" sir you were right two
        |years ago but there's a statute of limitations on that in this
        |scenario. I've never heard someone say that about something an
        |employee could actually fix for them.


    |u/AndesCan - 21 hours
    |
    |Well today I learned


      |u/thatoneotherguy42 - 20 hours
      |
      |I believe the full quote is "The customer is always right in
      |matters of style and taste." People always leave the style part
      |out for some reason.


  |u/werther595 - 21 hours
  |
  |Just do what the cop says and you won't get shot


  |u/Yoko-Ohno_The_Third - 19 hours
  |
  |It never matters to their own. I found that out first hand through
  |comments just yesterday with a maga clown trying to say that kamala
  |Harris wanted to abolish the first amendment. I commented a link of
  |trump literally saying he wants to imprison people for a year for
  |burning an American flag. Totally ignores what trump said as a desire
  |to abolish the first amendment but could show any actually evidence of
  |kamala wanting to jail people for free speech. They don't give a fuck
  |about the hypocrisy.


|u/Feisty-Barracuda5452 - 21 hours
|
|Imagine a Democrat president doing this...


  |u/Great-Hotel-7820 - 20 hours
  |
  |The media might actually cover it adequately.


    |u/spasmoidic - 15 hours
    |
    |Because their voters actually read the news


  |u/WildBad7298 - 18 hours
  |
  |Remember: Tim Walz is unfit for office because he got a DUI 30 years
  |ago, but Matt Gaetz is good to be AG even though he was investigated
  |for raping a 17 year old.


    |u/Feisty-Barracuda5452 - 18 hours
    |
    |Bible Mike said it would be mean to release it, he resigned.


    |u/kelly9791 - 14 hours
    |
    |Gaetz has a DUI too. Didn't want to let that be forgotten, might as
    |well pile on


    |u/beekeeper1981 - 8 hours
    |
    |And two witnesses testified under oath to seeing it happen. The fact
    |Trump brought Gaetz up for the AG position makes America look like
    |one giant sick joke. America wants the world to be a democracy like
    |them.. that's rich.


    |u/SiFiNSFW - 17 hours
    |
    |Is he still under investigation? I thought they pinned absolutely
    |everything on that Joel Greenburg guy and then announced they
    |wouldn't be proceeding with any charges against anyone else?  I
    |swear i read the rightful outrage from this very sub over that like
    |12+ months ago.


    |u/Optimal_Carpenter690 - 9 hours
    |
    |Well, you're talking about the party that A) already wants to reduce
    |the age of consent and B) apparently doesn't think grooming is
    |possible between people of opposite sexes, that it is a trait
    |exclusive to the LGBT community


    |u/LilithWasAGinger - 8 hours
    |
    |His rap sheet includes about a dozen wreckless driving and DUIs as
    |well. Not to mention his college roommate who died under suspicious
    |circumstances.   Day Gaetz cover that up as well


  |u/BUNNIES_ARE_FOOD - 15 hours
  |
  |Yeah and the pubs would be screaming absolutely bloody murder. They
  |would be rallying the base, organizing massive protests.  They would
  |be airing ads and scorching the earth.  The Dems?  Fat chance buddy.
  |I've seen it over and over again for decades


    |u/FleshlightModel - 11 hours
    |
    |Then they get mad at you for trying to point out their hypocrisy.


  |u/MattyTheSloth - 19 hours
  |
  |They are. Biden is President _right now_, it's his FBI; why isn't he
  |doing a background check and releasing the results? Because it's
  |'improper'? lol


    |u/wterrt - 12 hours
    |
    |probably because when they find shit and then do nothing it looks
    |worse than just doing nothing in the first place  we've already
    |proven laws don't mean shit. why keep pretending?


|u/TechieTravis - 22 hours
|
|You can't get the Russian agent in position to sabotage our intelligence
|services if she can't get cleared by the FBI.


  |u/Syntaire - 21 hours
  |
  |Given the deafening silence and absolute lack of fucking *anything
  |happening at all* even in the face of Putin 'n' Co. stating publicly
  |both that they interfered in the election AND that Tulsi is a Russian
  |agent, not sure there's much left to sabotage at this point anyway.


    |u/TechieTravis - 21 hours
    |
    |It's kind of over for us. This is a complete takeover of our
    |government by Russia. Even if the democratic process survives enough
    |to get them all out in 2028, the irreversible damage will have been
    |done. All of our military secrets will be compromised. Russian
    |intelligence will be deeply embedded across all institutions, with
    |nobody pushing back against them for four years. They will have our
    |nuclear secrets. I can't see any room for optimism. It's over for
    |our republic.


      |u/EugeneStonersDIMagic - 20 hours
      |
      |And the 20 something bros just handed them the fucking keys for
      |the LOLs


        |u/XavieroftheWind - 20 hours
        |
        |No. The "non-compromised" other side of system smiled and handed
        |over the keys after calling them a threat to our democracy.   If
        |they were serious about being anything but controlled
        |opposition, Trump and Co would be locked away as compromised
        |foreign assets easily.   Unless, they're  all already
        |compromised and want the Russian type of Oligarchy to take
        |place. I mean, it doesn't hurt them or their donors so?


          |u/ActuallyIWasARobot - 17 hours
          |
          |The world is run by the ultra-rich and they don't care about
          |borders.


      |u/seattleseahawks2014 - 19 hours
      |
      |Fuck


      |u/redbitumen - 14 hours
      |
      |It’s only over if you guys don’t learn to get your hands dirty.
      |You need to break the rules, encourage dem politicians to break
      |the law (they can be protected), embrace hypocrisy and
      |misinformation, attack anyone who doesn’t fall in line, etc.  Dems
      |are weak and they’re cowards and would rather let fascism take
      |over as long as they can feel morally superior.  Looking through
      |this post peoples conclusion is to just give up so it’s not
      |looking good.


      |u/HouseplantHoarding - 10 hours
      |
      |Given all the times we have interfered with other countries
      |elections to install oppressive regimes that benefit us; we had it
      |coming. Long overdue, in fact.


    |u/frumiouscumberbatch - 20 hours
    |
    |To be ruthlessly fair: Russia would also say that if none of it were
    |true, because it helps sow discord.   don't get me wrong, as of noon
    |on January 20, Putin will own large chunks of the American
    |government.


      |u/Syntaire - 20 hours
      |
      |He would, but that honestly doesn't really matter much. If a
      |hostile foreign nation claims that your prospective head of
      |intelligence is an agent for said nation, you fucking investigate
      |the absolute shit out of the person. You find out what they had
      |for dinner, at what time and where every single day of their life.
      |You don't just say "oh well the guy that isn't even the president
      |says background checks take a lot of time, so I guess we'll just
      |skip it."


        |u/frumiouscumberbatch - 16 hours
        |
        |absolutely the fuck yes


    |u/TaupMauve - 20 hours
    |
    |Biden should order all networks to go dark and burn the
    |documentation, if operatives can't be extracted.


  |u/OneAlexander - 20 hours
  |
  |Unfortunately it's not just US intelligence services, it has huge
  |implications for interlinked Western agencies.  People in MI6
  |especially are likely pulling their hair out.


    |u/No_Reaction_2682 - 3 hours
    |
    |The FiveEyes nations are likely putting together a list of things
    |not to tell the US once Trump is in charge


|u/SPzero65 - 20 hours
|
|How those egg prices looking 👀


  |u/IvyHearts - 15 hours
  |
  |A lot higher now that bird flu is here


|u/mabhatter - 18 hours
|
|This is why we have senate confirmation.    The senate needs to
|immediately reject any nomination that cannot complete the security
|clearance.    But they won't. 


  |u/MayDay521 - 16 hours
  |
  |Yeah, unfortunately checks and balances completely fails to function
  |when one faction holds all of the power.  It's got heavy "we've
  |investigated ourselves, and found we did nothing wrong" energy. We
  |handed all the power over to one side, and now there's nothing we can
  |do to combat it.


    |u/SignificantSmotherer - 13 hours
    |
    |Checks and balances have been largely  missing in action at the DOJ
    |for the last 16 years.  It’s not unreasonable to consider third
    |party services for vetting nominees.


      |u/MayDay521 - 12 hours
      |
      |Or I guess in this case just not even bothering to vet them at
      |all!


  |u/Academic_Value_3503 - 14 hours
  |
  |If the Senate goes along with it, then the Democrats must force the
  |Republicans to officially vote on doing away with the security
  |clearance process and have them put their money where their mouth is.
  |It's either you have them or not.  You can't pick and choose.  The
  |media should at least ask them if they believe in security clearances
  |or not.


    |u/xtreme571 - 11 hours
    |
    |> The media should at least ask them if they believe in security
    |clearances or not.  The media is complicit in what is happening
    |today. The didn't question shit when GOP candidates were spewing
    |hate, saying crazy things that one would think is insanity.   Media
    |is not going to do jack. Media is part of the problem. They ARE the
    |reason Trump won first time around and they ARE the reason he won
    |this time around as well.   Media never aired what good was
    |happening under Biden. They never showed how GOP  was taking credit
    |of things after voting against them. They just cared about ratings.
    |Trump said x, Trump said Y.


  |u/EarthyFeet - 18 hours
  |
  |Yeah about that..


  |u/roklpolgl - 18 hours
  |
  |He’ll just do recess appointments like he said he would.


    |u/NolChannel - 17 hours
    |
    |The answer there is simple, don't go on recess. Just have one
    |Democrat at a time sitting in session as an eternal fillibuster.
    |Democrats need to stop pretending its normal and shut down the
    |government for a literal year. Just refuse all budget proposals and
    |drag Trump through the mud,


      |u/KingsleyZissou - 17 hours
      |
      |And then Trump throws them in jail as an "official act". What
      |then?


        |u/atuarre - 15 hours
        |
        |Well if he does something like that then it's on you, the
        |person, to do something about it. You know Americans don't have
        |the stomach for protests and whatever else they need to do. I
        |remember in Hong Kong when those people protested for months and
        |months and months and months. Americans don't do anything like
        |that. MAGA makes up roughly 30% of the population, give or take
        |a few. If everybody did their part, these people would never be
        |in power again. Locking up political opponents, if that happens,
        |then it's on the people to do something about it.


          |u/poopfaceone - 15 hours
          |
          |We had the Occupy Wall Street and BLM protests that each went
          |on for months. They send agent provocateurs to start doing
          |violence or destroying property, which creates a narrative in
          |the media, and then send in the militarized police to break
          |the protests. And the Hong Kong protests didn't accomplish
          |anything, just like OWS and BLM.   Then Trump will stroll in
          |with a Bible and a photographer and the rest of the country
          |gets behind it. Not to mention, the protests usually happen in
          |cities . Cities are primarily blue territories, and they love
          |pushing the narrative of cities being scary lawless warzones


          |u/roklpolgl - 14 hours
          |
          |Honestly if he starts blatantly violating the Constitution
          |with impunity, I would hope the military, who swear an oath
          |not to the president or the government but to protect the
          |Constitution against enemies both foreign and *domestic*,
          |would step in.   Realistically, while we should still protest,
          |with the police state we exist in (and who they largely
          |support) protesting will not be enough. We would need the
          |military to intervene. But in reality that’s probably not
          |happening either and we will just go full force into
          |dictatorship and oligarchy.


  |u/dgisfun - 13 hours
  |
  |This is why…. But they won’t. Answered your own comment there


|u/hachijuhachi - 22 hours
|
|And people who are critical of trump have TDS… I hate what’s happening
|right now.


  |u/lordnecro - 22 hours
  |
  |Trump says or does some terrible thing.  Left calls him out on it.
  |Right screams fake news and TDS.  ... I feel like we live in some sort
  |of bizzaro world. If this were a movie everyone would hate it because
  |it is so unrealistic.


    |u/Wooden-Frame2366 - 21 hours
    |
    |Indeed it’s 💯


    |u/DetroitLionsSBChamps - 20 hours
    |
    |If you showed this movie to anyone from before 2015 they would be
    |like Jesus it’s a little heavy handed isn’t it?  Donald Trump
    |leading this movement is extremely on the nose and over the top,
    |that’s for sure. 


    |u/TurtleMOOO - 21 hours
    |
    |Plenty of his fans will become homeless due to his policies, so I’m
    |okay with it. I can’t wait for the maga cult to suffer.


  |u/Sweaty-Feedback-1482 - 22 hours
  |
  |Anytime people accuse the left of having TDS, I like to show them
  |picture of folks at his rallies decked out with capes and face paint…
  |somehow they never seem to catch the point


    |u/Bakkster - 21 hours
    |
    |I think the golden diapers really sell it.


      |u/Wooden-Frame2366 - 21 hours
      |
      |Yep


    |u/seattleseahawks2014 - 19 hours
    |
    |People are so dumɓ.


  |u/Dense-Consequence-70 - 22 hours
  |
  |Right? TDS is a way for ignorant people to deflect criticism without
  |actually engaging it.


    |u/Bakkster - 21 hours
    |
    |The [alt-right playbook](https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLJA_jUdd
    |XvY7v0VkYRbANnTnzkA_HMFtQ) has entered the chat.


    |u/BIGSTANKDICKDADDY - 19 hours
    |
    |They also engage in backwards, contrarian logic where criticism
    |itself is proof that they must be right. They are cheering on these
    |cabinet picks *because* they're controversial, the merits of the
    |controversy is never given genuine consideration. If it makes libs
    |mad it must be good.


  |u/fyhr100 - 21 hours
  |
  |"Why do Dems keep comparing him to Hitler?" when it's literally his
  |entire former cabinet, prominent GOP members, and his own VP pick
  |doing that.


  |u/Rare-Peak2697 - 22 hours
  |
  |I know right? You don’t see the right being irrational about this
  |stuff. They express their dissatisfaction with buying thousands of
  |dollars in merch talking about how the wanna F JB…also J6


  |u/HoosierBoy76 - 21 hours
  |
  |Isn’t it DTS?  (Deranged Trump Syndrome)


  |u/Leading-Fish6819 - 20 hours
  |
  |It is THEY who have TDS: Trump Devotion Syndrome


  |u/DroneSlut54 - 21 hours
  |
  |Right?   The only people with TDS are the absolute morons who voted
  |for him.


    |u/5PQR - 13 hours
    |
    |It's projection, it's always projection with those folk. I'm not
    |even American, but I've been noticing it from the sidelines for
    |decades at this point. Other examples:-  * "Blue anon" and "alt-
    |left" * Calling Dems a "cult" * "NPC" * Cuck/beta/soyboy (in
    |reference to their masculine insecurity) * Claiming Democrats are
    |interfering with elections  ... And **never, ever** leave a child
    |alone with an American conservative who rants about LGBT folk being
    |"groomers".


    |u/wirefox1 - 20 hours
    |
    |That's the irony.  Calling it 'patriotism" and the "Christian way",
    |is sadly the other part.


|u/Serpentongue - 20 hours
|
|When your president you can just tell them to give someone unearned
|clearance, like he did for Jared last time.


|u/PocketSixes - 16 hours
|
|This is specifically to place Russian agents in position


|u/Tidewind - 17 hours
|
| Because of course. All the better to pass America’s secrets to Moscow.
|ALL HAIL THE PEOPLE’S GLORIOUS, REVOLUTIONARY DEAR LEADER!!


|u/Tazling - 20 hours
|
|he keeps doing illegal sh*t and nothing happens.  this guy is the real
|Teflon Don.  all others are left in his fairy dust.


  |u/pick-axis - 20 hours
  |
  |Leftover orange Adderall powder with a hint of tan de' buff parfume


    |u/luv2fly781 - 19 hours
    |
    |Still getting away with it and nobody doing a thing


  |u/HilariousButTrue - 15 hours
  |
  |Not a Trump fan but the article has a misleading headline.  It's the
  |first time a President has stepped over the background check process
  |and there is nothing that explicitly states that he has to have the
  |FBI carry it out.  Reviews can still be carried out by the Senate if
  |they skip agency review but that's about all there is as far as checks
  |and balances to his appointments.  Elections can have scary
  |consequences and it should make people question how much has not been
  |accomplished historically and how much the establishment has been fine
  |with the status quo despite campaigning on hope for change and other
  |similar propaganda slogans.


    |u/Tazling - 15 hours
    |
    |Thanks for the clarification.  The amount of US governance that
    |hangs precariously on "gentleman's agreements" is absolutely
    |terrifying.


  |u/espressojunkie - 18 hours
  |
  |He received basically zero repercussions for inciting an insurrection,
  |election fraud, and financial fraud aside from having to sit in court
  |a few times and taking a mugshot, and now the Supreme Court has said
  |anything that he says is an “official act” is immune from prosecution
  |so it’ll be open season next time


|u/SqnLdrHarvey - 13 hours
|
|When you are dictator, you can do that.  Trump is a dictator.


|u/Both_Lychee_1708 - 10 hours
|
|Would it even make a difference if the checks were done?  No!  That's
|how you know how fucked we are.  The US has fallen and it ain't getting
|up (certainly not anytime soon)


|u/MrFrode - 11 hours
|
|You don't ask questions you don't want to know the answers to.


|u/euph_22 - 21 hours
|
|Efficiency. His cabinet picks would fail a background check anyways so
|why do it. Save the tax payers money.


  |u/iScreamsalad - 20 hours
  |
  |I don’t think many people would agree with you that top level
  |clearance should be given to unverified people


    |u/DragonfruitFew5542 - 19 hours
    |
    |Shit, when I had my clearance it was a ridiculously long, arduous
    |process. But that investigation is necessary, at the end of the day.
    |And I wasn't even looking at documents as sensitive as they are.
    |It's seriously scary.


      |u/st1tchy - 19 hours
      |
      |Mine took over a year to go through.


    |u/DarkMimic2287 - 19 hours
    |
    |I think he's being sarcastic there


    |u/niknik888 - 19 hours
    |
    |No but “ the people spoke, and he has a mandate”….  On his pea sized
    |cerebrum.


|u/WhosAGoodDoug - 19 hours
|
|In fairness, Trump can't in good conscience ask his employees to undergo
|a criminal background check that he could not pass.


  |u/MayDay521 - 16 hours
  |
  |One of the first rules of good leadership! Don't ask your subordinates
  |to do anything you wouldn't be willing to do yourself. He's such a
  |great leader!   To be clear, I fucking despise him and think he
  |couldn't even properly lead a blind person off a cliff. This next 4
  |years will be hell.


|u/Funkyokra - 19 hours
|
|I was trying to convince myself that it might work out but this is
|insane.


  |u/jimlahey2100 - 18 hours
  |
  |Do you not remember the clown show that was his first term? Seriously,
  |do you not?


    |u/Funkyokra - 18 hours
    |
    |I was just giving it the old good faith consideration.


  |u/Zweihart - 18 hours
  |
  |There's always the chance he'll have another, larger stroke on camera.


    |u/Funkyokra - 18 hours
    |
    |JD Vance is not an improvement here.


      |u/moose51789 - 18 hours
      |
      |i'd argue Vance is a bigger threat even


        |u/dimerance - 17 hours
        |
        |You discount what a generational populist Trump is. It doesn’t
        |make rational sense and we can hate it all we want, but the man
        |has captured a massive portion of America. Vance couldn’t do
        |that, but he would probably get 8 years out of it. Maybe 10 if
        |Trump were to die mid term. Which isn’t crazy to say given he’s
        |old as fuck, unhealthy, and has had to of had extreme stress the
        |last year.


          |u/Optimal_Carpenter690 - 9 hours
          |
          |I don't actually think he cared enough about doing a good job
          |to actually get stressed out


      |u/atuarre - 15 hours
      |
      |He's worse. He's waiting for his moment so his master Peter Thiel,
      |who is seriously a nut job, can start giving him his instructions