We really don’t need such a leader, and in practice don’t have one at all. Usually it is a collision of mutual interests, at best.

Exactly.

Occasionally one of our leaders would mouth such empty platitudes when we wanted something, but only because the US loves that phrase.

Fundamentally, if you voted for Trump you do support his agenda. That’s how voting works.

You just don’t want to own it.

That has already been suggested by his minions. Let the airlines manage everything. Including baggage and body checking.

Oh god, the very idea…

My take is that we have entered the apex of the MAGA phase.

Now that the incompetents have achieved power, they will start to destroy themselves through stupidity.

Don’t get me wrong, a lot of damage will be visited upon the heads of the innocent. But it is going to take this destruction to demonstrate just what a terrible idea it was to install these dickheads in the first place.

After all, the voters were warned, and also got a taste of chaos in the first series. They still voted him in.

Ok, let Trump set the electorate’s hair on fire and see what happens next.

I’m not an American, but I heard that if California was a separate country it would be one of the top wealthiest countries in the world. The rest of the US is a tick on your butt. NY excepted.

I may be wrong.

Nice try, Zuckerberg…

I mean, exclusively.

The Trump Presidential Library will comprise nothing other than piss porn.

Not meaning to needle you, Mate. Once again, if I come across as a jerk, sorry.

I may have been unclear. If so, I apologise for it. I meant out of all the First World countries, the US (the richest country on the planet) has the worst health care outcomes.

Comparisons outside of the Western sphere, particularly with communist dictatorships, won’t really work.

In the end, it doesn’t matter whether you vote for people or policy then. If you are going to be shafted anyway it doesn’t matter.

However, as I said in my original post, this seems to be a very unique problem in the Western world. Other first world countries vote for people and policy and our experience is somewhat different.

Even I know that Trump did his best to sabotage the ACA. It’s not a secret. Just vote for the direct opposite of that fuck.

Not American, but curious as to why you don’t vote for polices that prevent the healthcare ripoff?

I mean, it’s all well and good applauding a single man’s actions, but you all could affect change of there was a genuine will to do so. Other western countries don’t have this problem that you are seemingly powerless to change?

I think that it goes a lot deeper than that. In the 90s I worked on a joint base shared with Americans and made a lot of American friends. They were shocked and sarcastic about the benefits that we had (Australians) that they did not have. Things such as long service leave (12 weeks paid leave after 10 years service) and even our four weeks annual leave. The shocked but I can understand, but the sarcasm I don’t get? It was as if our refusal to expend ourselves to the grind diminished us as a culture ?

That was 35 years ago, and our conditions have degraded accordingly. But I remember the American sentiment of the times well.

If they catch him jury selection will be a tough gig for the State.

Trump’s entire stchick is gaming every system to manipulate things in his favour. The Dems always take the higher ground and always get pounded. Every single time - Gore in 2000, particularly.

If Biden ‘pardons’ his son to ameliorate Hunter’s political persecution, then it’s a step in the right direction to push back. Tame as it is, the Dems better learn to fight fire with napalm before all is lost.

Wadya mean ‘could’?

TIL that Twitter is still around in some form. Why do people bother?

I don’t think that he took a hit on Twitter at all. He deliberately destroyed it to kill a very effective voice of independent news and commentary. 30 billion was chump change for that. Look at Twitter now, it’s a hot mess of garbage. Mission accomplished and he’s still getting three squares a day and shooting bullshit and spy satellites into space.