Is Anyone Paying Attention?

[Sephirah]

Asking why and ascribing motivations assumes a plan or a philosophy. He has none of that. It's narcissism and Dunning-Kruger effect, plain and simple.

Anyone want to wager that the ballroom never gets built and that all that really happens is that the east wing is demolished and a bunch of money disappears? That's been pretty much his MO for decades.

I'd be willing to bet it will end up as a casino.

And yes I understand the irony in that statement

[MaryT]

You all know about this by now, of course:

Trump links Greenland pursuit to Nobel Peace Prize snub 🔗 [Link: independent.co.uk/news/world/europe/trump-​letter-​greenland-​nobel-​peace-​b2903022.html/]

The article contains the full text of the letter, which begins

"Dear Jonas: Considering your Country decided not to give me the Nobel Peace Prize for having stopped 8 Wars PLUS, I no longer feel an obligation to think purely of Peace ..."

For goodness' sake, somebody please give him the Nobel Peace Prize before he blows us all up.

I was just wondering, and just in general terms that have nothing to do with my peaceful pal President Trump, so nobody needs to take offence:

I know that the US Secret Service always has a duty to protect a US president but does that duty include protecting the squirrels that may have taken up residence in his head?

[Sephirah]

Stopped 8 wars... started 7 of them. Good job, Don!

I mean he did get the Nobel Prize... because someone felt sorry for him. Not sure that counts, though.

[MaryT]

Stopped 8 wars... started 7 of them. Good job, Don!

I mean he did get the Nobel Prize... because someone felt sorry for him. Not sure that counts, though.

Do you think that President Trump would be offended if Maria Machado was awarded another Peace Prize for saving the world from him?

[Sephirah]

Do you think that President Trump would be offended if Maria Machado was awarded another Peace Prize for saving the world from him?

No he'd probably ask for that one too.

[Courtney G]

I don't believe he'll be among the living (or at least functional) for 3 more years. The infusions he's getting might slow his dementia-related cognitive decline for another few months, but this is going to catch up with him. He's very old and frail.

The ballroom serves one of two purposes (or both):

1. He doesn't plan on leaving. His election last year caused the 34 criminal indictments to be dropped, as is customary (DOJ policy states that we can't have a convicted criminal in the White House - it's bad optics for the country). He needs to stay in power until he expires or rewrites the rules (even more than he has). Incredibly, magas don't believe he was convicted. They're in denial. He was convicted.

3. He just wants to put his name on another building, to be remembered for more stuff because he's such a narcissist. He's plastered giant banners and photos on other federal buildings, like 3rd world dictators do, put his name on various buildings, forced federal websites to have their copy rewritten to glorify him (and rewrite history).

[Sephirah]

Incredibly, magas don't believe he was convicted. They're in denial. He was convicted.

That's kind of how cults work. Believe what suits you and ignore the rest. The whole rest of the world knows he is shadier than an umbrella in the height of summer. That's why everyone is sick of him and his antics. But when you get to make the rules, and appoint people who will enforce them, then you can pretend you're innocent.

It's my hope that once your country is finally done with him, and the chaos he's intent on has subsided, he will only be a footnote in history. Something to teach kids to say "This is how not to run a country."

[Courtney G]

That's kind of how cults work

I lost lots of friends because of him, but very recently I lost a trans friend over this. We were talking about "stuff" and she flipped the script on Ashli Babbit and Renee Good, suggesting that Ashli was gu**ed down in cold blood whereas Renee was trying to run over an ICE agent. Does she know that Ashli was climbing high through a broken window, with an armed officer in the Speaker's Lobby while the mob was trying breach the barricaded door? Yeah, that mob, who'd been yelling "kill Pelosi" and "hang Mike Pence." The mob who'd bloodied and tased Capitol Police officers. Does she think they were tourists? What's wrong with her brain? You can't spin this. Facts are facts. There's video. There were trials. There were convictions. Of course, roughly 1,600 people were pardoned in early 2025, not because they were innocent...

This is just one datapoint in a series of them, from conversations in which she signaled strongly that she's very much in the magaverse. I had been hoping she might be open to figuring out what's really going on, that the guy in the White House is/has:

Not a successful businessman
Is enriching himself (and his children) though blatant violations of the U.S. Constitution's Emoluments Clauses clause and various grifts he's running, and has been sued for this many times
Is a well-documented misogynist, racist and bigot, with a well-documented history of such, as well as a family history
Isn't very smart
Is suffering from cognitive decline
Enacting fiscal policies that hurt the economy
Hasn't delivered on any of his promises except taking away women's control over their bodies and shutting the border/deporting people, although he's not deporting "r@pists, murderers and insane people"; he's deporting people who was dishes and cut lawns, along with their families.
Tried to cheat to win the 2020 election, then lost, yet continues to convince his acolytes that he won because "winning is everything" (even if you have to cheat)
Attacked the free press
Attacked anyone who opposed him or said an unkind thing about him, or roasted him during a press corps dinner, or whose city didn't vote for him
I won't even get into the stuff about underage women/girls

...and on and on

But the magas don't believe any of that. If you point to facts, they pull up some Heritage Foundation-funded YouTuber who spins an opposing tale. It's infuriating. Their answer is "whatabout (so-and-so). It's anything but accepting the truth that's in front of their eyes. These people are going to be studied in history books for generations.

Last year, I tried to share a straightforward video with my friend, which was from Robert Reich (worked for Reagan and Ford) about the economics of DOGE. She wouldn't watch it. I asked her 4 times.

Her position on the facts is that it's just my "opinion" and that not buying into conspiracy theories and proven falsehoods means that I don't respect her "opinion." Honestly, I could care less about feelings and opinions, as they're what got us here in the first place.

This is a tragedy because the friend I'm talking about is a smart and decent person, despite her racist upbringing and general lack of education. I know her goodness to be real, though, and I figured her big brain, plus the trans experience would bring her to question her beliefs and seek clarity.

But Kellyanne Conway coined the term "alternative facts" in 2017 and none of us realized that would be the cornerstone of maga philosophy.

All of this is why it's nearly impossible to reason with people who support this guy. I'm so tired of it.

We're paying attention, but they're not. They just want the brown people gone, because "we ['real Americans'] were here first." Even some trans people, while this administration tells them they're sick and tries to erase them, believe his lies and they support him. It's beyond exhausting.

[Lori Dee ✅]

I have lost family members because of things like this.

It doesn't matter what people believe; that is their right. What matters is their behavior because of those beliefs.

Your friend does not have authority or power over you. You can easily cancel their vote with your own. What matters, and the reason I started this thread, is when one person in authority decides to shape the entire government around his beliefs.

We cannot change anyone's beliefs against their will. Nor should we waste our time trying. Each individual must decide for themselves what changes are needed and act accordingly to make those changes.

There are people who are perfectly content to bury their heads in the sand and live in their own world. We do not have any obligation to live in that world if we don't wish to.

Three things that are never discussed with my MAGA-supporting family:
Sex, religion, and politics.

We will never agree on any of them, so in the interest of having civil conversations, those topics are off-limits.

You and your friend can have the same agreement. It doesn't mean you are no longer friends. It just means you have differing viewpoints. Acknowledge that they are entitled to their beliefs, but you don't need to discuss them.

[Courtney G]

Ah, yes, but the problem is that these beliefs drive action. They create mobs, for good or evil. If it was just votes, I could deal, but misinformed mobs hurt trans people. They shape the zeitgeist. They decide whether or not our lives have value, whether or not things are easier or harder. Even someone like this person, who really is good and kind and has a good heart, is doing damage by perpetuating falsehoods, by being intolerant of others, for all the wrong reasons.

I can't break bread with someone who won't allow the people I care about at the table. I can't pretend that I can have a relationship with someone who supports a fascist dictator under the condition that we just "don't talk politics." Not giving voice to the words doesn't mean the words aren't there.

And the real tragedy is that this isn't some sort of bad person; this is a good person who just doesn't know what we know. It hurts too much to pretend this isn't happening.

[Lori Dee ✅]

"We're not going to invade Greenland. We're going to buy it," Trump said, according to the report. "It's never been my intention to make Greenland the 51st state. I want to make Canada the 51st state. Greenland will be the 52nd state. Venezuela can be 53rd."

https://www.yahoo.com/news/articles/trump-reportedly-bombed-speech-closed-201603089.html 🔗

But, of course, he was just joking. < wink wink >

[Courtney G]

Wow. Cringe, as the kids say

[Lori Dee ✅]

Trump says Republicans should 'nationalize' elections
https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/elections/trump-republicans-nationalize-elections-rcna257098 🔗
NBC News - Jane C. Timm
Feb. 2, 2026, 2:25 PM MST

President Donald Trump on Monday said Republicans should nationalize elections and take them over from the states as he repeated his disproven claims of voter fraud.

Federal courts have already blocked Trump from shaping election rules, preventing implementation of portions of his March 2025 executive order, which ordered major election changes including requiring people to prove their citizenship when registering to vote in federal elections.

"The Framers of our Constitution recognized that power over election rules could be abused, either to destroy the national government or to disempower the people from acting as a check on their elected representatives," U.S. District Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly wrote in a ruling last week blocking provisions of Trump's executive order, including the proof of citizenship requirement.

She continued: "Accordingly, they entrusted this power to the parts of our government that they believed would be most responsive to the will of the people: first to the States, and then, in some instances, to Congress. They assigned no role at all to the President. Put simply, our Constitution does not allow the President to impose unilateral changes to federal election procedures."

-----------------------------------------

Someone needs to be reminded of their Oath of Office, "to protect and defend the Constitution of the United States."

[MistressStevie]

The Fox Varian case is getting near incendiary wall to wall coverage on right leaning news.  This MSN article is slightly less infuriating. 

Appeals may change the outcome but there is cause for paying attention.  This is a New York case with a holding more expected in Texas.  Two million dollars is significant enough to attract more cases.  I have wondered when this kind of case was going to hit the news.

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/crime/this-landmark-ruling-could-change-the-future-of-gender-related-treatments-for-minors/ar-AA1VwE37 🔗

[Lori Dee ✅]

This MSN article is slightly less infuriating. 

You can easily spot right-wing propaganda by the terminology they use:

At age 16, Fox Varian underwent a double mastectomy as she transitioned from a biological girl to identifying as a boy.

and

"lax assessment standards by care providers when they consider whether irreversible medical interventions should be offered or given to minors with gender dysphoria."

In this case, a 16-year-old underwent surgery after only one year of therapy. That is unusual. Usually, minors are placed on puberty blockers and remain in therapy until they reach 18 years old.

"lax assessment standards by care providers"? In this case, maybe. But those providers did not operate on a minor arbitrarily. Parental consent is required. Who paid for this? Was it self-pay? Or did an insurance company authorize coverage?

I agree that something went sideways in this particular case. But gender affirming surgery on minors is extremely rare. The right loves to take examples of things that happen in 0.01% of the population and hold them up as if they were common practice. A prime example is the President's claim that kids are going to school and having surgeries without parental consent.

[Courtney G]

Friends are a bit surprised that I haven't seen more surgeons regarding FFS. I managed to sneak into a surgeon's schedule as he relocated from the midwest to the east coast. The alternative was to wait another 6 months (or more) for consultations, and a couple of years for surgery. In the meantime:

States are getting pressured to drop insurance requirements for gender affirming care
Health insurance companies are breaking off their partnerships with facilities that perform gender affirming procedures
Facilities are dropping many gender affirming procedures from the services they perform
Facilities are keeping a low profile these days, with some barely advertising the fact that they do these procedures - this can be a matter of safety for them.

I think this is why I couldn't find much about my doctor online. In the surgery business, being known for performing these procedures exposed practitioners to trouble.

[Stottie Girl]

"as she transitioned from a biological girl to identifying as a boy"

Sadly in the UK our supreme court now deems this is the correct terminology. You can no longer simply be referred to as a girl or a boy if you change gender. At least in the eyes of the law.

I mean, I understand we cannot be biological women but does there really need to be a distinction between the two?

The right-wing media is loving it.

[MaryT]

"as she transitioned from a biological girl to identifying as a boy"

Sadly in the UK our supreme court now deems this is the correct terminology. You can no longer simply be referred to as a girl or a boy if you change gender. At least in the eyes of the law.

I mean, I understand we cannot be biological women but does there really need to be a distinction between the two?

The right-wing media is loving it.

No, there doesn't HAVE to be a distinction in law.  If there HAD to be  a distinction because cause of chromosomes and genes, people wouldn't be able to regard adopted children as their own and adopted children would not have the same rights as biological children.

Obviously, in law, love can override biology but that is not happening for transgender women.

The hatred and fear seems to be directed mainly against transgender women.  The women's groups that successfully campaigned for only biological women to be allowed to use ladies' facilities obviously did not have in mind that trans men such as boxer Patricio Manuel should start using them:

If muscular, bearded trans men who have had bottom surgery did start using ladies' facilities, it could conceivably make more people see sense.  However I would be loth to ask them to do so.  I would hate to be responsible for the hate and fear to be transferred to trans men also.

Hopefully, people will again realize that minds are biological and that to have woman's mind is to be a biological woman.

[Stottie Girl]

My thoughts exactly and the point has been raised in the uk on several occasions that trans men now legally have to use the female wc's. But there seems to be this blinkered opinion that all trans women are somehow only going through all the pain and life changing surgery just so they can get into the womens changing rooms to spy on CIS women in their underwear. It is totally absurd!

I think I'm going off the point of this thread and decending into a more general rant so I think I better stop there!

[Courtney G]

My thoughts exactly and the point has been raised in the uk on several occasions that trans men now legally have to use the female wc's. But there seems to be this blinkered opinion that all trans women are somehow only going through all the pain and life changing surgery just so they can get into the womens changing rooms to spy on CIS women in their underwear. It is totally absurd!

I think I'm going off the point of this thread and decending into a more general rant so I think I better stop there!

I joke about this, saying that we only transition so we can sit in the stall next to another woman while she poos. Because that's really exciting to me. (?)

Yeah, we explode our lives, relationships, marriages so we can be in the same smelly, dirty room with women who are doing the least attractive thing that women do.