To the extent it comes up: Trump crap post-WH years

[The Sybian]

As I looked up, a pickup truck plastered with Ukrainian flag decals just drove by. I have a Ukranian SSR flag from when Ukraine was a member state of the USSR. I should hang that in front of my house to show support and see if I get a rock through my window or cause an uproar on the town FaceBook Forum. It looks like the Soviet flag with a blue stripe at the bottom. I assume hardly anyone would know it was a flag of Ukraine, and if they did they would assume it showed support for Ukraine returning to Russian control. Question is, do I tell my wife before I display the flag?

[Shirley]

Craziness about Howard. He blocked me on Twitter years ago and I never knew why. I'll have to look on one of my work accounts.

[Steve of phpBB]

Question is, do I tell my wife before I display the flag?

How comfy is your couch?

[The Sybian]

Question is, do I tell my wife before I display the flag?

How comfy is your couch?

You think I'd be allowed to stay in the house?

[Shirley]

I would 100% assume the person who flew that flag was pro-Russia, even before I knew the flag's true origin. Knowing it's from Soviet Ukraine only makes that view stronger.

[mister d]

Right. From a distance I hate anyone wearing a red hat until I can confirm what its not. That flag is going to get you firebombed.

[A_B]

I would 100% assume the person who flew that flag was pro-Russia, even before I knew the flag's true origin. Knowing it's from Soviet Ukraine only makes that view stronger.

I had a post started that tried to say this but for whatever reason I couldn't get the wording right. I think the reason is I am stupid.

[The Sybian]

I would 100% assume the person who flew that flag was pro-Russia, even before I knew the flag's true origin. Knowing it's from Soviet Ukraine only makes that view stronger.

I hope it goes without saying, but I was joking about flying the flag.

When I went to Russia it was just after the fall of Communism, and the markets were flooded with Soviet propaganda, military stuff, flags, etc... When we went on a side trip to St. Petersburg, I bought a bunch of banners and an enormous flag at had the symbol of all 15 Republics on one side, and a giant Lenin head and some slogan on the other side. I paid 50 cents for the banners and a few dollars for the flag. My host mother was screaming at me and sobbing because she felt I was ripped off and paid for garbage. If I was older, I would have started a business buying this stuff to sell in America. I volunteered to give up a suitcase on the way there to pack full of medicine and supplies for the town, so I had an empty suitcase to fill up with this stuff. I have a bunch of different military dress hats, hand carved and painted chess sets, matryoshka dolls. My host father gave me a bag filled with all of his Army medals. I felt bad taking them, but he screamed that it was garbage and he didn't want it. That colored my view of Russians hating their military service. We sat in on military class in the high school, where they learn basic drills. Marching with a fake rifle doing show drills. They all hated it and resented and feared having to serve. When I hosted a Russian exchange student, he brought me an authentic full length Red Army officer winter coat. It's made out of felt an inch thick and is insanely heavy. I have a matching officers' fur hat, too.

[duff]

Can't you just hang it at the neighbors? Or did they finally move?

[The Sybian]

Can't you just hang it at the neighbors? Or did they finally move?

Holy shit, that is great! Fortunately they sold the house. Town finally started cracking down on them with fines for noise ordinances and the unpermitted pool, and they sold for $400,000 under what they were initially asking. Had to laugh when I saw they had at least 10 cars at their house for a Super Bowl party and I didn't even notice until I left the house to pick up my son.

[A_B]

I would 100% assume the person who flew that flag was pro-Russia, even before I knew the flag's true origin. Knowing it's from Soviet Ukraine only makes that view stronger.

I hope it goes without saying, but I was joking about flying the flag.

When I went to Russia it was just after the fall of Communism, and the markets were flooded with Soviet propaganda, military stuff, flags, etc... When we went on a side trip to St. Petersburg, I bought a bunch of banners and an enormous flag at had the symbol of all 15 Republics on one side, and a giant Lenin head and some slogan on the other side. I paid 50 cents for the banners and a few dollars for the flag. My host mother was screaming at me and sobbing because she felt I was ripped off and paid for garbage. If I was older, I would have started a business buying this stuff to sell in America. I volunteered to give up a suitcase on the way there to pack full of medicine and supplies for the town, so I had an empty suitcase to fill up with this stuff. I have a bunch of different military dress hats, hand carved and painted chess sets, matryoshka dolls. My host father gave me a bag filled with all of his Army medals. I felt bad taking them, but he screamed that it was garbage and he didn't want it. That colored my view of Russians hating their military service. We sat in on military class in the high school, where they learn basic drills. Marching with a fake rifle doing show drills. They all hated it and resented and feared having to serve. When I hosted a Russian exchange student, he brought me an authentic full length Red Army officer winter coat. It's made out of felt an inch thick and is insanely heavy. I have a matching officers' fur hat, too.

I've read this story.

[Johnnie]

Seems big on a Wednesday night:

[EnochRoot]

Something has to break him.

If there's one bullet: obviously Putin.

But then...

[Square Rob]

nah. It just aligns with the world’s most malevolent dictator.

I'm not sure I even understand the point the pro-Russia people are making. The best I can gather, there is anecdotal evidence that some troops in the Ukranian army harbor Nazi beliefs, so we should cheer for Putin destroying the entire Ukranian army and ousting a popular democratically elected regime to stamp out Naziism? Yet it's OK for a historically horrendous dictator with Nationalistic beliefs to invade and capture a sovereign neighboring nation to attempt to rebuild the Soviet Union? So Russia can get a buffer between NATO nations by invading what is a large buffering nation between Russia and Nato nations?

I had to unfollow Howard. I get being anti imperialism, and fully agree. I’ve been embarrassed by activities of our own government. I also don’t trust everything I see with media, large and small. But fuck me that’s a long way from carrying water for the Russian invasion. Even with Ukraine’s actions in Donbas and Crimea, those areas were invaded too! Russia tried to overthrow them using non-official methods. It didn’t work so they upped the ante. Putin has been planning this for years.

[Johnnie]

Can these fucking people be arrested already?????

[P.D.X.]

That's a shame.

[Baloney]

Just like their leader who wouldn't go to a War Cemetery in the rain

[P.D.X.]

I hate the "who's paying for that" angle when it comes to protests, but who's paying for the truckers gas and overhead while they're not actually working? The big rigs ain't cheap and from what I understand, freight trucking has super thin margins.

[sancarlos]

It’s certainly not the freight companies. Long haul drivers get paid by the mile - by the predetermined mileage from pick-up point to delivery point. So their employers aren’t paying for any extra time or mileage they drive.

[Johnnie]

My friend's brother who drives a truck said that truckers have been doing dumb stuff like this, indifferent to who the president is or what the hot button political topic is, for years.

But once the astroturfing campaign in Canada occurred, it gave the idiots who drive trucks down here with similar political views the license to attempt it.

However, there has to be less money to go around because it just isn't a serious movement at all. That's why January 6th seems so weird. There was serious money and coordination behind the scenes.

[EnochRoot]

My friend's brother who drives a truck said that truckers have been doing dumb stuff like this, indifferent to who the president is or what the hot button political topic is, for years.

But once the astroturfing campaign in Canada occurred, it gave the idiots who drive trucks down here with similar political views the license to attempt it.

However, there has to be less money to go around because it just isn't a serious movement at all. That's why January 6th seems so weird. There was serious money and coordination behind the scenes.

cough GINNIE THOMAS cough

[Steve of phpBB]

It’s certainly not the freight companies. Long haul drivers get paid by the mile - by the predetermined mileage from pick-up point to delivery point. So their employers aren’t paying for any extra time or mileage they drive.

Some freight companies might be paying because they are run by aggrieved white men too.

We came across a mini-convoy on the highway here a couple of weeks ago. It was mostly pickups and SUVs and normal cars. There were only two real trucks - but both were from the same trucking company.

[sancarlos]

It’s certainly not the freight companies. Long haul drivers get paid by the mile - by the predetermined mileage from pick-up point to delivery point. So their employers aren’t paying for any extra time or mileage they drive.

Some freight companies might be paying because they are run by aggrieved white men too.

We came across a mini-convoy on the highway here a couple of weeks ago. It was mostly pickups and SUVs and normal cars. There were only two real trucks - but both were from the same trucking company.

Maybe some piddly little outfit with just 3 trucks or something. Certainly not any company big enough to have a formal payroll system and a hierarchy of management.

Don't get me wrong, As we know, most business executives, including trucking executives, are Republicans. Many of them are hard right-wingers. But in a low profit-margin business, very very few can afford to take their revenue-generating trucks off the road for such a purpose. The execs support their causes in other ways, such as writing checks to right-wing causes.

A large percentage of long-haul truckers are owner-operators. Yeah, they are incorporated and have a company name, but that usually just means a guy who owns a truck or two, and works on a contractor basis with larger companies.

[Full disclosure - I was in management for a global trucking/logistics/air freight company for most of my professional life.)

[DaveInSeattle]

Just like their leader who wouldn't go to a War Cemetery in the rain

But hey...according to Washington Post columnist, and Resident Super Genius Hugh Hewitt, the Trucker Convoy is a legitimate political force to be reckoned with!

A cross-country convoy with a purpose

One thing is certain: The convoy has made the silent American voter easy to find and hear. Reporters should seek them out; they are friendly and talkative. And they will be heard again in November, because they are the future of U.S. politics.

[mister d]

Ah ha wow holy shit glad he’s safe ha ha wow fuck …

[The Sybian]

Leads me to an interesting thought. If Trump drops dead tomorrow, does the Party grow a spine, or do they continue to pander to the MAGAts? I'm thinking there is a split, some of the people who should know better try to pull the party back from the ledge, while others like DeSantis and Cruz engage in a battle royale to out Trump each other and secure Trump voters and claim the mantle as the leader of the GOP. It'd be fun to watch them go at each other.

[Johnnie]

I think the plane he was on had 3 engines, so 1 going out isn't that big a deal.

Leads me to an interesting thought. If Trump drops dead tomorrow, does the Party grow a spine, or do they continue to pander to the MAGAts? I'm thinking there is a split, some of the people who should know better try to pull the party back from the ledge, while others like DeSantis and Cruz engage in a battle royale to out Trump each other and secure Trump voters and claim the mantle as the leader of the GOP. It'd be fun to watch them go at each other.

I'm thinking the GOP memory holes everything left about him and they continue doing what they need to to get votes from aggrieved, racist white people. There will never be a split, just a constant movement further and further right with the occasional Romney, Cheney, or Kinzinger saying something to make the liberal media fawn.

[sancarlos]

If Trump dies anytime soon, they will canonize him and demand his likeness get added to Mount Rushmore.

[EnochRoot]

Republicans are paralyzed from acting responsibly because Rupert Murdoch has been wagging their dog for over 30 years. Nothing will change until that man is brought to heel.

[rass]

And of course, he's fundraising for a new plane.

[A_B]

I think the plane he was on had 3 engines, so 1 going out isn't that big a deal.

Look, I don't care how Air Force you are, for a civilian, one engine going out is a big fucking deal! Haven't you seen Twilight Zone?

[mister d]

At this very moment, I think Trump dying would make me happy for a moment then make the country far worse for the exact reasoning above. Republicans would pretend to wake from the Trump haze and Biden et all would be all too willing to embrace them as a new and reasonable counter-party that just so happens to still do all the same awful shit.

[The Sybian]

At this very moment, I think Trump dying would make me happy for a moment then make the country far worse for the exact reasoning above. Republicans would pretend to wake from the Trump haze and Biden et all would be all too willing to embrace them as a new and reasonable counter-party that just so happens to still do all the same awful shit.

That, and they could just replace Trump with an equally evil but competent and intelligent person.

[DaveInSeattle]

If Trump dies anytime soon, they will canonize him and demand his likeness get added to Mount Rushmore.

When Trump goes, Fox News will morph into a 24-hour hagiography channel, the depths of which haven't been seen since Reagan died. And some aspiring Grover Norquist-type (Charlie Kirk, the most likely candidate) will immediately mount a campaign to have something named for Trump in all 50 states. And the Trump-wannabes (Cruz, DeSantis, and others) will do everything they can to take up his hate-filled vacancy.

[L-Jam3]

At this very moment, I think Trump dying would make me happy for a moment then make the country far worse for the exact reasoning above. Republicans would pretend to wake from the Trump haze and Biden et all would be all too willing to embrace them as a new and reasonable counter-party that just so happens to still do all the same awful shit.

That, and they could just replace Trump with an equally evil but competent and intelligent person.

Would they be able to find it though? I think the appeal of TFG is his combination of charisma, stupidity, racism, and classlessness. Plus it would have to be someone in the public eye. That's a tough confluence to replicate. Like I can't really see Jethro standing up in his Klan meeting in Lynchblacks, Mississippi saying "Josh Hawley. Now that guy gets us."

[The Sybian]

At this very moment, I think Trump dying would make me happy for a moment then make the country far worse for the exact reasoning above. Republicans would pretend to wake from the Trump haze and Biden et all would be all too willing to embrace them as a new and reasonable counter-party that just so happens to still do all the same awful shit.

That, and they could just replace Trump with an equally evil but competent and intelligent person.

Would they be able to find it though? I think the appeal of TFG is his combination of charisma, stupidity, racism, and classlessness. Plus it would have to be someone in the public eye. That's a tough confluence to replicate. Like I can't really see Jethro standing up in his Klan meeting in Lynchblacks, Mississippi saying "Josh Hawley. Now that guy gets us."

Ron DeSantis might be able to pull it off, but you make a good point. I can't see anyone else drawing crowds at rallies crying and whining about the same damned personal grievances for years on end. Without Trump, maybe the movement fizzles and the MAGAts crawl back under their rock and lose interest in politics.

[Johnnie]

These people are so fucking broken-brained:

[Johnnie]

[Rush2112]

We're up near Gainsville visiting some of the wife's family. Saw some Trump / Pence sings with the Pence black sharpied out.

[Johnnie]