Convicted felon US 47th President/ Musk Coup

Subject: RE: Convicted felon US 47th President/ Musk Coup
From: MaJoC the Filk
Date: 01 Mar 25 - 08:55 AM

> I was surprised that Fox News seemed to be allowing
> President Zelenskyy to present his case without being
> misrepresented by the Fox journalists.

That was the live feed, Helen. Cthulhu alone knows what the edited (per)version does or does not contain.

Subject: RE: Convicted felon US 47th President/ Musk Coup
From: Donuel
Date: 01 Mar 25 - 11:46 AM

THE SHIT HEARD 'ROUND THE WORLD:

Ukraine started a war with Russia.
Zelenskyy has never entered talks to end the war.
Zelenskyy is a dictator.
He has never thanked America for 250 billion dollars of weapons.
Putin is not a war criminal.
Trump's plan for Ukraine is better than the Marshall Plan.
Trump is a great diplomat and negotiator.

Subject: RE: Convicted felon US 47th President/ Musk Coup
From: MaJoC the Filk
Date: 01 Mar 25 - 12:12 PM

I'll put this in both threads (delete as appropriate):

Just announced in the last hour: Zelenskyy is going to meet the King tomorrow, as part of his UK visit. Someone's got balls.

Subject: RE: Convicted felon US 47th President/ Musk Coup
From: gillymor
Date: 01 Mar 25 - 01:11 PM

I wonder if Trump's allowed to visit his testicles in the Kremlin.

Subject: RE: Convicted felon US 47th President/ Musk Coup
From: Lighter
Date: 01 Mar 25 - 02:00 PM

Moulton and Vance are both U.S. Marines. (There's "no such thing as a 'former' Marine.") "Pogue" is a well-established Army and Marine term for a rear-area person in a non-combat support position. "Pogues" are conceived of as comfortable, smug, arrogant, and incapable of fighting like real soldiers/marines. It is not complimentary.

Moulton led a platoon in battle in Iraq and was decorated for valor. Vance wrote articles and took photos as a journalist with the Marine Air Wing.

The Irish etymology makes a lot of sense. In recent years, the word has often been spelled "POG" and defined succinctly as "person other than grunt."

Subject: RE: Convicted felon US 47th President/ Musk Coup
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 01 Mar 25 - 02:25 PM

Today from Alt NPS:

Elon updated DOGE website, claiming to have fixed the mistakes we all pointed out—haha. But instead of correcting them, he just added more false claims. He even inflated his so-called “savings” total from $55 billion to $65 billion, when in reality, the actual increase is only from $2 billion to $2.3 billion.

Even better? He’s counting fully paid-out contracts as “savings.” Essentially, he’s saying: Here, take the money, but you don’t need to do the work. So now free handouts count as cost-cutting? Bold strategy.

Data Entry Errors and Quiet Revisions
- $8 billion typo – A contract worth $8 million was mistakenly reported as $8 billion in savings.
- Triple-counted project – A USAID project worth $655 million was counted three times. Initially reported as nearly $2 billion in savings, now corrected to $18 million.
- Social Security contract mistake – Originally claimed $250 million in savings for a contract that wasn’t even canceled; later revised to $560,000 for ending a “Gender X” marker initiative.

Misleading and Incorrect Data
- Contracts counted as savings, despite not being canceled:
- $4 billion from the initial batch is still included, even though those contracts remain active.
- A $1.9 billion IRS contract was canceled but is still included in misleading ways.
- Misuse of “indefinite delivery” contracts and blanket purchase agreements – These act as lines of credit rather than fixed spending, but they were counted as savings anyway.
- Projected savings will shrink over time due to termination costs.

Incorrect Contract Links and Mismatches
- Small Business Administration error – A contract for a “Shuttered Venue Program” was wrongly linked to an unrelated research support agreement that was never canceled.
- NIH contract misrepresentation – Claimed savings from a $99 million contract, but the actual canceled contract was only $9.9 million, with under $1 million in savings.
- Health and Human Services mix-up – A $150 million savings claim was actually linked to an active $119,000 contract for refrigerated liquid gases, instead of the correct $1.4 million administrative contract.

Auditing is so easy, even a park ranger can do it. Share this to stop the spread of misinformation!

Subject: RE: Convicted felon US 47th President/ Musk Coup
From: Helen
Date: 01 Mar 25 - 02:28 PM

Thanks for that clarification, Lighter. That makes sense, and makes me think the Irish word connection is possible.

(An aside: I was driving on a busy road between home and the next city and saw a very large truck coming towards me and laughed out loud when I saw a very large sign hand-painted above the cabin which read "Pogue Mahone". It still makes me laugh. Most people who read the sign would not have known what it meant.)

As for my feeling that Trump and his cronies are building their own downfall, I expect that their self-constructed entanglement will sneak up on them and take them by surprise. Everything will appear to be going according to plan and then they will be caught in a web of their own making, and the job of the right-minded people to clean up their mess will be a lot simpler, more easily accomplished. I think democracy and working for the good of the country will reassert itself more easily when people see this tangled mess of selfish COTUS (Centre Of The Universe Syndrome - my name for them) people caught in their own web.

I also keep thinking what Hollywood will make of this when it is all over.

Subject: RE: Convicted felon US 47th President/ Musk Coup
From: Helen
Date: 01 Mar 25 - 02:43 PM

Quote from Sir Walter Scott's poem, Marmion, usually wrongly attributed to Shakespeare:

"Oh what a tangled web we weave when first we practise to deceive"

An explanation from enotes:

"...and so the cycle continues. The "tangled web" metaphor refers to the act of a spider spinning its geometrical home: if it becomes tangled, the points do not intersect as they should, and the web becomes a mangled mess, much like the act of keeping up with one's own dishonesties."

Subject: RE: Convicted felon US 47th President/ Musk Coup
From: Backwoodsman
Date: 01 Mar 25 - 03:58 PM

From the FB Page of Mensa Saskatchewan, the Saskatchewan Chapter of Mensa, the international High IQ society. I have C&P’d the text here for the benefit of those who prefer not to interact with FB, and I link to the actual FB article below.

Some enlightenment on the values and sources of aid given to Ukraine in regard to its resistance to the invasion by Putin’s forces vs. Claims being bandied around by the Trump Regime…

”In the Constitution of Mensa, it says that Mensa is not allowed to take any political action and cannot hold political affiliations (though Members or groups of members may express opinions as members of Mensa, provided their opinions or actions are not expressed as being those of Mensa as an organization). So while I do have personal opinions on what happened between Trump, Vance, and Zelensky (????????? ??????????) during the session with the press at the White House today, I am keeping those to myself. I wanted to provide some fact checking on the numbers being thrown around though, as these numbers are not politics but verifiable numbers.

The USA has not spent $350 billion in Ukraine, nor even $300 billion. I have seen figures ranging anywhere from $119.7 billion (Kiel Institute for the World Economy) to $182.8 billion (U.S. Department of Defense), but the most consistent figure that I have seen is around $175 billion, and only $105.1 billion of that is to the Ukrainian government directly:
- $2 billion in humanitarian aid
- $33.3 billion in budget support
- $69.8 billion in weapons, equipment, and other military support
(Council on Foreign Relations, BBC News, Euronews, US Special Inspector General for Operation Atlantic Resolve)

Most of the remainder is funding various U.S. activities associated with the war in Ukraine, and a small portion supports other affected countries in the region (the $182.8 billion figure includes US military training and replenishing US defence stocks, so it includes all spending on the response to Russia's invasion of Ukraine). (Council on Foreign Relations, BBC News)

Of the $182.8 billion from the USA, only $83.4 billion has been sent, with the remaining $99.4 billion either not yet committed or not yet approved for payment. This is why Ukraine has received only $76 billion from the USA, and the $100 billion that people claim is missing is actually money that has not been sent. (Euronews, ?????????? ??????)

By comparison, the Kiel Institute calculates that, including military, financial, and humanitarian aid to Ukraine, the EU has spent $138.7 billion (compared to their calculation of $119.7 billion from the USA). Their calculations include only support directly given to Ukraine and exclude things like money used to replenish U.S. weapon stocks following donations to Kyiv, funds spent to help neighbouring countries welcome Ukrainian refugees, etc. However, using a broader definition, the European Union has committed $198 billion so far. (BBC News, Washington Post, Fox News)

Of all the funding Ukraine as received, NATO estimates that nearly 60% of the funding for Ukraine has come from across Europe and Canada. (ABC News and BBC News)

Canada has given $19.7 billion in aid to Ukraine:
- $12.4 billion in financial aid
- $4.5 billion in military assistance
The remaining funds are spread between humanitarian, development, stabilization, etc. aid funding. (THX News and Government of Canada)

Canada has also provided $5 billion to Ukraine from seized Russian assets, and the money will be repaid from interest earned on the held Russian assets (i.e., Russia will be bearing the burden of repayment). (Global News, National Post, CTV News, and Anadolu Agency)

In total, Ukraine has spent $120 billion of its own money, and Ukraine estimates that that total they have spent on the war is about $320 billion. (Voice of America)

If you're wondering, 35% of the funds going to Ukraine from Europe have been loans, and some of the repayment of those loans are coming from revenues from frozen and seized Russian assets and Ukraine isn't having to pay those portions of the loans, and the rest are really generous terms where Ukraine will be repaying less interest over lengthy repayment periods. The remaining 65% is grants an in-kind support. (Washington Post and BBC News)

***ETA: The actual value of the weapons and equipment sent to Ukraine by the USA is about 60% lower than they were priced because the price was for new stock. Much of the military equipment and ammunition sent to Ukraine is old and of limited combat effectiveness because it came from aging US stockpiles, some of the ammunition is expired, and a majority of the equipment isn't even used by the US military anymore (and therefore has an effective value of $0 to the USA). Normally, this stock would have to be disposed of, but giving it to Ukraine means there are effectively no disposal expenses. Furthermore, much of the funding for Ukraine is being spent in the USA, such as employing US workers to manufacture the replacement equipment and supplies for refilling US stockpiles. (Kyiv Post and AL24news - ???? ??????? ???????)

***ETA2: I am unable to share the links to the articles that I am using as sources, as there is an ongoing dispute between the Government of Canada and Facebook that prevents Canadian Facebook users from being able to share or even see news articles from any news agency. Someone shared with me a way to post the links, so I will try to do that later today.”

Link to Mensa Saskatchewan FB Article

Subject: RE: Convicted felon US 47th President/ Musk Coup
From: Sandra in Sydney
Date: 01 Mar 25 - 05:03 PM

Volodymyr Zelenskyy signs deal with UK amid fallout from Donald Trump meeting In short:

In a series of posts on X, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy says "tough dialogue" will be needed to reach an understanding over the war in Ukraine.

His posts came a day after US President Donald Trump and his Vice-President JD Vance confronted Mr Zelenskyy in the Oval Office, accusing him of "gambling with World War III".
What's next?

Mr Zelenskyy has signed a new loan deal in London with UK PM Keir Starmer, and will meet with other European leaders on Sunday local time ...

... Meanwhile, Russia's government has reacted with approval of Mr Trump and Mr Vance's actions at the Oval Office.

In a statement, Russian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova described Mr Zelenskyy's behaviour as "outrageously boorish".

"The visit … to Washington on February 28 is a complete political and diplomatic failure by the Kyiv regime," she said.

    "For the sake of this, he has destroyed the opposition, built a totalitarian state and ruthlessly sends millions of citizens to their deaths." ...

Subject: RE: Convicted felon US 47th President/ Musk Coup
From: MaJoC the Filk
Date: 01 Mar 25 - 05:48 PM

.... I withdraw my last "you're welcome to it" comment: Looking-Glass Land was benign to a first order, and only dangerous by accident.

Subject: RE: Convicted felon US 47th President/ Musk Coup
From: Donuel
Date: 01 Mar 25 - 06:42 PM

There is either a fine line between needing and wanting or an abyss.
I always wondered how the extreme right would feel if they got everything they wanted. I always expected they might hate it.
One of the most profound truths I’ve learned over the years is that wisdom is usually not found in the extremes, but somewhere in the middle is a more needful place.

Unfortunately, I’ve also learned that my pattern is usually to swing from one end of the spectrum to the other, before gradually settling into that wise middle way.

Lets hope the disenchantment with getting what the revenge-crazed right thought they wanted will find a middle ground. Since so many people will be hurt or killed by Trumpism its not possible to feel the schadenfreude I thought I would at the early dismay of the Trump voter with buyers' regret. I still feel a little though.

Subject: RE: Convicted felon US 47th President/ Musk Coup
From: Sandra in Sydney
Date: 02 Mar 25 - 02:20 AM

‘Bewildering’: US media and politicians react to Trump’s televised attack on Zelenskyy

Subject: RE: Convicted felon US 47th President/ Musk Coup
From: The Sandman
Date: 02 Mar 25 - 02:26 AM

Since so many people will be hurt or killed by Trumpism. quote

He is trying to bring an end to a war.

Subject: RE: Convicted felon US 47th President/ Musk Coup
From: Helen
Date: 02 Mar 25 - 03:29 AM

Starting with COVID Coronavirus Cases::

Country USA         Total cases 111,820,082         Total deaths 1,219,487         Total recovered 109,814,428         Total cases per million population 333,985         Deaths per million population 3,642         Population 334,805,269

The USA had more total cases and more total deaths than any other country. The deaths per million population ranks at #14 out of 229 countries listed but the USA is probably the most economically developed of the countries listed, with a highly developed health system. [Note: the lists can be sorted according to the column of your choice on that page so that you can compare the statistics according to each category.]

Donald Trump deliberately defied scientific analysis to convince the people of the USA to not get vaccinated and not trust the scientific and medical experts. Interestingly, when he contracted COVID he was vaccinated. One rule for himself and one rule for everyone else.

Currently he has stopped USAID and how many millions of people including a significant proportion of children will die miserably of malnutrition and/or deprivation of medical aid.

Millions of children are expected to suffer and tens of thousands may die as a result of these actions. In the long run, without this essential aid, millions of children will die from causes that are easily preventable.

How many of the immigrants he has deported or will deport will die or suffer due to deprivation of medical and health assistance, social assistance, etc?   

How many people died or were injured, either physically or psychologically by the Jan 6 insurrection which Trump instigated?

And remember when he said he could go out into the street and shoot someone and no-one could stop him or hold him accountable?

Subject: RE: Convicted felon US 47th President/ Musk Coup
From: The Sandman
Date: 02 Mar 25 - 03:41 AM

The USA has army bases in BULGARIA GERMANY ITALY POLAND UK JAPAN

Subject: RE: Convicted felon US 47th President/ Musk Coup
From: The Sandman
Date: 02 Mar 25 - 04:56 AM

I am in favour of stopping wars, and Trump may be doing this for the wrong reason, but when he does something I believe is right., THEN GIVE CREDIT AS YOU WOULD TO ANYBODY ELSE

Subject: RE: Convicted felon US 47th President/ Musk Coup
From: Backwoodsman
Date: 02 Mar 25 - 05:49 AM

WHEN IT SUITS

You choose the bits that fit into your own corrupt agenda
Ignore those facts that contradict your blinkered propaganda
You don’t know the truth or what it constitutes
Everything is always when it suits

You attack a man and say his clothes show disrespect
In the presence of the White House, they’re not what you’d expect
But not so your rich buddy, with whom you’re in cahoots
Everything is always when it suits

He’s a chap with a baseball cap, a tee shirt and some shades
But you don’t mind because of all the billions he’s made
Just ignore that chainsaw and those dubious salutes
Everything is always when it suits

Surround yourself with lap dogs and yes men sycophants
Saying you have all the cards to deal peace a chance
Yet all your cards are marked to favour your disputes
Everything is always when it suits

You wildly claim that Volodymyr is Ukranian dictator
When it’s your mate Vladimir who’s that manipulator
We all know just whose side you’re on and how it all computes
Everything is always when it suits

Paul Cookson
Poem 1720
Sunday 2nd March 2025

Subject: RE: Convicted felon US 47th President/ Musk Coup
From: Aethelric
Date: 02 Mar 25 - 08:27 AM

Trump is stopping a war is like someone stopping a brawl between a good guy and a bad guy by breaking the good guy's legs.

From a post on Facebook.

As I am in Ukraine at the moment, I would just like to correct a few lies from the Zelensky/Trump meeting based on my work here in Ukraine—Trump and Vance you are welcome to come visit although I doubt you have the courage to do so.

1) Zelensky showed up in military fatigues as he has done at every international meeting since day one of the 2022 Russian invasion—the second Russian invasion of Ukraine since 2014—to show his solidarity with the Ukrainian soldiers risking their lives to defend Ukraine, and to emphasize he is the leader of a country at war.
I didn’t see any similar objections to the non-elected immigrant racist white supremacist Elon Musk showing up repeatedly in the White House in a T-shirt and baseball cap which he didn’t even remove—it is a standard sign of respect to leadership to remove your hat—so don’t lecture Zelensky on how to dress.

2) Zelensky is not a dictator and he is not an unpopular leader who is unable to mobilize his people. I have spent many nights and days in the last few weeks with soldiers heading to the frontlines and talking to them, and none of them have tried to refuse to serve and they were heading into the battle with determination and courage—I salute them and respect them deeply.

3) Ukraine and Zelensky doesn’t have to thank the U.S. or Trump—the U.S. and Trump need to thank Ukraine and Zelensky. This is for two reasons.
First of all, Ukraine gave up the third-largest nuclear arsenal in the world voluntarily at the end of the USSR under the Budapest accords guaranteed by the U.S., France, UK, and Russia, giving up several trillion of dollars of nuclear weapons in return for security guarantees for its territorial integrity which Russia has violated and the U.S., UK and France vowed to protect. If Ukraine had kept its nuclear weapons, it would have been one of the most nuclear armed countries in the world and Russia would have never invaded. We, the West, committed to defend Ukraine in exchange for its denuclearization so there is no need for Ukraine to thank the U.S. for keeping its promises. See https://www.armscontrol.org/.../ukraine-nuclear-weapons...
Secondly, Ukraine is defending not just its own territorial integrity but the future of Europe. I have been interviewing people from the Russian-occupied territories the last few weeks and they really do live in a Stalinist prison camp that is unbelievably oppressive. This is what Putin wants to bring to much of Europe and we need to stop him in Ukraine to save our own democratic future, at any price (respecting human rights).
In was in Chechnya 25 years ago documenting the same Russian abuses, together at the same hotel with the murdered Anna Polikovskaya, the murdered Natalia Estemirova, and Memorial’s Oleg Orlov who was imprisoned in February 2024 for “discrediting the Russian military” and later released in a prisoner exchange.
The difference in 1999-2000 is that we could operate in Russia, under the watchful eye of the FSB (the current KGB). The FSB were staying at the same hotel as us, the ACCA in Ingushetia, and one night I found a few cigarette butts on the floor of my room just to let me know they were watching us. Buy we could go to Moscow, Human Rights Watch had a staff and office in Moscow, and do our work despite the dangers.
Since the Russian invasion of 2022 (and long before that), that limited space for activism and civil society has closed down in Russia. There are no more independent journalists or human rights groups operating in Russia and the HRW office has long closed down, and Anna and Natalia and Nemtsov and so many others were simply murdered by Putin. Yet this is what Trump embraces instead of the freedom-loving Ukrainian people, and he has refrained of any criticism of the murderous dictator Putin, instead trying to humiliate the freedom-fighting Zelensky. But Zelensky isn’t humiliated, he stands proud and strong because you cannot be humiliated by people you don’t respect.

Shame on you, you twice impeached and felon convicted orange wanna be. You and your republican supplicants do not deserve our respect—I won’t even spell republicans with a capital R because they don’t deserve that honorific. Shame on you betrayers of our American Values.
Peter Bouckaert, Senior Director at Fortify Rights

Subject: RE: Convicted felon US 47th President/ Musk Coup
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 02 Mar 25 - 10:51 AM

Since so many people will be hurt or killed by Trumpism. quote

He is trying to bring an end to a war.

and

I am in favour of stopping wars, and Trump may be doing this for the wrong reason, but when he does something I believe is right., THEN GIVE CREDIT AS YOU WOULD TO ANYBODY ELSE

Dick, Trump isn't ending a war, he's trying to 1) curry favor with Putin and 2) extort Ukraine to give him mineral rights, and in the end it looks like Trump and Putin are trying to carve up Ukraine. No props to anyone for that terrible move. No credit earned or deserved.

Athelric, on Mudcat we often quote from journal articles that are then linked to. Someone wrote something on Facebook that you did a very large copy/paste here. I did a search and found that Hugh Delehanty posted the remarks from Peter N. Bouckaert. You need to cite your sources.

We've gotten a bit sloppy here about following the unwritten (though it may be written, someone can check the FAQs) rule that posts should stick to one screen and should be linked and always attributed. When it comes to copyright material from publications a sample quote and a link to the original is the acceptable method of sharing. It keeps websites out of trouble by using the "fair use" approach.*

I will note to everyone here - we all need to pull back a bit on the lengthy posts. Read it yourself and quote the most important part, don't just dump the whole thing in here. We're not Facebook, we're a music site with a BS section and this is an important discussion but the long-form essays can stay on their own sites and be referred to here. What Aethelric should have done is go to the referring post (Delehanty) and click on the timestamp of that post; that will take you to the lone post and a heckuva long link. When we post links here we try not to fill the screen with them, but for those who only use the "blue clicky" or "blickfier" as some refer to it, it doesn't manage long links well. I like Bitly for shortening links that then can be posted here: for example, that Facebook post).


* The only exception to this is when sharing obituaries of musical folks that apply to Mudcat, because sometimes those sites disappear and we want to preserve the information.

Subject: RE: Convicted felon US 47th President/ Musk Coup
From: The Sandman
Date: 02 Mar 25 - 11:01 AM

Dick, Trump isn't ending a war, he's trying to 1) curry favor with Putin and 2) extort Ukraine to give him mineral rights, and in the end it looks like Trump and Putin are trying to carve up Ukraine. No props to anyone for that terrible move. No credit earned or deserved.quote
Where do you get your information from,or do you make it up

Subject: RE: Convicted felon US 47th President/ Musk Coup
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 02 Mar 25 - 11:17 AM

Dick, do you read the news? Did you see that awful episode on the White House on Friday? Go inform yourself before you post anything else here.

Subject: RE: Convicted felon US 47th President/ Musk Coup
From: The Sandman
Date: 02 Mar 25 - 12:02 PM

I saw that episode, it proved to me that Zelensky is politically incompetent.
I will post what i like, regarddless of whether it is the same opinion as you, Trump was trying to persuade Zelensky to end the war with Putin You clearly think everyone has to have the same opinion as you, have you heard of free speech .

Subject: RE: Convicted felon US 47th President/ Musk Coup
From: Helen
Date: 02 Mar 25 - 12:54 PM

Thanks Aethelric. That was truly worth reading.

SRS has a valid point about long posts so I always try to pick out the most relevant quotes and provide the link to allow people here to read the full article if they wish. Facebook is an issue for me because I refuse to sign up to it, but I can usually read enough of the post if I have the relevant link.

The Sandman, your posts are your opinion based on the media coverage you have seen or heard. Please stop shouting at us (i.e. using capitals) and please don't disallow our opinions because you disagree with them. This is a discussion thread, meaning we can discuss the issue and put forward our own opinions backed up if necessary by relevant facts, quotes from relevant media articles and other sources or commentary.

Subject: RE: Convicted felon US 47th President/ Musk Coup
From: MaJoC the Filk
Date: 02 Mar 25 - 12:59 PM

Meanwhile, back at the news (paraphrased from BBC Red Button): Pro-Ukraine protesters lined a road that JD Vance and family were due to drive along when they went on a weekend's skiing trip; the family has been moved to an undisclosed location. There's also been pro-Ukraine protests taking place in New York, Los Angeles and Boston.

Subject: RE: Convicted felon US 47th President/ Musk Coup
From: Aethelric
Date: 02 Mar 25 - 01:19 PM

Thank You Stilly

I'll make a point of citing ny sources in future.

There my be the odd protest or two in the UK if trump ever takes up the offer of a visit. I suspect Starmer is regretting making the offer

Subject: RE: Convicted felon US 47th President/ Musk Coup
From: Helen
Date: 02 Mar 25 - 01:29 PM

I suspect that some countries could block Trump's visits based on his conviction as a felon.

I'm hoping that is the case here in Oz, and I can place a fairly sure bet on lots of protests happening here if he does actually make it across the border legally. If he makes it across the border illegally we could deport him. That would be poetic justice, eh? LOL

Subject: RE: Convicted felon US 47th President/ Musk Coup
From: Aethelric
Date: 02 Mar 25 - 01:39 PM

One does wonder what sort of hold Putin has over trump.
There is an interesting article on Politico:-

The most revealing section concerned kompromat.
The document asked for: “Compromising information about subject, including illegal acts in financial and commercial affairs, intrigues, speculation, bribes, graft … and exploitation of his position to enrich himself.” Plus “any other information” that would compromise the subject before “the country’s authorities and the general public.” Naturally the KGB could exploit this by threatening “disclosure.”
Finally, “his attitude towards women is also of interest.” The document wanted to know: “Is he in the habit of having affairs with women on the side?”

https://www.politico.eu/article/donald-trump-russia-the-hidden-history-of-trumps

Subject: RE: Convicted felon US 47th President/ Musk Coup
From: MaJoC the Filk
Date: 02 Mar 25 - 01:42 PM

> the odd protest or two in the UK if trump ever takes up
> the offer of a visit

There will be, but they won't be visible from the grounds of Blenheim, and he'll be flown in and out by chopper. That's what was done last time, to ensure poor Diddums didn't get his ego bruised by seeing them.

Subject: RE: Convicted felon US 47th President/ Musk Coup
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 02 Mar 25 - 01:57 PM

But he loves to watch TV and see himself on the news. So that still might creep into his vision. And the angrier he gets the more mistakes he makes.

Subject: RE: Convicted felon US 47th President/ Musk Coup
From: Raggytash
Date: 02 Mar 25 - 02:35 PM

I cannot recall every seeing two so called "politicians and statesmen" acting in such a gross and undignified manner. Were I American I would be utterly ashamed that my nation had voted in two people who were acting like schoolroom bullies.

Subject: RE: Convicted felon US 47th President/ Musk Coup
From: gillymor
Date: 02 Mar 25 - 03:00 PM

What's the point of shaming Americans. I didn't vote for him, I did what I could to support his opponent and to keep him from being elected. I feel sickened by him but don't feel at all ashamed.

Subject: RE: Convicted felon US 47th President/ Musk Coup
From: Helen
Date: 02 Mar 25 - 03:00 PM

I am hoping that instead of Trump achieving the coveted Nobel Peace Prize, he is awarded the Ig Nobel War Prize, which if it doesn't exist already should be created in his (dis)honour.

Subject: RE: Convicted felon US 47th President/ Musk Coup
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 02 Mar 25 - 04:28 PM

There is such a thing, Helen. The Ig Nobel Prize.

Trump is still trying to erase Obama's accomplishments. Obama won that award mostly because he wasn't George W. Bush, so Biden should have the peace prize hands-down following the first Trump administration. Maybe the next Democratic president will get the same warm reception from the thinking world.

Subject: RE: Convicted felon US 47th President/ Musk Coup
From: Helen
Date: 02 Mar 25 - 05:15 PM

SRS, I know about the Ig Nobel Prize but I am wondering whether there is an Ig Nobel *War* Prize. LOL

Subject: RE: Convicted felon US 47th President/ Musk Coup
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 02 Mar 25 - 07:01 PM

Ok, got it. I skipped over that word - at this rate, Trump is definitely trying for something that lets him "act presidential" - alas, war is one of those opportunities. At this point I'm hoping for a swift departure for our un-loved president. Before he has a chance to claim any victories or declare any wars. If the senate doesn't convict him in an impeachment, Jack Ruby in 1963 comes to mind.

Subject: RE: Convicted felon US 47th President/ Musk Coup
From: Helen
Date: 02 Mar 25 - 07:04 PM

Well, my bet is on the "choking on a cheeseburger" event.

Subject: RE: Convicted felon US 47th President/ Musk Coup
From: Helen
Date: 02 Mar 25 - 07:36 PM

Aethelric, I think that the Politico article about kompromat explains why Putin always has that cat who got the cream smirk on his face when he looks at Trump.

Subject: RE: Convicted felon US 47th President/ Musk Coup
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 02 Mar 25 - 11:19 PM

Long time Republican conservative commentator David Brooks spoke on the PBS News Hour on the evening after the Trump/Vance ambush of Zelenskyy in the Oval Office. Here are the remarks (from the program transcript). Scroll down for the entire discussion.

I was nauseated, just nauseated. All my life, I have had a certain idea of about America, that we're a flawed country, but we're fundamentally a force for good in the world, that we defeated Soviet Union, we defeated fascism, we did the Marshall Plan, we did PEPFAR to help people live in Africa. And we make mistakes, Iraq, Vietnam, but they're usually mistakes out of stupidity, naivete and arrogance.

They're not because we're ill-intentioned. What I have seen over the last six weeks is the United States behaving vilely, vilely to our friends in Canada and Mexico, vilely to our friends in Europe. And today was the bottom of the barrel, vilely to a man who is defending Western values, at great personal risk to him and his countrymen.

Donald Trump believes in one thing. He believes that might makes right. And, in that, he agrees with Vladimir Putin that they are birds of a feather. And he and Vladimir Putin together are trying to create a world that's safe for gangsters, where ruthless people can thrive. And we saw the product of that effort today in the Oval Office.

And I have — I first started thinking, is it — am I feeling grief? Am I feeling shock, like I'm in a hallucination? But I just think shame, moral shame. It's a moral injury to see the country you love behave in this way.

Subject: RE: Convicted felon US 47th President/ Musk Coup
From: Helen
Date: 03 Mar 25 - 03:10 AM

What is the name of that syndrome where the underlings don't question the person in charge? It related to President JFK making plans to invade Cuba.

Subject: RE: Convicted felon US 47th President/ Musk Coup
From: Backwoodsman
Date: 03 Mar 25 - 09:01 AM

A piece from Swedish psychologist, Wirsén Psykologi. Although SRS has asked that we don’t post long pieces from other sources, I’m very much aware that we have members here who don’t want to interact with FB, so I’m posting it in full. I hope this is OK, I haven’t linked to it because the original is in Dutch and readers must be logged in to FB for it to translate to English.

Putin- and Trump-apologists would do well to read carefully and think a bit…

”Today it became painfully clear how narcissistic display of power and psychopathology look like, when Trump openly humiliated Zelensky in the Oval Office. In the eyes of the accredited world press, he called Zelensky “disrespectful,” questioning his loyalty and insinuating that he did not deserve US support. As if that wasn't enough, he warned that Zelensky could cause a third world war - a classic psychopathological feature in which threats are used as a control tool.

This wasn’t just a display of poor diplomatic behavior – it was a demonstration of power, characterized by narcissism and psychopathy.

?? Grand self-esteem and need for submission
– Trump expected Zelensky to show gratitude and admiration. When that didn't happen, he punished him publicly. People with narcissistic personality disorder cannot tolerate their self-image challenged and use humiliation as a defense mechanism.

?? Manipulation and threats
– Blaming someone for a potential disaster is a classic psychopathic tactic. By saying that Zelensky is “playing with the Third World War,” he blames him, while positioning himself as the only one who can prevent the catastrophe.

?? Impulsive and emotionally driven power exercise
– When Trump felt challenged by Zelensky, he abruptly ended the meeting. A stable and strategic leader had addressed the situation diplomatically, but a person with psychopathic traits reacts instinctively from his own sense of loss of control.

But why did he do this in front of the press? This is exactly why narcissists and psychopaths love to display their power in public. By humiliating Zelensky in front of the world, he is sending a signal – not only to him, but to all leaders and nations: “I am the one who decides, and whoever does not obey will be destroyed.” ”

What we saw today was not just a president behaving inappropriate. It was a school example of how narcissistic and psychopathic leaders use humiliation, threats, and manipulation to assert their power. And just like in destructive relationships, it's never about building, it's about control.

And what happened to the agreement on minerals? What does it take to drive a Tesla? Narcissists, dictators, and psychopaths idealize each other and work together in unholy alliances.

Trump can no longer claim to be leader of the free world. His actions today do not place him among democratic statesmen but among the dictators of history. A true leader builds alliances based on respect and diplomacy – a dictator rules with threats, fear and humiliation. When the fate of the world is at stake, we must not close our eyes to this difference.

We did not see a president today, but a despot in real-time.”

Subject: RE: Convicted felon US 47th President/ Musk Coup
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 03 Mar 25 - 11:08 AM

Dick, you're just being wilfully stupid for argument sake. I'm going to delete this crap. You want a little time out? Just keep pushing.

Trump is doing what Trump does best, distract from the damage he's doing to the US itself. Friday was a spectacular demonstration of that. Let's not stray into the minefield that Dick has tried to lay for us.

Subject: RE: Convicted felon US 47th President/ Musk Coup
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 03 Mar 25 - 11:38 AM

Some of the last few posts were deleted, others moved over to the Ukraine thread.

Subject: RE: Convicted felon US 47th President/ Musk Coup
From: MaJoC the Filk
Date: 03 Mar 25 - 01:00 PM

> I am wondering whether there is an Ig Nobel *War* Prize.

Given the nature of the Iggies, Helen, it'd be the IgNobel Peace prize. I'd much sooner see the wretched oik achieve a Darwin Award, but I doubt he'd get sufficient marks for creativity or style.

Side thought: Might the bugger have been deaf as a small child? I've only ever heard one other person with such a boring voice, and he said that was the cause.

.... Now to go back and read the rest of the thread.

Subject: RE: Convicted felon US 47th President/ Musk Coup
From: Helen
Date: 03 Mar 25 - 03:09 PM

Yes of course! Thanks for that MaJoC.

Now all we have to do is nominate Putin's puppet for the award.

BTW, there are lot of political cartoons on that idea if you do an internet image search for:

"cartoon Trump Putin puppet"

Subject: RE: Convicted felon US 47th President/ Musk Coup
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 03 Mar 25 - 04:27 PM

The Resident is doing a "state of the union" tomorrow - I don't think I'll be able to stand watching it, but watch it we must. Maybe he'll telegraph enough about his bad intentions to finally get movement from the GOP.

The Academy Awards were last night and you would barely know there is anything untoward going on in the world (with the exception of Gaza) for the attempts to interject political remarks by the presenters. They were pretty pathetic, and I realized a lot of them we usually see weren't in attendance. Maybe some of the pieces of personal jewelry were symbolic, but I didn't recognize any of them.

Subject: RE: Convicted felon US 47th President/ Musk Coup
From: Donuel
Date: 03 Mar 25 - 08:32 PM

There once was a time when honor meant something to America.

Subject: RE: Convicted felon US 47th President/ Musk Coup
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 03 Mar 25 - 11:41 PM

He's insisting that tariffs will go into effect overnight and the projections of the market show a loss this quarter, and my latest mutual fund purchase is underwater from the original price. I guess we are approaching be the "buy low" period in my investing routine.

This is sparkly stuff still - the funding from USAID still hasn't been released, despite a court order to do so. He has the security agencies that watch Russia turn off the gaze that protects from cyber crap. He has illegally impounded all of the aid that is supposed to be sent to Ukraine from the 2024 budget.

This just keeps getting worse, and the GOP sit on their scaredy little hands. From The Guardian Republicans terrified of crossing Trump due to physical threats, Democrat says:

Swalwell’s comments came in a webinar chaired by the journalist Sidney Blumenthal in response to a question on whether Republicans might be driven to rebel against or even impeach Trump.

“I have a lot of friends who are Republicans,” he said. “They are terrified of being the tallest poppy in the field, and it’s not as simple as being afraid of being primaried and losing their job. They know that that can happen.

“It’s more more personal. It’s their personal safety that they’re afraid of, and they have spouses and family members saying, ‘Do not do this, it’s not worth it, it will change our lives forever. We will have to hire around-the-clock security.’ Life can be very uncomfortable for your children.

“That is real, because when [Elon] Musk [Trump’s most powerful ally] tweets at somebody, or Trump tweets at somebody, or calls somebody out, their lives are turned upside down.

“When he tweets at you, people make threats, and you have to take people at their word. And so that is a real thing that my colleagues struggle with.

Trump and his family and friends regularly threaten and dox people they don't like, turning their rabble loose to threaten them.

Subject: RE: Convicted felon US 47th President/ Musk Coup
From: Backwoodsman
Date: 04 Mar 25 - 03:28 AM

Thanks for that piece SRS. I had to Google ‘dox’!

Subject: RE: Convicted felon US 47th President/ Musk Coup
From: Donuel
Date: 04 Mar 25 - 06:09 AM

The buzz among people I talk with is "everything is broken".
This has been a long time coming, with the decades old stealing people's pensions by selling the corporation and then losing their homes in the default swap scandal.

This is Trump's 'honeymoon period'. There is a lot of fuckery going on. 54% think we're on the wrong track, but in Biden's last month 64% thought we were on the wrong track. Once the impact of the tariff trade war and loss of services really kick in, there will be serious talk of divorce.