I was on NewsNation yesterday afternoon talking about American national security and, in particular, the looming legislation to force the Chinese Communist Party to give up control of TikTok. The legislation does not shut down TikTok, though the Chinese insist they’d rather shut down TikTok than give up control.
Trump is currently incapable of thinking for the longer term. He is in survival mode, thus his flip flop on Tik-Tok. I wish he would speak to goals to accomplish during a second term but maybe that's a better task for a date when the Supreme Court has ruled on the pending presidential immunity case.
If the Supreme Court rules that Trump's January 6, 2020 actions (or lack thereof) are not immune from prosecution, does that invalidate his candidacy? And what happens if the Court's decision is announced after the election but before the inauguration?
My frustration is growing that we find ourselves with a Joe Biden and Donald Trump as the only choices for the most powerful position in the free world. I can't believe this is the best we can do. Biden is a political hack that has run for president and been defeated in every attempt since the mid 1980's. Donald Trump has always been more concerned about his own legacy than the country itself--yet I voted for him twice!
Maybe these candidates themselves represent the greatest threat to our national security. Do you trust their competence and ability to assess such threats much less to act responsibly about them??
Careful what you say in here...there are Trumpistas who have told me none of Trump's character issues matter, at all. It's all about Trump saving America so we can all be rich and safe. If I say something like you did, I get called a Biden lover and dismissed. Or zero-sum game stuff, "not voting for Trump is a vote for Biden." Both of these clowns need to be sitting on a beach in retirement. But now I'm seeing more and more conservatives forget their misgivings and settle into "support the Republican" mode.
One thing seems to run throughout both parties the best paying job they ever had was being elected to congress not all of them but a lot of them never signed a pay check on the front . They will do whatever to keep there job and keep the money rolling in. The CCP understands this and will try and influence these people .Trump on the other hand wants revenge and who can blame him if you were treated like that I believe you would be a little pissed off yourself. Things have gotten so bad nobody trusts the government,big tech
Or politicians the Chinese got us where they want us
Truth. Going into elected government should not become a cash cow for those elected. I'd be for a hyper tax on all funds collected for book deals, speaking engagements, after serving in high office. No chance that will get passed. Weird that Trump didn't need to get into office to make his millions. Perhaps he actually really did see the direction we were going in, and wanted to change it. No, what am I thinking, he's just a low life grifter. He did it to enhance the name recognition he already had, and to also make millions he already had. Wait...umm...stop thinking logically, PD.
PD - Let's go Occam's razor on Trump's motivation to run for president in 2016 (and now). He's a well documented narcissist and there's no greater fame or power trip than being POTUS. He was rich and famous before "the apprentice" and still did that show. Do you believe it was so that he could mentor c-list celebrities on business acumen? Also, you don't have to listen to me on this just listen to the people that have spent time with him regarding his motivations, narcissism, competence etc. There is a rich library of quotes and audio from Mattis, to Barr, to Scaramucci, to general Kelly, to john bolton, the list goes on and on. To think that he is altruistically sacrificing himself to better the country is at this point betraying common sense to believe what you hope is true.
Btw - we engage in debate often in these comments so hope that you take this for what it is as just conversational sport/good fun.
Blair, this is a call out to Joe G., a Trump supporter, but not a Trump sycophant. I got nuthin’ on the list of quotes that are out there, and I don’t doubt they are real.
But Joe, can you give a reasonable response to Blair? Assuming you’re reading this? This isn’t to ‘win’ a disagreement, as truth is the goal, or should be.
Not sure Blair is going to like what I have to say but I wouldn’t pay much credence to anything that comes out of the mouth of Mattis, Barr, Sacaramucci, Kelly or Bolton. Personal experience with a few. Talk about narcissism. All various degrees of. No question Trump is, but my personal assessment, from my experience, is that he really does love the country. Very odd because if you ever sat to speak with him, you’d never think he’s a billionaire. Great listener who asked great questions who really appreciated what he was given and once said Queens was always part of him and that he wanted to help everyone succeed. His on-camera persona is quite different than being with him face to face. Just the nicest guy and his staff loved him. And I’m not a Trump sycophant. Seriously. I understand why he’s not everyone’s cup of tea but he works his ass off and gets results. DC is corrupt and frankly it needs a lot of bull in the China shop.
Just seeing this now since I didn't get an alert as it was a response to PD and not me directly. Joe - It's hard to convey tone in written text, but its not my intent to come across as confrontational (though it may appear that way) when reading my response below.
My response is that it appears to be very convenient / to much of a coincidence that all of the people I named aren't credible for some reason. I could have even named a much larger list, but I believe you would have had the same response. The logic appears to me to be one of "anyone that says anything negative about Trump immediately loses any credibility for some strange reason in my gut" despite the fact that Trump hired these people, they worked with him daily for years in some cases and clearly know him better than you or I do, and in several cases had perviously dedicated their life to things like military service for the betterment of our nation.
Here's one quote from General John Kelly that I believe perfectly sums up Trump: "A person that has nothing but contempt for our democratic institutions, our Constitution, and the rule of law. There is nothing more that can be said. God help us.”
I understand in your mind now this probably means that Kelly has become part of the deep state Davos elite cabal is brainwashed by MSM or whatever, but the guy had a pretty distinguished career and worked for Trump daily as his chief of staff for 2 years - doesn't get any more damning than that.
Hi Blair. You are entitled to believe whatever you would like, but please don’t presume you know how I feel or what I think. Or that I think Trump is some sort of god and anyone that opposes him or says something negative about him is a deep-state demon. That’s not at all the case. God historically has worked through imperfect people and there is no doubt that Trump is that. Imperfect. So am I. What I see in DC are politicians and government appointees that have in many ways contributed to the crumbling and dysfunction of our institutions in large part due influences vested in working these institutions to their advantages. As a result, they have clearly turned a blind eye to a middle class that has been destroyed. Some of the harms caused have been unintentional - just bad business acumen. Much has been intentional - see our southern border. Trump’s strength of ego rooted in a middle class type persona is one of the few people in this country with the strength to not go along to get along. And right now, we’ve gotten along to $35 Trillion in debt. We’re addibgv$1 Trillion in new debt every 100 days. We have a border which is truly a flashing red security issue We have crime throughout our largest cities. We have $1 Trillion is personal debt, a record. We have a military that can’t hit recruitment targets. I can keep going. This is what those lifelong servants such as Kelly have brought us. That’s a fact. I totally respect your opinion, but please don’t assign yourself the ability to put me in a tidy box that makes you feel comfortable. You’re doing both of us a disservice.
Leaving my delayed reply to Joe from above here as well so that you get the alert and can read as well (if you want to) -
Just seeing this now since I didn't get an alert as it was a response to PD and not me directly. Joe - It's hard to convey tone in written text, but its not my intent to come across as confrontational (though it may appear that way) when reading my response below.
My response is that it appears to be very convenient / to much of a coincidence that all of the people I named aren't credible for some reason. I could have even named a much larger list, but I believe you would have had the same response. The logic appears to me to be one of "anyone that says anything negative about Trump immediately loses any credibility for some strange reason in my gut" despite the fact that Trump hired these people, they worked with him daily for years in some cases and clearly know him better than you or I do, and in several cases had perviously dedicated their life to things like military service for the betterment of our nation.
Here's one quote from General John Kelly that I believe perfectly sums up Trump: "A person that has nothing but contempt for our democratic institutions, our Constitution, and the rule of law. There is nothing more that can be said. God help us.”
I understand in your mind now this probably means that Kelly has become part of the deep state Davos elite cabal is brainwashed by MSM or whatever, but the guy had a pretty distinguished career and worked for Trump daily as his chief of staff for 2 years - doesn't get any more damning than that.
PD - I can give a stab at a counter-argument to the one I made above, as I believe it's healthy to at least attempt to see both sides of an issue when taking a position. This is based on me listening to callers to Erick's show, reading comments on this substack channel, conversations with friends & family and is how I would imagine a "generic" trump supporter would respond. Note - I do not believe any of this and there is evidence to refute much of it.
"Yes, Trump has always been very confident in his business endeavors and is now confident in his political acumen as well, as he should be. He knew that he would one day run for office and did things like The Apprentice to build his brand with the voting public. He is an outsider, a risk to the establishment and knew that he would face significant repercussions but was steadfast in his will to push on. He fought for us after the stolen election in 2020 and took it to the mat on our behalf. Because of this he is now facing 91 indictments and over $500 million in fraudulent judgments because he dared to challenge the establishment. He is the only person capable of shaking up the system, exposing those in power, the deep state, the swamp puppet masters, the Davos elite and he is willing to go through the gauntlet again at deep personal risk to save our country"
Hah, that's pretty good. Understanding both sides is important if any headway can be made. Just read this and today's the 17th! Making me think about how to respond to you in our exchanges today....
Absolutely! Wacking at my ideas is fair and welcomed as I actually want truth. That’s why I subscribe to Erick. I need, we need, Trump to be or become like that, and I’m willing to be thought a fool in that wish/endeavor. If I have something substantive to say about your comments, I’ll edit this later. Until then your comments are duly and respectfully noted. 😊
Erick, on a different note, I heard Newt Gingrich say this morning that two doctors had told him that the amount of Ritalin that apparently was given to Biden to deliver the SOTU was dangerous. Are the Dem’s so determined to make this man run they are willing to sacrifice his health? If they aren’t careful the convention will be like a Weekend at Bernie’s! They will just prop him up and pump audio in!😂😂😂
There is a worthy conservative/Republican debate about government action to take out a social media company vs free market principles. My own perspective is that TikTok is a national security issue and a threat to democracy. However, so are Facebook and Google with their Democrat promoting, Republican canceling, algorithms. But let’s not cheapen the needed debate with political mudslinging.
Erick, would you please use your contacts and try to meet with Trump? You could give him your advice, and the consensus thinking of most of your commenters here (not all, of course) that he needs to modify to reach more independents. Also, he can explain his support for tiktok, directly to you. I feel if you pressed enough, you could make it happen. You might be the best friend he doesn't know he has...politically and far more importantly, spiritually.
At age 77 Trump is who he is. There is no smoothing the edges here. I doubt Erick could get an audience with him at this point considering his tongue is not fully calloused from licking the boots. Now someone like Hannity - that's a different story.
In fact if Erick truly got on Trump's radar it would probably end badly for Erick. I could see Trump being so petulant as to do something like threaten to punish any republicans that attend The Gathering with a primary challenge or some other bafoonish act. Erick is much better off staying off Trump's radar.
I totally agree with you. If Trump is elected, I worry about what Trump can do to his perceived enemies like Brian Kemp and Ron DeSantis. Yes, Erick doesn’t need to be on Trump’s radar.
Thanks, Earthy. His duty to take advice. He never served in the military and has been maligned over it. Taking wise advice would make up for that for me, though in honesty, I didn't serve either.
Trump's problem isn't that he doesn't take advice. He just takes advice from the wrong people. Trump seems to only listen to those who worship the ground he walks on, and it has hurt him tremendously. Everyone needs someone trustworthy in his life who will tell him what he doesn't want to hear.
He has to be made to listen. Has to happen. His duty is to get elected again and put to rest all the junk about his being a threat to democracy. He needs to completely upend that argument.
I see some similarities here with the Bud Light boycott in how the Right mobilizes to achieve a reform/punish a corporation for pushing transgenderism but then the company just shuffles a few folks around, makes amends with Kid Rock, and a few donations to the Trump machine and we forget about reform. The unfortunate truth is that many populists are just grifters in it for their own profit or in Trump's case, to stay out of prison.
I'm friends with a lot of people who I know and like personally even when I disagree with the on issues. I do try to take "love thy neighbor" seriously. I also am 100% sure you have never met Kellyanne.
i chuckled a little at your response to Lanier. It could be a paraphrase of DJT's explanation of how he can be on good speaking terms with leaders of Russia, China, NK, etc. There's an element of Romans 12:20 in there, too, i think. :)
Yeah, I don't know much about her tiktok support, but she is super smart and quick witted. I've no idea how anyone could have developed a dislike for her, except from their dislike of Trump, and that spilling over.
The U.S. is heading for a major collapse. There are too many on the Right who’ve made an idol out of Trump, and now there is no corrective to progressive excess. The Right is even more incapable of supporting our allies abroad, and there are no values outside of what is good for Trump. We are damned either way and should focus on learning to survive the coming collapse.
The NSA is buying our data, something they should not be able to obtain without a warrant. So are foreign governments. If you believe banning TikTok will keep us safe from China, I have a new mRNA vaccine to sell you on. Oh, wait.
Right is right and wrong is wrong. Truth is non-negotiable. Trump is 100% wrong on this. But I will press forward today, having peeled my Haley sticker off my car, and vote for Trump in the Ga. primary. While my plan B option is discouraging, the alternative is guaranteed national suicide.
Thanks for your efforts , not just here, in pointing out the dangers of the Chinese communist government owning the social media platform preferred by Gen Z.
Ronald Reagan famously said that “government is not the solution to our problems, government IS the problem!” Too many Republicans today turn his thinking around and believe that using government properly is the solution to our many problems: It is government in the right hands that counts. No wonder that government grows no matter who is in power. At a certain size government exists only to serve its own purposes. Sadly we are likely past this point and the People now exist to serve the Government.
I don't use TikTok, though many of my peers do and I worry about my kids eventually getting sucked in to this propaganda. Thanks for exposing this swampy nonsense.
Erick - just curious why are you willing to go open Komodo on this, but not the border bill fiasco? Is it because that deal was already dead and this one still had a chance of being swayed the other way?
I think after all of these years people still haven't learned how to properly deal with Trump. He could have been made out to be the hero on the border bill by simply making some trivial changes and re-branding it as his bill (as though he had to fix it himself). If he was given credit we could have a better situation at the border. Learn to deal with the narcism to get what we need. smh
TikTok is the devil. Making it American won't change that, though. Our kids are already being propagandized through Instagram. The Twitter files brought to light what the US government did to American social media companies during the pandemic and 2020 election. The same will happen with an American TikTok. Meanwhile, China will just buy our mined data like the NSA and foreign countries already do.
The flip on Tik Tok by both dems and four republicans we tend to think are the smart ones suggests things are as we they look, i.e., swampy, or there is some other reason such as our gov’t intelligence agencies have penetrated Tik Tok and believe they can control it. That Trump is not against its ban is particularly curious. Perhaps it’s purely a political/money move a la Willie Brown and tobacco? Rand Paul’s First Amendment argument makes no sense. The First Amendment does not protect speech that is propaganda from a foreign government. Indeed, the main reason for banning it is to protect our citizens, especially our most vulnerable -children and teens, from foreign brainwashing propaganda.
Maybe there's a reason we tend to think they're the smart ones. In hindsight, they've been right about many issues when the establishment pushed the alternative.
Trump is currently incapable of thinking for the longer term. He is in survival mode, thus his flip flop on Tik-Tok. I wish he would speak to goals to accomplish during a second term but maybe that's a better task for a date when the Supreme Court has ruled on the pending presidential immunity case.
If the Supreme Court rules that Trump's January 6, 2020 actions (or lack thereof) are not immune from prosecution, does that invalidate his candidacy? And what happens if the Court's decision is announced after the election but before the inauguration?
My frustration is growing that we find ourselves with a Joe Biden and Donald Trump as the only choices for the most powerful position in the free world. I can't believe this is the best we can do. Biden is a political hack that has run for president and been defeated in every attempt since the mid 1980's. Donald Trump has always been more concerned about his own legacy than the country itself--yet I voted for him twice!
Maybe these candidates themselves represent the greatest threat to our national security. Do you trust their competence and ability to assess such threats much less to act responsibly about them??
Just asking...
Careful what you say in here...there are Trumpistas who have told me none of Trump's character issues matter, at all. It's all about Trump saving America so we can all be rich and safe. If I say something like you did, I get called a Biden lover and dismissed. Or zero-sum game stuff, "not voting for Trump is a vote for Biden." Both of these clowns need to be sitting on a beach in retirement. But now I'm seeing more and more conservatives forget their misgivings and settle into "support the Republican" mode.
One thing seems to run throughout both parties the best paying job they ever had was being elected to congress not all of them but a lot of them never signed a pay check on the front . They will do whatever to keep there job and keep the money rolling in. The CCP understands this and will try and influence these people .Trump on the other hand wants revenge and who can blame him if you were treated like that I believe you would be a little pissed off yourself. Things have gotten so bad nobody trusts the government,big tech
Or politicians the Chinese got us where they want us
Truth. Going into elected government should not become a cash cow for those elected. I'd be for a hyper tax on all funds collected for book deals, speaking engagements, after serving in high office. No chance that will get passed. Weird that Trump didn't need to get into office to make his millions. Perhaps he actually really did see the direction we were going in, and wanted to change it. No, what am I thinking, he's just a low life grifter. He did it to enhance the name recognition he already had, and to also make millions he already had. Wait...umm...stop thinking logically, PD.
PD - Let's go Occam's razor on Trump's motivation to run for president in 2016 (and now). He's a well documented narcissist and there's no greater fame or power trip than being POTUS. He was rich and famous before "the apprentice" and still did that show. Do you believe it was so that he could mentor c-list celebrities on business acumen? Also, you don't have to listen to me on this just listen to the people that have spent time with him regarding his motivations, narcissism, competence etc. There is a rich library of quotes and audio from Mattis, to Barr, to Scaramucci, to general Kelly, to john bolton, the list goes on and on. To think that he is altruistically sacrificing himself to better the country is at this point betraying common sense to believe what you hope is true.
Btw - we engage in debate often in these comments so hope that you take this for what it is as just conversational sport/good fun.
Blair, this is a call out to Joe G., a Trump supporter, but not a Trump sycophant. I got nuthin’ on the list of quotes that are out there, and I don’t doubt they are real.
But Joe, can you give a reasonable response to Blair? Assuming you’re reading this? This isn’t to ‘win’ a disagreement, as truth is the goal, or should be.
Not sure Blair is going to like what I have to say but I wouldn’t pay much credence to anything that comes out of the mouth of Mattis, Barr, Sacaramucci, Kelly or Bolton. Personal experience with a few. Talk about narcissism. All various degrees of. No question Trump is, but my personal assessment, from my experience, is that he really does love the country. Very odd because if you ever sat to speak with him, you’d never think he’s a billionaire. Great listener who asked great questions who really appreciated what he was given and once said Queens was always part of him and that he wanted to help everyone succeed. His on-camera persona is quite different than being with him face to face. Just the nicest guy and his staff loved him. And I’m not a Trump sycophant. Seriously. I understand why he’s not everyone’s cup of tea but he works his ass off and gets results. DC is corrupt and frankly it needs a lot of bull in the China shop.
Just seeing this now since I didn't get an alert as it was a response to PD and not me directly. Joe - It's hard to convey tone in written text, but its not my intent to come across as confrontational (though it may appear that way) when reading my response below.
My response is that it appears to be very convenient / to much of a coincidence that all of the people I named aren't credible for some reason. I could have even named a much larger list, but I believe you would have had the same response. The logic appears to me to be one of "anyone that says anything negative about Trump immediately loses any credibility for some strange reason in my gut" despite the fact that Trump hired these people, they worked with him daily for years in some cases and clearly know him better than you or I do, and in several cases had perviously dedicated their life to things like military service for the betterment of our nation.
Here's one quote from General John Kelly that I believe perfectly sums up Trump: "A person that has nothing but contempt for our democratic institutions, our Constitution, and the rule of law. There is nothing more that can be said. God help us.”
I understand in your mind now this probably means that Kelly has become part of the deep state Davos elite cabal is brainwashed by MSM or whatever, but the guy had a pretty distinguished career and worked for Trump daily as his chief of staff for 2 years - doesn't get any more damning than that.
Hi Blair. You are entitled to believe whatever you would like, but please don’t presume you know how I feel or what I think. Or that I think Trump is some sort of god and anyone that opposes him or says something negative about him is a deep-state demon. That’s not at all the case. God historically has worked through imperfect people and there is no doubt that Trump is that. Imperfect. So am I. What I see in DC are politicians and government appointees that have in many ways contributed to the crumbling and dysfunction of our institutions in large part due influences vested in working these institutions to their advantages. As a result, they have clearly turned a blind eye to a middle class that has been destroyed. Some of the harms caused have been unintentional - just bad business acumen. Much has been intentional - see our southern border. Trump’s strength of ego rooted in a middle class type persona is one of the few people in this country with the strength to not go along to get along. And right now, we’ve gotten along to $35 Trillion in debt. We’re addibgv$1 Trillion in new debt every 100 days. We have a border which is truly a flashing red security issue We have crime throughout our largest cities. We have $1 Trillion is personal debt, a record. We have a military that can’t hit recruitment targets. I can keep going. This is what those lifelong servants such as Kelly have brought us. That’s a fact. I totally respect your opinion, but please don’t assign yourself the ability to put me in a tidy box that makes you feel comfortable. You’re doing both of us a disservice.
Appreciate you taking the time, Joe. And I agree.
Leaving my delayed reply to Joe from above here as well so that you get the alert and can read as well (if you want to) -
Just seeing this now since I didn't get an alert as it was a response to PD and not me directly. Joe - It's hard to convey tone in written text, but its not my intent to come across as confrontational (though it may appear that way) when reading my response below.
My response is that it appears to be very convenient / to much of a coincidence that all of the people I named aren't credible for some reason. I could have even named a much larger list, but I believe you would have had the same response. The logic appears to me to be one of "anyone that says anything negative about Trump immediately loses any credibility for some strange reason in my gut" despite the fact that Trump hired these people, they worked with him daily for years in some cases and clearly know him better than you or I do, and in several cases had perviously dedicated their life to things like military service for the betterment of our nation.
Here's one quote from General John Kelly that I believe perfectly sums up Trump: "A person that has nothing but contempt for our democratic institutions, our Constitution, and the rule of law. There is nothing more that can be said. God help us.”
I understand in your mind now this probably means that Kelly has become part of the deep state Davos elite cabal is brainwashed by MSM or whatever, but the guy had a pretty distinguished career and worked for Trump daily as his chief of staff for 2 years - doesn't get any more damning than that.
Happy to help’
PD - I can give a stab at a counter-argument to the one I made above, as I believe it's healthy to at least attempt to see both sides of an issue when taking a position. This is based on me listening to callers to Erick's show, reading comments on this substack channel, conversations with friends & family and is how I would imagine a "generic" trump supporter would respond. Note - I do not believe any of this and there is evidence to refute much of it.
"Yes, Trump has always been very confident in his business endeavors and is now confident in his political acumen as well, as he should be. He knew that he would one day run for office and did things like The Apprentice to build his brand with the voting public. He is an outsider, a risk to the establishment and knew that he would face significant repercussions but was steadfast in his will to push on. He fought for us after the stolen election in 2020 and took it to the mat on our behalf. Because of this he is now facing 91 indictments and over $500 million in fraudulent judgments because he dared to challenge the establishment. He is the only person capable of shaking up the system, exposing those in power, the deep state, the swamp puppet masters, the Davos elite and he is willing to go through the gauntlet again at deep personal risk to save our country"
How'd I do?
Hah, that's pretty good. Understanding both sides is important if any headway can be made. Just read this and today's the 17th! Making me think about how to respond to you in our exchanges today....
Absolutely! Wacking at my ideas is fair and welcomed as I actually want truth. That’s why I subscribe to Erick. I need, we need, Trump to be or become like that, and I’m willing to be thought a fool in that wish/endeavor. If I have something substantive to say about your comments, I’ll edit this later. Until then your comments are duly and respectfully noted. 😊
“Become”… they stab us all the time…. Promise this, and do nothing. Over and over again
Erick, on a different note, I heard Newt Gingrich say this morning that two doctors had told him that the amount of Ritalin that apparently was given to Biden to deliver the SOTU was dangerous. Are the Dem’s so determined to make this man run they are willing to sacrifice his health? If they aren’t careful the convention will be like a Weekend at Bernie’s! They will just prop him up and pump audio in!😂😂😂
Re: "Will the GOP Become The American Judas?":
You're kidding, right? The GOP establishment has been repeatedly stabbing the party base in the back for the past 30 years...
ROFL. Just rolling on my stomach though.
There is a worthy conservative/Republican debate about government action to take out a social media company vs free market principles. My own perspective is that TikTok is a national security issue and a threat to democracy. However, so are Facebook and Google with their Democrat promoting, Republican canceling, algorithms. But let’s not cheapen the needed debate with political mudslinging.
Erick, would you please use your contacts and try to meet with Trump? You could give him your advice, and the consensus thinking of most of your commenters here (not all, of course) that he needs to modify to reach more independents. Also, he can explain his support for tiktok, directly to you. I feel if you pressed enough, you could make it happen. You might be the best friend he doesn't know he has...politically and far more importantly, spiritually.
At age 77 Trump is who he is. There is no smoothing the edges here. I doubt Erick could get an audience with him at this point considering his tongue is not fully calloused from licking the boots. Now someone like Hannity - that's a different story.
In fact if Erick truly got on Trump's radar it would probably end badly for Erick. I could see Trump being so petulant as to do something like threaten to punish any republicans that attend The Gathering with a primary challenge or some other bafoonish act. Erick is much better off staying off Trump's radar.
I totally agree with you. If Trump is elected, I worry about what Trump can do to his perceived enemies like Brian Kemp and Ron DeSantis. Yes, Erick doesn’t need to be on Trump’s radar.
Or having three maga lunatics show up at his door and threaten his family because he's not sycophant enough.
No one sane wants that. A meeting doesn’t have to be a media event. It could be quiet. I realize Blair could be completely right about Trump.
I still love your optimism. :) Ben Shapiro met with Trump and gave him advice. It didn't take.
Thanks, Earthy. His duty to take advice. He never served in the military and has been maligned over it. Taking wise advice would make up for that for me, though in honesty, I didn't serve either.
Trump's problem isn't that he doesn't take advice. He just takes advice from the wrong people. Trump seems to only listen to those who worship the ground he walks on, and it has hurt him tremendously. Everyone needs someone trustworthy in his life who will tell him what he doesn't want to hear.
Yes, exactly, and I'm asking Erick to take one for the team, and get in contact with him. Kind of like Daniel and Nebuchadnezzar...sort of.
When God turns Nebuchadnezzar into a wild beast, he'll surely listen!
I'd be ok with that. 😂 Then, DeSantis or Haley could get back in.
He could ask Mike Pence, Bill Barr, General Kelly, John Bolton, and innumerable others about giving Trump advice he doesn’t want.
He has to be made to listen. Has to happen. His duty is to get elected again and put to rest all the junk about his being a threat to democracy. He needs to completely upend that argument.
I see some similarities here with the Bud Light boycott in how the Right mobilizes to achieve a reform/punish a corporation for pushing transgenderism but then the company just shuffles a few folks around, makes amends with Kid Rock, and a few donations to the Trump machine and we forget about reform. The unfortunate truth is that many populists are just grifters in it for their own profit or in Trump's case, to stay out of prison.
Erick lost me the moment he said that he was good friends with Kellyanne Conway. I just barfed in my mouth a little.
I'm friends with a lot of people who I know and like personally even when I disagree with the on issues. I do try to take "love thy neighbor" seriously. I also am 100% sure you have never met Kellyanne.
i chuckled a little at your response to Lanier. It could be a paraphrase of DJT's explanation of how he can be on good speaking terms with leaders of Russia, China, NK, etc. There's an element of Romans 12:20 in there, too, i think. :)
Yeah, I don't know much about her tiktok support, but she is super smart and quick witted. I've no idea how anyone could have developed a dislike for her, except from their dislike of Trump, and that spilling over.
The U.S. is heading for a major collapse. There are too many on the Right who’ve made an idol out of Trump, and now there is no corrective to progressive excess. The Right is even more incapable of supporting our allies abroad, and there are no values outside of what is good for Trump. We are damned either way and should focus on learning to survive the coming collapse.
The NSA is buying our data, something they should not be able to obtain without a warrant. So are foreign governments. If you believe banning TikTok will keep us safe from China, I have a new mRNA vaccine to sell you on. Oh, wait.
https://www.cnn.com/2024/01/26/tech/the-nsa-buys-americans-internet-data-newly-released-documents-show/index.html
Right is right and wrong is wrong. Truth is non-negotiable. Trump is 100% wrong on this. But I will press forward today, having peeled my Haley sticker off my car, and vote for Trump in the Ga. primary. While my plan B option is discouraging, the alternative is guaranteed national suicide.
Thanks for your efforts , not just here, in pointing out the dangers of the Chinese communist government owning the social media platform preferred by Gen Z.
Ronald Reagan famously said that “government is not the solution to our problems, government IS the problem!” Too many Republicans today turn his thinking around and believe that using government properly is the solution to our many problems: It is government in the right hands that counts. No wonder that government grows no matter who is in power. At a certain size government exists only to serve its own purposes. Sadly we are likely past this point and the People now exist to serve the Government.
I don't use TikTok, though many of my peers do and I worry about my kids eventually getting sucked in to this propaganda. Thanks for exposing this swampy nonsense.
Erick - just curious why are you willing to go open Komodo on this, but not the border bill fiasco? Is it because that deal was already dead and this one still had a chance of being swayed the other way?
I think after all of these years people still haven't learned how to properly deal with Trump. He could have been made out to be the hero on the border bill by simply making some trivial changes and re-branding it as his bill (as though he had to fix it himself). If he was given credit we could have a better situation at the border. Learn to deal with the narcism to get what we need. smh
The border bill is dead. This can pass.
TikTok is the devil. Making it American won't change that, though. Our kids are already being propagandized through Instagram. The Twitter files brought to light what the US government did to American social media companies during the pandemic and 2020 election. The same will happen with an American TikTok. Meanwhile, China will just buy our mined data like the NSA and foreign countries already do.
Manage to them…
The flip on Tik Tok by both dems and four republicans we tend to think are the smart ones suggests things are as we they look, i.e., swampy, or there is some other reason such as our gov’t intelligence agencies have penetrated Tik Tok and believe they can control it. That Trump is not against its ban is particularly curious. Perhaps it’s purely a political/money move a la Willie Brown and tobacco? Rand Paul’s First Amendment argument makes no sense. The First Amendment does not protect speech that is propaganda from a foreign government. Indeed, the main reason for banning it is to protect our citizens, especially our most vulnerable -children and teens, from foreign brainwashing propaganda.
Maybe there's a reason we tend to think they're the smart ones. In hindsight, they've been right about many issues when the establishment pushed the alternative.
https://rumble.com/v4i7ld8-trump-rejects-biden-endorsed-tiktok-ban.html