Global reshuffling and concerns

[Chew Toy McCoy]

Some of this is less of a reshuffling and more of a reaffirmation and a call to be battle ready.

Some recent points of concern:

Iran and Saudi Arabia recently agreed to war games between each other. You don't do that with an enemy.

Musk spoke to Putin who asked him to not make Starlink available in Taiwan as a favor to China.

North Korea has been destroying roads and rail connecting to South Korea while also sending troops to Russia.

So we're looking at an alliance of Russia, China, Iran, North Korea, and possibly soon Saudi Arabia, all with a shared goal to end American hegemony.

I don't know what a Harris (or most) administrations would do about this, but under Trump we would most likely become a client state of the dictator alliance falsely believing we are still top dog because we're easily blinded and corrupted by capitalism. Dictator alliance: "Here's some money. Now STFU." Trump: "OK. I make the best deals!" This capitulation may keep us relatively safe (for now) but it won't be good for the rest of the world. There's going to be imperialism and major map redrawing all over the place. And more than a handful of dead people.

 

[dada_dave]

Oh yes. And you can add Turkey to that list. Turkey wants to join BRICS - to be fair they also support Ukraine, but Erdogan likes playing both sides and it’s far from clear where Turkey will end up.

And Hungary and Austria are similarly problematic.

 

[Citysnaps]

Interesting times, for sure...

Seems Putin is nervous. Georgia could be joining NATO in the nearish future. Bosnia and Herzegovina too, at some point. And someday Ukraine.

Musk cozying up with Putin, at least in normal times, could put Space X (and the US) at risk now being a major provider of launch services for US national security satellites. Perhaps the US would demand Musk disassociating with SpaceX. That doesn't seem likely, which could make ULA (Lockheed and Boeing) the sole provider of launch services.

 

[GermanSuplex]

Between Musk and Trump, I wonder which of them thinks they’re ripping off the other the most.

 

[dada_dave]

Between Musk and Trump, I wonder which of them thinks they’re ripping off the other the most.

A lot of “very smart” German businessmen thought they could control Hitler because he was seemingly this buffoon …

 

[GermanSuplex]

A lot of “very smart” German businessmen thought they could control Hitler because he was seemingly this buffoon …

Which is bizarre, because Trump is a geriatric fool who has no actual power of his own. It’s a joke. This is appeasement for a shared racist goal. Same as how Hitler came to power, he himself was useless. Trump wouldn’t know what to do if he got a flat tire, why are so many men propping this metrosexual dummy up like a greek god?

 

[Chew Toy McCoy]

Seems Putin is nervous. Georgia could be joining NATO in the nearish future. Bosnia and Herzegovina too, at some point. And someday Ukraine.

The thing is with NATO as is or with projected future members I don't see the collective military matching or exceeding the forces aligning against us along with that side willing to throw the majority of their people into the grinder and severely punishing them if they don't. I do believe our military industrial complex vastly over exaggerates the capabilities of our enemies in order to keep the money flowing, but I wouldn't put it past one of our nuclear adversaries to use them because the leader is in their later years anyway so fuck it.

 

[Chew Toy McCoy]

why are so many men propping this metrosexual dummy up like a greek god?

Sort of OT, but far right politics is always hyper sexual from spanking teenage daughters for their insubordination, to relegating women to baby factories, to showing half naked chiseled men as the embodiment of masculinity.

 

[GermanSuplex]

That kind of Neanderthal mindset makes sense, even if it’s stupid.

But Trump is not a chiseled man. That’s the confusing part. If he were a pro-wrestler in the 90’s, he’d be mocked by a very homophobic crowd for his makeup and hair. Just speaking objectively, he’s way down on the list of people I think of as tough guys, probably below Rick Moranis and above maybe Liberace. Somewhere in between there.

 

[Renzatic]

Just speaking objectively, he’s way down on the list of people I think of as tough guys,

And Hitler was some shrimpy short dude with brown eyes and hair.

 

[Chew Toy McCoy]

That kind of Neanderthal mindset makes sense, even if it’s stupid.

But Trump is not a chiseled man. That’s the confusing part. If he were a pro-wrestler in the 90’s, he’d be mocked by a very homophobic crowd for his makeup and hair. Just speaking objectively, he’s way down on the list of people I think of as tough guys, probably below Rick Moranis and above maybe Liberace. Somewhere in between there.

Look at the leadership of Nazi Germany. Not one of them the pillar of aryian physical exception. Apparently Reinhard Heydrich was but I see him more as a butterface but I've been scared to survey my female friends on that one for obvious reasons.

 

[dada_dave]

That kind of Neanderthal mindset makes sense, even if it’s stupid.

But Trump is not a chiseled man. That’s the confusing part. If he were a pro-wrestler in the 90’s, he’d be mocked by a very homophobic crowd for his makeup and hair. Just speaking objectively, he’s way down on the list of people I think of as tough guys, probably below Rick Moranis and above maybe Liberace. Somewhere in between there.

Oh I agree but neither were Hitler or especially Mussolini. The hypermasculine is a necessary part of fascism so it’s imbued into the leader regardless. The thing about hypermasculinity is its coveted by people without it.

Which is bizarre, because Trump is a geriatric fool who has no actual power of his own. It’s a joke. This is appeasement for a shared racist goal. Same as how Hitler came to power, he himself was useless. Trump wouldn’t know what to do if he got a flat tire, why are so many men propping this metrosexual dummy up like a greek god?

To quote Cersei Lannister: “Power is power”. You give it to someone who then wields it absolutely, and you don’t have control over them regardless of how oafish they may appear to you. It’s important to remember they have power over others. It looks insane to everyone not under the spell and so easy to dismiss. Trump, Hitler, Mussolini have a kind charisma that appeals to a certain audience very much while strongly repelling others. From their perspective the worship is undeniable and from ours it’s inconceivable.

The thing is with NATO as is or with projected future members I don't see the collective military matching or exceeding the forces aligning against us along with that side willing to throw the majority of their people into the grinder and severely punishing them if they don't. I do believe our military industrial complex vastly over exaggerates the capabilities of our enemies in order to keep the money flowing, but I wouldn't put it past one of our nuclear adversaries to use them because the leader is in their later years anyway so fuck it.

Yeah back on topic. To be fair, one less cynical reason why we overestimate our enemies is that they overestimate themselves and we believe them. Just look at the Russo-Ukraine war: Russia’s original invasion plan was nuts and could barely be pulled off by us against an adversary like Ukraine, but Russia thought they could do it and a large part of our military and intelligence apparatus believed Russia could pull it off too. That kind of miscalculation is incredibly common and dangerous. Hell look at us and Iraq. There the original invasion was a walk in the park (although we did some seriously risky and stupid things that had we faced a tougher adversary would’ve been punished). But what happened next? Or Afghanistan? People always overestimate how “easy” a war will be and underestimate the length, resources, and casualties it’ll take even if “victorious”. “Home by Christmas” never really goes away.

 

[GermanSuplex]

Stephen Miller is probably an alpha male, at least in the community of closeted neo-nazis.

 

[Chew Toy McCoy]

Musk recently killed an X account at the request of Iran.

At the leadership level soon these supposed irreconcilable religious differences will be revealed to be what they always have been, a smokescreen to control and manipulate their own people and create militant patriotism against an enemy that turns the attention away from their own government. It’s no coincidence that when the actions of the US government domestically and internationally started to get closely scrutinized and revealed to be failures or evil suddenly the Christian nationalists started coming out of the woodwork. The new alignment will put aside the religious differences in favor of peace between dictatorships with close economic ties, however each’s propaganda wants to sell that. It’s like when the NY crime families determined there was more money to be made through top level agreements than large scale territorial violence which also drew the attention of law enforcement.

 

[GermanSuplex]

What’s scary about all of this is the right’s ability to embrace everything they claim to be against as part of the greater good. Who can possibly fit the term “elite” more than, oh, I don’t know… the richest human on earth?

Yet in their distrust of ALL politicians, they instead put their trust in the elite and the people doing the most damage.

Most of these people will be the first ones crying, the minorities they think “get everything” are used to being mistreated and screwed over, they’ll have a little more stamina than John Q. Trump voter.

 

[Chew Toy McCoy]

What’s scary about all of this is the right’s ability to embrace everything they claim to be against as part of the greater good. Who can possibly fit the term “elite” more than, oh, I don’t know… the richest human on earth?

Toss in "globalist" as well. And until recently "Silicon Valley".

 

[Chew Toy McCoy]

If Trump loses and it becomes apparent that none of his schemes to get back into office are going to work I expect a serious ratchetting up of global conflicts as the far right looks to take advantage of the chaos and transition in the US before a less sympathetic President takes office.

 

[dada_dave]

What’s scary about all of this is the right’s ability to embrace everything they claim to be against as part of the greater good. Who can possibly fit the term “elite” more than, oh, I don’t know… the richest human on earth?

Yet in their distrust of ALL politicians, they instead put their trust in the elite and the people doing the most damage.

Most of these people will be the first ones crying, the minorities they think “get everything” are used to being mistreated and screwed over, they’ll have a little more stamina than John Q. Trump voter.

“Elite”, especially in America, has often been a cultural rather than economic or political term - often referring to professional classes requiring certifications and titles (Dr. Prof. etc …) rather than an expression of actual political power or wealth. Again it’s identity politics. Does this person identify with the same cultural identity I do? To be fair, that’s not a modern concept in the USA, you can see that in 19th century too. It happens Europe too but much less (probably as a function of having once had a true aristocracy with titles and wealth and power all rolled one) and is one reason why Europe has often had a stronger leftist tradition (not the only one).

If Trump loses and it becomes apparent that none of his schemes to get back into office are going to work I expect a serious ratchetting up of global conflicts as the far right looks to take advantage of the chaos and transition in the US before a less sympathetic President takes office.

I expect that much more if he wins.

 

[Chew Toy McCoy]

I expect that much more if he wins.

If he wins I expect there will be champaign cracked but they will wait until he's actually in office to ramp things up while they coordinate the propaganda justification spin. Among this will be Trump Trumpsplaining about how our former enemies are now our allies. Putin will provide him with the list.

 

[Citysnaps]

Yeah... this is very concerning.

NYT: “If the story is true that there have been multiple conversations between Elon Musk and the president of Russia, then I think that would be concerning,” Mr. Nelson said, “particularly for NASA, for the Department of Defense, for some of the intelligence agencies.”

A good story:

Elon Musk’s SpaceX, Already a Leader in Satellites, Gets Into the Spy Game

The Pentagon needs what the company offers to compete with China even as it frets over its potential for dominance and the billionaire’s global interests.

www.nytimes.com