And India, as you say, are gearing up to be world leaders in defiance of the old western power block. Specifically anti US.
Maybe it’s inevitable evolutionary churn. I do worry about the survival of democracy.
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I think it also quite likely that if the US were to try to reel in Israel then they would go to China and Russia, taking advanced tech with them, knowing that they would be a good fit in terms of international relations. There is a real likelihood of the world polarising into Western and anti-Western blocs, with greater cooperation than with communism and a much more fractured west.
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This is possible, but I think it assumes that Trumpiness will prevail forever. One has to hope that the Americans will see sense and kick some of the Republicans out of Congress next year and and also at the next Presidential elections. Unless Trump does somehow manage to circumvent the Constitution and establish himself as God-Emperor-for-Life, I think he is a bit of a one-off - I can’t see J D Vance exerting the same psychological hold on Los Yanquis.
And he’s no spring chicken, he will either pop his Gucci loafers or get wheeled off to Mar A Lago when too daft to run things any more.
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Given that Trump is trying to rig things I can’t see the number of Republicans in office decreasing.
I think they will just make it harder and harder to elect Democrats.
And I think we’re past the point that JD actually needs MAGA support.
So, tomorrow then?
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Yes he’s trying but I don’t think there’s time for his minions to gerrymander every district in every state.
And Congress is very evenly balanced at present so it doesn’t take much of a swing to alter things.
We shall see!!
We should consider that the America we once knew has gone, likely for the next decade, possibly longer if the younger team behind Trump manage to retain power. I would consider it a strong possibility Europe, Canada and some southern hemisphere nations may be the last bastions of western-style democracy for a while.
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The hammer will fall when the various secretaries of state refuse to certify Democratic winners of the various House races in 2026 or when the Clerk of the House refuses to certify a Democratic victor in the 2028 presidential race . In both cases it will be because of bogus “fraud” claims. The Roberts court will establish new precedent in affirming this. There will be mass peaceful demonstrations in many blue cities that have the Army and National Guard patrolling the streets and a mass casualty event caused by untrained troops firing on unarmed citizens will take place. This will provide the pretext for the suspension of all civil liberties under the Insurrection Act and Trump or his successor, Vance will be installed. Or the Congress will have an unconstitutional permanent Republican majority. Or most likely, both.
Thus will end the American experiment in representative democracy.
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One of the radio presenters on LBC, Nick Abbott, forecasts consistently that in Trump’s America, we shall see at some time in the future, executions in state prison on TV, and members of the public being killed by troops. Among other things.
Hope he’s wrong.
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Another novel by Margaret Atwood?
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Trump gave up Gucci loafers long ago, not because they’re not blingy enough, but because they’re not deep enough for the lifts he now uses to make himself 6’3" (ironic given his jibes about Marco Rubio and elevator shoes). If you see earlier photos of Trump and Justin Trudeau together, Trudeau’s clearly taller than Trump, but apparently is only 6’1". It’s pathetic, but entirely consistent with the shoulder pads, fake tan, combover etc.
It was a metaphorical choice of footwear. 
True, he’s set up the ideal conditions for WWIII.
Makes this move logical, then.
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According to the (Trump’s) executive order, restoring its name “will sharpen the focus of this Department on our national interest and signal to adversaries America’s readiness to wage war to secure its interests”.
The Democrats or whoever, including Republicans, should show more backbone and make war on Trump!
https://edition.cnn.com/2025/09/04/politics/venezuela-military-aircraft-us-navy
Where will the first shots be fired? Venezuela? Denmark? Canada? Mexico? California?
I ordered a couple of wind up torches off Amazon yesterday. All this talk of war mongering, preparation for emergencies, booklets being put in postboxes by the government and so on and on got me thinking about putting a few bits aside. Amazon also do wind up torches incorporated into small transistor radios too, might be worth a consideration as batteries have to be bought. We are living in frightening times now what with the clowns in the west, the UK worrying more about flying flags and stamp duty not paid, the EU with lip service, Israel causing problems, and all the despots in the far east and Russia becoming very pally. Only takes one to tip us over the edge.
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I’ve been looking at wind up torches and like the idea of one with a radio, great for in the garden or camping. Are you happy with the torch you got Shiba ? , there’s a huge number of them on Amazon and knowing me I’ll buy the rubbish one!
I only ordered it yesterday so won’t arrive until next week. There are so many to choose from, obviously some are just rubbish and in fact, I thought I might get the grandchildren one of the cheaper ones each for a stocking filler as they are always playing with my torch I keep by the bed. I had one years ago in Brittany which was brilliant as our council meetings always finished long after the lights went off and it was dark as Hades so the torch always came with me to find my way home.
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OH is a gadget man and recently bought this one, it does a lot of things including being a phone charger. It’s not too big but you wouldn’t carry it to see where you’re going in the dark. Well, not easily anyway.
We decided to get one after we had the big storm in July and lost the electricity for six or seven hours.
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I got one for my hens (they get talk radio at dawn and dusk to keep the fox away) it’s very powerful and has a torch and solar power too.
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