I heard Buckland stating this on PM. Hat’s off to him.
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All very concerning, all very 1933. Europe isn’t united enough for this sort of risk.
Elon Musk has been warned by the D oJ that giving away a million dollars to attract people to register to vote and tgen sign his petition is likely to be against electoral law.
A million dollars as against being put up in people’s homes and Trump says nothing about that!
Good move by Kamala Harris – she intends to hold her last rally before the election at the same place – the Ellipse - where Trump held his Jan 6 incitement rally… “hoping it will crystalize for voters the fight between defending democracy and sowing political chaos”.
Should be worth watching, I think. Wonder what Trump will make of it…
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https://www.wsj.com/world/russia/musk-putin-secret-conversations-37e1c187
Can this save us? May help just enough. Keep praying. News is just breaking so check other sources sans paywall for details
As ever, Ian Dunt nails it.
Defo worth repeating!
Oops missed that
I was ruminating on that over the last few days.
A lot of things have happened over the last eight years that I would have considered nigh on impossible. Inter alia, Brexit, a low life like Trump winning the presidency, I could predict Russia kicking back at NATO’s growth, but not the incompetence of the West in handling what obviously a high possibility and of course the World standing while the US facilitatates genocide in the M/E.
I don’t think Russia has any intention of taking on NATO, whether the US is passive or active. But given the bizarre things that have happened so far, commentators do need to up their horror horizons. For example, China takes Taiwan, what happens next? We (EU) should be planning for the worst, worst scenario, not the next “reasonable” escalation in this shitty cycle.
This is the time for the EU to come together under strong, smart leadership. Thus I’m glad Tusk is now running Poland, I’m optimistic that Meloni is turning out much better than feared. I’m worried that a weak idiot is running Germany and the old goose steppers are coming out of the woodwork in the East, and that von der Leyen, a self-serving, bit of a loose cannon schmoozer is running the EU. Hungary needs to be sorted out, shape up or ship out. Hexit and they can go back to '56 if they like. And, of course, the UK being out of the tent is a really bad thing, both for the UK and the EU.
Apart from that, I’m pretty optimistic 
Weird gets weirder…
"During the rally Carlson, who has three grown-up daughters, compared the US under Trump to a naughty girl being disciplined by her father. “If you allow your hormone-addled 15-year-old daughter to slam the door and give you the finger, you’re going to get more of it, "Carlson said. “There has to be a point at which Dad comes home.” At this point the crowd erupted into raucous cheers.
“Dad comes home and he’s pissed,” Carlson continues. “He’s not vengeful, he loves his children. Disobedient as they may be, he loves them … And when Dad gets home, you know what he says? You’ve been a bad girl. You’ve been a bad little girl and you’re getting a vigorous spanking right now. And no, it’s not going to hurt me more than it hurts you. No, it’s not. I’m not going to lie. It’s going to hurt you a lot more than it hurts me. And you earned this. You’re getting a vigorous spanking because you’ve been a bad girl, and it has to be this way.”
Clearly this struck a chord with the crowd. Later, when Trump came on stage, they screamed “Daddy’s home” and “Daddy Don”. Sigmund Freud almost rose from his grave.
James Singer, a Harris campaign spokesman, declared the speech “fucking weird”. And for a lot of people, it certainly was. But for Trump’s cult-like supporters, Carlson’s spanking fantasy encapsulates everything they love about the presidential candidate: the paternalism, the toxic masculinity, the lust for violence and thirst for revenge.
The idea of Trump as a father figure also plays into the nominee’s own portrayal of himself. Trump doesn’t go around explicitly telling people to call him daddy (that I know of), but he has sought to depict himself as a protector of women. At a recent rally in Pennsylvania, for example, Trump told women that he would save them. “You will no longer be abandoned, lonely or scared … You will no longer have anxiety from all of the problems our country has today,” Trump said "You will be protected, and I will be your protector.”
What fffing Planet am I now living on? The US is FCUK’d, and I’m not talking about a a UK-based global retailer and fashion clothing wholesaler.
I think so many brave decent Americans deserve better.
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I stayed up late and watched the MSG Trump rally from beginning to end, and Tucker Carlson sounded like and looked like a hundred percent freak. The whole rally was a s**t show and Trump was applauded all the way by an audience of 20,000 or so unfortunate believers.
I listened to a discussion between a British journalist and The Atlantic’s David Frum, a clearly learned & devout conservative Republican who is voting Harris, but voting for her just this once. He answers questions asked of him about Trump and of the future if Trump wins. I can only speak for myself in saying that he was candid, sincere, still Republican – but an honest one. IMO.
It’s a long interview, and with a couple of pesky adverts, but a discussion that tells what planet we are living on, albeit from a Harris voting devout Republican’s point of view. What planet are we living on is answered in many ways, for me, in what he says in his interview.
They talk about Harris, Tucker/spanking, fascism, dictators, Musk, Vance, the economy, etc, and prognosis of a 2nd Trump presidency.
It gets worse…!
There could be legal justifications made to prevent military leaders or government lawyers from putting a stop to any of Trump’s outrageous executive actions if he’s elected. Don’t know if this is part of project 2025, but probably is.
The author of these legal justifications says “…his plans are a response to a “Marxist takeover” of the country; likened the moment to 1776 and 1860, when the country was at war or on the brink of it; and said the timing of Trump’s candidacy was a “gift of God.”
Madness!
Good video, but I just sampled it in places.
David Frum is a thoughtful and balanced commentator and The Atlantic a respected magazine. But his arguments are too cerebral (and IMO Harris’ too), this is a visceral battle.
Making cogent arguments to the Homer Simpsons that support Trump will yield little. They can’t ,and do not want to absorb or even reflect on them. They just want more merchandise to wear and more Duff beer to drink.
Just heard that Pennsylvania’s district attorney (democrat) is seeking a civil court order against Musk to end his election registration sweepstake because it contravenes Pennsylvania’s lottery laws. It could also be dealt with criminally as a violation of election law if Pennsylvania decided to go down that route. A five year federal prison sentence could be imposed.
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The US refer to the uneducated voter, a large section of supporters who will unreservedly vote for Trump. Don’t think anything can be done about their influence this close to the election except a Harris win.
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And $2/gallon gas again to fill the tanks of their $70k pickup trucks. Forgetting why gas was $2/gallon in 2020.
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But when?
It will be just like Trump, delay after delay and Musk has more money.
The USA has the politics of a banana republic.
Doubt if any legal moves made against Musk will amount to much, this close to the election. I think Musk knew that his lottery was illegal but went ahead anyway, this close to the election. He’s as corrupt as Trump.
On a different tack, I’ve heard that the Republican’s polling system, different to public polling, was leaked. They use their system to determine where to spend their money - more ads, more canvassing, more visits etc, and they are worried by their own negative polling. We shall see!