Mastodawn

Michel Decurtins 2d ago

Trump does not think strategically, historically, geographically, or even rationally. He does not connect actions he takes on one day to events that occur weeks later. Allied leaders know that if they help him in the Gulf, he won't be grateful, or even remember www.theatlantic.com/ideas/2026/0...

Everyone but Trump Understands...

Everyone but Trump Understands What He’s Done

Allied leaders know that any positive gesture they make will count for nothing.

The Atlantic

Anne Applebaum 2d ago

But they remember

Stoneface Vimes 1d ago

@anneapplebaum.bsky.social too true we remember. And it's going to take an awful lot to make us begin to get past it. There's a great deal of "let em marinade in their own juice" around.

Jeff C. 🇺🇦🇬🇱1d ago

@capnthommo @anneapplebaum.bsky.social Frankly, we have it coming, and maybe some time in the penalty box would actually do us some good.

Stoneface Vimes 1d ago

@jeff @anneapplebaum.bsky.social sadly that's going to impact upon those who never supported trump and who voted against him. Or weren't allowed to vote at all.

Jeff C. 🇺🇦🇬🇱1d ago

@capnthommo @anneapplebaum.bsky.social Oh, I know. I'm one of those people. 🙂

But if a little "tough love" from the world is what it takes to knock some sense into not just the MAGA people, but the non-voters and the too-ideologically-pure-to-vote-for-a-Democrat people… so be it.

There have to be consequences for some people to learn.

The rest of us, well… we'll understand. We know you know not all Americans are the same, even if as a country we need collective correction.

@capnthommo We failed in our own way. Democracy is a collaborative process. It is our duty to lobby each other, not just vote. Democracy isn't a spectator sport, but the majority of us sit out elections, including the most recent. We must share the results. It might not seem 'fair', but that's how it works.

@jeff Penalty box is what you get for body-checking another player. What do we get for stabbing half the players and shitting all over the rink? I'd think that calls for a bit more.

Jeff C. 🇺🇦🇬🇱1d ago

@wesdym It has been a long time since I’ve been to a hockey game, and I honestly can’t recall what the penalty for that is. But point taken.

Pete Alex Harris🦡🕸️🌲/∞🪐∫1d ago

@anneapplebaum.bsky.social
And it's not just about wounded national pride. The USA is a country building concentration camps for its own people and random tourists picked up by a lawless state-sponsored death squad. The war is following the same pattern of attacks on civilians that the USA's partner in war crime has been pursuing relentlessly in Gaza.

Why would we help these people even if they were being polite to us?

Jeff C. 🇺🇦🇬🇱1d ago

@petealexharris @anneapplebaum.bsky.social You don’t, and it speaks well of you that you won’t.

We need to learn that there is a cost to this sort of thing. That fascism is a losing ideology.

swggrkllr3rd 1d ago

@petealexharris @anneapplebaum.bsky.social Not random tourists, they check social media for trump critic posts and if there's a hit they take you in.

Pete Alex Harris🦡🕸️🌲/∞🪐∫1d ago

@swggrkllr3rd @anneapplebaum.bsky.social
They might be targeting individuals too, but they are also just grabbing people. The thing about fascist brute squads is they have a lot of autonomy to do whatever savage, bullying, or sexual-assaulty kind of thing the individual brute wants to do without any accountability (which is why they joined up).
There's no central discipline; the strategy is enablement, for the goal of fearful uncertainty about what you can do to avoid being taken.

@swggrkllr3rd We don't really know, and we know there are cases we're unaware of. There doesn't seem to be any consistent logic to it. The decisions sometimes seem to be the whims of individuals, who might be prosecuting their own petty personal biases, like the guy who gunned down a woman for smarting off to him. I would not bet anything, and I would advise ANYONE to avoid the US for the foreseeable future. It is not safe here, for anyone.

@anneapplebaum.bsky.social

The worry is... if impeached successfully, would Vance be even worse??

America needs to radically rethink its democracy, is these modern times.

Grassroots Joe 1d ago

@gsymon @anneapplebaum.bsky.social

At least Vance isn't sundowning and is capable of thinking strategically when it comes to Commander in Chief responsibilities.
He certainly could be worse on the domestic front by bringing slightly more competent people into the regime, but he doesn't present the same threat to the political future of GOP elected officials, so he would be unlikely to be able to push legislation through a 1 or 2 seat majority House nor brow beat electeds in GOP run states.

@gsymon Vance can also be impeached.

Jochen Wettach 💙💛2d ago

@anneapplebaum.bsky.social What an accurate analysis!
I could never have imagined such a level of dilettantism and ignorance. Every additional day in office is a cause for celebration for America’s enemies. The American people deserve a far better government.

@jochenwettach I'm not sure what we 'deserve', to be honest. We did this to ourselves, not just to other people, and we should have to answer for that stupidity, and harshly. The damage we've incurred is terrible, and much of it is irreversible and extremely hard to forgive, such as uncounted thousands dead.

Whatever follows this must hurt enough, and long enough, for that lesson to sink in. We failed at democracy, and for both moral and pedogogical reasons it's necessary that we suffer for it.

@anneapplebaum.bsky.social

He needs to be removed… as should those that made this possible…
This will not end in a normal way.

TrimTab 🇺🇦1d ago

@anneapplebaum.bsky.social
Great article, thanks!

I don't see how the petro dollar survives this, or how the world doesn't very soon start dumping US treasury bills. Without these 2 things, economic collapse in the US seems inevitable as servicing debts becomes impossible.

In other words the accelerationists like Thiel et al. May have already won, now sipping champagne with their popcorn as things implode from here.... They will also kick the nation mercilessly while its down.

@TrimTab This is the very urgent and important message I've been trying to get across to people in other countries: Your investments in us are what sustain this. Divest your US holdings -- stocks, bonds, whatever -- and stop buying products and services from us. Disengage from our platforms. We are very highly dependent on foreign money. But that money is what feeds this fascist machine and keeps it going. Starve the beast. Keep your money out of the US, by any means possible.

moossy1 ∴🔻🏳️‍🌈1d ago

@anneapplebaum.bsky.social @koen_hufkens Trump is a moron with way too much power!

@moossy1 All the power he has is granted to him by others, who actively maintain it for him, and maintain him personally. He's demented and decrepit and in terrible health. If he was turned out on the street, he'd be dead within days. So even his very survival day to day is granted to him by those who wish to gain from his influence. It's an extremely ugly scene.

@anneapplebaum.bsky.social the US and Israel (greed and bloodthirst running through their veins) attacked Iran illegally according to international law. It is a war crime and aiding a crime makes others criminal too.

I was utterly disgusted to hear my Dutch prime minister say that the Dutch government has understanding for the attack. Spineless. Only the Spanish prime minister showed he has a spine and will uphold international law. Respect for Spain.

And now Cuba? Insane.

@anneapplebaum.bsky.social Even worse, if they did actually make the fatal mistake of providing a backstop, he'd take that as his cue to escalate and dig an even deeper hole. Iran has no friends in the immediate region and little to lose, so expect the response of a cornered wolverine.

@anneapplebaum.bsky.social ...reading this makes one crystal clear on the fact that trump is seriously mentally ill...beyond, far beyond, just incompetence, or gross stupidity. The harm, the epic harm, of him remaining in office has for months, but glaringly so now, rests on the shrimp-like shoulders of MAGA Congress members....and the equally appallingly cowardly Cabinet members. They have the power to remove him.

DataCartographer 1d ago

@anneapplebaum.bsky.social

You put it perfectly.

The more we analyze Trump and his administration, the clearer it becomes: There is no deeper analysis needed, there is no intentional ambiguity to his decisions and words as a negotiation tactic.

It is all very simple. #trump can in many regards really be summarized by a single word:

Incompetence!

#uspolitics #globalpolitics

Random Walsh 1d ago

@DataCartographer @anneapplebaum.bsky.social a dangerous idiot.

Archmage of Procrastination 1d ago

@ratel @DataCartographer @anneapplebaum.bsky.social

Law 4:

"Non-stupid people always underestimate the destructive power of stupid individuals."

"In particular, non-stupid people constantly forget that at all times, in all places, and under all circumstances, dealing and/or associating with stupid people is always a costly mistake. We underestimate idiots, and we do so at our peril."

-Cipolla

Mic hel Drops 1d ago

@anneapplebaum.bsky.social This guy, in behaviour, is a spitting image of my Ex - lol! Whatever he has, she got, too. 🤔 I think I really dodged a bullet there... 😎 👌 Thank you for posting.

Kerplunk 1d ago

@anneapplebaum.bsky.social

Trump does not think strategically, historically, geographically, or even rationally. He does not connect actions he takes on one day to events that occur weeks later.

Called advanced dementia, the orange painted one shows all the symptoms..

Applies to many of his criminal supportive accomplices too.

Known Drunkard Whisky Pete Hegseth,

A prime example of advanced alcoholic delirium in case of the Iran fiasco.

Cheezybuffet }:>1d ago

@anneapplebaum.bsky.social

And this is who people still defend

I think he doesn’t understand the consequences-not because he doesn’t know any better or knows at all or is dumb-but because he simply doesn’t care

If he accomplishes his goals before he is forced to revert it back or consequences happen to him or before his presidency ends then he won’t care

If he does it before he is forced to leave his position then he won’t care

Cheezybuffet }:>1d ago

@anneapplebaum.bsky.social

And he’ll die before it affects him

@cheezybuffet It's some of all of that. He really is extremely stupid, and astonishingly ignorant, about a great many things. (He thinks that stealth jets are LITERALLY invisible, for example, and he STILL thinks that tariffs are paid by other countries.) He doesn't belong in or near any office of any responsibility or consequence. His enablers know that, but THEY don't care, because his cult popularity brings them power and riches. It really is that awful.

@anneapplebaum.bsky.social

You had me at "Trump does not think."

🟥 Eveline Sulman 🇳🇱🇪🇺🇺🇦1d ago

@anneapplebaum.bsky.social typical for a narcissist

@anneapplebaum.bsky.social But the wrath persists.

Jack the Frosted Count 1d ago

@anneapplebaum.bsky.social He only remembers insults and grudges. (the ones he comprehends) Those he repeats in his head forever.

@count_01 It's because he knows they're true. The one thing he can't cope with is truths about himself that he doesn't like. This is a real pathology that's driven him for most of his life. His niece (a psychologist) wrote about this in detail. He has some very serious mental problems, that are getting a lot of people killed.

Jack the Frosted Count 1d ago

@wesdym But at least he fixed* the economy!

* if by fixed you don't mean fixed the way people who speak English use the word

@count_01 In English, 'fixed' can also mean 'rigged', or 'set up to fail'. That's mostly criminal usage, but it's attested back a long way, and you can find abundant examples in popular entertainment. This meaning also exists in related idioms such as 'the fix is in', meaning a situation has been manipulated to someone's gain and someone else's loss.

@anneapplebaum.bsky.social the FIFA peace prize to FAFO war prize is brutally fast

@anneapplebaum.bsky.social Taco is not to blame. He's a demented old man with pudding for brains who has no idea what he's doing or what's going on. He's the guy who had his car keys taken away years ago, and who's not allowed to walk alone, for fear he'll just wander off.

The problem in the US is those who still support him, including an entire party who presently control all three branches of government. They know. They let it go on. They're using him. THEY are the enemy.

@anneapplebaum.bsky.social At this point, so much and such extreme damage has occurred that the ONLY way out for the US, in less than a century, is to arrest senior officials of the current US regime and send them to the Hague to be tried by the international community they so severely wronged, including by crimes against humanity. Nothing less can suffice. We have done a terrible wrong to the world, and must pay a high price in humility and deference to even hope for forgiveness.

@anneapplebaum.bsky.social if everybody stops supporting, helping, talk to him he an his cronies will get desperate real soon.

Brian Gordon 1d ago

Due to a combination of #narcissism and dementia:

"Trump does not think strategically, historically, geographically, or even rationally. He does not connect actions he takes on one day to events that occur weeks later. Allied leaders know that if they help him in the Gulf, he won't be grateful, or even remember"

MJ Muse 11h ago

@anneapplebaum.bsky.social It's hard to negotiate with a meglamaniac that's seriously mentally dysfunctional. He's on drugs, is insane, and sleeps and slurs. Donald runs the WH dictating orders from his stupid golden throne, with his shrinking brain. His powers must be taken away. Donald has the nuclear codes. He is not well