God Made Trump

On a hunch, I googled Trump knife and Trump guns, and yes, you can buy them. Tons of knives. The Trump guns that I saw were Glock 19s, and you can get 'em with T's mug shot on the handle. You know, so you can kick ass in the real world, packin' a handful of Donald, and be as much of a man as The Man Himself.

ideologyhunter said:

be as much of a man as The Man Himself.

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I.e. not at all.

I propose that this coming Monday be called E. Jean Carroll Day. There's roughly 83 million reasons.

SHERIFF'S AUCTION -- April 1, 2024
The following lots are to be auctioned at 725 5th Ave., Manhattan, on 4/1/2024 to satisfy judgment claims in Carroll v. Trump. They may be imaged on the NY Third Court District website beginning March 1.

HEALTH AND BEAUTY
Fibercon, 8 oz. bottle, one gross total
Aricept gel caps, tablets, gummies, inhalant, and syringe cartridge, 2000 doses total
2 quart enema bulb, brand name Husky Man, possibly unused

HOLLYWOOD-THEMED LIFE ACCESSORIES
55" waist Buono men's fashion briefs, 16 pr.
Dinklage Condoms, one gross, economy sized
George HamiltonTM Fashion Bronzer, 100 oz. tub
The Bro/Manzeer from Seinfeld Productions, Double D Cups

FITNESS (all in original packaging/wrappers)
set of 2 Indian clubs, Pocahontas brand
set of 2 8-lb. barbells
(1) wall-mounted stretch bar
(1) 55" waist testicle suspensory

PRINT MEDIA
Hardback Book: 2005 Buying Guide to the Women of Bratislava: Mail Order Brides, Escorts, Chambermaids, Sex Workers, Libertines, and Wild Women from the Back Alleys (Exploit Press, 454 pp. with illus.)
Wall Calendar: 2003 Hot Women of Moldava
Bound set of Hustler, 47 vol., complete run of magazine (1974-2021)

MISC.
85 boxes of assorted Be Best merch, incl. infant's onesies, tees, athletic socks, golf bags, cocktail napkins, condoms, lunch boxes, cigarette cases, holsters, notepads, Bibles, prayer cloths, and dildos.

I had an interesting conversation with a man and his wife at Walmart the other day. They told me they want Trump to win and be dictator for a while because to them its obvious democracy is and always has been a sham in this country. The government will not do what the public wants on important policy matters and never has. The final straw for them was when his wifes job went overseas and she got laid off with no other industry or job coming in and taking its place like was promised. What they want is for Trump to become dictator and steal lots of money and businesses from these rich people and give to himself or his own family therefore somewhat in a way avenging the little people like them who got screwed over.

I don't know if that is how a lot of Trump voters feel but in my readings in dictatorships there is still politics and those on the losing side can often have their money and businesses stolen by the dictator and given to his family or supporters. And a wealthy dictator in charge of the government can coerce even well-off people when they don't have independent judiciary or police force to either bribe, pay off through lawyers fees, or raise their own armed forces. Look what happened to Abiola in Nigeria in the late 90's. His billions didn't save him from Sani Abacha.

BH said:

I had an interesting conversation with a man and his wife at Walmart the other day. They told me they want Trump to win and be dictator for a while because to them its obvious democracy is and always has been a sham in this country. The government will not do what the public wants on important policy matters and never has. The final straw for them was when his wifes job went overseas and she got laid off with no other industry or job coming in and taking its place like was promised. What they want is for Trump to become dictator and steal lots of money and businesses from these rich people and give to himself or his own family therefore somewhat in a way avenging the little people like them who got screwed over.

I don't know if that is how a lot of Trump voters feel but in my readings in dictatorships there is still politics and those on the losing side can often have their money and businesses stolen by the dictator and given to his family or supporters. And a wealthy dictator in charge of the government can coerce even well-off people when they don't have independent judiciary or police force to either bribe, pay off through lawyers fees, or raise their own armed forces. Look what happened to Abiola in Nigeria in the late 90's. His billions didn't save him from Sani Abacha.

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Wow. A lot to unpack here. Let's start with this:

The final straw for them was when his wifes job went overseas and she got laid off with no other industry or job coming in and taking its place like was promised.

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Promised? In what way? I was laid off just about 5 years ago when my job was consolidated out of existence due to a corporate merger, and I had no illusions that I was "promised" a job to take the place of the one I lost. At the moment, I'm watching the company I work for making moves to consolidate my current job out of existence. Yes, they're saying "we're not replacing you and you have nothing to worry about" but that is a bald-faced lie. I know this, and I'm saving money and using the time where I'm still employed to find something else. All of my co-workers are looking for jobs, because we all know.

What they want is for Trump to become dictator and steal lots of money and businesses from these rich people and give to himself or his own family therefore somewhat in a way avenging the little people like them who got screwed over.

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From what I've been reading and watching, it's far worse. They don't just think Trump is going to bat for the "little guy," but that he's somehow the instrument of God's righteous judgement. Yes, he's a terrible person, but he is the Deliverer who will usher in a glorious Christian Nation. Maybe even the Rapture.

Like you, I don't know if this is all Trump supporters. Unlike you, I don't talk to people in Walmart about it. In fact I don't go into Walmart if I can help it. Yet I'm still trying to wrap my head around the Walmart-shopping barely able to get by on their wages and hating their "rich asshole boss" can look at this guy who is their "rich asshole boss" times 1000 and think "yeah...that's my boy!"

BH said:

I had an interesting conversation with a man and his wife at Walmart the other day. They told me they want Trump to win and be dictator for a while because to them its obvious democracy is and always has been a sham in this country. The government will not do what the public wants on important policy matters and never has. The final straw for them was when his wifes job went overseas and she got laid off with no other industry or job coming in and taking its place like was promised. What they want is for Trump to become dictator and steal lots of money and businesses from these rich people and give to himself or his own family therefore somewhat in a way avenging the little people like them who got screwed over.

I don't know if that is how a lot of Trump voters feel but in my readings in dictatorships there is still politics and those on the losing side can often have their money and businesses stolen by the dictator and given to his family or supporters. And a wealthy dictator in charge of the government can coerce even well-off people when they don't have independent judiciary or police force to either bribe, pay off through lawyers fees, or raise their own armed forces. Look what happened to Abiola in Nigeria in the late 90's. His billions didn't save him from Sani Abacha.

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It’s actually possible they’d be better off if Biden were a dictator then.

They honestly think that if Trump were a dictator he would help them? Not paying attention much.

I think they are people who just want to see a rich guy get power where he can just eat the other rich, therefore getting some consolation from that.

Ford said:

BH said:

What they want is for Trump to become dictator and steal lots of money and businesses from these rich people and give to himself or his own family therefore somewhat in a way avenging the little people like them who got screwed over.

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If I understand what BH writes, the small-time Trumplickers EXPECT Trump's cheating to help the Trump family and NOT the small-time Trump-licking families. But they're happy about that because when Trump steals from the "enemy" (Democrats, Jews?, evil corporations) their libidos get a tingling sensation of revenge, even if no actual profit.

Interesting take. Certainly compatible with the opinion I linked to recently that many who support Trump do so because a Trump Administration will be "fun" and "dangerous" like an exciting "TV show."

Ford said:

From what I've been reading and watching, it's far worse. They don't just think Trump is going to bat for the "little guy," but that he's somehow the instrument of God's righteous judgement. Yes, he's a terrible person, but he is the Deliverer who will usher in a glorious Christian Nation. Maybe even the Rapture.

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True of some evangelicals. But most Trumplickers are too lacking in self-awareness even to know what "Rapture" is.

Ford said:

Like you, I don't know if this is all Trump supporters. Unlike you, I don't talk to people in Walmart about it. In fact I don't go into Walmart if I can help it. Yet I'm still trying to wrap my head around the Walmart-shopping barely able to get by on their wages and hating their "rich asshole boss" can look at this guy who is their "rich asshole boss" times 1000 and think "yeah...that's my boy!"

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Off-topic: I was in a book-store the other day and saw The Great Unraveling, a collection of newspaper columns by Paul Krugman. I didn't notice that it was a 2003 book and, having subscribed to NY Times, I've already read many of the columns. Yet I am happy with the book.

One statistic caught my eye. In the May 21, 2002 column we learn that in 1980 CEO's earned 45 times as much as non-supervisory workers. By 2000 this ratio had increased to 458.

BH said:

I had an interesting conversation with a man and his wife at Walmart the other day. They told me they want Trump to win and be dictator for a while because to them its obvious democracy is and always has been a sham in this country. The government will not do what the public wants on important policy matters and never has. The final straw for them was when his wifes job went overseas and she got laid off with no other industry or job coming in and taking its place like was promised. What they want is for Trump to become dictator and steal lots of money and businesses from these rich people and give to himself or his own family therefore somewhat in a way avenging the little people like them who got screwed over.

I don't know if that is how a lot of Trump voters feel but in my readings in dictatorships there is still politics and those on the losing side can often have their money and businesses stolen by the dictator and given to his family or supporters. And a wealthy dictator in charge of the government can coerce even well-off people when they don't have independent judiciary or police force to either bribe, pay off through lawyers fees, or raise their own armed forces. Look what happened to Abiola in Nigeria in the late 90's. His billions didn't save him from Sani Abacha.

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I haven't run into any that delusional but there's an awful lot of stick-it-to-the-elites attitudes going around.

Swammerdami said:

One statistic caught my eye. In the May 21, 2002 column we learn that in 1980 CEO's earned 45 times as much as non-supervisory workers. By 2000 this ratio had increased to 458.

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Yeah, people love to throw around variations on this theme.

Always neglecting to make it apples-to-apples. There have been an awful lot of mergers in that time and the bigger the company the higher the CEO pay. The right comparison is companies of the same size.

Loren Pechtel said:

BH said:

I had an interesting conversation with a man and his wife at Walmart the other day. They told me they want Trump to win and be dictator for a while because to them its obvious democracy is and always has been a sham in this country. The government will not do what the public wants on important policy matters and never has. The final straw for them was when his wifes job went overseas and she got laid off with no other industry or job coming in and taking its place like was promised. What they want is for Trump to become dictator and steal lots of money and businesses from these rich people and give to himself or his own family therefore somewhat in a way avenging the little people like them who got screwed over.

I don't know if that is how a lot of Trump voters feel but in my readings in dictatorships there is still politics and those on the losing side can often have their money and businesses stolen by the dictator and given to his family or supporters. And a wealthy dictator in charge of the government can coerce even well-off people when they don't have independent judiciary or police force to either bribe, pay off through lawyers fees, or raise their own armed forces. Look what happened to Abiola in Nigeria in the late 90's. His billions didn't save him from Sani Abacha.

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I haven't run into any that delusional but there's an awful lot of stick-it-to-the-elites attitudes going around.

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It’s an easy view to understand and a hard one to rebut. Basically they’re right. I just don’t think Trump is the answer. For decades, we’ve watched as income inequality has grown. The Supreme Court has allowed Congress to turn into the billionaire boys club. They do their bidding, not their constituents. So why should they support democracy? From their perspective, Trump really is great. Even if he destroys the economy, great. As long as the elites get their comeuppance. It’s not going to bother them since they’ve already lost everything.

Which elites got their comeuppance during Trump’s first term?

Loren Pechtel said:

Swammerdami said:

One statistic caught my eye. In the May 21, 2002 column we learn that in 1980 CEO's earned 45 times as much as non-supervisory workers. By 2000 this ratio had increased to 458.

Click to expand...

Yeah, people love to throw around variations on this theme.

Always neglecting to make it apples-to-apples. There have been an awful lot of mergers in that time and the bigger the company the higher the CEO pay. The right comparison is companies of the same size.

Click to expand...

A farmer who puts in very long hours and brings twice as many apples to market as his neighbor does will gross twice as much revenue as the neighbor. We get that.

But look at the numbers again. CEOs earned (relative to workers) TEN times as much in 2000 compared with just 20 years earlier. Even if their corporation was ten times bigger (it wasn't) did they put in ten times as many hours? No, to help with the extra work they had a whole extra level of management compared with the tenth-sized company, with those Vice Presidents also drawing big salaries and big bonuses.

Are they being rewarded for their genius and profitability? Global Crossing, which never had a profitable year, filed in 2002 for one of the largest bankruptcies in history and its executives were accused of covering up an accounting scandal. The founder apparently walked away from bankruptcy with $750 million.

And were companies really ten times as big in 2000? "in 1960, GM had 500,000 employees on its payroll." U.S. Steel had 225,000 employees in 1929. (With cherry-picked companies and dates before 1980, am I comparing apples with persimmons? These are just numbers Google popped back to me in seconds. It would take effort to research your claim; for example Market Cap is a bad proxy without P/E factored in. You Google; refute your own claim!! )

Here's one stat that may put us back on target.

Paul Krugman said:

In 1998 Cisco reported a profit of $1.35 billion; if it had counted the market value of the stock options it issued as an expense, it would have reported a loss of $4.9 billion.

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Shadowy Man said:

Which elites got their comeuppance during Trump’s first term?

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Yeah. Exactly. They just got tax breaks. But somehow the libs got owned.

This is why I think we should cap the max/min pay, instead of just raising the minimum wage. You can even be pretty generous with it and allow up to, say 100:1. Just close all the loopholes for contractors and any other 'gig' workers they try to hire and you're good.

Worldtraveller said:

This is why I think we should cap the max/min pay, instead of just raising the minimum wage. You can even be pretty generous with it and allow up to, say 100:1. Just close all the loopholes for contractors and any other 'gig' workers they try to hire and you're good.

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A truly progressive income tax would do the trick, no?

Elixir said:

Worldtraveller said:

This is why I think we should cap the max/min pay, instead of just raising the minimum wage. You can even be pretty generous with it and allow up to, say 100:1. Just close all the loopholes for contractors and any other 'gig' workers they try to hire and you're good.

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A truly progressive income tax would do the trick, no?

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it would help, for sure.

Elixir said:

Worldtraveller said:

This is why I think we should cap the max/min pay, instead of just raising the minimum wage. You can even be pretty generous with it and allow up to, say 100:1. Just close all the loopholes for contractors and any other 'gig' workers they try to hire and you're good.

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A truly progressive income tax would do the trick, no?

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Back to 91% marginally. Just my opinion.

Swammerdami said:

Loren Pechtel said:

Swammerdami said:

One statistic caught my eye. In the May 21, 2002 column we learn that in 1980 CEO's earned 45 times as much as non-supervisory workers. By 2000 this ratio had increased to 458.

Click to expand...

Yeah, people love to throw around variations on this theme.

Always neglecting to make it apples-to-apples. There have been an awful lot of mergers in that time and the bigger the company the higher the CEO pay. The right comparison is companies of the same size.

Click to expand...

A farmer who puts in very long hours and brings twice as many apples to market as his neighbor does will gross twice as much revenue as the neighbor. We get that.

Click to expand...

The relationship is nonlinear.

Swammerdami said:

Are they being rewarded for their genius and profitability? Global Crossing, which never had a profitable year, filed in 2002 for one of the largest bankruptcies in history and its executives were accused of covering up an accounting scandal. The founder apparently walked away from bankruptcy with $750 million.

And were companies really ten times as big in 2000? "in 1960, GM had 500,000 employees on its payroll." U.S. Steel had 225,000 employees in 1929. (With cherry-picked companies and dates before 1980, am I comparing apples with persimmons? These are just numbers Google popped back to me in seconds. It would take effort to research your claim; for example Market Cap is a bad proxy without P/E factored in. You Google; refute your own claim!! )

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That's not a very good yardstick because it's the economic size, not the employee size. Plot executive compensation against gross revenue. (Which still isn't all that good as vertical integration will reduce "revenue".)

Swammerdami said:

Here's one stat that may put us back on target.

Paul Krugman said:

In 1998 Cisco reported a profit of $1.35 billion; if it had counted the market value of the stock options it issued as an expense, it would have reported a loss of $4.9 billion.

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I do think we have a big accounting problem with stock options and I think it would be a good idea for them not to exist at all. (Pay them in shares, not options--that penalizes loss as well as rewarding good.)