• hark@lemmy.world
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    19 hours ago

    Billionaires do not work for anyone but themselves. Billionaires, the parasites that they are, will attach themselves to whoever they can suck off, and then abandon the host to die off when they’ve taken all they can. He is looting what he can from the US and selling out the rest to Russia and anyone else who is willing to pay him. There is no such thing as enough for billionaires, this is their mental illness.

    • UnderpantsWeevil@lemmy.world
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      19 hours ago

      “Trump is unAmerican! He’s sold us out to the evil foreigners!” is the lie we need to keep telling ourselves in order to ignore the extremely All-American Thiels and Adelsons and Mercers who really are pulling his strings.

      The end result of this Putin-fixation is a modern opposition Democrat party that clings to neocons in the Bush/Cheney cartel and plutocrats like Bloomberg, Gates, and Buffet in defiance of popular politics. Mass media keeps trying to make Communist Russia the boogeyman behind a very Capitalist, very American brand of corporate fascism.

  • JazzlikeDiamond558@lemm.ee
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    1 day ago

    I believe the truth is far simpler than the conspiracy theories presented today.

    Trump, as groomed child with little incentive to succede in the world (as he was born and groomed with silver spoon in his mouth), simply generated debt that paid for his lavish life. Indeed, the man went BANKRUPT 4 TIMES. Let that sink in as a clear indication of his incompetence.

    At certain point, he lended money from the russians and now is the payback time.

    This is, of course, simplified version, because it is all happening on very high level and russians are probably to smart to demand money, but they do demand other services like dissolving NATO (so that they can expand), destroying the US commercial reputation and ties with it’s allies and so on and so forth… and this guy is delivering. This all removes the US from the world power-picture and leaves the US and EU markets at the plate for russian and chinese taking.

    How would that world look and what horrors loom in the darkness… well… we do live in interresting times.

    • UnderpantsWeevil@lemmy.world
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      19 hours ago

      Indeed, the man went BANKRUPT 4 TIMES. Let that sink in as a clear indication of his incompetence.

      If you can go bankrupt to the tune of a billion dollars, walk across the street to another bank, take out a new billion dollar line of credit, and keep shitting in your gold plated toilets, then I’m not clear how you are the incompetent one.

      Trump highlights the real dividing line between Rich and Poor in America, and its the proximity to cheap, easy lines of credit. If you can discharge a billion dollars of debt time and time again, while I’m stuck on the hook for a few grand in credit card debts or a tens of thousands in student loans for the rest of my life, its trivial for you to remain rich while it remains onerous for me to escape poverty.

      they do demand other services like dissolving NATO

      This isn’t a demand from the Russians, its a demand from the paleocons and the libertarians. Long before Putin was mayor of St. Petersburg, guys like Ron Paul and Pat Buchanan were lobbying to remove the US from every international organization. And their ideas were well-received, in the same way Brexit and Yugoslavian balkinization and the parsing out of micro-states like Hong Kong and Singapore and Israel were well-received.

      Building these ultra-wealthy megapolises, surrounded by high walls and armed to the teeth against working class dissidents, has been the project of the western ultra-right wing for decades. Ayn Rand lionized it in the form of Galt’s Gulch. Heinlein romanticized it in “The Moon is a Harsh Mistress”. Friedman and the Chicago Boys forced it onto Central America and the Caribbean states during the Reagan Era. Now Trump is making this vision manifest in the beating heart of the Republic.

      American balkinization is a plutocrat final solution to federal regulations authored by elected authority. It is the mirror side of Lincoln’s dire warning against A House Divided. For the class of American revanchists who revile a democratic state, this is a deliberate end game.

    • beans1013@lemm.ee
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      19 hours ago

      Exactly what i was thinking. As much as i’d like EU and its countries to be independent and have a better sense of unity, i feel like this is still benefitting Russia immensly in the end by severing ties with US the entire west will be vulnerable; with all these political tensions within EU countries themselves already it wont get any better…

  • OBJECTION!@lemmy.ml
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    1 day ago

    He doesn’t work for America or Russia, he works for himself and the billionaire class.

      • UnderpantsWeevil@lemmy.world
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        3 hours ago

        The Soviet Union collapsed in the early 90s. If Trump was anything, he was an American fence for the looting, the gang warfare, and the human trafficking that followed. The dogged insistence that Donald is a double-super secret KGB inside man intent on serving a government that hasn’t existed in 30 years is a Tom Clancy inspired fantasy.

          • Eugene V. Debs' Ghost@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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            20 hours ago

            Yes? I fucking hate Trump but I want verified shit to tag on him for his actual actions.

            If we just allow anything to stick to a figure/political group no matter how false it is, it just gives them ammo. “Why would you believe I did X? They said I did Y and Z and no proof was there for any of it.”

            Like imagine if someone said something that makes sense about Putin but wasn’t backed by anything in reality. Putin could now use that as a tool for propaganda/deflection. Same for any other figure in politics.

            Genuinely, I want sources for all claims. Even if it questions my personal world views. Sometimes I’m just genuinely wrong about something and I like being corrected in a informative way.

            • Doug Holland@lemmy.worldOPM
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              19 hours ago

              I ain’t arguing. Verification would be nice. It ain’t going to be verified, though, and that doesn’t necessarily make it false. Common sense and Occam’s razor can be enough.

              In 1987, young, rich, and already somewhat famous, Donald Trump was invited by the USSR’s American Ambassador to visit Moscow, to negotiate building a hotel across the street from the Kremlin, with the Soviet government as his business partner. Trump went. ‘Trump Tower Moscow’ was never built, but it’s almost silly to imagine that the KGB didn’t have a hand in Trump’s visit and/or didn’t offer an ‘investment’ in Trump. Equally or perhaps more unthinkable (based on everything we know about DJT) is the concept that he would turn down such an offer. Ipso facto pepto bismo, Trump is and has long been a Russian asset.

            • Eugene V. Debs' Ghost@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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              20 hours ago

              Can you imagine if someone did this for the other guys?

              Hey Biden actually is owned by the shadow government.

              Do you have any proof of that?

              Do I need proof? It’s right here!

              Like Trump is allied towards Putin, but he is only allied to those who pay him. He’s a narcissist in debt. If Putin’s funds dried up, he’d just saying he never liked him in the first place, disobey any previous agremeents.

              Let’s not ignore the billionaires who are American and have always been American puppeting him and the party in general.

              • Doug Holland@lemmy.worldOPM
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                19 hours ago

                Can you imagine if someone did this for the other guys?

                Seriously, literally, I laughed out loud.

            • Doug Holland@lemmy.worldOPM
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              21 hours ago

              It would be helpful to have it confirmed, but it’s highly unlikely. The KGB is generally hush-hush, so we’re going to have to decide without explicit evidence, but Occam’s razor is good enough for me.

              • OBJECTION!@lemmy.ml
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                19 hours ago

                Occam’s razor says that he’s a billionaire acting in his own self interest. Adding hidden unconfirmed assumptions that are unnecessary to explain his behavior is literally the exact thing that Occam’s razor says not to do.

      • OBJECTION!@lemmy.ml
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        24 hours ago

        It all comes down to the war between the Martians and the lizard people.

      • OBJECTION!@lemmy.ml
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        1 day ago

        He’s serving the American bourgeoisie moreso than Russia.

        Which, to be clear, is worse than if he was serving Russia. The American bourgeoisie are the most direct enemy to the American people, they suppress our wages (Putin doesn’t), they shift the tax burden onto us (Putin doesn’t), they bust our unions (Putin doesn’t), etc. Anything that makes them stronger makes us weaker, and if we could burn their wealth and power we would be better off even if we didn’t get a penny of it, just because their boot would be removed from our neck. That’s not to suggest that Putin is in any way a friend to everyday Americans, but he is a more distant and removed enemy compared to our direct, primary enemy, the rich of our own country. I don’t know why there’s this need to treat Trump as secretly in league with an external entity, as if being what he actually is wasn’t the worst thing he could possibly be.

      • NotLemming@lemm.ee
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        18 hours ago

        He sees America gaining from Israel’s expansion in the middle east, but the dems are no different. They’re just more cautious about how they look in front of the world/their voters, as they don’t have a cult to back them no matter what.

        • surph_ninja@lemmy.world
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          14 hours ago

          The Dems absolutely have their own cult followers. Look how many stuck with them during a genocide.

    • Crikeste@lemm.ee
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      1 day ago

      I got one for ya: How does no tax on tips help Russia? lol

      Also maybe his stance and outlook on oil and his “drill baby drill” shit. I don’t see how the United States producing more oil helps Russia.

      • AbsentBird@lemm.ee
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        1 day ago

        You don’t see how keeping the US dependent on oil helps a place where 2/3 of exports are oil?

        No tax on tips was just a cheap campaign promise that can distract people from the real issues. Most tipped workers hardly pay anything in tax, if they really cared about helping tipped workers they’d remove the federal regulation that allows tipped workers to be paid $2.13/hr; removing tips from taxes also lowers their social security in retirement.

        • Crikeste@lemm.ee
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          20 hours ago

          Well I mean, if we ramp up production of oil, we don’t need to import as much, right? That’s all I was implying.

          All I was really trying to point out is that the meme is quite reactionary and I don’t think painting “everything” he does as helping Russia is a good path to go down. But everything’s fucked anyways so who really cares? lol

          • AbsentBird@lemm.ee
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            18 hours ago

            How does increasing production hurt Russia? We don’t buy oil from them anyway right now, if it hurts anyone it’s Canada. But more importantly he’s trumpeting increased oil production at the cost of EVs and renewable energy; the US mostly produces light crude oil, but our refineries mostly require heavy crude oil. The US leaning into the production of gas is a boon to nations that export heavy crude oil (e.g. Saudi Arabia & Russia)

            I understand that you were trying to pick an example of something unrelated, but switching from investing in renewables to a fully fossil fueled economy is one of the most significant ways trump has helped Russia over both terms.

  • humanspiral
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    19 hours ago

    Complete disservice to world to claim Russia is behind everything, because it makes you hate Russia instead of the AH fking you up the ass for US empire reasons. Ending a losing war against Russia is smart and helpful to world. Fucking you up the ass doesn’t need gaslighting that it is for the enhancement of Russia, no matter how rational/devoted your hatred for Russia is.

    • HappySkullsplitter@lemmy.world
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      17 hours ago

      It’s not that Russia is behind everything, it’s just that Russia is a key part of their plan to establish a global kleptocracy ruled by the ultra wealthy

      They feel like their plan can be more easily accomplished with a Russian empire than with a free Ukraine

      • humanspiral
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        6 hours ago

        establish a global kleptocracy ruled by the ultra wealthy

        That is not serious. US kelptocracy does better with Russophobia propaganda. The actual angle for ending a losing war, is that Trump has asked Putin to “mediate” Iran nuclear deal, which can be code for Russia abandoning Iran.

  • Fair Fairy@thelemmy.club
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    17 hours ago

    Just going to repost some translated analytics here. To add another angle

    Trump cannot exert economic pressure on Ukraine, and halting military supplies does not have an immediate effect. However, in my opinion, his most significant leverage is political. This factor could play a key role in forcing Ukraine into a peace agreement.

    It’s important for understanding the context of why the U.S. needs this. For those who don’t want to read the full post, I’ll briefly summarize: The U.S. needs to contain China, which means preventing a China-Russia alliance. However, the U.S. lacks the financial resources, and due to this, Trump wants to scale back historical support for Europe.

    Trump’s declared foreign policy goals extend far beyond Ukraine. His aim is to restructure the entire global order and dismantle the foundational principles established during the Yalta Conference, which are now completely outdated.

    Accordingly, a warming of U.S.-Russia relations is a completely natural and logical process from the standpoint of U.S. interests. And this should happen independently of Ukraine. However, as long as the war continues, Trump wants to link these processes together—essentially trading concessions and a war freeze in exchange for lifting sanctions and resetting relations. But this is not a strict prerequisite.

    This is directly evident from Trump’s rhetoric—he does not tie improved relations to specific actions from Russia, such as admitting guilt or paying reparations. On the contrary, Reuters has already reported that Trump has instructed the State Department and the Treasury to prepare a list of sanctions that could be lifted soon. While this likely won’t involve anything major at first, certain individuals could see sanctions removed. However, this in itself is an important signal: Ukraine is being separated from U.S.-Russia relations. For now, Trump does not want to make concessions in advance while negotiations are ongoing.

    Yet, if the deal collapses due to Ukraine, then U.S.-Russia relations will develop without considering Ukraine at all, solely based on American interests. It seems that this mechanism was already set in motion after a White House dispute—CNN reports that preparations for a Putin-Trump meeting have been accelerated. Additionally, a second round of talks in Saudi Arabia is expected soon, where the focus is likely to be more on U.S.-Russia economic cooperation rather than Ukraine.

    Any real steps in this direction will effectively lead to the EU lifting its own sanctions. Even now, secondary sanctions are more problematic than the primary ones. Countries like Turkey were willing to bypass restrictions, but Biden tightened the screws. Trump, however, doesn’t even need to formally lift sanctions—he can just turn a blind eye to violations by third countries.

    At the same time, if the U.S. officially lifts sanctions, Europe will have little choice but to follow suit. Many companies left the Russian market voluntarily, as a gesture of goodwill, without being legally required to do so. As a result, they could begin returning once their governments give a quiet green light—publicly condemning the move, but privately claiming they can’t interfere because private companies are free to act in a democracy and capitalist system.

    Right now, the only hope for hawks in Ukraine and the EU is to prolong the war, expecting that Russia will collapse under economic pressure, forcing Putin to negotiate from a position of weakness. However, if sanctions are lifted, this already uncertain scenario will become highly unlikely, making further war pointless for Ukraine. This would force Kyiv to either accept a far worse peace deal than what’s currently on the table or continue fighting alone, without any realistic hope of achieving what could be called a victory.

  • Dagwood222@lemm.ee
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    2 days ago

    Once you realize he’s stupid, it all makes sense.

    When he built Trump Tower back in the 1980s, Jackie Kennedy was New York City’s most beloved resident. She was famous for her efforts to save Grand Central Station and her love of great old buildings.

    Trump personally promised the head of the biggest museum in New York that he’d preserve the façade of the building he was demolishing to put up his Tower. He lied and razed the place to the ground.

    The most desperate ass kisser on the planet threw away a chance to get in good with America’s living Queen because he was greedy and stupid.

    • Zink@programming.dev
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      1 day ago

      I bet he got a change order from the contractor, and upon seeing that saving the facade would coat more than zero dollars, said fuck that noise. Being greedy in petty ways is surprisingly common for people who already live a hyper-privileged post-scarcity existence.

    • crusa187@lemmy.ml
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      2 days ago

      That was a pretty stupid maneuver, agreed.

      It’s also worth noting that one of Trump’s 6 bankruptcies was from a Casino in Atlantic City. You have to be especially stupid to go bankrupt running a casino (on borrowed money of course). They’re literally rigged for profiting the owners.

      • some_designer_dude@lemmy.world
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        2 days ago

        Bankrupting a casino just screams “hey we’re laundering money over here.” I think you’d have to actively sabotage a casino to make it fail.

        • crusa187@lemmy.ml
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          2 days ago

          Yeah, money laundering has clearly been a staple of Trump’s career. What started with selling condos in trump tower to Russian oligarchs after he couldn’t borrow money from banks anymore due to his tendency to default on loans, has now turned into something much worse unfortunately.

          His latest scams with crypto just hurt to watch…hundreds of millions just stolen from his trusting followers.

          Perhaps the biggest failing of the Dems during Biden’s term (when there was still time for justice) was refusing to investigate Trump’s financial crimes and ties to Russian monied interests. They could have nailed him to the wall so easily there, but the investigation likely would have uncovered many more elites who are profiting the same way, so of course we can’t have that.

          • NotLemming@lemm.ee
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            18 hours ago

            What are the trumpers saying about losing money on his cryptosystem scams? Do they realise at that point that he’s an asshole?

  • HubertManne@moist.catsweat.com
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    2 days ago

    yup. this is one of the conspiracy theories I whole hardheartedly believe. There is no specific, smoking gun, proof that I know of for this but although he sometimes talk tough in his back and forth things, his actions are always super favorable for putin specifically. defund ukraine, stop russian sanctions, the general fucking up of us systems.

    • crusa187@lemmy.ml
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      2 days ago

      Agent Krasnov don’t need no proof, he just is - like the sweet kiss of preteen piss.

      • Knock_Knock_Lemmy_In@lemmy.world
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        1 day ago

        Yes.

        Remember, Mussolini described fascism as the union of corporate and state power.

        In the U.S., corporatism is undeniable:

        Regulatory Capture: Agencies like the FDA, FCC and the FED are often staffed by former industry execs who later return to high-paying corporate jobs.

        Bailouts & Subsidies: Wall Street, Big Oil, and defense contractors get billions in government aid.

        Lobbying & Dark Money: Corporations spend billions influencing elections and policy, ensuring laws serve their interests, not the people’s.

        Surveillance & Control: Tech giants work hand-in-hand with intelligence agencies to monitor citizens.

      • baltakatei@sopuli.xyz
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        2 days ago

        See Hitler’s American Model (2017) which talks about how Nazi lawyers were attracted to how the US built itself on the tradition of common law as opposed to the more European and relatively inflexible tradition of civil law. Government under common law may change rapidly as judges overturn precedent, opening a window for demagogues such as Trump a way to quickly reform government in their favor before a majority of the populace, with their often passive consequence-centered de facto method of understanding political decisions, can oppose the changes.

      • A_Union_of_Kobolds@lemmy.world
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        2 days ago

        What absolutely. Fascism is in many ways the natural trend of the state under capitalism, and the US is the State of capitalism. It’s inherently reactionary and opposed to socialism on a fundamental basis.

        Basic class consciousness, people

        • Comtief@lemm.ee
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          19 hours ago

          This seems terribly misguided.

          What’s happening in the US comes from broken institutions, extreme polarization, and uniquely American political problems - not capitalism itself. Look around: plenty of countries more capitalist than US (Nordic nations, Switzerland, Singapore) have solid democracies without sliding into fascism.

          You’re confusing economic systems with political structures. The issue isn’t free markets; it’s the specific American mess of corporate money corrupting politics and the eroding checks and balances.

          I’m so tired of people blaming capitalism, it’s like blaming hydration for drowning. Makes as little sense.

  • Wxnzxn@lemmy.ml
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    2 days ago

    I really don’t think he works for “Russia” per se, he works for his clique of grifters and is genuinely deluded into believing Russia and Putin are stronger and more capable than they are - and better suited to benefit him personally. In the end, he works for himself and his close circle of capitalists, already speculating on a recession.

    • comfy@lemmy.ml
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      1 day ago

      Yes, first and foremost he’s in it for himself and his buddies. Russia and the Zionist Regime know how to do business with Trump, and provide a great way to help Trump dismantle the government and loot the USA, just like the capitalist looting that happened after the fall of the USSR. Look at what happened to Russia after shock therapy. That’s what Trump and Co. want to do, and Russia’s history is what lies ahead for the USA if they succeed. You may think (correctly) that Russia under Putin is a hellscape, but remember, part of the reason Russians largely support the bastard is that he was seen as lifting them out of the 90s, which was characterized by a six year drop in life expectancy, child prostitution, ‘mail-order brides’ and other human trafficking, rampant alcoholism, privatization and the rise of oligarchs.

      • humanspiral
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        19 hours ago

        Thank you. Putin is liked because he is benefiting Russia. The propaganda that if only we force them into a war, Russians will overthrow him, is crackhead thinking that led to the Ukraine failure, because Russians understand the need to defend Russia from the demonic evil that promoted this war.