sethops1 18 hours ago

We haven't voted for a president who uses computers since 2008.

  • dingnuts 18 hours ago

    Trump clearly uses a smartphone. Too much, even. Doesn't count?

  • DaSHacka 18 hours ago

    So first term Obama did, but second term Obama did not? Am I understanding that right?

    • dylan604 18 hours ago

      While your point is technically not wrong, it's not uncommon to consider and refer to the administration as a whole as the presidential count does not increment for consecutive terms. I'm guessing you knew this though, and we appreciate your bravery in being the pedantic one in a thread.

      • CommenterPerson 17 hours ago

        Ouch that must hurt! I see this in plenty of comments on HN actually. People lose track of the topic at hand, and debate at length on a couple of words in another comment.

        • booleandilemma 16 hours ago

          It's the faux-autism a lot of techies like to effect. I see it in my workplace all the time.

      • [removed] 18 hours ago
        [deleted]
TheOtherHobbes 17 hours ago

The country is being run by an unholy cabal of crooks, cranks, and creeps who are using a nasty senile old man as a media distraction.

Google how many members of Trump's cabinet are employees of Fox/Murdoch.

There's nothing stupid about this. It's a traitorous attack on the fundamentals of freedom and democracy - a cynically planned and calculated attempt to replace a modern administrative state with a neo-aristocratic oligarchy that considers itself above any law, accountability, or morality.

Trump himself can barely finish his sentences. I have no doubt what's left of his mind approves of what's being done in his name, but I also have no doubt he has less of a mind than the media are showing.

readthenotes1 18 hours ago

[flagged]

  • CamperBob2 18 hours ago

    At least the Biden presidency was distinguishable from a subversive attack engineered by America's enemies. The Trump presidency is not.

    • nh23423fefe 18 hours ago

      [flagged]

      • jondwillis 18 hours ago

        Since you're flattening and addressing GPs comment with a political false dichotomy... A conspiracy isn't needed to explain the decay of culture, values, material conditions - all it takes is a set of incentives that don't align with broad public well-being, and some time. Move fast and break things!

        Feudalism is back, baby! A simple reversion to the mean.

      • mrtesthah 18 hours ago

        Does it really matter whether it’s a conspiracy when the end results are the same?

  • mindslight 18 hours ago

    There's definitely a problem with gerontocracy, but the reason you heard about it so much last year is because the fascists use the technique of projection to preempt criticisms of themselves. Biden was passive demented, which probably didn't really matter all that much (group project). But this was used as cover for Trump's active combative micromanaging dementia that we're now all suffering.

    • noduerme 17 hours ago

      Couldn't this backfire pretty badly, though? Raising a national conversation about the dementia of the last President makes it easier to have a conversation about the current one, right? I think the fact that the MSM outright lied to cover up Biden's mental decline is actually the root of the problem, because now they've lost credibility and appear hypocritical if they try to point out Trump's glaring mental deficits. If you're contending that the fascists pushed the issue of Biden's decline because they knew the MSM would cover it up and therefore lose credibility, I think you're giving them too much credit.

      • mindslight 16 hours ago

        "Conversation" ? Do you really feel there is any kind of conversation happening?

        I don't think it's possible for the MSM to lose any more credibility at this point. The only credibility left is people giving a pass to their flavor of MSM for articles that confirm their biases - same dynamic as social media posts.

        For the timeline, Trump has been rambling word salad well before it was an issue for Biden. The difference is that for republicans/fascists, mental incompetence is an endearing feature ("he sounds like the kind of person I could have a beer with"), and the democrats/conservatives application of used-to-be-societal-values is seen as a weakness whereby they're getting "triggered".

        I don't think the whole story arc needed to be planned ahead of time strategically. Rather I think it comes from flooding the zone with shit that might stick, and then the chaos creates opportunities.