On 7/29/2026 at 6:27 AM, kaputt said:

I am still thankful to this day that Kamala Harris is not the president.

Please check out the small sampling (posted below) of Trump’s posts from yesterday. Just yesterday. Take a look and ask yourself: is this person of sound mind? If I had a senior leader, say my WG/CC, whose daily social media footprint looked anything like this, …..what would I think? How would I react? What assumptions would I make about his character, his focus & priorities, and his fitness to lead (especially in a time of war)?

Harris was no doubt a deeply flawed candidate to say the least. But to still pretend that Trump is the lesser evil is really an astonishing level of delusion and tribalism.

As anyone honestly watching can tell, Trump’s give-a-shit meter is rapidly approaching zero. And who can blame him? He’s had to masquerade for over 10 years. Can you imagine how exhausting that must be? 10 years of pretending to know what you’re doing while you’re completely overwhelmed and out of your league? 10 years of trying to act smart or knowledgable while you’re actually a total ignoramus? After a lifetime of amassing personal wealth, running through wives and porn stars, seeking fame and attention on TV, to suddenly turn around and pretend to be selfless? Pretending to give a $hit about other people when you’re hard-wired to only care about yourself. Pretending to care about lying….to fake caring that in normal society, you can’t just obviously lie and have everyone go along with it?

The facade, thin though it always was, is vanishing rapidly. The social media posts, aided by AI, far crazier than ever. The interview and press answers, more rambling, nonsensical, and demented than ever. The lying, now completely off-the-charts blatant and obvious, even to a laughable degree. The corruption and profiting from the office more overt and at a larger scale than ever before.

Behind the facade is just the same old, stupid, bloated egomaniac that was always there. We’re now getting to the chapter where he doesn’t even have to try to fake it or hide his true self. “Holy $hit, how much crazier will he get?” honest people ask themselves. What will it be like when his give-a-shit meter is inevitably pegged at zero?

This is a complete and total national embarrassment. Full stop. Every day.

….But anyway, yeah, thank god Harris isn’t in there. Phew. We really dodged a bullet.

Edited Sunday at 06:27 PM2 days by SpeedOfHeat

The Iran “plan” is stupid. I’d keep targeting and killing all of their top leaders (high value military and igrc targets as well) until they’ve laid down with hands out in surrender. Pausing while they pretend to negotiate is as stupid as it gets.

1 hour ago, SpeedOfHeat said:

Please check out the small sampling (posted below) of Trump’s posts from yesterday. Just yesterday. Take a look and ask yourself: is this person of sound mind? If I had a senior leader, say my WG/CC, whose daily social media footprint looked anything like this, …..what would I think? How would I react? What assumptions would I make about his character, his focus & priorities, and his fitness to lead (especially in a time of war)?

Harris was no doubt a deeply flawed candidate to say the least. But to still pretend that Trump is the lesser evil is really an astonishing level of delusion and tribalism.

As anyone honestly watching can tell, Trump’s give-a-shit meter is rapidly approaching zero. And who can blame him? He’s had to masquerade for over 10 years. Can you imagine how exhausting that must be? 10 years of pretending to know what you’re doing while you’re completely overwhelmed and out of your league? 10 years of trying to act smart or knowledgable while you’re actually a total ignoramus? After a lifetime of amassing personal wealth, running through wives and porn stars, seeking fame and attention on TV, to suddenly turn around and pretend to be selfless? Pretending to give a $hit about other people when you’re hard-wired to only care about yourself. Pretending to care about lying….to fake caring that in normal society, you can’t just obviously lie and have everyone go along with it?

The facade, thin though it always was, is vanishing rapidly. The social media posts, aided by AI, far crazier than ever. The interview and press answers, more rambling, nonsensical, and demented than ever. The lying, now completely off-the-charts blatant and obvious, even to a laughable degree. The corruption and profiting from the office more overt and at a larger scale than ever before.

Behind the facade is just the same old, stupid, bloated egomaniac that was always there. We’re now getting to the chapter where he doesn’t even have to try to fake it or hide his true self. “Holy $hit, how much crazier will he get?” honest people ask themselves. What will it be like when his give-a-shit meter is inevitably pegged at zero?

This is a complete and total national embarrassment. Full stop. Every day.

….But anyway, yeah, thank god Harris isn’t in there. Phew. We really dodged a bullet.

I know this won't make sense to you, because fundamentally the progressive sees only problems in the present and solutions in the future, whereas the conservative sees success in the present and problems in the future. Both are necessary, but they see the world differently.

Kamala, Obama, Bernie, AOC, whoever. Now that the DNC is being steered by the progressives (and not the Clinton style liberals), there's no question for a conservative. Progressives are proudly and loudly vilifying the institutions and norms that conservatives believe made our society possible and prosperous. They defend real threats today (illegal immigration, the failures of socialism, the death of meritocracy) in the name of invisible threats (trans genocide, islamophobia, unconscious bias).

The things we believe make America what it is (individualism, limited government, free speech, law and order) are the stated enemies of the progressives.

Sure there are definitely threats from the right. Anyone now associated with Tucker Carlson is most likely a populist threat. But they aren't in charge, and in fact, they increasingly hate Trump. But I'll take the insane liar (Trump) who at least claims to support the things I support (and acts on them frequently) over the "sane" liars (Kamala) who have opposed my ideals for their entire career.

You want it to be a hard choice. Hell, I want it to be a harder choice. But it's not. I like most of Trump's policy. I detest almost everything the progressives stand for. So if you want me to say Trump is a lunatic, yep, agreed. But if you want me to say Kamala would have been better for the country... Nope.

Canada tried that with Trudeau and it was a disaster. No thanks.

I know. You disagree. But you keep reinforcing our point when you think you're disproving it.

Edited yesterday at 05:55 AM1 day by Lord Ratner

6 hours ago, SpeedOfHeat said:

This is a complete and total national embarrassment. Full stop. Every day.

….But anyway, yeah, thank god Harris isn’t in there. Phew. We really dodged a bullet.

True on both accounts.

9 hours ago, Lord Ratner said:

I like most of Trump's policy.

Policy.  lol

You mean like…..

-No new wars.

-Consumer prices are going to come way down.

-Energy costs will be cut by 50% in the first year.

-The Russia-Ukraine War ended before taking office.

-The national debt will be eliminated.

-The Epstein files will be released.

-You’ll get beautiful tremendous healthcare.

-You”ll get a tariff check and a doge check.

-Birthright citizenship will be ended via EO.

The list goes on and on.  All total BS.

His “policy” is stupid vanity projects.  That’s his primary focus. It’s what he likes and what he thinks will serve as his legacy. Dumb shit like his Qatari Force One, ballroom, botched reflecting pool, gilded Oval Office, UFC fights, etc. 

His “policy” is posting batshit memes into the wee hours of the morning, and then falling asleep at meetings.  He’s alienated and betrayed our closest allies.  He’s entangled us in yet another idiotic war in the Middle East and settled into a weekly routine of threatening war crimes and then TACO’ing. He’s ballooned the national debt, and calls “affordability” a made up Democrat hoax.

Meanwhile, below is a highlight from today. His typical day spent golfing ….bragging about his unparalleled talent in a tournament at his own course.  This is what’s important to him. 

Again, his give-a-shit meter is zero’d out. It’s as if he were testing just how ridiculous he can possibly get and still get away with it. And sure enough, you’re over here still like “….well, I really like his policies.”  lol. Don the Con.

8 hours ago, SpeedOfHeat said:

Policy.  lol

You mean like…..

-No new wars.

-Consumer prices are going to come way down.

-Energy costs will be cut by 50% in the first year.

-The Russia-Ukraine War ended before taking office.

-The national debt will be eliminated.

-The Epstein files will be released.

-You’ll get beautiful tremendous healthcare.

-You”ll get a tariff check and a doge check.

-Birthright citizenship will be ended via EO.

The list goes on and on.  All total BS.

His “policy” is stupid vanity projects.  That’s his primary focus. It’s what he likes and what he thinks will serve as his legacy. Dumb shit like his Qatari Force One, ballroom, botched reflecting pool, gilded Oval Office, UFC fights, etc. 

His “policy” is posting batshit memes into the wee hours of the morning, and then falling asleep at meetings.  He’s alienated and betrayed our closest allies.  He’s entangled us in yet another idiotic war in the Middle East and settled into a weekly routine of threatening war crimes and then TACO’ing. He’s ballooned the national debt, and calls “affordability” a made up Democrat hoax.

Meanwhile, below is a highlight from today. His typical day spent golfing ….bragging about his unparalleled talent in a tournament at his own course.  This is what’s important to him. 

Again, his give-a-shit meter is zero’d out. It’s as if he were testing just how ridiculous he can possibly get and still get away with it. And sure enough, you’re over here still like “….well, I really like his policies.”  lol. Don the Con.

Policy I like:

• Closing the border

• Attempting to end birthright citizenship

• Many, many pro-2A actions by the administration

• Tariffs (hate how he tried it, love that it's back on the table)

• H1B and other visa fees

• Maduro

• All anti-trans-normalization policy

• Deregulation

• Energy production, pipeline approval, drilling expansion

• Massive shift in nuclear energy policy

• Attacking racist admission policies at public colleges

• Judicial appointments (any conservative would have done this)

• Welfare work requirements

• Moving federal agencies out of DC

• Schedule F reform

• Reducing funding for planned parenthood

• Dismantling "climate-change" policy

• Waters of the US reform

• Support for Israel

• Abraham accords

• Fucking up Iran

• Even more

That doesn't mean he's succeeded on these, but I don't think even you would claim Kamala would have been better for these policies, other than maybe nuclear energy.

Obviously you don't agree with these policy preferences, so you don't agree with the vote. But you have to be literally retarded to be confused as to why someone who is conservative wouldn't prefer Kamala who is the enemy of conservative policy, simply because she lies, cheats, and steals in a more dignified manner.

It used to be that the Democrats made excuses for the politicians they knew were lying to them and Republicans believed they had the honorable representatives. Now that seems to completely have flipped, and the liberals actually think their politicians are good people, and the conservatives are making the deals with the devil. Funny times

Back to Iran with Jim Mattis. Recorded in March but this is the first I've seen it:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3Yrs7aMUi5A

Edited yesterday at 02:26 PM1 day by StoleIt

23 hours ago, Lord Ratner said:

Now that the DNC is being steered by the progressives (and not the Clinton style liberals), there's no question for a conservative. Progressives are proudly and loudly vilifying the institutions and norms that conservatives believe made our society possible and prosperous.

The fact these 2 sentences are right next to each other is hilarious.

You think the DNC, who's actively campaigning against the progressive/left half of their candidates is being run by progressives? As a guy in the actual political shit right now, this is a ludicrous statement.

Vilifying intuitions and norms that made our society possible and prosperous...Jesus Christ. The last 2 years have been a wrecking ball to that, but I guess you didn't mind those institutions and norms getting torched?

Any way, we win this war yet? Oh nope, TACO TRUMP again.

49 minutes ago, 17D_guy said:

The fact these 2 sentences are right next to each other is hilarious.

You think the DNC, who's actively campaigning against the progressive/left half of their candidates is being run by progressives? As a guy in the actual political shit right now, this is a ludicrous statement.

Vilifying intuitions and norms that made our society possible and prosperous...Jesus Christ. The last 2 years have been a wrecking ball to that, but I guess you didn't mind those institutions and norms getting torched?

Any way, we win this war yet? Oh nope, TACO TRUMP again.

On the first point, both parties are in a civil war of sorts against the nuts. Progressives on the left, populists on the right. And the right is catching up to the left in the game of "defend your side no matter what." That's almost certainly because of Trump smashing all the old conservative value norms. But the crazy policies of the populists are nowhere near as damaging (by my political calculus) as the crazy policies of the progressives. One is very much worse.

As far as institutions go, which ones do you believe the right/Trump is destroying? I can tell you which ones I disagree with or agree with.

On the left, it's packing the Supreme Court, eliminating the electoral college, using federal law to trump states' rights, attacking the 2A, etc etc. you know... All that minor constitutional stuff.

I find it funny how many people on the left love the TACO meme. It's really Trump-Always-Choses-The-Stock-Market.

Personally I'd love to see a 50-75% market crash, but there's not much difference between my friends and family on the right and left as far as their reliance on the stock market for their personal wealth. Everyone with a 401k with an S&P or bond fund should be kissing his feet for "chickening out."

Edited yesterday at 07:42 PM1 day by Lord Ratner

On 8/2/2026 at 1:52 PM, SpeedOfHeat said:

But to still pretend that Trump is the lesser evil is really an astonishing level of delusion and tribalism.

The irony of you calling me out for “tribalism” from a post where I was calling people out for that very thing is hilarious.

Not to turn this into another political bitch fest thread on Baseops, but the only one being blinded by tribalism between us two is you.

Yes, I am thankful every single day that Kamala Harris is not President. The Democrat party of today is an absolute disaster that is hell bent on destroying this country.

Trump is a side show. A cluster fuck of a side show at times, I’ll give you that, and frankly it’s a show I’ve criticized many many times on this very website. It’s also one that the democrats are successfully weaponizing to elect and then enact their own disastrous candidates/policies. That I very much believe is a problem and a huge drawback to Trumpism.

But to lecture on about who is bigger threat to this country when the democrats continue to trot out absolute batshit candidates and policies; yeah, sorry, it’s weak and it’s boring.

I mean hell, Bill Maher came out and said his vote is in play this next cycle. That’s how far off in La La land the current Democrat party is.

I’ll also add, my vote is always in play too. I’m a registered independent and thanks to the military I’ve lived in both deep blue and deep red states, and now willingly live in a purple to slightly blue state. In fact, the two senators from my state were both once legit centrist democrats that I also once voted for as a younger man. They of course are no longer that and trot out the same batshit party line as everyone else from the Democrat party these days.

Frankly I don’t give two craps about what party you’re from if you actually have solid centrist to center right policy ideas that might actually make this country better. Both parties struggle at that in many ways, but the democrats are putting nobody forward that even comes close.

Anyway, pointless and worthless internet rant is now over, but spare me the holier than though lecturing and crocodile tears of “BUT TRUMP!” I’ve stepped outside the political tribal bubble plenty of times in my life when I’ve gone to the ballot box.

Back to regularly scheduled Iran cluster fuck, version 4.0 or later whatever we’re on.

@Lord Ratner

I get it that you think trump is the lesser of two evils but has it entered your calculus at any point that he's driving people TO the left, and the very people you're so worried about are gaining momentum precisely because of trump?

He's prosecuting the least popular war in American history and has lower approval ratings than post-Katrina Bush. I'm not usually a big polls guy so I only bring it up to point out that when you torpedo your own side in historic fashion you drive popularity on the other side. Or is it just a wild coincidence that DSA candidates are suddenly gaining popularity and winning right as we go on the biggest neocon bender in a generation while also not addressing any of the kitchen table issues he was elected on?

Seems like we're all really good at identifying the inevitable knee jerk reaction of the voting populace when the dems act crazy and hand republicans the win.. like that time they did insane woke race shaming, shoved trans down everyone's throats, subbed in Kamala at the last second, and tried to astroturf that she was "Brat" and "Joy." But can we be honest with ourselves and admit when the republicans are doing the same exact thing?

I get it, you can hold your nose and look past the mean tweets, the AI jesus slop, the pornstars, the hundreds of pics with epstein, the personal enrichment from shilling shitcoins to your own voters, the sexual assault allegations, and the incoherent foreign policy merry-go-round because somehow to you it's better than the alternative. Thats your prerogative. But aren't those things exactly what's going to drive people to vote for the alternative?

47 minutes ago, Pooter said:

I get it that you think trump is the lesser of two evils but has it entered your calculus at any point that he's driving people TO the left, and the very people you're so worried about are gaining momentum precisely because of trump?

Sure. But I think it's more likely that we're in an environment where the American people want everything for nothing and there is no shortage of politicians willing to offer it. The failure to provide the impossible will keep ping ponging the party in power.

48 minutes ago, Pooter said:

He's prosecuting the least popular war in American history and has lower approval ratings than post-Katrina Bush. I'm not usually a big polls guy so I only bring it up to point out that when you torpedo your own side in historic fashion you drive popularity on the other side. Or is it just a wild coincidence that DSA candidates are suddenly gaining popularity and winning right as we go on the biggest neocon bender in a generation while also not addressing any of the kitchen table issues he was elected on?

Terrible execution, no argument there. But I think the DSA surge has more to do with what I said above. We're in the bad part of the cycle, and the politics are going to reflect that

49 minutes ago, Pooter said:

Seems like we're all really good at identifying the inevitable knee jerk reaction of the voting populace when the dems act crazy and hand republicans the win.. like that time they did insane woke race shaming, shoved trans down everyone's throats, subbed in Kamala at the last second, and tried to astroturf that she was "Brat" and "Joy." But can we be honest with ourselves and admit when the republicans are doing the same exact thing?

Sure, but I listed a lot of very good policy from the conservative perspective. Trump pairs it with unhinged social media posting and rampant lying. And familial corruption now. That'll drive voters away for sure, but again, not more than the unrealistic voter expectations.

51 minutes ago, Pooter said:

I get it, you can hold your nose and look past the mean tweets, the AI jesus slop, the pornstars, the hundreds of pics with epstein, the personal enrichment from shilling shitcoins to your own voters, the sexual assault allegations, and the incoherent foreign policy merry-go-round because somehow to you it's better than the alternative. Thats your prerogative. But aren't those things exactly what's going to drive people to vote for the alternative?

The flaw in the logic is that: @No One is trying to say Kamala would have been better. Trump may drive voters to the Democrats, but the response to that isn't to give crazy Democrats power earlier. Just like I wish the Republicans picked a better candidate (DeSantis), I wish the Democrats did too. But they didn't. We got two idiots, but with very different policy. And Trump's policy is overwhelmingly good. Everything else about him sucks.

I don't care about hypothetical candidates. There wasn't a Clinton Democrat to vote for.

Edited 15 hours ago15 hr by Lord Ratner

10 hours ago, Lord Ratner said:

Sure. But I think it's more likely that we're in an environment where the American people want everything for nothing and there is no shortage of politicians willing to offer it. The failure to provide the impossible will keep ping ponging the party in power.

Terrible execution, no argument there. But I think the DSA surge has more to do with what I said above. We're in the bad part of the cycle, and the politics are going to reflect that

Sure, but I listed a lot of very good policy from the conservative perspective. Trump pairs it with unhinged social media posting and rampant lying. And familial corruption now. That'll drive voters away for sure, but again, not more than the unrealistic voter expectations.

The flaw in the logic is that: @No One is trying to say Kamala would have been better. Trump may drive voters to the Democrats, but the response to that isn't to give crazy Democrats power earlier. Just like I wish the Republicans picked a better candidate (DeSantis), I wish the Democrats did too. But they didn't. We got two idiots, but with very different policy. And Trump's policy is overwhelmingly good. Everything else about him sucks.

I don't care about hypothetical candidates. There wasn't a Clinton Democrat to vote for.

Maybe we witnessed different versions of Kamala but I saw her as a mostly establishment dem with a touch more intersectionality and word salad than usual. She would’ve supported Ukraine, Israel (not to the extent of launching a full war for them but just kept the status quo,) generally left the economy alone, done dick all with the border and probably done some annoying woke stuff that wouldn’t have amounted to much.

But now because of Trump we have actual far left loons gaining popularity. Like nut job DSA price controls/government run grocery stores/racial reparations/BDS level loons. People who think illegal immigrants should vote or who think Israel should actually be exterminated rather than just not actively supported. That’s what’s coming. You can call it a future hypothetical if you want but it’s already manifesting in state and local elections.

So I don’t really buy the argument that avoiding 4 years of an establishment dem was a win if the way we did it was through a guy that radicalized and galvanized the left even further to the far far left and then we get stuck with those crazier folks in charge further down the road. Virtually every ‘good thing’ you think Trump has done was an executive order so it can and will all be undone on day one.

If we want an actual counter to the radical left the right needs to put forward a competent and sane product, preferably one that’s also not morally abhorrent and just a constant cringe-fest. I’m not asking for the world here.. just a regular ass republican. They’re out there. We’ve had them before and we can have that again and I’m tired of pretending we needed to detonate the entire political system to fix it when all it’s going to accomplish is handing more power to the far left later on.

9 minutes ago, Pooter said:

Maybe we witnessed different versions of Kamala but I saw her as a mostly establishment dem with a touch more intersectionality and word salad than usual. She would’ve supported Ukraine, Israel (not to the extent of launching a full war for them but just kept the status quo,) generally left the economy alone, done dick all with the border and probably done some annoying woke stuff that wouldn’t have amounted to much.

The few times she was able to put enough words together to stake out a position, it was not at all establishment.

Medicare for all was her most mainstream position, but the other were... Not

• Abolish all private health insurance

• Federal Jobs guarantee

• Green New deal

• Banning fracking and offshore drilling

• Mandatory gun buyback for "assault weapons"

• Bail for protestors/rioters

• Abortion until birth

• Trans surgery for prisoners on government dime

• Prisoners voting

• Pack the supreme Court/dump the filibuster

• Sanctuary cities

• On and on and on

Again, I disagree completely with the notion that Trump is the one creating interest in the DSA. For starters, it predates Trump. And second, I view Trump as the conservative version of the DSA. It's just a politician who tells the voters everything they want to hear with no ability to follow through on most of it.

Some of you guys weren't paying attention. Then Trump showed up and all of a sudden the absurdity of it all made you look around and now you see the rot and corruption, but some of us have been watching that for decades. All Trump did was pull the mask off of DC. The DSA was coming regardless of who won on the conservative side.

18 minutes ago, Pooter said:

So I don’t really buy the argument that avoiding 4 years of an establishment dem was a win if the way we did it was through a guy that radicalized and galvanized the left even further to the far far left and then we get stuck with those crazier folks in charge further down the road. Virtually every ‘good thing’ you think Trump has done was an executive order so it can and will all be undone on day one.

Same false premise., was not an establishment Democrat. Or at least not a Clintonian/Kennedy Democrat, if we need to get specific on what establishment means anymore.

And remember that Joe Biden was supposed to be the moderate choice and he ended up regurgitating Bernie Sanders' platform for 4 years.

The moderates are not going to win for now. The Democrats have one, he had a debilitating stroke and yet is somehow the only sane voice in the room. He's not very popular in the party these days.

37 minutes ago, Pooter said:

Maybe we witnessed different versions of Kamala but I saw her as a mostly establishment dem with a touch more intersectionality and word salad than usual.

how'd she do as our "border czar"?

kamala is for open borders and mass illegal immigration.

2 hours ago, Lord Ratner said:

1. Abolish all private health insurance

2. Federal Jobs guarantee

3. Green New deal

4. Banning fracking and offshore drilling

5. Mandatory gun buyback for "assault weapons"

6. Bail for protestors/rioters

7. Abortion until birth

8. Trans surgery for prisoners on government dime

9. Prisoners voting

10. Pack the supreme Court/dump the filibuster

11. Sanctuary cities

12. On and on and on

This is all pretty run of the mill leftist social justice stuff. I know you don’t like any of it and neither do I but most are 80/20 issues that are easy to combat. It’s also clearly chum thrown out to the far left during an election cycle. We don’t have to guess what she’d do in office, she was already an AG and the VP and wasn’t remotely this extreme.

Candidates say all kinds of stuff to get support and then do the total opposite.. reference Trump saying no new wars. How’d that one turn out 😂

Judging by actions Kamala is a low aptitude low ability establishment dem. But instead of getting that admin waffling around for 4 inconsequential years we get Trump curb stomping rakes on a daily basis and he’s gonna hand the country to the far left’s true believers, some of whom have a scary level of talent

Edited 51 minutes ago51 min by Pooter