10 hours ago, Mike31mt said:

What does this post have to do with literally anything??

If we're going to have bases in Germany and Italy and Belgium they need to do their part. We're not their babysitters, we're their strategic allies and they'll continue to welcome our presence with a strong POTUS like Trump

It has everything to do with my response to your last post, Cleetus. Its to OUR benefit, and the cost is more than worth it. Now go get your red wagon and collect some tin cans to donate to the Greenland invasion effort or something.

Don Jrs rare earth start up, that just received a 600 million dollar government loan, is going to make a fortune when we take Greenland.

4 minutes ago, Boogyman said:

Don Jrs rare earth start up, that just received a 600 million dollar government loan, is going to make a fortune when we take Greenland.

Venezuela has a ton of rare earth elements too.

10 hours ago, Mike31mt said:

What does this post have to do with literally anything??

If we're going to have bases in Germany and Italy and Belgium they need to do their part. We're not their babysitters, we're their strategic allies and they'll continue to welcome our presence with a strong POTUS like Trump

It has everything to do with it. Wars are won and lost primarily due to logistics. Those bases allow force projection and the capability to effectively overnight the means to express deliver a target to their deity of choice. The US military is at its heart a world class logistics company.

At the same time the European countries have taken advantage and redirected their military spending to other priorities. But, those bases are more critical to force projection than to be leveraged in some transactional play.

8 minutes ago, DEagle7 said:

Venezuela has a ton of rare earth elements too.

Don't say that too loud.

15 minutes ago, BBE said:

It has everything to do with it. Wars are won and lost primarily due to logistics. Those bases allow force projection and the capability to effectively overnight the means to express deliver a target to their deity of choice. The US military is at its heart a world class logistics company.

At the same time the European countries have taken advantage and redirected their military spending to other priorities. But, those bases are more critical to force projection than to be leveraged in some transactional play.

It would be a terrible trade when you already have force projection capabilities from Greenland. It's a bunch of absurd fuss when you can prop as many bases there as you want already.

12 hours ago, Mike31mt said:

The only place where that is clear is the void between the ears of TDSers.

Sorry he's not bending over a barrel for Eurolibs or going on an apology tour all over the world. Deal with it.

The video is in one of the tweets that has been posted. You can probably find it if you look somewhere besides fox (I doubt they're showing it)

44 minutes ago, BBE said:

It has everything to do with it. Wars are won and lost primarily due to logistics. Those bases allow force projection and the capability to effectively overnight the means to express deliver a target to their deity of choice. The US military is at its heart a world class logistics company.

At the same time the European countries have taken advantage and redirected their military spending to other priorities. But, those bases are more critical to force projection than to be leveraged in some transactional play.

Germany and England are to the Middle East what Guam is to East Asia.

Never mind the fact that it's not all of Europe who has been shirking their defense responsibilities wrt spending.

29 minutes ago, dawkins4prez said:

It would be a terrible trade when you already have force projection capabilities from Greenland. It's a bunch of absurd fuss when you can prop as many bases there as you want already.

It makes no sense to hold Greenland from a strategic standpoint. It's best use is as a tripwire, which is what we're already doing there.

Something of note is that Trump didn't start talking about Greenland until 2019, which is when a fake letter from Greenland residents wanting independence was sent to IIRC Sen. Cotton, which made its way to Trump. Guess which foreign intelligence service manufactured the letter.

Wait, Mike thinks the military bases we have in Europe are strictly for the benefit of Europe?

1 hour ago, Bill said:

Germany and England are to the Middle East what Guam is to East Asia.

Never mind the fact that it's not all of Europe who has been shirking their defense responsibilities wrt spending.

I agree. I am not sure what ridiculous line of thinking created Mike's narrative.

1 hour ago, BBE said:

I agree. I am not sure what ridiculous line of thinking created Mike's narrative.

MAGA rots the brain.

15 hours ago, Mike31mt said:

The only place where that is clear is the void between the ears of TDSers.

Sorry he's not bending over a barrel for Eurolibs or going on an apology tour all over the world. Deal with it.

Obama: America at times has shown arrogance and divisiveness. But there is also anti-America sentiment in Europe and sometimes Europe ignores all the good that America has done, and looks to blame America for all that is bad in the world.

Mike: OMG APOLOGY TOUR!!!!!

Trump: You say Putin is a killer? Ok well there's killers all over. You think our country is so innocent?

Mike: Now that's just Trump spitting facts and telling it like it is.

1 hour ago, Phillyterp85 said:

Obama: America at times has shown arrogance and divisiveness. But there is also anti-America sentiment in Europe and sometimes Europe ignores all the good that America has done, and looks to blame America for all that is bad in the world.

Mike: OMG APOLOGY TOUR!!!!!

Trump: You say Putin is a killer? Ok well there's killers all over. You think our country is so innocent?

Mike: Now that's just Trump spitting facts and telling it like it is.

you'll have to give mike some time to respond. he has to wait for permission to remove the ball gag first.

Um...ok?

9 minutes ago, vikas83 said:

Um...ok?

Throw in some muskets and pelts, that'll do the trick.

6 hours ago, Boogyman said:

Don Jrs rare earth start up, that just received a 600 million dollar government loan, is going to make a fortune when we take Greenland.

Every single move he makes comes down to the 3 driving principles:

1. Ego

2. The Grift

3. Poll #'s (which are separate from Ego because they are the validation he uses to gain power and strangle hold the GOP)

It always comes down to these 3, even if it sometimes takes a couple days to see how and why.

Just now, dawkins4prez said:

Every single move he makes comes down to the 3 driving principles:

1. Ego

2. The Grift

3. Poll #'s (which are separate from Ego because they are the validation he uses to gain power and strangle hold the GOP)

It always comes down to these 3, even if it sometimes takes a couple days to see how and why.

I'd replace 3 with Narrative manipulation. His polls are dog sheet and even he knows that. He's basically F'd on that front because everyone who isn't MAGA hates the vast majority of what he's doing. But as long as he can manipulate the narrative he can keep his own rabid losers from turning on him. Which is why he isn't full on invading Venezuela and why he isn't invading Greenland, bc full scale invasions make it impossible to keep ahold of the narrative.

Also, the Maduro thing was very obviously timed to repress the healthcare subsidy spikes stories that were coming (and the rape files, but I'd guess way more so the healthcare subsidy increases). The media's so sheety and in the tank for him now that they need something to be immediate, huge and effect Republicans in numbers in order to actually dwell on it, and he managed to squash one big inflection point on that.

6 hours ago, BBE said:

It has everything to do with it. Wars are won and lost primarily due to logistics. Those bases allow force projection and the capability to effectively overnight the means to express deliver a target to their deity of choice. The US military is at its heart a world class logistics company.

At the same time the European countries have taken advantage and redirected their military spending to other priorities. But, those bases are more critical to force projection than to be leveraged in some transactional play.

Um, ok. Is Trump shutting down our military bases, or is he actually increasing our military budget?

You guys are just arguing with made up straw men at this point

2 hours ago, Phillyterp85 said:

Obama: America at times has shown arrogance and divisiveness. But there is also anti-America sentiment in Europe and sometimes Europe ignores all the good that America has done, and looks to blame America for all that is bad in the world.

Mike: OMG APOLOGY TOUR!!!!!

Trump: You say Putin is a killer? Ok well there's killers all over. You think our country is so innocent?

Mike: Now that's just Trump spitting facts and telling it like it is.

Lol in here white knighting for Obama who was a horrible POTUS and literally did nothing when Putin invaded Crimea.

Maybe Putin needed that flexibility Obama gave him 

yeah, only two more weeks till russia signs that peace deal, right cleetus?

3 minutes ago, Mike31mt said:

Lol in here white knighting for Obama who was a horrible POTUS and literally did nothing when Putin invaded Crimea.

Maybe Putin needed that flexibility Obama gave him 

I'm not "white knighting" for anyone. Just pointing out your usual partisan hypocrisy. Yes, Obama did nothing when Putin invaded Crimea. As I have said many times on here, I think Obama's lack of a reaction to Russia invading Crimea is what gave Putin the incentive to invade Ukraine when Biden was president, thinking that we wouldn't do anything, just like the last time. Just because you're a partisan hack who reflexively defends everything Trump does, doesn't mean that's how everyone else operates.

1 minute ago, Phillyterp85 said:

I'm not "white knighting" for anyone. Just pointing out your usual partisan hypocrisy. Yes, Obama did nothing when Putin invaded Crimea. As I have said many times on here, I think Obama's lack of a reaction to Russia invading Crimea is what gave Putin the incentive to invade Ukraine when Biden was president, thinking that we wouldn't do anything, just like the last time. Just because you're a partisan hack who reflexively defends everything Trump does, doesn't mean that's how everyone else operates.

cleetus' #1 go to is whataboutism.

8 minutes ago, VanHammersly said:

I'd replace 3 with Narrative manipulation. His polls are dog sheet and even he knows that. He's basically F'd on that front because everyone who isn't MAGA hates the vast majority of what he's doing. But as long as he can manipulate the narrative he can keep his own rabid losers from turning on him. Which is why he isn't full on invading Venezuela and why he isn't invading Greenland, bc full scale invasions make it impossible to keep ahold of the narrative.

He can steal an election

Also, the Maduro thing was very obviously timed to repress the healthcare subsidy spikes stories that were coming (and the rape files, but I'd guess way more so the healthcare subsidy increases). The media's so sheety and in the tank for him now that they need something to be immediate, huge and effect Republicans in numbers in order to actually dwell on it, and he managed to squash one big inflection point on that.

I'd say narrative manipulation is how he does it, the why comes down to some form of those 3. He obsesses over poll #'s because even he understands that there has to be a baseline support to get away with what he does. And you are correct, he beat the Epstein rap ages ago, MAGA swallowed that jagged pill, defecated it and ate it again already. His new crises is this affordability "scam", especially healthcare, and if he has to raze the entire Caribbean and burn the military budget for a couple months of low pump prices before the mid terms well that's just what he'll do.