Interestingly the wiki points out some states/cities only ended the spoils system as recent as the 70's/80's, and some positions like ambassadors are arguably still treated like the spoils system: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spoils_system
The spoils system survived much longer in many states, counties, and municipalities, such as the Tammany Hall machine, which survived until the 1950s when New York City reformed its civil service. Illinois modernized its bureaucracy in 1917 under Frank Lowden, but Chicago held on to patronage in city government until the city agreed to end the practice in the Shakman Decrees of 1972 and 1983. Some federal positions such as ambassadorships have continued to be assigned to political supporters into the present day, leading to criticism that they remain part of the spoils system.[29]
It never ended completely i think. Handing out ambassadorships as political favors never went away. Though as i understand it ambassadors these days just do the fun ceremonial stuff while the real responsibility rests on their chief of staff. And it was mostly the less important countries that got assigned a political lackeys as ambassadors.
Having never heard of this and reading the wikipedia page, I'm absolutely stunned by how little changes in American politics:
"Some of those who zealously strive to increase the popularity, and promote the cause of general Jackson, figuratively say he will cleanse the Augean stable at Washington, meaning that he will expel the retainers at Washington and reduce the number of clerks in the secretaries offices. We have hitherto had but very little earnest of this disposition in the General; at New Orleans, the number of aides-de-camp which he had about him, I strongly suspect equated the number which Napoleon had, at the battle of Austerlitz or any other of his great battles; and if the General for the purpose of curtailing the public expenditures, should be disposed to reorganize the public offices, will any one have the hardihood to say, that he knows enough of the labour, and of the proper manner of conducting business in those offices to know how many clerks they require, and consequently how many he might with propriety send adrift; beside there are some reasons to doubt, whether the General has so very great an interest in preventing expenditures of public money, or whether he holds public property so sacred as some would have it believed he does."
Trump promised to run the USA like a business and he actually delivered. He's identified all the valuables assets and currently selling it for parts to the highest bidder. He also fired most of the employees, cut healthcare benefits and raided their pension fund all while giving the top executives golden parachutes. All is left is the declare the country bankrupt and leave it to another one.
I remember I used to laugh at sovereign citizens for saying "I'm not a member of your corporation" about the government, now a small part of me wonders if they were just ahead of the curve
He was probably still in the process of collecting payments I mean donations of course for his PAC .
The largest donors , the best looking , the most MAGA looking people will likely get those jobs. He is quite fixated on appearances and often it is more important they look the part than be the most qualified.
Same as the last time. Sycophants got ambassador ships and tried to connect with local far right groups in their host countries to promote the far right agenda. In line with their desire to export their “ultra conservative Christian values” around the world. Most outlived their welcome and got sent packing. Doesn’t work outside of America because no one else screeches about the Bible and sucks dick about their “Christian values” like we do.
I know this is Reddit and America Is Bad, but if you really think authoritarianism hasn't been creeping forward all over the world, you haven't been paying attention. This is a global problem, and Europe isn't far behind the United States when it comes to the rise of the religious right.
Like, the largest opposition party in France as we speak is a far-right Christian Nationalist party, and they probably have a good shot at taking the reins in the next election. This is a problem everywhere.
Yeah no shit, Hungary, Czechia, and Slovakia basically don't want to be in the EU anymore and their far right dully elected leaders want some of that sweet sweet shirtless bear fighting Putin cock way more than a nice European one. Far right the world over seems to be trying to come back collectively the world over, it sucks for almost everyone except maybe some sort of weird financial submissives that like never having money and be forced to give it away against your will and obviously the grifters in power fucking over everyone else.
Because it makes them feel safe and powerful to believe that a strongman is on their side and will allegedly protect their interests. They rarely notice that these strongmen don't give a shit about their rights or interests, unless those interests are convenient for those in power.
You’re not wrong that this is a global pressure, but it’s also not a one-way street.
There are real counterexamples worth keeping in view. Ireland has moved steadily away from religious nationalism over the last decade through democratic means, not just cultural drift. Costa Rica remains one of the most stable liberal democracies in the Americas, with no standing army and strong civic institutions.
Even in mainland Europe, the picture isn’t uniformly grim: Spain has seen sustained social and electoral pushback against the far right, and Portugal has so far resisted the kind of capture we’ve seen elsewhere.
More broadly, what’s happening isn’t a synchronized march toward authoritarianism so much as a clash phase. Yes, right-wing movements are louder and better funded—but they’re also meeting resistance, protests, court challenges, and electoral ceilings in a lot of places.
The story isn’t “Europe is doomed,” it’s “the fight is active.” The news cycle favors the grim and depressing, as we all know. I’m not a victim of naïve optimism, I’m just paying attention to where democratic “antibodies” are actually working.
A lot of people voted for it 3 times… you hear them say that when they give some criticism… “I voted for trump 3 times but I didn’t think they would kidnap my landscaper, I didn’t vote for that…”
It's not uncommon for a president to remove diplomatic posts. What is uncommon is to not have a replacement even announced. Trump is weakening America by having 'TBD' in so many diplomatic posts at once.
It does weaken us overall and it might be the plan among some of the people in his ear.
I think too, he attacks. He tears down stuff that irritates him or threatens him, but he has no interest in building up again unless it directly benefits him. He has no interest in doing the work.
Sadly, I think he still would have won if he said "Plan? What plan? Who needs a plan? I am going to fuck this country up! You wait and see!!" Too many Americans were afraid of a female president.
It weakens us because we are perceived as corrupt and inefficient by allies and enemies alike. And we absolutely become more corrupt and inefficient every week that goes by.
Nobody has read our foreign policy memo. The National Security Strategy. It’s like reading a fascist manifesto, except it’s not like reading one, it is reading one.
Our official foreign policy going forward is to take the Americas as our own, and leave the rest to Russia and China. We would have control over the Americas and they would have spheres of influences in the eastern hemisphere. We will cut all military ties to Europe going forward.
This is official presidential policy. We are going full Italian-style fascism right now based on this document.
As a Canadian: We're quite aware of how horrifying this is, and we're working directly against it by making friends abroad as best and as fast as we can.
There's a pretty widespread rejection of the American ethos up here right now, with a couple exceptions (Alberta's Premier). The "51st State" stuff alone saw our public go from as divided as it's been in modern history to united in our patriotic anger.
Our military is getting probably the most funding it has since the cold war, and there's talk of creating a massive reserve force. Would it help? Not likely against a potentially hostile US. Would it make us a bitter pill? Probably.
We have no desire to be a part of Monroe Doctrine 2.0, and certainly not a state or other subservient entity.
Our military is getting probably the most funding it has since the cold war, and there's talk of creating a massive reserve force. Would it help? Not likely against a potentially hostile US. Would it make us a bitter pill? Probably.
If it makes you feel any better, I would say there's probably no more than 10 or 20 people in the military that would actually want to participate in a war with Canada. I know a lot of psuedomasculine, hawkish, Trump supporters, and even among them, I don't think a single one of them would support a war against Canada of all places.
Think of the role that civilian protest played in the United States' defeat in Vietnam... The enemy in that war checked nearly all of the boxes for the role of redneck/conservative-dipshit hate icon. And yet, the war was widely unpopular, and ultimately USA failed to meet its goals.
I did, and it was painful to go through. It's oozing populism more than anything else, it's internally incoherent, and you would never have guessed it was written by lawyers. Every two pages seem to have been written by a different person, then stitched together, and then added a low res png for the first page to show class. Nothing takes you back 200 years like everything happening in America being considered internal affairs. And don't forget to mention 10 times how important US' soft power is, and how they should focus on it, after raising it to the ground.
Technically everyone should read it, but practically speaking, they should just find someone else who has read it and have them summarise it.
There's also the blatant disrespect to the countries affected. "How important are you to president Trump? Just ask your ambassador. Oh, sorry, you can't."
Ambassadorships often are, it's not unique to him. They are rewards for loyalty or donations and many don't do anything but attend parties and have no particular skills for the job.
It depends on the country and it's strategic importance to the US. The last three American ambassadors to the Philippines, a key country to America's strategy Vis a vis china containment and its position in the Pacific, have been very competent career state department diplomats. Trumps nominated replacement is a dude who owns a mid restaurant in Florida.
yea my uncle threw a huge fundraiser for mccain and mccain's reward for him was a promise to give him an ambassadorship if he won the election, so it's not just a trump thing.
It's almost like he's doing exactly what a hostile foreign asset would do in order to destabilize a nation to the benefit of his handlers.
The fact he's a malignant narcissistic and moronic piece of shit who can barely string together a coherent sentence in the only language he knows is just the cherry on the shit cake.
Unrelated: fuck everyone who saw this moronic, Putin lovin' cocksucker and went, "Yeah! That's my guy!"
It is another coup tactic. He puts in only "yes men" loyal to him and make sure they are surrounded by new or incompetent people that can't pull them aside and show how dangerous following Trump's orders will be. I predict many new changes in our foreign policy that are very Putin friendly.
Amazing how all it took was a repulsive real estate crook, some moron ignorant voters groomed by right wing media and some greedy psychopathic billionaires to bring it all down. I was taught in school that our democracy was stronger than this. It was clearly a lie .
It was so fragile all it took was the loss of a few people on the supreme court. The rest is just a victory lap for fascists. So many people are going to die because of these chucklefucks.
Same in UK when the Tories dismantled NHS.
No one cared that ten thousand disabled people killed themselves the first year in office
Newt Gingrich taught the Brits privatization facilitates death
My partner, who is from the South, is always mesmerized that a slick New York yankee "businessman" with the most (literal) ungodly behavior has so many of her old friends and family under a SPELL and practically falling to their knees in the pecan groves speaking in tongues.
"some moron ignorant voters" that's the fundamental weakness of democracy. How can you have serious elections when so many of the voters believe absolute nonsense? Decades of brainwashing and dumbing down voters has destroyed anything of value in US democracy, and democracy around the world. We could pull out of this, but it will be the work of decades, and won't be pleasant. Organizations like Fox News and Newsmax will have to be utterly destroyed.
That is almost exactly what Plato said about democracy. People will just vote for the best liar. Or in Trumps case the most obvious liar, I don't know what to say really LOL.
That's why democracies are liable to degrade into managed democracies or some form or plutocracy or autocracy.
Some more recent democracies have installed guard rails against the more egregious stuff. In the USA, Congress has the lawful right to abolish civil rights and/or itself and hand power to a dictator. Germany and Austria put limitations on what changes parliament can make to the constitution: changes to the fundamental structure of the government (division of power between 3 branches of government as well as the federal states and the institutions heading each branch and state) and essential restrictions of fundamental human rights are beyond parliament's reach.
The U.-S.-American democracies is one of the oldest on the planet still in existence and it hasn't introduced many of the "tweaks" that were discovered in the mean time and that are likely to lead to better democracies:
pluralism: a voting system that does not converge on a single stable "game" state with precisely 2 viable political factions. (Effective anti-trust laws and enforcement ties into this too because large duopolies can lead to a similar state.) As long as there are at least 3 factions, the two in opposition are likely to ally themselves against any single faction that seeks to permanently curtail the power of the others.
...but not too much: Too large a number of factions hinders the formation of a consensus and thus tends to paralyse the political process which benefits any large-ish factions that dares to side-step it when the others aren't able to counter it decisively before it's too late. (This is what led to the downfall of the Weimar Republic and to the transition of its power of government to a single faction. Enough of the opposing factions gave up their opposition against the NSDAP because they saw present government paralysis as the more serious threat than a potential future fascist takeover.)
The democracy in the United Kingdom of Great Britain is interesting because it 1) has been exceptionally stable and 2) exists, de jure, at His majesty's leisure. The members of the UK's upper chamber of parliament aren't even elected (directly or indirectly) by the general public which makes it quite resistant to populism. Any push for a dictatorship would need overwhelming public support or at least the tacit consent of the House of Lords and the king (or queen). The regionally "fractured" political landscape (with Scotland and Northern Ireland looking and acting quite different than England) is another sizeable road block to any movement that seeks to install a dictator through democratic means.
I was taught in school that our democracy was stronger than this. It was clearly a lie .
Plenty of things you've learned in schools were lies.
America is the greatest country on earth
The founding fathers were united in their vision
The founding fathers, knew what they were doing. No need to change what they wrote.
The US was the sole winner of WW II. The Soviets barely participated.
Communism/Socialism is essentially bad. No need to teach you what they actually are.
The US is a meritocracy. It's called the american dream.
Only the US has true freedom.
Guns are essential to be free.
The american political system is the most robust
The american republic is the first republic
The civil war was only about state rights
The american revolution was purely about taxation and liberty. Nothing to do with the british empire slowly starting to dislike slavery. Nothing about that at all, no.
When you say "some", that's like half the country. You could point to the fact that lots of people didn't vote, but let's face it: they're a toss-up too.
Hmmm, so they just did it with no announcement…
On April 7, 1933, the German government enacted the Law for the Restoration of the Professional Civil Service. The title of the law was designed to make the legislation seem unremarkable. In fact, the law served as part of the Nazis’ effort to align the civil service with their aims. This process of alignment was called Gleichschaltung (synchronization). The new law allowed the Nazis to remove their opponents, whether real or imagined, from public service.
Nah, this is worse than that. I know the saying is, "Never attribute to malice that which is adequately explained by incompetence," but – aside from the puppet being led around by his ego and golf clubs – this (mis)administration, aka adnazistration, is very much a case of, "Never forget that their façade of incompetence is deliberately deployed to cover malice and manufacture plausible deniability."
One of them is my uncle. He is extremely deserving of his position and nothing but a positive extension of this country. Fuck this stupid fucking administration. We will outlast it, dance when it’s over and never forget. Get bent orange idiot
Also sorry about your uncle. Diplomats, like your uncle are skilled in networking and communicating with other foreign diplomats. Now, the new incumbents will be a bunch of greedy morons. American diplomacy will be the laughing stock of the world.
Fucking influencers. Every single one. Expect to see Dana White as ambassador to Brazil or Mr. Beast for UK. Ambassador Rogan for Portugal. This is gonna be dumb well beyond anything Idiocracy could’ve predicted.
FSOs are people who could earn a ton of money in the private sector but choose to work for the people because they genuinely believe in the mission. I'm sorry your uncle is being used as a political pawn.
My mom is nearly 90 now, but she used to work for USAID. She is such a supporter of the mission and of US values, it's heartbreaking for her to see what's happening now. But I can't even imagine how bad it is for folks being blown up at the peak of their careers 😣. Please tell your uncle for me that I appreciate his service
There will be no redo what he has undone. America is forever changed and who knows what will come next. It will be a new America once we get past these next few years/decades.
I can't imagine the work needed inside the country, as someone looking from the outside.
I can't even imagine the work needed to fix the reputation on the global scale either. As a Canadian, my "pax americana" worldview is forever changed and likely can't be fixed.
They want war. This book has already been written. There isn't going to be the part where someone swoops in to save the world from fascists. No one is going to save us.
That's not how the 25th works. Even if the cabinet tried to take away his power, literally ALL Trump has to do is send a letter to Congress saying he's capable, and he gets it back. Then, to overrule it, both Houses of Congress would have to vote 66%+ to disempower him. That's a higher bar to clear than impeachment/trial.
If Trump cannot realistically be impeached, he cannot be forcibly 25th'ed either. Not so long as he's coherent enough to communicate with Congress.
The problem is that they really want the war. They can attack, destroy and distort, but not create. War is all about what’s in their domestic wheelhouse, so certainly they can do it on a world tour right!
Since when is an ambassador “a personal representative of the president”? An ambassador should be a representative of the United States and of the people of the US. Not the president.
Who needs ambassadors when you’re hell bent on isolationism. Couldn’t build a physical wall to keep people out. Easier to make visiting so unattractive you don’t need a wall.
I imagine Putin sitting in amazement on how well his investment has turned out. Did he really think it would be that easy to destroy the US from within? This has to be going far better than what he had planned.
Remember his aim is to weaken the US as much as possible so this is a complete logical step and long overdue. Capable diplomats is making the fall only harder.
The State Department [...] defended the changes, calling them “a standard process in any administration.” It noted that an ambassador is “a personal representative of the president and it is the president’s right to ensure that he has individuals in these countries who advance the America First agenda.”
Emphasis mine. You guys are fucked. Completely and utterly fucked. That this flies is an embarrassment to the United State of America and all it stood for before Trump. I have no idea how you ever want to repair this beyond burning everything to the ground and starting new. Good luck digging yourselves out of this hole, with half the country behind this.
It's genuinely alarming to see so many key diplomatic posts left vacant without any announced replacements. This isn't just a routine reshuffle; it creates a dangerous power vacuum that our adversaries will exploit. We're losing experienced, non-partisan professionals who actually know how to navigate complex international relationships. The long-term damage to our foreign policy and global standing is going to be severe.
And they all sighed in relief, knowing they'd no longer have to figure out a way to make the buffoon in chief sound sane(r) to their foreign counterparts.
God I pray Congress gets out of this delusional state of thinking this guy ain’t gonna get us all killed. He’s already messing with the files publicly and they redacted everything while trying to put fake pictures in it. Just.. just impeach him, Vance, and the others like goddamn.
Soon to be replaced by sycophants and top donors who want the positions for them to abuse for their own ends
Because the U.S might as well have a sign hanging over it saying “The United States of America: political corruption is our goal”
Spoils system 2.0
Ooooh, now there is something I haven't heard since high history class. nice
And remember the spoils system ended when the president was assassinated by someone who thought he was owed a position that he wasn't given
Interestingly the wiki points out some states/cities only ended the spoils system as recent as the 70's/80's, and some positions like ambassadors are arguably still treated like the spoils system: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spoils_system
It never ended completely i think. Handing out ambassadorships as political favors never went away. Though as i understand it ambassadors these days just do the fun ceremonial stuff while the real responsibility rests on their chief of staff. And it was mostly the less important countries that got assigned a political lackeys as ambassadors.
It was a terrible thing.
Struck by Lightning on Netflix. HIGHLY RECOMMEND you watch the 4 part mini-series. HIGHLY.
Death by Lightning
Putting this on my to - watch list. Thanks!
And if you're a reader, Destiny of the Republic: A Tale of Madness, Medicine and the Murder of a President. Splendid book. So much pus.
Such a magnificent read. Candice Millard is one of my favorite offers and I’ve read everything she’s written.
I'm very much a reader. Thanks!
I enjoyed it very much and the cast is excellent. I knew very little about this time period and James Garfield but this inspired me to learn more.
Oh nice thanks. Been rewatching Hell on Wheels and another historical drama sounds good.
Having never heard of this and reading the wikipedia page, I'm absolutely stunned by how little changes in American politics:
"Some of those who zealously strive to increase the popularity, and promote the cause of general Jackson, figuratively say he will cleanse the Augean stable at Washington, meaning that he will expel the retainers at Washington and reduce the number of clerks in the secretaries offices. We have hitherto had but very little earnest of this disposition in the General; at New Orleans, the number of aides-de-camp which he had about him, I strongly suspect equated the number which Napoleon had, at the battle of Austerlitz or any other of his great battles; and if the General for the purpose of curtailing the public expenditures, should be disposed to reorganize the public offices, will any one have the hardihood to say, that he knows enough of the labour, and of the proper manner of conducting business in those offices to know how many clerks they require, and consequently how many he might with propriety send adrift; beside there are some reasons to doubt, whether the General has so very great an interest in preventing expenditures of public money, or whether he holds public property so sacred as some would have it believed he does."
Gee that sounds fucking familiar
That updates to “drain the swamp” almost frighteningly closely.
This is why I find it fitting that Trump idolizes Andrew Jackson.
Or just FOR SALE (Not even to highest bidder)
Everything must go
Caligula is president
If only we were so lucky to have someone that sane...
Or if at least some of the stories about Trump were made up or exaggerated...
A horse would probably do a better job than half the idiots he's stacked the administration with
The United States of America: Everything is for sale.
Trump promised to run the USA like a business and he actually delivered. He's identified all the valuables assets and currently selling it for parts to the highest bidder. He also fired most of the employees, cut healthcare benefits and raided their pension fund all while giving the top executives golden parachutes. All is left is the declare the country bankrupt and leave it to another one.
More like a private equity acquisition. We're all Red Lobster now.
I remember I used to laugh at sovereign citizens for saying "I'm not a member of your corporation" about the government, now a small part of me wonders if they were just ahead of the curve
slaps hood “I’m traveling here!”
Churches are corporations, too.
And no: they’re not ahead of any curve.
America for sale.
All bids to be submitted to the Whitehouse for consideration.
I’m only surprised that he hasn’t done it earlier.
He was probably still in the process of collecting payments I mean donations of course for his PAC .
The largest donors , the best looking , the most MAGA looking people will likely get those jobs. He is quite fixated on appearances and often it is more important they look the part than be the most qualified.
I hate that you’re very likely correct.
Same as the last time. Sycophants got ambassador ships and tried to connect with local far right groups in their host countries to promote the far right agenda. In line with their desire to export their “ultra conservative Christian values” around the world. Most outlived their welcome and got sent packing. Doesn’t work outside of America because no one else screeches about the Bible and sucks dick about their “Christian values” like we do.
I know this is Reddit and America Is Bad, but if you really think authoritarianism hasn't been creeping forward all over the world, you haven't been paying attention. This is a global problem, and Europe isn't far behind the United States when it comes to the rise of the religious right.
Like, the largest opposition party in France as we speak is a far-right Christian Nationalist party, and they probably have a good shot at taking the reins in the next election. This is a problem everywhere.
It's Steve Bannon's worldwide tour!
Yeah no shit, Hungary, Czechia, and Slovakia basically don't want to be in the EU anymore and their far right dully elected leaders want some of that sweet sweet shirtless bear fighting Putin cock way more than a nice European one. Far right the world over seems to be trying to come back collectively the world over, it sucks for almost everyone except maybe some sort of weird financial submissives that like never having money and be forced to give it away against your will and obviously the grifters in power fucking over everyone else.
Why are there so many idiots out there that are susceptible to right-wing propaganda?
Because it makes them feel safe and powerful to believe that a strongman is on their side and will allegedly protect their interests. They rarely notice that these strongmen don't give a shit about their rights or interests, unless those interests are convenient for those in power.
They are constantly bombarded by it thanks to social media algorithms, pushing them further through the radicalism rabbit hole.
You’re not wrong that this is a global pressure, but it’s also not a one-way street.
There are real counterexamples worth keeping in view. Ireland has moved steadily away from religious nationalism over the last decade through democratic means, not just cultural drift. Costa Rica remains one of the most stable liberal democracies in the Americas, with no standing army and strong civic institutions.
Even in mainland Europe, the picture isn’t uniformly grim: Spain has seen sustained social and electoral pushback against the far right, and Portugal has so far resisted the kind of capture we’ve seen elsewhere.
More broadly, what’s happening isn’t a synchronized march toward authoritarianism so much as a clash phase. Yes, right-wing movements are louder and better funded—but they’re also meeting resistance, protests, court challenges, and electoral ceilings in a lot of places.
The story isn’t “Europe is doomed,” it’s “the fight is active.” The news cycle favors the grim and depressing, as we all know. I’m not a victim of naïve optimism, I’m just paying attention to where democratic “antibodies” are actually working.
Speed running the Russian economic model.
Grab it by the Treasury
You can get a standard off the shelf 'For Sale' sign.
Keep an eye out for a bunch of new pardons for the scummiest con men and pedos.
"abuse for their own ends." And kids. Don't ever forget about the kids.
Yeah, look at Malaysia, Singapore and Greece for some amazing examples of unqualified dimwits.
Yes, Kimberly Guilfoy…argh, what a joke…no class.
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We should have never voted for it once. Voting for it a second time is unforgivable.
A lot of people voted for it 3 times… you hear them say that when they give some criticism… “I voted for trump 3 times but I didn’t think they would kidnap my landscaper, I didn’t vote for that…”
Yeah, first time they were a bunch of fools. Second time, assholes who wanted it.
fool me once, shame on - shame on you. Fool me - you can't get fooled again.
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It's not uncommon for a president to remove diplomatic posts. What is uncommon is to not have a replacement even announced. Trump is weakening America by having 'TBD' in so many diplomatic posts at once.
I think that's the point.
It does weaken us overall and it might be the plan among some of the people in his ear.
I think too, he attacks. He tears down stuff that irritates him or threatens him, but he has no interest in building up again unless it directly benefits him. He has no interest in doing the work.
He has a concept of a plan!
I can't believe that he still won the election after that.
It was the eating the cats that did it for me. I figured the eating the dogs might have just been a glitch, but then he doubled down on the cats.
Sadly, I think he still would have won if he said "Plan? What plan? Who needs a plan? I am going to fuck this country up! You wait and see!!" Too many Americans were afraid of a female president.
Not just a female president but a colored democrat female president who had a weird laugh and no experience as president 🤦♀️
I literally had people telling me that as if she hadn’t just been the vice president
It weakens us because we are perceived as corrupt and inefficient by allies and enemies alike. And we absolutely become more corrupt and inefficient every week that goes by.
Soon to come: police stopping you in the street, demanding money to let you go
Just wait til you hear what civil forfeiture is.
Hes leaving them open until someone donates enough money for the position
Nobody has read our foreign policy memo. The National Security Strategy. It’s like reading a fascist manifesto, except it’s not like reading one, it is reading one.
Our official foreign policy going forward is to take the Americas as our own, and leave the rest to Russia and China. We would have control over the Americas and they would have spheres of influences in the eastern hemisphere. We will cut all military ties to Europe going forward.
This is official presidential policy. We are going full Italian-style fascism right now based on this document.
https://www.whitehouse.gov/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/2025-National-Security-Strategy.pdf
As a Canadian: We're quite aware of how horrifying this is, and we're working directly against it by making friends abroad as best and as fast as we can.
There's a pretty widespread rejection of the American ethos up here right now, with a couple exceptions (Alberta's Premier). The "51st State" stuff alone saw our public go from as divided as it's been in modern history to united in our patriotic anger.
Our military is getting probably the most funding it has since the cold war, and there's talk of creating a massive reserve force. Would it help? Not likely against a potentially hostile US. Would it make us a bitter pill? Probably.
We have no desire to be a part of Monroe Doctrine 2.0, and certainly not a state or other subservient entity.
If it makes you feel any better, I would say there's probably no more than 10 or 20 people in the military that would actually want to participate in a war with Canada. I know a lot of psuedomasculine, hawkish, Trump supporters, and even among them, I don't think a single one of them would support a war against Canada of all places.
Think of the role that civilian protest played in the United States' defeat in Vietnam... The enemy in that war checked nearly all of the boxes for the role of redneck/conservative-dipshit hate icon. And yet, the war was widely unpopular, and ultimately USA failed to meet its goals.
I did, and it was painful to go through. It's oozing populism more than anything else, it's internally incoherent, and you would never have guessed it was written by lawyers. Every two pages seem to have been written by a different person, then stitched together, and then added a low res png for the first page to show class. Nothing takes you back 200 years like everything happening in America being considered internal affairs. And don't forget to mention 10 times how important US' soft power is, and how they should focus on it, after raising it to the ground.
Technically everyone should read it, but practically speaking, they should just find someone else who has read it and have them summarise it.
There's also the blatant disrespect to the countries affected. "How important are you to president Trump? Just ask your ambassador. Oh, sorry, you can't."
His Daddy Putie wants it that way
Consolidation of power I suppose.
Positions for sale.
Ambassadorships often are, it's not unique to him. They are rewards for loyalty or donations and many don't do anything but attend parties and have no particular skills for the job.
It depends on the country and it's strategic importance to the US. The last three American ambassadors to the Philippines, a key country to America's strategy Vis a vis china containment and its position in the Pacific, have been very competent career state department diplomats. Trumps nominated replacement is a dude who owns a mid restaurant in Florida.
yea my uncle threw a huge fundraiser for mccain and mccain's reward for him was a promise to give him an ambassadorship if he won the election, so it's not just a trump thing.
Especially when he unilaterally starts probably the most difficult diplomatic undertaking in history with his tariffs
They can look at how Trump's chosen ambassador is treating Canada in the middle of all this tariff bullshit.
https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/hoekstra-us-meddling-9.7010577
It's almost like he's doing exactly what a hostile foreign asset would do in order to destabilize a nation to the benefit of his handlers.
The fact he's a malignant narcissistic and moronic piece of shit who can barely string together a coherent sentence in the only language he knows is just the cherry on the shit cake.
Unrelated: fuck everyone who saw this moronic, Putin lovin' cocksucker and went, "Yeah! That's my guy!"
[removed]
Not tbd it’s To be auctioned
"For auction"
Every day he weakens the country
On purpose.
And in EVERY way
Putin laughs, for he knows he has already won.
He has his orders
It is another coup tactic. He puts in only "yes men" loyal to him and make sure they are surrounded by new or incompetent people that can't pull them aside and show how dangerous following Trump's orders will be. I predict many new changes in our foreign policy that are very Putin friendly.
Makes you wonder who wants America isolated so much? (Other countries leaders, like Putin perhaps….)
People are still wondering this???
Amazing how all it took was a repulsive real estate crook, some moron ignorant voters groomed by right wing media and some greedy psychopathic billionaires to bring it all down. I was taught in school that our democracy was stronger than this. It was clearly a lie .
It was so fragile all it took was the loss of a few people on the supreme court. The rest is just a victory lap for fascists. So many people are going to die because of these chucklefucks.
A million died in Trump's first term, and the voting majority didn't care.
Doubt another million would even move the needle.
People just moved on as if it never happened. It's wild
They also started blaming Biden for it all.
The number of people I've come across who claim that Biden did all the lockdowns is depressing...
It's exactly like the GQP voters who blame Obama for the '08 housing crisis and ask why he didn't do anything about 9/11.
Same in UK when the Tories dismantled NHS. No one cared that ten thousand disabled people killed themselves the first year in office Newt Gingrich taught the Brits privatization facilitates death
The MAGAs even deny anyone died. They are so gullible it’s embarrassing.
My partner, who is from the South, is always mesmerized that a slick New York yankee "businessman" with the most (literal) ungodly behavior has so many of her old friends and family under a SPELL and practically falling to their knees in the pecan groves speaking in tongues.
"some moron ignorant voters" that's the fundamental weakness of democracy. How can you have serious elections when so many of the voters believe absolute nonsense? Decades of brainwashing and dumbing down voters has destroyed anything of value in US democracy, and democracy around the world. We could pull out of this, but it will be the work of decades, and won't be pleasant. Organizations like Fox News and Newsmax will have to be utterly destroyed.
That is almost exactly what Plato said about democracy. People will just vote for the best liar. Or in Trumps case the most obvious liar, I don't know what to say really LOL.
That's why democracies are liable to degrade into managed democracies or some form or plutocracy or autocracy.
Some more recent democracies have installed guard rails against the more egregious stuff. In the USA, Congress has the lawful right to abolish civil rights and/or itself and hand power to a dictator. Germany and Austria put limitations on what changes parliament can make to the constitution: changes to the fundamental structure of the government (division of power between 3 branches of government as well as the federal states and the institutions heading each branch and state) and essential restrictions of fundamental human rights are beyond parliament's reach.
The U.-S.-American democracies is one of the oldest on the planet still in existence and it hasn't introduced many of the "tweaks" that were discovered in the mean time and that are likely to lead to better democracies:
The democracy in the United Kingdom of Great Britain is interesting because it 1) has been exceptionally stable and 2) exists, de jure, at His majesty's leisure. The members of the UK's upper chamber of parliament aren't even elected (directly or indirectly) by the general public which makes it quite resistant to populism. Any push for a dictatorship would need overwhelming public support or at least the tacit consent of the House of Lords and the king (or queen). The regionally "fractured" political landscape (with Scotland and Northern Ireland looking and acting quite different than England) is another sizeable road block to any movement that seeks to install a dictator through democratic means.
It's amazing how much was held together by good faith, norms and gentlemen's agreements.
Plenty of things you've learned in schools were lies.
The real enemy was complacency
When you say "some", that's like half the country. You could point to the fact that lots of people didn't vote, but let's face it: they're a toss-up too.
Hmmm, so they just did it with no announcement… On April 7, 1933, the German government enacted the Law for the Restoration of the Professional Civil Service. The title of the law was designed to make the legislation seem unremarkable. In fact, the law served as part of the Nazis’ effort to align the civil service with their aims. This process of alignment was called Gleichschaltung (synchronization). The new law allowed the Nazis to remove their opponents, whether real or imagined, from public service.
Circus shit, fuckin clown
The dude is a circus elephant with a vendetta.
Nah, this is worse than that. I know the saying is, "Never attribute to malice that which is adequately explained by incompetence," but – aside from the puppet being led around by his ego and golf clubs – this (mis)administration, aka adnazistration, is very much a case of, "Never forget that their façade of incompetence is deliberately deployed to cover malice and manufacture plausible deniability."
Having experience is so "woke".
One of them is my uncle. He is extremely deserving of his position and nothing but a positive extension of this country. Fuck this stupid fucking administration. We will outlast it, dance when it’s over and never forget. Get bent orange idiot
I’m sorry for your uncle. That’s bs
Also sorry about your uncle. Diplomats, like your uncle are skilled in networking and communicating with other foreign diplomats. Now, the new incumbents will be a bunch of greedy morons. American diplomacy will be the laughing stock of the world.
Fucking influencers. Every single one. Expect to see Dana White as ambassador to Brazil or Mr. Beast for UK. Ambassador Rogan for Portugal. This is gonna be dumb well beyond anything Idiocracy could’ve predicted.
Nicki Menag (I can’t be bother to look up her spelling) ambassador to Jamaica.
Andrew Tate for Romania so he can have diplomatic immunity from his sex trafficking charges.
It’s going to be like that moron US Ambassador to Canada. What a joke.
Too bad Trump will die before he ever suffers any real consequences.
The pieces of shit that surround him won't
FSOs are people who could earn a ton of money in the private sector but choose to work for the people because they genuinely believe in the mission. I'm sorry your uncle is being used as a political pawn.
My mom is nearly 90 now, but she used to work for USAID. She is such a supporter of the mission and of US values, it's heartbreaking for her to see what's happening now. But I can't even imagine how bad it is for folks being blown up at the peak of their careers 😣. Please tell your uncle for me that I appreciate his service
Sorry about your uncle. My dad was a career diplomat and had a special hatred in his heart for political appointees to ambassador positions.
Taking Hoekstra back and leaving the spot vacant in Canada would be a huge improvement if he’s looking for more.
Top tier Reddit name you got there, seconded.
The Canadian Ambassador to UsA is leaving in Jan after nearly a decade in service. Wonder what she knows?
Oh they sent Hoekstra to Canada? My condolences, he was abysmal in the Netherlands.
It’s going to take decades to undo what Trump and MAGA have done to America.
Edit: undo, not redo.
There will be no redo what he has undone. America is forever changed and who knows what will come next. It will be a new America once we get past these next few years/decades.
I can't imagine the work needed inside the country, as someone looking from the outside.
I can't even imagine the work needed to fix the reputation on the global scale either. As a Canadian, my "pax americana" worldview is forever changed and likely can't be fixed.
…surely you mean “undo”?
and “decades” is generous, if I’m being honest. Far easier to break something than it is to build something…
More clowns to represent the USA, in place of the rightful professional people.
It's going to take a generation to undo his "work."
Only to be replaced by more billionaires oligarchs
Maybe he should do something the people voted for and the Congress made law... like release the unredacted Epstein files.
I’ve been saying this for years but he’s a Russian asset pretty publicly destroying American positions in the world.
TrumpPutin removes nearly 30 career diplomats from ambassadorial positions.FTFY.
Anyone remember a positive headline with his name in it? I don’t
This one was pretty good.
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2021/jan/20/trump-leaves-white-house-biden-to-be-sworn-in
Whoever thought an entrepreneur (failed or otherwise) would make a great head of state?
Is this the rubes thinking that shiny, gold looking things equates to "success" great leadership?
For fuck sake! As a former Embassy Marine I just can’t anymore with this POS…
Kakistocracy in real time folks. Enjoy it…
Trump's cabinet members must now choose: 25th Amendment or War. They don't have the luxury of time.
They want war. This book has already been written. There isn't going to be the part where someone swoops in to save the world from fascists. No one is going to save us.
That's not how the 25th works. Even if the cabinet tried to take away his power, literally ALL Trump has to do is send a letter to Congress saying he's capable, and he gets it back. Then, to overrule it, both Houses of Congress would have to vote 66%+ to disempower him. That's a higher bar to clear than impeachment/trial.
If Trump cannot realistically be impeached, he cannot be forcibly 25th'ed either. Not so long as he's coherent enough to communicate with Congress.
The problem is that they really want the war. They can attack, destroy and distort, but not create. War is all about what’s in their domestic wheelhouse, so certainly they can do it on a world tour right!
Great, he'll appoint 30 ambassadors with MAGAmania spewing their shit all over the international community.
Just doing as much damage as possible before it finally catches up with him.
The US really took capitalism to the final stage where it sold itself.
Since when is an ambassador “a personal representative of the president”? An ambassador should be a representative of the United States and of the people of the US. Not the president.
American ethics for sale: Never used.
I’m gonna have to join politics just to help fix all the shit he’s broken and I really don’t want to.
And the spoils system is back again.
Who needs diplomacy when you wanna start pointless fucking wars to distract from the Epstein files right?
WWRD? What Would Russia Do?
Not one of those replacements will be trusted by the countries they are deployed to.
State Department gutted and now this.
They are working very hard at tearing down international bridges of communication. It's so terrifying.
The swamp is very much here
Doesn’t matter, no one take the US seriously anymore and my just add a yes man…
No need for diplomats when diplomacy is dead, its all about deals now baby
Fixed it: "tRump continues to dismantle American diplomacy by removing 30 career diplomats from ambassadorial positions."
just wait till the governments tell these new ambassadors "no, I want someone who is not an idiot"
So everyone can recognize it. You will be banned for stating what needs to be done.
For a guy who won an election he acts like a total sour loser
To the highest bidder you say?
Well that's it. That is the the actual point of no return.
you will not get this government to change.
His behavior absolutely makes it look like he’s intentionally marginalizing the United States. Is it possible that it’s merely corruption?
Good luck America, good luck world. We're fucked aren't we
Sounds like more bribe money rolling into trump org
They have displeased the King.
he has friends to hand out this positions to
Not so much "open for business" as "being stripped for parts"
They suddenly discovered there was yet another piece of the US government they hadn't fucked up yet.
Donald Trump doesn't give a shit about you. He's intentionally ruining the country for lols.
Y'all voted for this.
What's a pedophile doing making such important decisions on his own?
Competence will be purged.
It like something out of the 1890s. So much silence to corruption shames us all.
America first? I thought it was Israel first
Who needs ambassadors when you’re hell bent on isolationism. Couldn’t build a physical wall to keep people out. Easier to make visiting so unattractive you don’t need a wall.
If you do not bend the knee to the King you are out.
The US is for sale. Billionaires are flocking
And somehow people still love him as the cult leader. Of course this won’t be on Fox and if it is will be sold as him draining the swamp.
This has historically been a very disastrous thing to do.
All the ones that actually have the US best interests, to be replaced by Trumpettes who kiss the ring.
I imagine Putin sitting in amazement on how well his investment has turned out. Did he really think it would be that easy to destroy the US from within? This has to be going far better than what he had planned.
Worst international relations president of all time. He should get a made up award for that too!
Remember his aim is to weaken the US as much as possible so this is a complete logical step and long overdue. Capable diplomats is making the fall only harder.
Emphasis mine. You guys are fucked. Completely and utterly fucked. That this flies is an embarrassment to the United State of America and all it stood for before Trump. I have no idea how you ever want to repair this beyond burning everything to the ground and starting new. Good luck digging yourselves out of this hole, with half the country behind this.
The point is to break it so badly that it can't be fixed.
More grifter Republicans in the State Department. The world is laughing at idiot trump and little Marco.
All of these actions would be taken by an outside asset.
How many of these ambassador positions will be sold off to his rich friend?
It's genuinely alarming to see so many key diplomatic posts left vacant without any announced replacements. This isn't just a routine reshuffle; it creates a dangerous power vacuum that our adversaries will exploit. We're losing experienced, non-partisan professionals who actually know how to navigate complex international relationships. The long-term damage to our foreign policy and global standing is going to be severe.
And they all sighed in relief, knowing they'd no longer have to figure out a way to make the buffoon in chief sound sane(r) to their foreign counterparts.
Trump is a Russian Asset
Just so he can put business men in their place to make deals for him......and fuck over everyone else.
How is it possible that one person is that powerful to interrupt almost everything and to destroy any kind of structure..
God I pray Congress gets out of this delusional state of thinking this guy ain’t gonna get us all killed. He’s already messing with the files publicly and they redacted everything while trying to put fake pictures in it. Just.. just impeach him, Vance, and the others like goddamn.
I imagine a lot of his friends would love to be ambassadors for a taste of that sweet diplomatic immunity.
I wish European countries would grow some balls and refuse to accredit the replacements