Epstein is one of the main lies about Trump. Epstein was best mates with Bill Clinton and Chelsea Clinton hung out there all the time.
If Trump were prominent on Epstein's list - we'd have all seen everything. That the Clinton's and the Democrats are far more prominent is why we won't see it for a while.

Red and Blue Army!

Campaign Finance reform is something that both parties talk about but neither actually want to do anything with. There are fairly strict restrictions on how much money you can give directly give a candidate however that is not the problem.

So called soft money is where the real dirty business is. If you want to help a candidate you set up a so called independent campaign "Housewives for Biden". You can funnel as much money as you like as long as long you pretend that you are not affiliated to the Democratic party or Biden campaign.

So many of the smears and lies about the "other guy" don't actually come from the official campaign but from the so called independents. Of course the candidate claims to know nothing about this and deplores character assassination meanwhile his staff are on the phone to the independents co-ordinating strategy.

They all do it, and the people who fund these campaigns well they aint doing cos the like the candidates blue eyes and soft smile..

Edited by Badger11 (14 Mar 2024 8.28am)

One more point

Both the book they are attacking and their criticism of it are interesting. They point up just how divided and politically sick the USA is right now because they are both right. Which is correct for you depends on which side of the divide you are.

How to heal things is the real conundrum.

One thing I do take issue with is the idea that democracy isn’t under threat but rather is enhanced by the rise of Trump. Something that has also been suggested here. On a simple level it’s undeniably correct. Whoever gets the most votes wins and if that ends up being Trump I don’t see the Democrats attempting to resist it in the way that Trump did last time. The threat comes from that behaviour being regarded as acceptable. For democracy to work elections must not only be free and fair, with everyone included and without barriers in their way, which was also under threat with Trump, but that the result is accepted by all. So with a candidate who is known not to accept results democracy is indeed under threat.

For the avoidance of doubt any comments in response to a previous post are directed to its ideas and not at any, or all, posters personally.

I have no idea how time you have spent in rural America but although I have spent much time on the coasts I have spent some. The truth is that although not all fit this description a lot do. They may well believe they are forgotten and undervalued and are probably correct but nevertheless they are, as a group, very conservative and inward looking and often have little or no idea about anything outside their immediate locality, let alone the rest of the world. Of course they need to be heard, but politicians must lead, and deliver what they need and not just follow and deliver what they want. That’s the essence of representative democracy. Defining what they need is the challenge but as sure as hell it’s not Trump. There’s no chance he will make their lives better.

It’s a sign of how broken the US system has become that Trump, after all he has done, has become the unchallenged leader of a once great Party and the Democrats seem incapable of putting forward someone who could beat him.

For the avoidance of doubt any comments in response to a previous post are directed to its ideas and not at any, or all, posters personally.

Newsom is the obvious choice. He’s hardly made a mess of California. That’s just Republican spin. He is personable, feisty and perfectly capable of standing up to a bully. Which anyone going up against Trump must be.

The problem is it seems he has his eye on 2028 when Trump ought to be out of the way, although who knows what stunt he could yet attempt.

I hope he does stand though and does so out of a sense of duty, putting personal risk aside.

For the avoidance of doubt any comments in response to a previous post are directed to its ideas and not at any, or all, posters personally.

In a representative democracy we pay people to know what’s best for us. They have the time to consult and the connections to do so. It’s their job. Ours is to choose who we ask to do it. Not to hand out lists of demands. That message needs to be preached until it sinks in. Of course trust in politicians needs also to be reestablished, as that’s long gone missing, and until the USA reform their system it’s unlikely. So we are in a viscous circle.

People in London probably have next to no knowledge of what’s happening in Blackburn or Ipswich but they will have some knowledge of what’s happening in Ukraine and Gaza and much more about what’s happening in the USA than the average American does about what’s happening in the UK.

I can’t fathom the approach of the DNC but Trump doesn’t have ideas that appeal. He just rewrites history and positions himself as a victim. Why people fall for it is the puzzle. I think it ought to be really easy to dismantle his stance and expose him as the fraud he is. Some do, but it falls on deaf ears.

For the avoidance of doubt any comments in response to a previous post are directed to its ideas and not at any, or all, posters personally.