One positive from Trump's UN speech: Ukraine policy shift?

In surprise shift, Trump prods Ukraine, Nato to fight Russia and to take back the lands Russia now occupies by force and war? TACO Trump makes me wonder if he will not follow up this promouncement with anti-missile defense aid, severe sanctions against Russia, and other weapons and technology that Europe does not have. Will it inspire an effort both by the US and Europe to develop to keep up with the Russians? If this is a permanent change in Trump's policy and attitude toward NATO, only time is going to tell. I remain skeptical, but hopeful.

Trump's UN "address", the rantings of a disordered mind

I attempted to listen to Trump's so-called address to the UN, and even Fidel Castro, in his most rambling, could not top it. I thought I would do fact-checking, but he went off on already discredited boasts about the economy with so many lies and self-puffery, and an attack against the UN itself, I couldn't keep up. As the "address" devolved into grievances, self hype(the Nobel Peace Prize he deserves), and insults of even our international friends, it was one only his most MAGA would believe. I am embarrassed to think that he has a 43% approval rating...The rest of the Western world must think that a chunk of America has lost its mind. What will likely happen now is that he will not be taken seriously, his rantings being dismissed as the ravings of a disordered mind, except for the danger and abuse of his power, which will be perceived as a threat to their own national interests and will still be feared. They will act accordingly, either pussyfooting around, working behind his back, or stroking his insatiable ego.

Most of the world's democracies still condemn Trump's violent, inhumane, extralegal targeting, on and offshore gulags, and deportation of only those of certain races who were only guilty of being undocumented, and the use of military force as a threat of force should anyone object. Most of the world has its own reporters and intelligence services in the US who have the capability of reporting news that does not fit into the Trump regime's approved news outlets or who depend on media that cave to Trump's threats to delicense and harm them with costs of fighting outlandish claims in suits likely to get rejected and denied by judges.

The Deported | Human Rights Watch

For the MAGA who still adore his words, they should realize that the rest of the Western world democracies are not tied up in knots over our same cultural issues as they are, or in white Christian nationalism and their love of dictators, which are significant elements of the MAGA movement. These issues seem to offset and excuse the rest of Trump's behavior and policies, which are harmful to their own pocketbooks or traditional GOP values. Their information source, it appears, is limited to those who tout unchallenged Trump's data and talking points: FOX, NEWSMAX, and Truth Social, among them..

(CNN fact checker seemed overwhelmed and did not go into details of Trump's false claims about the US economy, but still burst a lot of other bubbles: 'Highly dubious': CNN fact-checker hits almost all of Trump's brags at UN - Raw Story)

The Orban playbook and if it would work here

 Recently, some on the media have compared what Viktor Orban did to become Hungary's dictator with what Trump's actions and words appear to mirror.. There is a difference between Hungary and the US, but the techniques are similar. Remember, too, that the conservative political action pac..CPAC has held meetings in Hungary, clearly hoping Trump will be enabled to do likewise. The groundwork for this was laid by CPAC in 2022. https://www.adl.org/.../cpac-conference-hungary-views... From my post, March 2024: Orban gradually consolidated his power peacefully, and he had one advantage: citizens who were 97% percent of his same ethnic identification. That is not America. To say there would be chaos is an understatement if he tried the same techniques as Orban did. Trump has added one element to amassing power that Orban did not need to use: violence and the threat of violence. It worked in Colorado to cause many county clerk election officials to resign, and some were replaced by Trump loyalists. It worked in Georgia to intimidate election officials and witnesses. He attempted to use active military to put down civil protests and to give him legal cover in his attempt to overturn the 2020 election. He invited and exhorted violent militia members on January 6. Only Gen. Milley, the threat of resignation of nearly all of the top brass of the DOJ, and the bravery of the Capitol and DC police stood in his way. He would make sure those who were more loyal to the rule of law than to him would not be his appointees in a second.

How Viktor Orban Pulled Off Hungary’s Descent Into Dictatorship "Fidesz (Orban's political party)staged a spectacular comeback with a supermajority in parliament. Orban wasted no time in employing this mandate to hollow out the judiciary, rewrite Hungary’s legal code, and promulgate a new constitution. New laws made it harder for upstart parties to win seats and even easier for a large party, like Fidesz, to capture a legislative supermajority with less of the vote. And the refashioned legal code saw to it that Fidesz’s cronyism and subsequent amassing of power fell close enough within the law that it would not be sanctioned domestically.Today, Hungary is a flourishing dictatorship. The regime has curtailed press freedom, marginalized the opposition, dismantled democratic checks and balances, controlled civil society, fixed election laws, and neutered criticism—ensuring that only extraordinary events, not elections, could oust it from power." ..Those who toed the line were rewarded with jobs, directorships, and contracts. And, of course, he leaned on his own special cocktail of nationalist rhetoric: “He has provided identity props for a disintegrated society using tropes in line with historical tradition: a Christian bulwark against the colonialism of the West,.."

(Note: he used the migration of Syrian immigrants to strike fear into Hungarians (Magyars; 97% of the country) that their culture was under attack..Article: Using Fear of the “Other,” Orbán Res.. | migrationpolicy.org

MUFTIC FORUM BLOG: Viktor Orban: a dangerous role model for America

MUFTIC FORUM BLOG: Violence is the difference between an Orban dictatorship and a Trump one

Trump, the spin dictator

 Trump says negative press coverage of his administration is "really illegal"

Surprised that Trump is closing down the ability of the opposition to communicate to you? You shouldn't be. For a wannabe strongman to achieve and maintain power, control of the media is critical. Trump is using whatever power he thinks he has, constitutional or not, to do just that with lawsuits and threats of delicensing and demands that those who get under his skin the most get fired. Maybe when these abuses of power reach "his" Supreme Court, even they will say no, but in the meantime, he is satisfying his unbridled lust for more power and wealth right out in the open.

Back in February, I included this in a post:

"Modern-day dictators have gained the power they seek because they have used modern technology to spin and mind-control their way to their position. They spin the news to engineer their support. "The central goal remains the same: to monopolize political power. But today’s strongmen realize that in current conditions, violence is not always necessary or even helpful. Instead of terrorizing citizens, a skillful ruler can control them by reshaping their beliefs about the world. He can fool people into compliance and even enthusiastic approval. In place of harsh repression, the new dictators manipulate information. Like spin doctors in a democracy, they spin the news to support. They are spin dictators." How Do Dictatorships Survive in 21st Century? | Andrew Carnegie Fellows | Carnegie Corporation of New York

.MUFTIC FORUM BLOG: The only whistleblowers left is the free press...guard it well updated

CPAC Conference in Hungary Views Viktor Orban’s Nationalism as A Model to Follow | ADL