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Michael Corthell's avatar

This line really gets to the heart of what you’re saying: “The tragedy isn’t that Trump is doing these things; the tragedy is that he’s allowed to do them.” The real danger isn’t just what he does, it’s how easily people accept it. You’re reminding us that democracy doesn’t disappear overnight, it slips away when we stop paying attention. Thank you for writing this and for saying it so clearly. Great job.

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Thornton Prayer's avatar

Truth be told, most people are deeply afraid on some level and crave certainty even when that certainty is literally killing them. It's like when abuse victims stay with their abusers no matter how bad the pain is.

Fortunately, there are enough people who don't waver in the face of evil and ugliness. They aren't publicly apparent yet, but they do exist. Who these people are and when they arise is unknown. But they do exist and they are coming.

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Michael Corthell's avatar

I completely agree, and what you’re describing reflects something we see across psychology, sociology, and history. Fear drives people toward familiar patterns, even when those patterns are destructive. It’s a survival mechanism: the brain prefers predictable pain over unpredictable change. This is why people stay in toxic systems, whether personal or political, because uncertainty feels like annihilation.

But you’re also right that there are always individuals who resist that pull. Social change movements have always depended on those few who can tolerate ambiguity and stand firm in the face of intimidation or despair. They might not be visible in mainstream culture yet, but they’re there, in local activism, in independent media, in quiet community work. Throughout history, transformation has begun with small circles of conscience that eventually become visible forces for change. And that cycle is repeating now.

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Thornton Prayer's avatar

Your assessment is spot on. I am familiar with your analysis of people's brains can get hijacked by fear. I am also familiar with the degree to which people can handle adversity and ambiguity determines how strongly someone will resist manifest fear even at the cost of their own survival.

This conflict will be as much a fight inside everyone's hearts and minds as well as confronting the external hostility. Not everyone is organized for this kind of fight but it's inevitable that enough people will be disgusted enough to step up. The coming economic crash, the sticker shock of expiring ACA tax credits, rising inflation from the tariff stupidity while the plutocrats play games causing people to die unnecessarily will generate epic revulsion. The key will be for Democrats to shape this outrage into transformational political change.

This will be a long and hard slog, but we will eventually prevail.

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Kelvin Hobbs's avatar

Fight, Flight, Freeze, or Fawn: How We Respond to Threats June 23, 2025 https://tinyurl.com/bp86pu6x The primary function of the brain is … to keep one alive. Fight, flight, freeze, and fawn are natural ways our bodies react to … danger.

FIGHT: Responding to threat by aggressively confronting or standing up to it.

[Only This Response Can Keep America For And Restore America To Americans]

FLIGHT: Escaping or avoiding danger by physically removing yourself from the situation.

[May Be The Personal Choice If It Works, But It Certainly Does Not Help America]

FREEZE: Becoming immobile or unable to act when faced with a threat.

[We Need To Help Each Other To Overcome This Instinct And Advance The Fight]

FAWN: Trying to please or appease the threat to avoid conflict or harm.

[This Is For Cowardly Law Firms, Weak Universities, And Obsequious Media Outlets]

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Johan's avatar

This is the postscript to The Praetorian Age, not the warning, but the reckoning.

The East Wing wasn’t just bulldozed. It was symbolically erased. And then normalized by the press.

We’re not watching a descent into autocracy. We’re watching its normalization.

• Troops in cities

• Trade cut by tantrum

• Pardons as currency

• Compliance culture rewritten in real time

In The Collapse of Moral Authority, I mapped how cruelty became currency. This is the next phase: impunity as infrastructure.

The tragedy isn’t the wrecking ball. It’s the shrug.

And unless we ritualize resistance, not just protest, but institutional repair, the next autocrat won’t need to test the limits. He’ll inherit them.

The 2026 midterms aren’t a cycle. They’re a referendum on whether memory, restraint, and law still matter.

And whether America can still recognize itself in the mirror.

— Johan

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Kelvin Hobbs's avatar

We cannot continue as we are. We must become who we want to be: now. If not we are toast

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L Stanley's avatar

We are legitimately in a constitutional crisis. The entire GOP is responsible for the destruction of democracy and rule of law.

They run all three branches of the government and have bought and paid in full the SCOTUS.

THE FACTS ARE THESE.

House: Republicans

Senate: Republicans

President: Republicans

Supreme Court: Republicans

What Mike Johnson means is that billionaires and Trump's corporate donors are in charge of the government.

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Bodhi's avatar

And there’ll be a sham election and we will be The Good Ol White Boy Millionaires Club slaves until a generation willing to actually fight for their freedoms vs pussyfooting around with REPUBLICANS LAWLESS VIOLENT DOMESTIC TERRORIST ORGANIZATION comes along bc there sure as hell isn’t one person with the courage and Patriotism to do WHATEVER IT TAKES TO RID THIS COUNTRY OF THE REPUBLICAN NAZI PARTY

AND MAKE NO MISTAKE—REGARDLESS OF HOW MANY DEMOCRATS TALK ABOUT THEIR “FRIENDS” ACROSS THE AISLE THAT CONFIDE THEY DON’T LIKE WHAT’S HAPPENING YET EVERYONE OF THEM CONTINUE TO MARCH LOCK IN STEP WITH A PATHOLOGICAL LYING RUSSIAN PATSY CONVICTED FELON TO KEEP HIM IN OUR WH….

Democrats would do well to take a look at how majority of intelligent critical thinkers living on Earth One feel about any Republican

They may YOUR FRIENDS but in the eyes of the world and majority of WTP they are ALL ENEMIES OF THE STATE AND THE PPL

THIS ENTIRE PARTY HAS TO BE PHYSICALLY REMOVED FROM OFFICE DIRECTLY TO GITMO TO WAIT FOR DUE PROCESS

In the past Treason would’ve been taken seriously…now….meh🤷‍♀️

Biz as usual…..

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Kelvin Hobbs's avatar

SCOTUS effectively immunized POTUS from treason. He then abuses the Pardon Power

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L Stanley's avatar

You are absolutely correct.

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Kelvin Hobbs's avatar

As dangerous that is the Fourth Estate (MSM) now are GOP enablers and amplifiers. The voices who should - who must - lead by speaking truth to power now bend their knees in obeisance: "CNN CEO Mark Thompson allegedly told the company’s editorial staff to ease up on coverage of Donald Trump‘s demolition of the East Wing after a private meeting with the president." Salon, 27-Oct-25 https://tinyurl.com/ywfcm5vf

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Karen Sinclair's avatar

The Epstein files were probably in the East Wing!

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Skitealwedrop's avatar

Isn’t the East Wing where Melanie’s office is?

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Bluesmurf's avatar

Melania's office? I haven't seen anything that would indicate that she has any use for being the "First Lady" this 2nd time around and from watching, waiting and listening, it has been clear to me that she has no staff, no office, no duties, and intends to do exactly nothing. I will be extremely surprised if the WH is decorated for the holidays - unless drumpf does it - either way it will be low class, tacky, and poor white trash MAL deco crappo!

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Martha Kenne's avatar

I am still trying to purge from my head those ghastly red Christmas trees. 🤮

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Bluesmurf's avatar

Exactly what I thought of as well.... tacky tacky!

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Leah Baum's avatar

Proves money can’t buy class or style because they have neither. Her blood red trees reminded me of a horror movie. The First hooker only shows up on demand and for a price.

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Skitealwedrop's avatar

I remember those white trash trees. They were dreadful.

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Skitealwedrop's avatar

Well I guess she can hang on a gold stripper pole in the Ballroom.

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Bluesmurf's avatar

Well that certainly would put the topping on the white trash cake! 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣

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Robert Goldbach's avatar

Trump is remaking all of that property in his own image because, in his own mind, it will be a monument to him. This is not a man (child) who entertains any thought that he might be leaving some day. He can't even cope with the idea that he might be dead some day (soon). To Trump, this golden palace will be a symbol of his craving for immortality, just like the Pharaohs of Egypt and their pyramids. Sick man, sick followers.

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Kelvin Hobbs's avatar

I wonder if they found Jimmy Hoffa?

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Pamela Parkinson's avatar

I'm tired of being told to stand up and do something. Other than the obvious things like protests, boycotts and calls and letters, what more can we do? We, the people, are powerless unless our elected representatives and senators do something. We can longer count on the Supreme Court either.

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Bluesmurf's avatar

There is so much more that we can do:

Now everyone has to get out and vote! Elections are going on in your towns, cities, counties and States right now. Vote! Get everyone around you to VOTE! These elections are most impactful to you as they determine how you live in your own neighborhood, the water you drink, the pollution you breathe, the schools you send your kids to and the rules, the costs, the fire districts and their rules and costs, the policing, Sheriffs, Mayors, City Planners, City Councils, County Commissioners, boards or all kinds (utility, post secondary education boards, planning boards, and more), judges, — Get involved in your communities going forward to get the MAGAs out and leaders in who are FOR the People and FOR Democracy! How do you do that? Check this out: Now What Do We Do? The Way Out Of This Mess!!! -

https://bluesmurf.substack.com/p/now-what-do-we-do-the-way-out-of

***

@Bluesmurf

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Kelvin Hobbs's avatar

Bluesmurf: Amen!

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Nancy Richardson's avatar

The Epstein files need to be published by the victims. Americans and the world have had enough of this evil scourge and we need to clean house now, not yesterday!

Thanks Michael for telling it like it is.

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Natalie M. (HI)'s avatar

I think the DNC or the Lincoln Project or someone should buy the rights to the Canadian Reagan ad and continue playing it nationally, or at least in deep red districts. It's a very powerful advertisement which obviously has gotten under dear leader's skin big time!

It could possibly wake up some people that are under the spell of the MAGA regime.

https://www.businessinsider.com/watch-reagan-ad-led-trump-to-end-canada-trade-talks-2025-10

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Kathy's avatar

That's a great idea! People like Meidas are lamenting that we don't care and we don't do anything about what's going on. But our party is not leading us, somebody has to step up. We need to stage rolling boycotts, spend some of Dems donations on ads for our side, sit down protests (cause they can't say we're violent if we're sitting on our butts), have an overpowering social media presence to harp on what trmp is doing and why it's wrong as well as have some clever, devastating posts to troll maga and trump everyday! Somebody do what NoKings did!

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Kathy's avatar

I forgot to include petitions, legal petitions. Not those goofy send-me-some-money petitions and surveys. State what we want and get enough signatures to make it happen. I don't know how these things work, but I am a good follower. Somebody lead us.

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Kathy's avatar

The Democratic party needs to get off their high horse and start doing something. Hire some nasty trolls on X like maga does. I was brought up in a Southern, gracious culture that is over! It pains me to say it but we have to toughen up and get fierce. The way he tore down the East Wing in the middle of the night and celebrated it the next day just killed me. But it mostly made me furious. How dare he? That was a grievous theft. He thinks it's his house. Once he's out of there, we need to tear that ballroom down. I hope he's still alive to see that! Thanks for letting me vent.

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Byron B. Carrier's avatar

A valid warning to be screamed: "It’s how democracies die—not with a coup, but with a shrug... America’s getting crushed under the weight of its own indifference."

We're going from Americans to American'ts.

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Bluesmurf's avatar

While we do not have 200 million people out there rallying, 7-12 million is not exactly a number to be sniffed at and dismissed. Things they are a gettin' worse and more people are going to be personally impacted as it effects them at the community level or at their personal address. I don't know about the rest of y'all, but the unemployment that we live on in this house is a direct casualty of drumpf and his tariffs and trade policies as well as his gutting the federal government and stealing our tax dollars, canceling grants, etc. When the Medicaid cuts hit and people drop the ACA because they cannot afford $12K - $25k in premiums every year, more and more businesses will fold and mine won't be the only household impacted - the domino effect of people with no money to spend is next - unemployment only lasts so long and then what? We may have to find out in our home.

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Kelvin Hobbs's avatar

Where is the Rabbit of Caerbannog when you most need her?

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Bluesmurf's avatar

Not being a connoisseur of Monty Python and the Holy Grail or Spamalot, I had to look this up. It sounds like we need King Arthur's holy solution!!! 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣

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Kelvin Hobbs's avatar

Monty Python and The Holy Grail Scenes 19-20: Faced With a Killer Rabbit, Tim the Enchanter https://tinyurl.com/yeu9kak9 There he is! … It is the rabbit. … Well, that's no ordinary rabbit! … That's the most foul, cruel, and bad-tempered rodent you ever set eyes on! … Look, that rabbit's got a vicious streak a mile wide! It's a killer! … He'll do you up a treat, mate. … I'm warning you! … He's got huge, sharp-- eh-- he can leap about-- look at the bones! dramatic chord; clunk] … I warned you, but did you listen to me? Oh, no, you knew it all, didn't you? Oh, it's just a harmless little bunny, isn't it? Well, it's always the same. I always tell them … Do they listen to me? … Oh, no...

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Judy Sherwood's avatar

Yeah, right... are we "great" yet? I guess a FEW of us are ... the 1%.

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kimberleyscotland's avatar

He's destroying America bit by bit. And what he's done to the WH is tantamount to treason. In the UK we're comparing this devastation to the King doing the same to Buckingham Palace. Never gonna happen.. As for ICE we are shocked and appalled by their behaviour. In this country they would be arrested for 'Grievous Bodily Harm' which can carry sentences from 5-20 years, depending on the ferocity of the attack..

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John Minarik's avatar

I cannot afford to upgrade for reasons that many are experiencing, but unique to each. Agreed as to the content. Do not abandon the financially strapped people. We are doing what we can within our limitations. Thank you.

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Meg Daley Olmert WE/US's avatar

This man isn’t afraid to tear down the East Wing, but sure is afraid of those Epstein (and Putin) files! How bad are they????

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Bluesmurf's avatar

Evidently so very bad that if they ever see the light of day, which I am certain will happen eventually, will take down governments, corporations, banking, universities, and much much more... The evidence that is slinking out piece by piece is pointing in that direction.

The information from the Epstein files that is available is trickling out here and there instead of coming in one big splash to make it formidable. The latest has been Virginia Giuffre's book - which is excellent (warning, it may trigger anyone with similar experiences as hers) - and an article here and there. I restacked a good one yesterday on my substack: "Redacted: The Real Epstein List"- https://gregolear.substack.com/p/redacted-the-real-epstein-list

I keep looking for stuff - realize that the Senate Finance Committee is following the money and putting out press releases. The feeding of this information in tiny bits is part of the reason it doesn't seem to be getting out there. The Big Reveal is still being blocked by weaselly snake MAGA Mikey... Can't wait to see what the courts do with Arizona's lawsuit.

***

@Bluesmurf

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Michele's avatar

And, Epstein and Company's women, the victims, are organizing. They're not waiting any longer. They say they know who the players are, and they're ready to let us all know who they are. How can we support them? We need to organize around that.

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Bluesmurf's avatar

If you want to support them, then you can reach out to their lawyers. You can reach out to Ro Khanna and Thomas Massie and see what you can do. I'm sure there are things we all can do - but mostly, elevate their voices - keep this in the forefront of the news - make sure that everyone knows that these young women were children when this happened to them - and most likely our children are still being trafficked and these rich and powerful men - the ones who are still alive, anyway - are still molesting and raping our children.

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Judy Sherwood's avatar

Go get 'em, ladies! we all need to stand with the victims, support them and their efforts... Blast the names, dates, and publish ALL of the receipts. I am sick of the stalling, stonewalling and foot-dragging... there must be some BIG trophies waiting in the wings! Good hunting!

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Kelvin Hobbs's avatar

Just apply stare decisis and follow Powell v. McCormack, 395 U.S. 486 (1969) https://tinyurl.com/4mmhjfw9 and resist their compelling urge to dodge the issue on procedural grounds such as lack of standing, political question doctrine, deference to Congress; the usual crap. Doing that would delegitimize SCOTUS to pure irrelevancy

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Meriby Sweet's avatar

You call him "the most powerful man on earth," yet we are watching long-time allies and trading partners peel away from him as if he were a skunk in the road. He is determined to ENRICH HIMSELF because he has NO CREDIBILITY on a global stage. Those who applaud/support him will get shafted like everyone else who has made a "deal" with him. It's a classic Ray Cohn grift.

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Judy Sherwood's avatar

The tRump family has doubled their collective net worth to $10 BILLION since the election.

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Sandra Stewart's avatar

Every word in this posting is what I would say as it is how I feel about this regime and these current times. How can he be stopped if those who should be standing up to him do nothing? Is the only way to stop him means we have to start a civil war once again? Please, we have learned from our past that war hurts both sides. Let's not act like children. Let us do this without violence. We the people must force him and his regime to step down. Those in congress MUST step up and remove him...TODAY!!!

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Lois W. Halbert's avatar

Michael, thank you. I'm scared. At our age it is hard for us to move to another country. This was an excellent article. Although I couldn't afford it, I subscribed. I don't want to miss anything you say.

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Larry Lathrop's avatar

Trump is trying his damnedest to foment civil war. He knows he has dementia in his family history and will orobably die with it. He's stated that he probably won't go to heaven. I know he won't. He's preparing to go the other way.

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Bluesmurf's avatar

I laugh every time I see that drumpf is hoping he'll go to heaven and is asking to go to heaven - an evil person who has never read the Bible, I doubt believes there is a God, but loves the religious people fawning over him as if he were the messiah come back to save them from what? It's ridiculous beyond measure! 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣

I shed an evil narcissist relative from my life who passed in 2024 who made the comment in the last months of her life that she was going to hell - I wouldn't have doubted it for a minute given the evil things she did to people while on this planet... But Lucifer has dominion, with constraints, over this World - according to the Bible - so are we already in hell? Good question, huh! At any rate, if there is no actual hell, a concept promoted by Dante', where do these awful souls go? Anyone have any philosophical ideas?

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Kelvin Hobbs's avatar

Inferno Cocytus (Cantos XXXI - XXXIV)https://tinyurl.com/yjfaz4ny

Cocytus is a frozen lake in which are punished those who betrayed people with whom they had a special bond of trust (treacherous fraud). It is divided into four parts:

Caina, in which are punished those who betrayed their relatives, and named after Cain who killed his brother Abel (Genesis 4).

Antenora, in which those who betrayed their side or country are punished; named after Antenor, a Trojan thought to have been responsible for letting the Greeks out of the wooden horse and into the city of Troy.

Tolomea, in which those who betrayed their guests are punished, and named after Ptolemy, governor of Jericho who had Simon Maccabaeus and his sons killed at a banquet he had invited them to (1 Maccabees 16).

Giudecca, in which are punished those who betrayed their benefactors, and named after Judas who betrayed Jesus.

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Bluesmurf's avatar

Dante's inferno is quite the brain burner. I'm reminded by your reference that I did indeed read through to the 9th circle of hell - Cocytus! Dante' may have had a point or a vision or maybe he knew something the rest of us didn't... It certainly gives us something to think about or talk about regardless. I have my own thoughts about the final resting place of the soul of my relative who was a 9 point passive aggressive covert sadistic narcissist - just one step above the malignant narcissist who infests the WH.

I wonder how Dante' figured it when the sinner breached every one of the four parts? Must be the worst of the worst since it's the 9th circle of hell and there are four parts! Of course, then there is hell itself, which has to be worse than the frozen lake of Satan's tears...

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Kelvin Hobbs's avatar

We may be getting a preview of it even now. (Your reply was another great one)

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Judy Sherwood's avatar

There's a 'special' place for folks like him, and it ain't heaven.

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Jenny Chism's avatar

Stop calling him the most powerful person on earth. He's the most evil.

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Bluesmurf's avatar

And while he may have power, he's totally ruined his powerful position and not only weakened himself, but weakened the U.S. and put us all at risk. You cannot be a weak leader and the most powerful person on earth - I agree, he is not the most power person on earth - he just says he is and thinks he is. The U.S. isn't even the most powerful country and we're not the only one with a strong military and/or nuclear weapons.

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Kelvin Hobbs's avatar

Why would he get a non-routine MRI? Reuters, 27-Oct-25 https://tinyurl.com/bdhn7h4r

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Bluesmurf's avatar

There is no such thing as a "routine MRI!" MRIs are special when something specific is wrong and we're probably not going to ever find out what it is. I'm going to guess it's related to the Veinous insufficiency (Yeah, right!) and they were looking at his veins. The swelling must not be going down - could be they ran one on his brain to check for strokes and other issues - maybe to find out if there was a brain in there! 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣

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Kelvin Hobbs's avatar

I suspect it was used to check for functions superior to the medulla oblongata (assuming your final hypothesis is not more accurate, which I suspect it is)

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