The Titanic thread
- Dr Strangelove
- Posts: 10186
- Joined: Wed May 08, 2024 4:50 pm
Re: The Titanic thread
It can be dangerous to believe things just because you want them to be true. - Sagan
Cynicism is acceptance
Cynicism is acceptance
- Dr Strangelove
- Posts: 10186
- Joined: Wed May 08, 2024 4:50 pm
Re: The Titanic thread
It can be dangerous to believe things just because you want them to be true. - Sagan
Cynicism is acceptance
Cynicism is acceptance
- Dr Strangelove
- Posts: 10186
- Joined: Wed May 08, 2024 4:50 pm
Re: The Titanic thread
This video should unsettle anyone who takes the United States seriously as a nation.
Because it exposes something dangerous: the trivialization of the world's most consequential office. It shows how carelessly the power, credibility, and accumulated moral authority of a superpower can be squandered for a few seconds of viral attention.
In any other major democracy, this behavior from a head of state would trigger a constitutional crisis. Paris would burn. Berlin would convene emergency sessions. In the Nordic countries, resignation would follow within hours. Across functioning democracies, the public, institutions, and political class would recognize this for what it is: an assault on the dignity of the state itself. Leaders are not free to perform as entertainers without consequence. National honor is not personal property, it's held in trust.
But the United States is not just another country with a provocateur in charge. It is the linchpin of global order. It maintains formal alliances and security guarantees with forty to fifty nations. It underwrites the financial architecture, trade systems, and diplomatic frameworks that billions of people depend on daily. When the American president speaks—or posts—it doesn't land as satire, meme, or personal whim. It reads as a signal about what the country is becoming.
American power has never relied solely on carrier strike groups or economic output. It has rested on something more fragile and more valuable: trust. The belief that beneath domestic turbulence lies institutional seriousness, predictability, and a baseline commitment to dignity. That belief is now disintegrating in real time.
Millions of American companies operate globally. They negotiate multibillion-dollar contracts in environments where reputation is currency. Boardrooms in Frankfurt, Singapore, and Dubai aren't debating whether a post was clever—they're asking whether the United States remains a reliable partner. Whether agreements signed today will be honored tomorrow. Whether American leadership has devolved from institutional to purely theatrical.
Consider tourism, which sustains millions of American jobs—airlines, hotels, restaurants, museums, entire regional economies. Soft power isn't an abstraction. It materializes in flight bookings, conference locations, study-abroad programs, and decades of accumulated goodwill. A quiet, decentralized boycott doesn't require government action—only a collective sense that a nation no longer respects itself.
Now picture this image being studied by foreign ministers, central bank governors, defense strategists, and sovereign wealth fund managers. Picture them asking a coldly rational question: How do we write binding thirty-year agreements with a country whose public face will be this, relentlessly, for years to come? How do we plan for the long term when the tone is impulsive, mocking, and unbound by the gravity of office?
This is where the real calculus begins. Trillions in foreign capital depend on confidence that America is stable, credible, and rule-governed. That confidence is now being traded for what, exactly? Applause from an online mob? A dopamine rush from manufactured outrage? Content designed to dominate the news cycle rather than serve the national interest?
Every serious nation eventually confronts this choice: burn long-term credibility for short-term spectacle, or safeguard the reputation previous generations bled to build. The United States spent eighty years constructing an image of reliability, restraint, and leadership under pressure. That image wasn't born from perfection—it came from a visible commitment to standards that transcended impulse.
This isn't a partisan issue. Europeans who value democratic norms recognize something ominously familiar here. Americans—Democrat and Republican alike—who believe in responsibility and restraint should see it too. Power attracts scrutiny. Leadership demands discipline. A superpower cannot behave like a reality TV contestant without paying a price.
The presidency is not a personal broadcast channel. It's a symbol carried on behalf of 330 million people and countless international partners who never voted but whose lives are shaped by American decisions anyway. Every post either reinforces or erodes the idea that America can be counted on when it matters most.
So the question is no longer whether this is offensive. The question is whether this is who America chooses to be: a nation that trades a century of hard-won reputation for viral moments. A country that replaces statecraft with content creation. A republic governed like a season of reality television.
History offers a harsh lesson here. Great powers don't fall because enemies mock them. They collapse when they begin mocking themselves—publicly, proudly, and without grasping the cost until it's far too late.
It can be dangerous to believe things just because you want them to be true. - Sagan
Cynicism is acceptance
Cynicism is acceptance
- Dr Strangelove
- Posts: 10186
- Joined: Wed May 08, 2024 4:50 pm
Re: The Titanic thread
It can be dangerous to believe things just because you want them to be true. - Sagan
Cynicism is acceptance
Cynicism is acceptance
- Dr Strangelove
- Posts: 10186
- Joined: Wed May 08, 2024 4:50 pm
Re: The Titanic thread
This is Lyndon Lea. An 'entrepeneur' involved with huge brands such as AllSaints and Jimmy Choo.
He also sits on the board of 'Not For Sale' which is a charity supposed to help fight human trafficking.
New documents released show Jeffrey Epstein sent him young women for sexual gratification.
All these charities are just a front so they can do what they are supposed to be against.
It can be dangerous to believe things just because you want them to be true. - Sagan
Cynicism is acceptance
Cynicism is acceptance
- Dr Strangelove
- Posts: 10186
- Joined: Wed May 08, 2024 4:50 pm
Re: The Titanic thread
It can be dangerous to believe things just because you want them to be true. - Sagan
Cynicism is acceptance
Cynicism is acceptance
- Dr Strangelove
- Posts: 10186
- Joined: Wed May 08, 2024 4:50 pm
Re: The Titanic thread
It can be dangerous to believe things just because you want them to be true. - Sagan
Cynicism is acceptance
Cynicism is acceptance
- Dr Strangelove
- Posts: 10186
- Joined: Wed May 08, 2024 4:50 pm
Re: The Titanic thread
If you put together the timeline of Epstein's emails, it is pretty clear that he met with Trump and/or his sons right before Trump took office. Here's why:
- November 25, 2016 - Epstein's pilot Larry Visoski emails Epstein saying "Trump is still scheduled to depart Sunday (Nov 27). Let me know if we are firm for wheels up Saturday (Nov 26) at 6pm still". Epstein replies "will let you know tomorrow morning. (source: EFTA02668763.pdf)
- November 27, 2016 - Epstein emails friends Dangene and Jennie telling them he's in Palm beach with "trump crowd" (EFTA02668919.pdf). He also emails "Kinsington2" sauying "I will not come this week, too many trump issues." (EFTA02668964.pdf).
- December 17, 2017 - Epstein emails Jabor Y, saying that he is in Palm Beach and "all Trump people here." (EFTA01743274.pdf)
- December 26, 2017 - Epstein says that he will be in Palm Beach with "the Trump boys" on January 4th (16 days before the inauguration) (EFTA01058735.pdf).
It can be dangerous to believe things just because you want them to be true. - Sagan
Cynicism is acceptance
Cynicism is acceptance
- Dr Strangelove
- Posts: 10186
- Joined: Wed May 08, 2024 4:50 pm
Re: The Titanic thread
https://www.youtube.com/live/JNUwVU63v_ ... J8uhpeF79l
Senator Ron Wyden's Letter to CIA Director John Ratcliffe: (0:27) Senator Wyden, a meticulous member of the Senate Intelligence Committee, sent a classified letter to CIA Director John Ratcliffe expressing "deep concerns" about CIA activities. This public announcement (1:36) is seen as a significant red flag, indicating serious undisclosed issues within the intelligence community.
DHS Systemic Failures in Minnesota: (4:47) A Minnesota courtroom transcript revealed severe systemic failures within the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), specifically regarding Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and Border Patrol. The agencies are accused of indiscriminately apprehending individuals without probable cause, leading to chaos and a breakdown of the legal system (5:04).
Democrats' Demands for DHS Funding: (8:26) Democrats have outlined specific demands for reining in federal immigration enforcement before agreeing to further DHS funding. These demands include requiring judicial warrants for home entries (9:48), prohibiting masked federal agents (10:22), requiring agents to display identification (11:36), restricting enforcement in "sensitive sites" (11:55), ending racial profiling (12:12), and implementing proper use-of-force policies (12:18).
Epstein Files Fallout and Brad Karp's Resignation: (14:01) The video touches on the revelations from the Epstein files, noting the resignation of Brad Karp, a senior partner at Paul Weiss, a major law firm that had previously caved to Trump's demands.
Trump's Efforts to Rig the 2026 Elections: (14:40) Concerns are rising over former President Trump's open discussions about rigging the 2026 elections through gerrymandering and voter suppression. The video highlights that gerrymandering efforts in Texas (15:37), intended to favor Republicans, might backfire due to shifts in the Latino vote.
Trump's "Big Lie" Continues: (18:17) Trump reiterated his "Big Lie" at the National Prayer Breakfast, falsely claiming the 2020 election was rigged and that he won the popular vote in 2016. This is presented as evidence of his continued psychological fixation on these claims.
Senator Ron Wyden's Letter to CIA Director John Ratcliffe: (0:27) Senator Wyden, a meticulous member of the Senate Intelligence Committee, sent a classified letter to CIA Director John Ratcliffe expressing "deep concerns" about CIA activities. This public announcement (1:36) is seen as a significant red flag, indicating serious undisclosed issues within the intelligence community.
DHS Systemic Failures in Minnesota: (4:47) A Minnesota courtroom transcript revealed severe systemic failures within the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), specifically regarding Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and Border Patrol. The agencies are accused of indiscriminately apprehending individuals without probable cause, leading to chaos and a breakdown of the legal system (5:04).
Democrats' Demands for DHS Funding: (8:26) Democrats have outlined specific demands for reining in federal immigration enforcement before agreeing to further DHS funding. These demands include requiring judicial warrants for home entries (9:48), prohibiting masked federal agents (10:22), requiring agents to display identification (11:36), restricting enforcement in "sensitive sites" (11:55), ending racial profiling (12:12), and implementing proper use-of-force policies (12:18).
Epstein Files Fallout and Brad Karp's Resignation: (14:01) The video touches on the revelations from the Epstein files, noting the resignation of Brad Karp, a senior partner at Paul Weiss, a major law firm that had previously caved to Trump's demands.
Trump's Efforts to Rig the 2026 Elections: (14:40) Concerns are rising over former President Trump's open discussions about rigging the 2026 elections through gerrymandering and voter suppression. The video highlights that gerrymandering efforts in Texas (15:37), intended to favor Republicans, might backfire due to shifts in the Latino vote.
Trump's "Big Lie" Continues: (18:17) Trump reiterated his "Big Lie" at the National Prayer Breakfast, falsely claiming the 2020 election was rigged and that he won the popular vote in 2016. This is presented as evidence of his continued psychological fixation on these claims.
It can be dangerous to believe things just because you want them to be true. - Sagan
Cynicism is acceptance
Cynicism is acceptance
- Dr Strangelove
- Posts: 10186
- Joined: Wed May 08, 2024 4:50 pm
Re: The Titanic thread
It can be dangerous to believe things just because you want them to be true. - Sagan
Cynicism is acceptance
Cynicism is acceptance