It may well be. Along with an independent legal profession, independent scientists and teachers and doctors and media and...

Simply supporting one of your own, though, is playing into the divide-and-rule strategy.

nasty piece of work. He's playing straight from the Putin playbook.

And yet he's still an utter idiot. Kneecaps the US' cyber defences to please Putler but at the same time leaves the door wide open for China, who he's picking a fight with. Doesn't even count as 2D chess.

Arguing with Trump won't work. Outbidding Putin might.

And the result will be ---- nothing.

Trump is just going to continue throwing his weight about. It's what he enjoys. He's not interested in national security or anything else.

I think it's not so much what he enjoys as the need to deliver constant and unending series of noisy but fundamentally meaningless distractions that keep the press, opponents, and the populace busy chasing the nothing in a chaotic hailstorm of threats and gossip. It's a technique long popular with dictators, oligarchs, and (ostensible) strong-men throughout human history.

The enemy changes from day to day, hour to hour so no one has time to notice or act on what's inevitably happening in the background.

It works as long as we're always at war with Eastasia. Or Eurasia. Or, well...any person, group, or nation. Every obstacle or failure is attributed to them, the feared but ever-inchoate other; every success or achievement goes to Dear Leader.

Those who do not learn from history are doomed to repeat it, whereas those who do learn from history are also doomed to repeat it.

It's going to be a long and difficult day for a few years.

One of president Trump's biggest strengths (and one of his biggest weaknesses) seems to be that he doesn't listen to anybody.

It seems like he thinks he is the smartest person in any room and all of his decisions must be correct.

This might work for Zaphod in the funny book, not so much in reality.

"political retaliation puts democracy and national defense at risk"

But retaliation is the very reason why the Orange pseudo-king wanted to be president in the first place. Besides raking in the dough, obviously.

Revenge is [1]part of his personality (disorder) . Narcissists want revenge so much that it looks like [2]they are born to ruin lives . And he is currently trying to ruin the maximum number of lives.

Remind you, he wanted to [3]get his then vice president Mike Pence lynched .

What more evidence can one want?

[1] https://www.powerofpositivity.com/narcissists-obsessed-revenge/

[2] https://thenarcissisticlife.com/9-things-narcissists-do-when-they-want-revenge/

[3] https://www.politico.com/news/2022/05/25/trump-expressed-support-hanging-pence-capitol-riot-jan-6-00035117

So its bullying for Trump to pursue someone who allegedly participated in claiming 2020 was legit (that can really go either way) and may have been involved in what has been exposed as the misinformation campaign over Covid which was used as a political weapon against Trump? But not to have done those things (if he did)?

It is even directly claimed that he was involved in the serious and political cover up of the Hunter Biden laptop!

https://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/2025/04/addressing-risks-from-chris-krebs-and-government-censorship/

So why is it not bullying when this guy and others attacked Trump?

Predicable. You're such an orange/brown nosed gimp.

You know that it isn’t bullying to point out that someone is a Nazi if they’re being an actual Nazi don’t you?

We’re also talking about a man, Trump, with pretty much the most power in the world at his fingertips (as long as his master Putin lets him exercise it). Saying that he’s being bullied is a bit like saying that a kid with a peashooter is bullying someone with an AK47. And even when he wasn’t president, he had enough toadies and gullible idiots supporting him that it was a distinction without a difference.

@45RPM

"You know that it isn’t bullying to point out that someone is a Nazi if they’re being an actual Nazi don’t you?"

Sure, so as I said- the 2020 election WAS AND IS questionable, Covid misinformation from government has already been exposed and Hunter Biden's laptop was real. So if Chris Krebs was involved why is it not bullying to participate in bullying Trump but bullying to then investigate Krebs involvement in such bullying?

"We’re also talking about a man, Trump, with pretty much the most power in the world at his fingertips (as long as his master Putin lets him exercise it)."

I guess you reference that based on the exposed lie of the Steele Report? Or that Trump is actually trying to stop the invasion in Ukraine which both Obama and Biden were fine with?

"Saying that he’s being bullied is a bit like saying that a kid with a peashooter is bullying someone with an AK47"

Weaponization of the state vs Trump? We have been watching this for a decade remember.

^This is a major case of TDS right here.

Yeah, he's a poster child for Trump's Delusional Sycophants.

@CJ

Your post only proves that the only thing that is questionable is your ability to determine what is and what is not questionable.

I mean you’ve got words in your post. And they’ve even been assembled in an order that makes them look a bit like sentences. Unfortunately, on closer examination, it’s still all just babble.

It may be that an infinite number of monkeys with an infinite number of typewriters will eventually come up with the works of Shakespeare. Sadly, an infinite number of codejunkys will only manage to jam the keys up with drool.

The 2020 election is "questionable" in the sense that you can ask questions of anything . It has been quite exhaustively questioned for several years now by some of the most highly motivated people you'll find anywhere, and none of this "questioning" has turned up anything that anyone remotely impartial considers grounds for suspicion.

I also like to mention at this point that Trump was the president at the time of the 2020 election. When Obama was president, and when Biden was president, Trump won, and those elections were apparently free and fair... but when Trump himself was president, i.e. head of the executive branch of the government, it was by his own account rigged and rotten. What does that say about him as president?

Also note that Trump himself appointed Krebs as a trustworthy figure. For Trump to attack him now as the opposite is essentially an admission that he, Trump, is a terrible judge of character and has absolutely zero reliable expertise, either his own or hired from elsewhere, in any relevant sphere.

As for Trump "trying to stop the invasion in Ukraine" (interesting choice of words there, most people would have said "invasion of Ukraine"), he's "trying to stop" it the same way he "stopped" the war in Afghanistan: by surrendering. Unfortunately it doesn't seem to have dawned on him that since it's not the US army that's actually fighting this war, he doesn't get to give that order.

The White House page from the link describes accusations, as yet unproven, against Chris Krebs. The facts are that none of the people who physically counted votes in the 2020 presidential election where Biden was declared the winner, has come forward to claim that votes were rigged, miscounted or otherwise allege misconduct. Not one. In her book about her experiences in NAZI Germany, 'The Past is Myself', Charitable Bielenberg* describes her husband's experience observing the vote counting the numerous referenda on issues concerning the oppression of the Jews. All of the counters knew that the public was 99% against the NAZI legislation, but the result announced was 99% in favour. Now, that must have given the opposition great comfort, knowing that the NAZIs were hated by the vast majority of the German people.

You could claim that no one would dare to criticise the result while Biden was President, but now that Trump is President, there is nothing to stop any vote counter with evidence of impropriety in the 2020 election coming forward. No one has, we know this because the Trump supporting media (Fox News, for example) would be putting them on every broadcast, they would be literally world famous. And then there would be an avalanche of others confirming their statements. There are literally thousands of individuals who counted the votes. Their complete failure to criticise the result shows that the previous election was, as Mr Krebs stated, the most secure in American history.

The idea that every single one of the vote counters is either a conspirator or has been silenced in some way would imply a degree of coercive control and a conspiracy so powerful that Trump could never have won the 2024 election.

Learning to recognise when a conspiracy theory is nonsense, and not credible is something I would advise everyone to try. If you think that the 2020 election really was stolen from Trump, please look through my argument and explain why the thousands of vote counters who actually know what happened, and are now able to come forward without fear of retribution, have remained silent. (Because I really do want to know, but, being a mathematician, I am only interested in facts and reality, not allegations, suppositions or guesses.)

One other issue. The requirement by Trump is to comply with the presidential Executive Order 14149 of January 20, 2025 . It is generally considered that laws are not retroactive. I don't know about the USA, but Suspect that even President Trump cannot enforce retrospective orders, experts on the US constitution please advise.

I await your esteemed reply.

* My copy is pub by Corgi, ISBN 0-552-99065-5

D'Oh, for "Charitable Bielenberg", read "Christabel Bielenberg".

Curséd autocorrect.

@Eclectic Man

"The White House page from the link describes accusations, as yet unproven, against Chris Krebs."

Yes hence investigation.

"The facts are that none of the people who physically counted votes in the 2020 presidential election where Biden was declared the winner, has come forward to claim that votes were rigged, miscounted or otherwise allege misconduct."

But the 'magic votes' are a serious irregularity, An emergency session was called to confirm Biden without questions being on record (who placed those pipe bombs?) and since the 'interesting' 2020 election people actually observing and recording elections have found such interference leading to an election being disqualified AND in the 2025 election illegal votes were counted against a supreme court ruling causing a recount! AND Democrats have seriously opposed efforts to clean up the ballot lists. Maybe at the time this should have been taken more seriously.

"there is nothing to stop any vote counter with evidence of impropriety in the 2020 election coming forward."

There is a requirement of overwhelming evidence needed to get a judge to accept that. Such as evidence found since with people recording more due to the 2020 'miraculous Biden win'.

"Learning to recognise when a conspiracy theory is nonsense, and not credible is something I would advise everyone to try"

So back to Covid was natural, Bidens laptop was a lie, Steele dossier, etc. Recognise them. Go on.

"If you think that the 2020 election really was stolen from Trump"

I honestly dont know. I would like to think it was honest and fair but it gets harder as we actually have the very behaviour happening and only being seen beyond reasonable doubt because of the 2020 election. People found 2020 so beyond belief that they started recording and watching the very people trusted (or not) to carry out the election integrity.

"(Because I really do want to know, but, being a mathematician, I am only interested in facts and reality, not allegations, suppositions or guesses.)"

Factually we know that the state has been used as a weapon against Trump. Even having illegal votes counted in 2025 (senate seat) and a previous election rejected because of public worker misbehaviour!

"It is generally considered that laws are not retroactive"

Cool, but is acceptable to block and revoke his security clearance due to it. The new gov can choose not to work with him.

Have you not found gainful employment yet, @codejunky?

Each interview, he keeps boasting about his online presence, so someone looks it up - the result is inevitable.

But he's not worried, it is all just proof of the conspiracy against him, which thoughts sustain him in the dank of the basement.

Me: "there is nothing to stop any vote counter with evidence of impropriety in the 2020 election coming forward."

You: "There is a requirement of overwhelming evidence needed to get a judge to accept that."

I was not referring to getting Judge to accept anything, merely the fact that not one person who actually counted votes in the 2020 presidential election has come forward to allege in any way impropriety in that election. Not one. Yet you seem to accept the allegations without any supporting evidence at all (a link to what you claim to be the evidence reported by a reputable site please, I haven't found any. But maybe I'm not looking in the right places, your help is politely requested.)

You: "So back to Covid was natural, Bidens laptop was a lie, Steele dossier, etc. Recognise them. Go on."

Covid-19 was real, whether it was purely natural or partially generated in a Chinese laboratory, or natural and leaked from said laboratory (the city in question, Wuhan, does have a major virus research institution, so that is not beyond possibility), I have no idea. The answer to your issue with Covid-19 is only relevant if you consider that the disease that killed millions was designed as a weapon or not. The fact that literally hundreds of thousands of Americans died because Trump did not take it seriously is not conspiracy theory, and does matter.

I believe that Hunter Biden had a laptop, but that the failure to ensure a secure custody chain potentially invalidated any data thereon. Any competent lawyer could argue that without a clear and secure custody chain, the laptop could have been tampered with to implicate Hunter Biden in criminal activity. I worked briefly with the Digital Forensics Group at HMRC, they are sticklers for secure and provable custody chains.

Steele dossier: I have no idea, doesn't seems have had much effect.

Frankly I think you need to get out more, meet some people in real life who will tell you when you are being a twit and don't always just support whatever you say. And yes, I do mean face to face conversations where you and they are in the same place, not web sites like this.

"So why is it not bullying when this guy and others attacked Trump?"

Because "Trump evil!" is all these idiots know.

...it's undermining security

It might well be but as far as Trump is concerned that doesn't matter so long as it does not affect him.

As he said at the Oval on January 6th when they told him lots of his supporters would not go through the magnetometers as they were afraid that any weapons would be spotted, "They are not here to hurt me."

The man is a menace and a threat to the world.

It is merely there to 'encourage the others' to toe the line. The real damage is being done by seriously damaging the essential IT security infrastructure as described by The Register in https://www.theregister.com/2025/04/23/trump_us_security/ and the recent near closure of CVE.

Now, don't get me wrong, this is terrible for Mr Krebs, and it will be at best very difficult for him for at least the next 4 years, but it will serve very much as a warning to anyone who promotes reality that contradicts the Trump playbook. Trump has already done a great deal to silence the 'Global Warming' scientists, his attacks on Columbia and Harvard Universities is a serious attempt to stifle free speech. Defunding much of the USA's national science programmes and USAID is designed to silence any form of dissent, or, as most scientists call it 'evidence based decision making'.

Mr Krebs was just a prominent target who was a thorn in the side for speaking truth to the world. Anthony Fauci could well be next, even retirement may not spare him from Trump's ire.

Fauci disserves all the abuse anyone can throw at him. He BS'd the world, lied about what he knew, many times over, got called out by Rand Paul showing Fauci lied intentionally. Fauci is a piece of work on his own, nothing to do with any president or even China, he is just scum on his own.

As if he cared . . .

Maybe it's time to expand the investigations.....

Maybe its time the spineless republicans in congress began doing their job and reminding trumpty that its congress that sets, raises and lowers tariffs, not the president. and reminding him that the enemy aliens act can only be used at times of war and its congress that declares war and not the president.

But then what do I care? watching the US go down is certainly a popcorn moment... the end result will be Canada west coast/ Canada east coast, and the republic of Gilead

When they say they want to "expand the investigation" to target those who are speaking out against the Krebs investigation. Even if that investigation was 100% legit (hint, it isn't) that wouldn't justify investigating people who are calling it out. Should everyone who spoke out against the multiple criminal investigations into Trump have been "investigated" also, or are you a proper fascist who thinks only those who disagree with you should be targeted.

Because as a lot of people found out in Germany in the 1930s and Russia in the 2010s, even if you start out as part of the "in group" that's no guarantee you won't become a target later. Too bad Jeff Bezos didn't read his history books, or he might not have folded to Trump and kept with the plan to have Amazon tell people exactly how much the Trump tariffs are costing them. At least a lot of other places already are, so there's no way he can continue to fool his supporters into believing the ridiculous fantasy that other countries pay the tariffs instead of US consumers.