panderers

[barnswallow]

From the Merriam Webster online dictionary app:
- intransitive verb

• : to act as a pander
  especially :to provide gratification for others' desires”

Pander is just another word for ‘kissing the ring’, ‘bending the knee,’ etcetera

What we’re advised NOT to do when dealing with bullies and wannabe dictators, say experts on authoritarianism/strongmen. Do not obey in advance is the maxim.

Here’s a place to list the panderers. And/or discuss.

Some examples? Where to start? Seems like a large number are jumping on the bandwagon and shouting, “Huzzah!”

Brief list from recent events: Christopher Wray, FBI Director (a role meant to be apolitical), soon to step down 3 years before his term ends because t0000 wants a reckless replacement to carry out vendettas. The upshot? Stepping down early enables t0000 and harms the office. Wray’s alternative? Stay in his position, forcing the issue. ABC / Disney / Stephanopoulos who yesterday caved in a defamation case, which they likely could have won, ’just because.’ It was a frivolous case, brought by t0000, based on semantics: whether t0000 ‘sexually assaulted’ vs ‘raped’ E. Jean Carroll. Stephanopoulos used the wrong word. ABC agreed to deposit $15m in an account designated for a future t0000 library. Bezos and Zuckerberg, each giving $1m towards t0000’s inauguration fund. Joe and Mika of Morning Joe jetting down to mar-a-lago to make nice. President Trudeau of Canada jetting down to mar-a-lago to make nice.

It’s trending.

 

[barnswallow]

Some people say we are just seeing an oligarchy emerge in the Executive position of the federal government, with t0000 at its apex. Some say it's emergent authoritarianism. Here's one from a proponent of the latter.

Capitulating to Trump, American Elites Follow a History of Autocratic Enabling that Doesn't End Well

Welcome back to Lucid.

open.substack.com

Capitulating to Trump, American Elites Follow a History of Autocratic Enabling that Doesn't End Well [Ruth Ben-Ghiat substack; 12.17.24]

What do you think?

 

[maplenpg]

Here in the UK we have the utter repulsive Nigel Farage, who has long claimed to be a good friend of Trump (without real evidence except the odd photo that they met), pandering not only to Trump, but also to Musk in the hope he can get his hands on a few hundred million £££. The sad truth is that the money of multi-billionaires can win elections nowadays, and so Farage is putty in Musk's hands.

Reform UK, who Farage leads, have made no secret of the fact they want to sell the NHS and implement a private healthcare insurance system, as per the US. This, I believe, is what has peaked Musk's interest. There's mega bucks to be made at the expense of the British people.

Farage’s photo with Musk and Nick Candy defines his Trump tribute act era

Eight years after an awkward ‘bad boys of Brexit’ snap at Trump Tower’s lift, Reform’s leader is a Mar-a-Lago insider

www.theguardian.com

 

[barnswallow]

Thanks, @maplenpg. I appreciate that P&B brings people together from around the world. I like hearing other perspectives. The t0000 tentacles are long. Add on the muskmelon, the grand enabler, and you’ve got a mix with serious clout.

I guess you heard about the murder of the UnitedHealth CEO in NYC, about a week or two ago. A fair amount of discussion has ensued about the state of health insurance in the U.S..

Today, I read an opinion piece from a former health exec about why he quit the business.

I Was a Health Insurance Executive. What I Saw Made Me Quit. [NYTimes;12.18.24]

I hope Britain saves itself from a health system like that.

I feel like I might have asked before, but you’re happy, overall, with Britain’s health system as it is currently, right?

 

[maplenpg]

Thanks, @maplenpg. I appreciate that P&B brings people together from around the world. I like hearing other perspectives. The t0000 tentacles are long. Add on the muskmelon, the grand enabler, and you’ve got a mix with serious clout.

I guess you heard about the murder of the UnitedHealth CEO in NYC, about a week or two ago. A fair amount of discussion has ensued about the state of health insurance in the U.S..

Today, I read an opinion piece from a former health exec about why he quit the business.

I Was a Health Insurance Executive. What I Saw Made Me Quit. [NYTimes;12.18.24]

I hope Britain saves itself from a health system like that.

I feel like I might have asked before, but you’re happy, overall, with Britain’s health system as it is currently, right?

A really interesting article, thank you for posting it. The very last (or nearby) sentence about shareholders profits mattering more than outcomes is the bit I guess that bothers me most. Every single public enterprise that has been privatised in Britain has become worse for it, and I have little doubt the NHS would follow suit.

Don't get me wrong. The NHS has many problems, and many people are disgruntled with it, but the fact remains that any UK citizen can get medical treatment without their financial situation being taken into account. Of course, there are some treatments that people still have to fund, for example IVF is a bit of a postcode lottery, but on the whole we don't have people being turned away, and we don't have people selling their livelihoods just to get treatment, and the fundamental starting point of the NHS, that it is free at the point of use, remains.

The NHS is undoubtedly Britain's most valuable asset, so it is unsurprising that billionaires are frothing at the mouth at the prospect of being able to exploit it. Where there's money to be made, there's someone willing to make it, even at the cost of other's lives.