Those in the room later said the president-elect was only kidding.

Trump's technique is to say such outrageous things as part of his "stand-up" comedy routine. People think that he is joking and laugh accordingly. However, Trump is dead serious. His outrageous statements are trial balloons to see what type of feedback he gets. If he gets laughs he keeps on saying those things; in effect conditioning the public for what's to come.

Two years. If he hasn't achieved dictator status by then, the American public will be coming after him and republicans with shovels and pitch forks because he will have screwed things up so badly that even the most loyal of magats will be screaming for blood.

Trump has 2 years to transform the country into a state where "resistance is futile". If he doesn't achieve that state by then, he and his henchmen/women will be given the boot. And if tradition holds, the HOR will flip and Trump's final two years will be bogged down in investigation after investigation and probably multiple impeachments.

House Freedom Caucus members block bipartisan bill to expand some Social Security benefits

Actually, the provision that would have prevented people that didn't pay into the system from receiving benefits is a good thing. Why should non payers receive benefits? If anything, use those funds to secure the system for people that paid into it or increase the benefits for its beneficiaries or both.

Trump is only going to tolerate Musk for so long. As the richest man in the world, he is accustomed to doing things his way. So is Trump. There is bound to be fireworks. Then Trump will play the "I'll ruin you effing business card" and Musk will eventually back off. Putin's puppet will quickly learn how to manipulate oligarchs.

Trump to Launch Massive Attack Against Higher Education

His "poorly educated" followers won't even notice. I guess American companies will have to rely even more heavily on importing its highly skilled engineers, scientists and doctors.

After Trump's re-election, imagine parents having talks with their young sons: Son, if you want to grow up to be president, here's what you need to do: lie, grab girls by the p...y, cheat on your taxes, become a sexual predator, "rape" women, exploit the "poorly educated", demonize people of color, don't surround yourself with people smarter than you are, .....

To their daughters they say: you can never become president, don't aspire to be anything other than barefoot, pregnant and in the kitchen.

What a country! Meritocracy at its finest.

Democrats should thank Simena and Manchin

Nonsense. The filibuster is not likely to hold. It is best to get your "shots" in when you can. No such thing as a fair fight.

It is the stupid and evil magat scum that did it.
Focus your effort at them. they deserve the scorn heaped upon them.

Amen!

The problem with all of this Monday morning quarterbacking is the lack of details as to how to proceed! What specific policies should the dems have put/not put forward? Sure, it's easy enough to criticize from the 30,000 ft level but bring those criticisms down to the ground level and deal with the consequences of treating people as 2nd class citizens.

Buy American. Tariff problem solved.

That would work if American companies made equivalent products in sufficient number to meet the demand. The other problem is capitalism aka greed. Instead of using tariffs to gain market share, I suspect many American manufacturers would simply raise their prices thereby negating the impact of the tariffs.

It was how people perceive those things, which points to one overpowering answer. The answer is the right-wing media.

Exactly. Biden and the dems squandered his time in office by not having the media that is under the control of FCC re-enact the Fairness Doctrine.

I hope Smith issues a written report before the end of the year for the sake of the historical record, I think is important, beyond that I don't see anything happening with any of Trump's criminal cases.

A report is not enough. Indict the coconspirators. The American people need to know who did what. There will come a day of reckoning. That day will come when the people that voted for him realize that they have been "taken for a ride". At that point, Trump and all of his henchmen and women will face their retribution.

Mass Deportation Will Drive Food Prices Higher

You betcha. Elections have consequences.

Members of the GOP in immigrant-heavy states tried to reassure constituents that Trump is focused on dangerous criminals and not on "hardworking" immigrants.

Wishful thinking. That's not what Trump sold and is not what Trump voters bought.

There's also the possibility that Lewzer just won't do anything.

That is certainly a possibility because the primary reason for him running for office was to stay out of jail. I strongly suspect that MAGA conservatives will try to push him into following through on his promises but he will be able to easily resist because of his pardon power. Many of those MAGA conservatives are likely un-named Jan 6 coconspirators looking to curry favor in hope for a pardon. They are not going to push to hard because even though the Jan 6 case will be dropped by the Trump DOJ, as long as the statue of limitations hasn't run it's course, a follow on dem DOJ can re-instate it and go after those that haven't been pardoned.

Appeals to follow through on his promises for the sake of the party will also fall on deaf ears because Trump cares only for himself.

My biggest concern about the incoming Trump admin is in the area of foreign policy. With compliant congress critters hoping for a pardon, he will be able to get away with even more actions that will tank America's standing in the world.

Including the employers? As in, the real employers that hide behind the 3rd party contractors that provide them with cheap, undocumented labourers?

Exactly! Dollars to donuts these employers vote republicans and therefore, against their own financial/business best interests.

but the actual policies of the MAGA party are unpopular, even with many Republican voters.

Republican voters are going to have to learn that if you prefer democratic policies you will have to stop voting for republicans! Voters deserve to get the policies promoted by the candidates that they voted for. Vote MAGA, get MAGA policies.

Trump has said that he will pardon Jan 6 participants. It will be interesting to see if he gets any blowback if he pardons Jan 6 rioters that were convicted of assaulting police officers. If he doesn't pardon those that attacked the police, it will likely be regarded as having reneged on a promise.

Hey republicans! You took the WH, Senate and likely the HOR. Democrats will not be able to save you from the wrath of the people once you implement those MAGA policies. You will have to save yourselves. But don't worry, many (most?) Americans seem to have a very short memory.

I hope they don't. Let the Republicans have it all because we all know they can't lead.

I tend to agree with you. People that vote for Republicans need to understand just how bad at governing Republicans are. They also need to understand who it is that the Republican party really represents. Sure, they'll throw some crumbs to the working glass but the real benefits of their policies are directed toward the wealthy.

That the republican party favors the rich is old news; people should be aware of that by now. So, the question must be asked: why are working class people voting against their own economic self interests? Are they ill informed? Incapable of understanding why things are the way they are and who is truly responsible? Economic self interest is secondary to other issues? What I suspect is that their own "personal" economy is the yard stick by which they determine whether or not the economy is good or bad which is not a bad way of doing things. However, except for the stimulus checks to individual voters, which Trump cleverly put his name on, government economic policy is not directed at the individual (unless you're a billionaire).

The policies of democrats will eventually help the working class; eventually being the operative word. As a result, it will take quite some time for democratic policies to win back the working class. It may take the policies of back-to-back democratic control of the presidency and Congress to win back the bulk of working class people.

A Russian soldier has spoken of how North Korean troops deployed to fight against Ukraine endangered their own unit by shooting in the wrong direction

Maybe Kim Jong Un emptied his mental hospitals and prisons to send recruits to fight for Russia in Ukraine?

..he is simply not stable enough to sit in the Oval Office.

And, as bad as that is, there will be no one around him to say no!

Trump's cognitive decline, coupled with a cadre of "yes men" is a recipe for utter chaos! I refuse to believe that Americans will return that lying POS to the White House.

There is no problem with having more conservative writers: as long as they are rational, honest and factual. In fact, I would like to see the Post have progressive and conservative writers have "side by side" columns addressing the same topic. That way, readers could get a "real time" perspective of different sides of an issue.

The FCC should recognize it's role in allowing the spread of mis and dis information. Bring back the Fairness Doctrine or something equivalent. I would also like to see a broadcast channel exclusively for political ads. Running the ads would be FREE. The only caveat is that the ad must be truthful and display a scan code so that FCC staff and viewers can verify the truthfulness of and information sources used to produce the ad. This type of ad platform could become a catalyst for other platforms to deny running an ad unless it appeared on the FCC's Truth In Advertising (TIA) platform. Note: this will only be possible if Harris wins.

In either case, the former president* put Johnson on the hook for good.

IOW: if I'm going to jail, I am not going alone.

One of Trump's strength, is getting people to make a small transgression. Trump exploits those transgression and, the willing victim continues to transgress and next thing they know, they are all in. It's a little like fish nibbling at the bait. Next thing they know, they have swallowed the hook, line and sinker.

Trump is not going to win and will end up in prison. Eventually, all of his accomplices in Congress will join him.

"We walked right in," he said. "We didn't see any signs that, you know, said do not enter' or no trespassing.'

And the military is supposed to believe that they did not witness the events that led to the capitol building being "open"?

Marine... please!

Like currency, tech should be used to make it easy to identify counterfeit ballots; especially mail in ballots.

...whether BW knows Trump is a fascist and that is a huge part of the reason he supports him as he would a cult leader.

Interviews I have seen of MAGA supporters like the strong man image that Trump supposedly portrays. I interpret that such that MAGA supporters have given up on the democratic process. They have insufficient numbers of voters to install enough politicians to move the country in their preferred direction so they want an authoritarian to impose his will on the country. Unfortunately, the reporter asking the questions never follows up with something like: Since you want a strong man as leader, would you want Biden to be an authoritarian? Of course the answer would be no but it would show the MAGA supporter how much of a hypocritical, undemocratic person they really are.