I know A.I. can easily make video like this, it's just amazing that the President of the United States is passing it along:
ADDED: NPR is making a big play for the Althouse link with this headline: "Trump's social media video garners pushback from Arabs and Muslims in U.S. and Gaza."
Garner is a silly word, but "garners pushback" is a particularly bad combination. The idea of "garner" should be more about collecting and storing something that you want. The original meaning is a place to store grain. So it ought to be something that you want to amass for your benefit. Politicians are always "garnering" votes and endorsements. It shouldn't be something you don't want, like "pushback."
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80 comments:
So many feelings to consider!
The one guy eating fruit by the beach looks like an Arab Elon Musk.
I dig this video
Apparently there is no Sharia law in Trump Gaza
On Monday I said, "Trump's biggest political liability is himself. I've voted for the man thricely but I do not and never have underestimated his ability to shitpost when he shouldn't or suck the oxygen out of a room when he should listen. I think those moments are far far fewer than his enemies screech constantly about, but they happen."
This is one of those moments. Really terrible and really poor taste. I dislike that immensely, for a bunch of reasons, and I think a bunch of his supporters will as well. This is right up there with the superhero playing cards.
Bad optics and poor taste. Immature.
Gotta be able to sell your ideas without the filter of the legacy media. While the idea itself of the US taking control is a little on the nutty side, the Gaza is 25 miles of exceptional real estate that is currently a massive shithole. What’s wrong with showing what it could be?
- Krumhorn
RSM: we go to war against the administrative state with the army and leadership that we have, not the one we wish we had.
lmao — he couldn’t even AI himself an Ozempic body.
Next we should sell him the idea of Trump's Moscow.
He should start selling the gold mylar Trump head balloons! Those alone could pay off the debt.
JSM
Many may not be realizing that this is someone else's parody video, which Trump is judo-ing into a "why the hell not?" video. He doesn't care if it depicts him and Bibi as fat.
JSM
Life after Hamasidols.
Seems like totally normal politics (“I’ll make Gaza great again!”) jazzed up with some clever AI.
I briefly commented about this yesterday. It was created by a pro-Israel group (which is why Trump is on the beach with Bibi) and re-shared on Truth Social. I thought it was funny, but, as we also discussed yesterday, the comedy is very Boomer.
Remove Islam from Gaza,* and everything improves.
*And everywhere else.
Howard said, "RSM: we go to war against the administrative state with the army and leadership that we have, not the one we wish we had."
Trump's administration is the one I wished for, and still do. I just wish he wouldn't shitpost this stuff, regardless of who made it. My reasons are nuanced, and best summed up as "bad optics".
Quality of life improves without entertaining abortive ideation and DEI. Trump envisions a buffer zone where carbon is plentiful, water flows freely, humans are not sacrificed in ritual Choice, and the joy shared by men and women is equitable and inclusive.
Makes me want to go!
Salena Zito pointed out that lefties take Trump literally but not seriously. Normals take him seriously but not literally. Here he is provoking the world to get off its ass and do something about terrorist Gaza.
This a vision of the future after the Obama/Biden/Clinton AIDed ethnic Springs forced catastrophic anthropogenic climate change.
I guess he must be very open-minded, posting ridiculous self-satirizing videos like this, or just demented.
Oh, maybe it's just me not getting the 5th dimensional humor.
Wonder who the intended target audience is? The kids climbing through the bombed-out rubble to the paradise that lies beyond is potentially compelling, if you are one of those kids (or the parents of one of those kids, or one of the multitude of peaceful Gazans - MSM has assured me they are myriad - currently sifting through the remains of a bombed-out home for what little remains). As far as I can tell, there is not, and has never been, any kind of a vision of a bright future provided by Hamas to Gazans, should they actually prevail - why shouldn't Trump throw one out there?
RSM said: I dislike that immensely, for a bunch of reasons.
Why don't you give us your top three reasons.
Salena Zito pointed out that lefties take Trump literally but not seriously. Normals take him seriously but not literally. Here he is provoking the world to get off its ass and do something about terrorist Gaza.
Bingo!
- Krumhorn
The future resembles Jordan after the Palestinian terrorists were aborted and sequestered in the West Bank and Gaza. The before scenes resemble Libya, Sudan, Lebanon, Syria, Afghanistan, Ukraine, Egypt etc with US AID and empathetic partners in Iran, UN, Islamic State et al.
LMFAO! Love the bearded belly dancers. Love the giant gold Trump statue. Love that libtards are gonna be sooo fucking triggered... Oh, is this a mean tweet? Are there the usual "far-right" suspects boo-hooing because this is not "presidential"? Is this "Not Funny"? Go off and have a cry, pussies. Then come back when you can resign yourself to the fact that Trump is who he is, and that this kind of stuff makes us normies love him that much more.
RSM, during his first term, I sometimes cringed at his posts. I think he has been much better so far this time around. He understands the game much more clearly. I think we understand him much better now. He has terrific gifts that have reset how we see things. I think the optics of this are just fine.
- Krumhorn
Perhaps Trump is signaling to Netanyahu the possibilities.
some islamist terrorist said (something like):
"you value life, we value DEATH.. Therefore, WE will WIN!"
IF the Gazans continue to value DEATH over life.. They WILL die.
If, on the other hand; they decide to embrace LIFE..
LIFE is just waiting for them.. What's it gonna be Gazans?
What is More Important to you? LIFE? or DEATH?
Trump is all about moving the Overton Window as far as he can. Before Trump no one could imagine a Gaza that was anything other than a hellhole of terrorism. Now, at least there's a different vision for people to hope for and work toward.
RSM says “More HAMAS!” And won’t articulate the reasons!
My view: HAMAS, by making hostages of women, children, and babies, and killing them brutally by hand, has shown me that they must be removed from Gaza, by all means necessary to accomplish the task. Imagine being an Israeli and having to live next to these low-lifes and being in constant fear of continuing terrorism. The people who currently live in Gaza have clearly demonstrated that they need to be relocated, and no one will take them. I wonder why? RSM, please support your position, if you can.
Israel was a partner in rehabilitating the West Bank under Fatah. Repeating the performance in Gaza will probably require a revisitation of a Hamas-adjacent community throwing them off the building and confronting the terrorists within.
I concluded that Trump is truly brilliant and he always has deeper motifs when publishing things like this. An example: In the past, I was horrified with his "horse face" comment -- why would someone of his stature respond like that to a... well... any woman? Horrible, isn't it?
Then, I thought a bit -- and he needed a diversion. Unless he does this, and allows himself to be attacked as a crude, horrible man, he will be laughed at for what was her initial claim (small...) and who wants a leader thought of having a small...
Similarly here, first thought is "does he not see the impact on Arabs and people worried about civilian deaths?" But then he absorbs it as obviously darkly humorous, as opposite of how it will work (Witkoff discussed details, that are much better sounding). If he does not do it, it will be accepted and pushed by his less humorous followers as the close-to-real thing, it will become a meme like "seeing Russia from my..." statement.
Additional benefit: Once he did it, any discussion of post-Hamas Gaza starts with a laughter, and serious statements that come afterwards all sound as something that is worth discussing. So, it is also a diversion from the current starting point -- horrible destruction, with a lot of collateral damage (I am using this term to avoid debating people over how justified it is to murder 100 civilians to kill one really bad guy).
RSM: That's a nice thought, but if Trump were more measured and careful, there is no way he would be in a position to change the United States and the world. I can't believe I'm having to tell you this as someone who never voted for Trump. It is this ridiculous ostentatiousness of shattering the Overton window over and over again that is his superpower.
Maynard said, "Why don't you give us your top three reasons."
#1 - Messianic overtones that were intended to be a cheeky or self-deprecating self-jab at his larger-than-life ego but won't go over that way, especially not for huge portions of the world's audience. It 'jumps the shark' by being excessively grandiose..he's not a candidate anymore, he's the President, it's unnecessary. Furthermore, there is a small minority of his supporters which do in fact consider him 'sent by god' and to be a sort of messiah, something that is extremely off-putting and shouldn't be encouraged.
#2 The War in Gaza and larger ME is by no means concluded. Not by a long shot. This flight of fancy is ultra-premature, and regardless of what you care about Gazans (I care very little), the rest of the muslim world - many of whom are attempting to assist us in other foreign policy matters, specifically Ukraine (Saudi Arabia) - will not find this amusing. Trump is a billionaire 6,000 miles away talking about a development project in a region where there are sovereign trillionaires less than 500 miles away. I personally don't care much for the muslim world, but most that see this will take it as an insult when we have bigger fish to fry. It's deliberately tone deaf and provocatory when it need not be.
#3 The Trump/USA/Israel relationship. I don't really think this needs to be elaborated, suffice to say that a non-trivial cohort of Americans, conservatives, and Trump supporters are growing less and less enthusiastic about aspects of this country's relationship with Israel, myself among them. I have said repeatedly that I dislike everyone in that region, and I'm extremely non-plussed by Israel's frenemish behavior towards this country over multiple decades. This lends credence to an idea that Trump is in some sort of freakishly self-serving real estate redevelopment agreement with Israel (one of the richest countries in the world per capita) over a piece of territory they hate, have always wanted resolved, and just razed to the ground. The optics subtley suggest conflicts of interest where there should be sovereign recusal and tycoonish alliances that don't put America first
America comes first. Israel and the world comes second...or sometimes not at all.
I'm with RSM on this. Partly. At first glance it just another instance of Trump stepping on his own dick again. But, we wouldn't be where we are without Trump's brashness. I've learned that when he does something like this that I think is detrimental to what he is trying to achieve and I wait 6 months to a year it turns out "Oh, I get it now." While I don't see Gaza turning into the French Riviera anytime soon, it makes people think about a different way forward. Trump is very, very good at that. Promise the moon. Lets make a deal. I wish him the very best. We'll see I guess, but I think Gaza is a lost cause.
I'm sure there's pushback. But after October. 7, then again after the parade of fawning Hamas supporters over the bodies of the dead Bibas babies, it's clear who Israelis are dealing with. I like Trump's concept. Even if it's done by some other party (say...a consortium of Arab funders) it's the only way there will be peace.
Palestinians don't want peace. They want dead Jews. It's hard to call this anything other than what it is.
Again- Trump's delivery strikes people as harsh, but what he's pointing out is what has to happen.
I found the video amusing. I think it is important that we be able to laugh at ourselves. I have consistently found that progressives are unable to laugh at themselves.
Curiously just this morning I read a passage in a German novel about the devil buying the entrancing laugh of a young boy. The devil makes the astounding discovery that he can now laugh at himself and that this gives him power over himself. Rather than becoming enraged when he is outsmarted by one of his victims, he can admire the cleverness of the victor and laugh at his own defeat. One of the themes of the book is that laughter is one of the abilities that distinguishes humans from animals.
My sister and I frequently exchange memes that poke fun at Trump and his policies and I am sure that my Trump-hating siblings and friends would 1) not get the humor and 2) not understand why we enjoy such memes.
I never see similar memes poking fun at progressive politicians from my progressive friends. The memes they circulate are mean-spirited or just repeat the Democratic talking points with no attempt at humor.
This is what Chat says abut "garner"
Is It Really Better Than “Get”?
In many instances, “get” is simpler and clearer, which is especially important in journalistic writing. Overuse of “garner” can sound stuffy or contrived. However, if a journalist is trying to emphasize the process of accumulating something (like votes, praise, or interest), they might argue “garner” implies a slow build or an active collecting effort, whereas “get” can feel instantaneous.
That said, if you find “garner” needlessly grandiose or clunky in a given sentence—and clarity is your goal—then “get,” “win,” or “collect” are often better, leaner choices. Good editors and journalists will usually choose whichever word best matches the intended tone and meaning.
I would have gone with "is met with pushback" myself.
I like the old, "Why use a five-dollar word when a five-cent one would do?"
Which one is more absurd, Trump's sh*tposting of some sophomoric A.I. video or Hamas joyfully celebrating the release of hostage corpses? You decide; for me, judging from those cheering crowds, the Palestinians are reaping their rewards all over again.
I've found that Trump is never happy unless he's f*cking with his enemies, who have not yet figured out that when he puts out something stupid, the level of stupidity with their outrage invariably makes them look even worse than him. Their arguments are helplessly confined.
Consider the possibility that Trump's entire foreign policy is trolling. He da master.
Trump Gaza: Mossad op? Anyway, the video is funny in several ways, including the very fact that DJT posts it. The absurdity of the imagery exposes the even greater absurdity of Hamas' inhumanity and Gaza's murderous misery.
https://www.wsj.com/video/series/on-the-news/how-hamas-used-hostage-releases-as-psychological-warfare/5F7036F6-044B-4A14-BEF6-30C6FF29329D?mod=hp_lista_pos1
I agree with Real American that Trump is all about moving the Overton window as fast as possible. I further elaborate that this AI generated video is Trump once again asserting his mental domination of the totalitarian leftist collective. He must be literally living inside their OODA loop, nanosecond to nanosecond. Lastly, the antisemitic activity that happened at Barnard this week hasn’t escaped the Trump administration attention, stand by for some heavy artillery.
"We could, if you want, make Gaza sane, peaceful and prosperous. Just sign here."
"No! We prefer war, strife, misery! We must destroy Israel - nothing else in life matters!" (SPIT)
"So just to be clear - you don't WANT a good life."
"No! It makes us soft! It makes us... wait. Those dancers. Um... really?"
"You'll have to give up on the murderous ideation against Israel though..."
"... tough choice... let me think on it."
Imagine what Gaza could be if they had focused their efforts on development instead of war. Someone should do a video of that alternate world.
Hi. RSM - Israel is actually a moderately poor country. As with every country there are wealthy people but most are right in the middle of middle class at best. There is a lot of poverty. It's a very expensive place to live and it's very hard to make money there.
As regards our support of Israel there is an enormous number of people in that area that want to kill as many Americans as they can. Israel is the one and only bastion or island of Western democratic values in the area and one of a very small number of powers actively supporting Western democracy and freedom and fighting radical Islam. Europe is certainly not in that club.
It seems to me that America's power should support American values. American values are those of Western democracy and Judeo-Christian values. If the entire world were to unify against us America would have a very difficult time. It is imperative for those of us who support Western Civilization and Judeo-Christian values then to aid and support those values where feasible to do so. That means supporting Israel, exactly as it does looking at China-Taiwan to support Taiwan and India-Pakistan to support India. In all of the world's large conflicts we have one side that more-or-less supports Western Civilization and one that explicitly and violently fights for its destruction. Our side might not always be completely on the side of angels but the other side explicitly works to destroy Western Civilization and Judeo-Christian values. In that case it is important for every good man to support good and fight evil, and so of course every good nation.
A wicked piece of satire that depicts Trump as the Golden Calf, a symbol of idolatry and polytheism to Jews and Muslims alike. Trump dances with the Whore of Babylon while bearded terrorists wearing green Hamas headbands disguise themselves as belly dances, and anti-semitic all-about-the-Benjamins tropes rain down from the skies.
The best satire is undetectable by those it mocks.
Don’t forget that HAMAS is a client state of Iran. As is Hezbollah. Anyone in favor of allowing Iran to develop nuclear weapons? And remember that Iran is attempting to assassinate President Trump. Anyone mention that we must put America first?
Gaza will be a shithole as long as it is full of Palestinians. The entirety of the southern and eastern shores of the Mediterrean could all look like the northern shores. Geography was never the problem- the problem is the people and the culture that live there. But don't fret- within a hundred years the northern shore will be just as much of a shithole.
That is some Intergalactic level shitposting, there.
So there's pushback. So what? There's pushback on absolutely everything any politician did ever.
I really despise that sort of reporting. And the people that do it. Is that pushback?
With Trump it’s always about the negotiation. For the last 60 years, the starting point was how much would the US and Israel give up for peace. Trump has moved the initial point to who will be in Gaza after the negotiations and how much must the Arabs give up to remain.
I have consistently found that progressives are unable to laugh at themselves.
Or laugh at all, really. Every progressive I meet is as serious as a heart attack, and almost as pleasant.
Looks good to me. Certainly better than a Palestinian State—i.e. yet another Islamist shithole that produces nothing but murderers and refugees. We’ve got enough of those. Palestinians who don’t like it can be relocated to the bottom of the Med.
"As regards our support of Israel there is an enormous number of people in that area that want to kill as many Americans as they can."
Gee, I wonder why that is. What do they have against a nation on the far side of the Earth?
Oh, wait. Are you talking about the Israeli pilots who tried to sink the USS Liberty?
It's deliberately tone deaf and provocatory when it need not be.
I think it's a page out of the Art of the Deal. Nobody seriously believes that Trump wants the US to have any part of the reconstruction of the Gaza, but he really has to bitchslap those Saudi and Omani sheiks who openly hold hands while walking down Western European streets. Like you, I don't give a sloppy bowl movement for the Gazans, but something has to change. Something big.
- Krumhorn
Sloppy bowl movement? I must have spilled my cereal.
- Krumhorn
A parody of "Trump the baby blimp". Perhaps the second... third state solution is Kosovo in Europe.
James "Garner" was an amiable TV and movie star.
Garner garnered garnets by the sea shore.
My sister and I frequently exchange memes that poke fun at Trump and his policies and I am sure that my Trump-hating siblings and friends would 1) not get the humor and 2) not understand why we enjoy such memes.
And 3) Find some way to be offended by them.
Life there now is cheap. They need new management. Perhaps this suggests some alternative use for concrete?
Trump is like the old honey badger meme, he don’t give a shit. Unlike every other politician he has no ego. He just acts like he does.
Being rich he is immune to Beidenlike kleptogovernment, what does he say when the Chinese want to buy him for $5mm? If Trump saw $5mm sitting on the sidewalk he would not bother to stoop down and pick it up, it has no utility for him.
The democrats are going to fill their subservient media with as much anti Trump fantization as there are hours in the day. Trump can put out whatever he wants and the information sphere is not disturbed one bit.
Remember when Trump had a video for Little Rocket Man showing him what NK could be if they de-nuclearized and allied themselves with the US?
Of course it was never Little Rocket Man's call, it was Xi's.
Gilbar asked "What's it gonna be Gazans?
What is More Important to you? LIFE? or DEATH?"
Sadly, I'm pretty sure I know the answer to this question.
Keith said, "American values are those of Western democracy and Judeo-Christian values."
I do not know what "Judeo-Christian" values are, am not interested in them, and will continue to belabor that Israel is not the friend to the United States people think it is and the relationship between our two countries is not one of equals. It is a give-and-take relationship, and Israel does most of the taking.
Israel is not America's wife, and America needs to reconsider Israel's 'allowance' and its joint credit card accounts.
Good use of the term "mindbending," Althouse.
I think Howard and Real American got it right.
Krumhorn said, "I think it's a page out of the Art of the Deal. Nobody seriously believes that Trump wants the US to have any part of the reconstruction of the Gaza, but he really has to bitchslap those Saudi and Omani sheiks who openly hold hands while walking down Western European streets. Like you, I don't give a sloppy bowl movement for the Gazans, but something has to change. Something big."
Not saying you're wrong. This is, for lack of a better term, a 'meme' and memes are somewhat art-adjacent, and therefore a matter of personal taste. Lots of people like this. I consider it gauche. I'm sure I'll probably love the next meme Trump retweets.
If the Gaza Riviera were do-able, it would have been done by now.
You can "earn" all sorts of things that you don't really want.
Same thing with "garnering."
Trump replacing US AID for billions less?
I'm not certain about this video, it may be trying to push the Overton window or start out with perceived catastrophic outcome for the Palestinians so it can be used as a emotional bargaining point to start from, but I think Trump actually does frequently set out to garner pushback. I think he is aware of situations where the Left will pushback against an intentionally inflammatory remark or position from Trump and wind up looking bad to key demographics. The Left's pushback against most trans-related issues Trump puts forth usually winds up hurting the Left.
What's it gonna be Gazans?
What is More Important to you? LIFE? or DEATH?
I think the answer depends heavily on whose life or death we are talking about - Jews? Average Palestinians whom Hamas hides behind? Anyone one level down in the Hamas chain-of-command?
God I love that.
Interesting takes from RSM. I think the problem is the Likud-fundamentalist complex.
"We're going to build the most luxurious and popular Riviera right in downtown Gaza, like nobody has ever seen before, and we're going to get Hamas to pay for it"
"You can "earn" all sorts of things that you don't really want."
You can also "receive" things that you didn't earn. I'm think about statements like "Joy Reid earns three million dollars a year".
https://nypost.com/2025/02/27/us-news/gallup-survey-finds-60-of-democrats-are-anti-israel/
Howard said, "Interesting takes from RSM."
I can be harsh but I like to think I'm fair. As much as is pragmatically possible, I want America politically, militarily, and economically dissociated from that disgusting dust-filled blood-soaked sandbox trying to pass itself off as a multi-millennial source of all that is culturally good. I and millions of others want absolutely no more part of it or its peoples, they will still be murdering each other when we have colonies on Pluto.
If I had the codes I'd glass the place.
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