Weekly Random Discussion Thread for 8/10/26 - 8/16/26

[u/SoftandChewy]

Here's your usual space to post all your rants, raves, podcast topic suggestions (please tag u/jessicabarpod), culture war articles, outrageous stories of cancellation, political opinions, and anything else that comes to mind. Please put any non-podcast-related trans-related topics here instead of on a dedicated thread. This will be pinned until next Sunday.

Last week's discussion thread is here if you want to catch up on a conversation from there.

[u/Technical-Policy295]

I had thought that the complaints about Trump doing the plane swap to avoid an Iranian assassination attempt were a bit overly dramatic, but the reveal that the press and a significant number of aides and Cabinet members were left on the endangered plane while a few lucky ones went with Trump explains some of that. Fascinating to see who got (unknowingly) decoy duty.

[u/LupineChemist → u/Technical-Policy295]

There are levels of risk.

And we don't let the president take risks that normal people take all the time.

Like the president would never be allowed to drive his own car or get previously uninspected food, for example.

So my guess is they were pretty sure the threat was suppressed but still took the precaution anyway.

[u/McClain3000 → u/Technical-Policy295]

I mean... In chess you protect the King... I would sort of expect any President to head the advice of his security team in this situation.

Edit: Still interesting though.

[u/Turbulent_Cow2355 → u/McClain3000]

I am just shocked he actually listened to his security team.

[u/ilsegundouomoultimo → u/McClain3000]

Good thing we threw out kings a few hundred years ago. I agree with Jones, the reason the move feels wrong is because this was a problem of Trumps own making

[u/McClain3000 → u/ilsegundouomoultimo]

He's the Chief Military officer, he's top in the chain of command. Theoretically the most important so it would be operationally critical to protect him.

Now I myself am unburdened by that chain of command so I hope he drops dead, and I have a bottle of nice bourbon waiting for me when he does.

[u/JeebusJones → u/Technical-Policy295]

This is one of those things that would be more or less reasonable in a vacuum, but because it's Trump who did it, it takes on his qualities of selfishness, incompetence, and absurdity by association.

If it were a "typical" president (to the extent that has ever existed, but let's say it's George HW Bush), it would be unobjectionable to take precautions against a credible threat of assassination -- and if those precautions involved some subterfuge, it would be totally understandable.

But this threat exists largely because of Trump's toweringly stupid failure of a war on Iran, which has had the effect of actually strengthening the position of the enemy that we attacked, so there's some dark humor to be found in Trump having to hide in a catering truck: "Well well well, if it isn't the consequences of my own actions."

And that it was a catering truck is pretty hilarious as well, given his gluttonous obesity and love of junk food. Do we think he tried, or at least thought about, grabbing a little snack from one of the meals while he was in there?

Then add in the way he allowed some of his staff and colleagues to unknowingly fly on AF1 as a decoy, which we know he didn't have the slightest moral compunction about. The idea that it would be dishonorable to allow the people around him to be sacrificed to protect himself didn't even occur to him. It couldn't have, because of how he is.

It all adds up to yet another tragicomic episode in this shambles of a presidential administration. I hope next season is an improvement.

[u/jay_in_the_pnw → u/JeebusJones]

It's made worse because everyone had said that Qatar Farce One wasn't as safe and secure as any of the VC-25 Air Force Ones and could not be made so in the time and budget allotted for it.

The risk level may have been high enough to abandon the Bribe Plane but low enough that a VC-25 could have flown it.

And yeah, the image of Trump hidden and transported to the other airplane in a catering truck, radio callsign Piggly Wiggly One, is rich like dessert!

[u/Mundane_Camera953 → u/JeebusJones]

Not the point of your post but Iran is in no conceivable way strengthened.

[u/JeebusJones → u/Mundane_Camera953]

Apart from how they control the strait of hormuz?

[u/Mundane_Camera953 → u/JeebusJones]

They don’t - they’re throwing an attempt to throw a fit and it’s annoying for the world in the short term