I've noticed that the Russia/Ukraine war is still ongoing

You don't know for certain that more economic pressure won't sway Putin's approach vs Ukraine; particularly in light of the current Russian status. They're bleeding literally and figuratively. At the same time, I don't know that deeper sanctions will reverse their course, either. But they're in sort of a straightjacket over there right now. There's some negotiable logic behind the threats.

"Hiring based on Merit"  Tom says.   With a straight face, I presume.

So far

his IRS director has no college diploma or experience in taxes beyond a seminar.

His Defense Secretary has the same rank as Gomer Pyle and no experience running an organization with more than 100 people.   Nevermind his drinking and sexual assault history.

 a total of 19 people from FOX News have been awarded postions in his administration.....for their "merit"

And qualifying to be a Trump  ambassador to another country just means you have to be one of his family ...or dating someone from his family. 

I've never said that a President or political party has an impact on the markets, in fact, they have little to no long-term impact on markets. I was pointing out the hypocrisy of MAGA and the way MAGA quickly changes course on their so-called "strongly held beliefs", to make themselves feel proud of their worship of a conman.

During Trump's first term, MAGA followed the Trump line and crowed about how great the economy was, pointing to the stock market as a strong indicator of how successful Trump's economy was. Then spent the Biden administration either ignoring the strong market or when forced to, downplaying it, saying, "That it only helps the elites, and does nothing for the average Joe."

The only ethical or moral core that MAGA possesses is to make themselves feel proud of backing a traitor and conman, no matter what he does, or what the facts are.

Well, just this. (smh)

Well, now we know you not only drink in the Trump propaganda, but you also enjoy a good gulp of the Putin propaganda. 

Either way that it was started, Trump said he would solve it in 24 hours, the local MAGA forum members dutifully parroted that as a sure thing, and Trump failed.

Thanks for proving Trump's failure.

As a side note, I do find it really funny how MAGA always accuses everyone else of being ignorant, and that they are the only ones that know the real truth.

I think there are some quotes about that.

"The fool thinks himself to be wise, while a wise man knows himself to be a fool."

William Shakespeare

"Real knowledge is to know the extent of one’s ignorance"

Confucius

"One of the painful things about our time is that those who feel certainty are stupid, and those with any imagination and understanding are filled with doubt and indecision."

Bertrand Russell

I also noticed you didn't address the main topic of this thread, Trump's failure on the Russia/Ukraine war. Thanks for proving that he did indeed fail.

It pays to use the right chart.  It is now down $5 in the past week

https://www.cnbc.com/quotes/@CL.1

It's so common that it's a historical trope: economic pressure has no effect on a dictatorship. Why not? It's ineffective because any pain or hardship is passed on to the citizenry and never felt by the oligarchs.

Putin has painted himself into a corner, though, because to give up now would be to admit that the whole mess was a stupid idea in the first place. He would gain very little from that admission.

Oh, and Trump will/would have ZERO influence on Putin's decisions.

of course not, he'll negotiate.  all this commentary to the press is part of that.

Yeah?  Well..I think you might be wrong. But, we'll see. Economic pressure of this magnitude can affect anything.