It's not even a belief. For the next two years, at least, he will have a friendly Congress that, even if some Republican lawmakers privately despair, will, out of political necessity, go along with him at least publicly (the Senate may have slightly more backbone, but I doubt that much). The Supreme Court has already tilted heavily towards the President's powers, and it's likely that Trump will have a chance to lurch the court rightward even more during his term.

He's not the first President to do that. The Imperial Presidency has been around since the Civil War, though at least Lincoln's expansion of Executive power and willingness to undermine or ignore his opponents in the other two branches was for a righteous cause. But Trump is the inevitable consequence of Congress deferring to the President, granting the office sweeping powers because Congress is so mired in gridlock and partisan bitching that they can barely be relied upon to get budgets through, even when one party controls both houses.

The great British constitutionalist Walter Bagehot, when comparing the Westminster and US systems in the mid-19th century, did a fairly good job of critiquing the US system, noting that what made it work was the "American genius for politics". But that genius has faded, and what you're left with was the vulnerability at the core of the system, that the Framers of the US Constitution, as brilliant as they were, lacking the kind of vision that was happening almost by accident back in Britain of an executive far more accountable to the legislative branch than the Presidency would ultimately be. Making the President an elected King was an error.

Other than for a few very brief exceptions, I'm not sure there has ever been a point in human history where we should have defined or morality and ethics by the behavior of our leaders. Trump is obviously an extreme example of a clearly corrupt and likely psychologically narcissistic individual, but as the old saying goes, all great men are necessarily bad men.

For myself, I'm just going to keep my head down, try to do the right thing and not make things worse by deciding that 2025-2029 is another bonfire of decency.

The US contribution was about $130 million, peanuts for China. I just hope that European countries step up and it's not just another way for China to take over the role as the major international player in these things.

China has been positioning itself as the reliable partner, the adult in the room, the stable global leader, for many years now. As the US gets more chaotic, and the EU was distracted by Brexit, they offered certainty and stability. In real life most businesses and most politicians looking to do trade deals and boost their own economies don't give a shit about all the anti-China propaganda and innuendo, they only care about what they can get out of that relationship.

The big reason the Democrats lost is because they are so utterly mediocre. Nothing was done on big issues like abortion rights or fixing SCOTUS. They just bumbled along for 4 years, complaining about how horrible the Republicans were being. The economy did okay but they failed to really promote that success, to the point where a lot of voters seemed to think it was better under Trump.

Mediocre centrists always result in the hard right getting into power. They break everything and hopefully get voted out before it's too late, replaced by more mediocrity and centrism. The cycle repeats endlessly.

No they didn't. This is a flat out lie.

If that is the case then we are completely screwed, because they all want our level of wealth.

Fortunately it isn't the case, you can be prosperous and emit far less than the average American. Even American is proving that as its emissions fall from the peak in the 1970s.

The world pissed on the US? Outside of the Soviet sphere the world made the US the most powerful nation that has ever existed.

Oh for fuck's sake, by the time anyone knew what was spreading, it was already in the United States. It might have bought a few weeks at most.

Fuck me, it's the 21st century. Are there still people who don't understand how fucking pathogens work? Six hundred years before aircraft were even a thing and most people didn't travel more than a fifty miles from where they were born, the Black Death made its way across Eurasia and North Africa in four years.

Because, of course, pathogens give a fuck about treaties.

You are aware, I hope, that Canute was trying to demonstrate that he, even a King, couldn't control the tides, because what I'm beginning to think is that Republicans actually believe they have magical powers capable of warping reality.

China will never reach US levels of per-capita emissions, because it is already at its peak.

It's true that some billionaires in the US drag the stats down for everyone else, but it's also true that your failure to deal with them is your responsibility.

As is electing them, and having them make the situation worse. There will be consequences, domestically and internationally, for your choice.

Stats aren't out yet, but it looks like China's emissions will stay about the same or fall for 2024. They are right at the peak of their curve.

China is far, far cleaner than the US, in terms of emissions per person, the only stat that allows for a reasonable comparison. They are better than Europe too.

This is a huge success and is working. It's also proof that vast amounts of renewables don't destabilize the grid or cause blackouts, and that massive grid scale batteries don't spontaneously explode. They can develop their economy not in spite of renewables, but because of them.

They may need to have different rules for EU and US users.

Nothing can save Twitter though.