back to article Trump admin's purge of US cyber advisory boards was 'foolish,' says ex-Navy admiral

Gutting the Cyber Safety Review Board as it was probing how China's Salt Typhoon breached American government and telecommunications networks was "foolish" and "bad for national security," says retired US Navy Rear Admiral Mark Montgomery. Last week, two days after President Donald Trump returned to the White House, Montgomery …

  1. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    So Putin's presidential candidate

    Was working for China all along?

    1. DS999 Silver badge

      Re: So Putin's presidential candidate

      No Trump just doesn't care about cyber security. He'll blame everything on Biden regardless of what they find, and won't have appointees competent enough to make any of its recommendations happen so it probably doesn't matter that they were disbanded.

      He likes to talk about things that average person can understand (including an average (and I'm being charitable) intellect like his) so he talks about building an "Iron Dome" for the US like Israel's. It'll be Reagan's Star Wars all over again. Long on promises, short on results, but lots and lots of pork laden cost plus contracts to hand out to those who bribe him sufficiently.

      1. Gary Stewart Silver badge

        Re: So Putin's presidential candidate

        "He'll blame everything on Biden regardless of what they find"

        And DEI and trans and socialist/Marxist/communist and liberals. depending on the minute at hand. He's already blamed DEI for the airliner helicopter crash. The rest can't be far behind.

        1. Yet Another Anonymous coward Silver badge

          Re: So Putin's presidential candidate

          Well networks do use transceivers

          1. TimMaher Silver badge
            Coat

            Re: transceivers

            And some people like full duplex.

        2. This post has been deleted by its author

        3. NoneSuch Silver badge
          Go

          Re: So Putin's presidential candidate

          "‘No one was kicked off the NTSB in the middle of investigating a crash’"

          Yet.

          1. Yet Another Anonymous coward Silver badge

            Re: So Putin's presidential candidate

            She was put in by Trump 1.0 so you have to assume she is criminally incompetent. On the other hand she has questioned the necessity of deaths from Tesla self-driving cars so she might be an enemy of Elon all right-thinking people

            1. DS999 Silver badge

              Re: So Putin's presidential candidate

              For every Kash Patel in Trump 1.0's cabinet there were 10 John Boltons. Now I disagree with a lot of what Bolton stands for but no one could doubt his qualifications for the role he was in. The difference is in Trump 2.0's cabinet there are 10 Kash Patels for every Marco Rubio. Who again, I disagree with a lot of what he stands for but no one can doubt his qualification to be Secretary of State.

              Trump is threatened by competent people who in a role they are fully qualified for, because they might say or do something he doesn't like. Worse, they might criticize or correct him when he's wrong. Incompetent people appointed to a role they are wholly unqualified for on the other hand know the only reason they are in such an important position is due to Trump, and thus will agree with / go along with whatever Trump says regardless of how insanely stupid it is. They'll never contradict him because they aren't any more knowledgeable about national security, military, health, cybersecurity etc. etc. than he is (which is hard to find, given that he knows almost nothing about any of those subjects) so they have no basis for thinking anything he says or does is wrong.

              1. Yet Another Anonymous coward Silver badge

                Re: So Putin's presidential candidate

                Yes sorry, the sarcasm wasn't quite as obvious as usual, she is obviously qualified

                I think a lot of real people slipped through under Trump 1.0. They won't be making that mistake again, not now there are so many Fox newsreaders and pillow salesmen available for cabinet positions

              2. ReggieRegReg

                Re: So Putin's presidential candidate

                If Trump is threatened by competent people - how do you explain Vance? Thrice as bright and a hundred times more articulate than Trump.

                1. DS999 Silver badge

                  Re: So Putin's presidential candidate

                  Vance is a robot remotely operated by Peter Thiel. That's why he's in that position.

                  He's also entirely devoid of charisma, just like Pence. I think that's the most important quality Trump sees in a VP - because he can't fire the VP he wants to make sure it is someone who won't steal even a single microlumen of the spotlight from himself.

                  For everyone else, they know if they start getting too much attention he'll can them and start talking them down so that threat keeps them in line (except for Musk, who craves the limelight every bit as much as Trump but probably has a higher bar to meet before getting cut because Trump likes the feeling of having the world's richest man in his pocket)

                  1. jake Silver badge

                    Re: So Putin's presidential candidate

                    Actually, Pence, and now Vance, are buffers from assassination ... Nobody in their right mind would delete trump when the only alternative allowed by law is one of those nutters.

                    1. DS999 Silver badge

                      Re: So Putin's presidential candidate

                      Nobody thinks Vance would be worse than Trump. Nobody.

                2. Anonymous Coward
                  Anonymous Coward

                  ReggieRegReg

                  joined 31 Jan 2025

                  'Nuff said?

        4. Benegesserict Cumbersomberbatch Silver badge

          Narcissism 101

          Blaming Biden or Obama is just standard operating procedure.

          He won't dick with the NTSB because he rides in planes all the time. He won't care about cyber security because other people use computers. Suckers, who work for a living.

      2. Anonymous Coward
        Anonymous Coward

        Re: So Putin's presidential candidate

        Never forget that Donnie doesn't do details. Remember his Pentagon briefings? A single page, one side only, with pretty charts and graphs - a bulleted list at best. All these orders he signed were out of Project 2025. He may have been given a more, or less, accurate overview before signing, maybe not. He didn't have a clue about the details or consequences, and won't care about any of it unless it blows up in his face. (It's obvious now, that the authors of the orders didn't know or care about details either.)

        The revenge orders are the only ones he cares about and pays attention to.

        1. Dewlap

          Re: So Putin's presidential candidate

          It's become increasingly obvious that most of the XOs are for show - to appeal to the base, to make the "libs" scream and pull hair because their buttons have been pushed, and to overload the media with click-bait headline material so that they ignore the really important things going on.

          Right now, the things being done by President Elon, mostly out of sight, are what's really important. Implementing an Orban-style coup by taking control of funding and the personnel system. Taking the power of the purse away from Congress would have provoked immediate action in the past. Same for claiming to have shut down an independent agency that operates under Congressional authority (USAID). Today - the Dems are still in shock from the election, and the GOP isn't lifting a finger to stop it. The unitary presidency is being created before our eyes.

    2. ReggieRegReg

      Re: So Putin's presidential candidate

      51 ex-Feds signed a letter which we now know was disinformation (at best!) about something they KNEW to be true - the sort of crap Trump is falsely accused of all the time and yet you still expect him to have confidence in the installed deep state to not be working against him? I'd be sacking people left/right and centre too - they ARE out to get him - if this isn't blindingly obvious by now then you have your eyes shut. Just as federal sharp shooters failed to see a man in plain sight on the only rooftop for miles armed with a long rifle! The past 6 years has proven beyond doubt that the globalist deep state exists and that Trump is a threat to it. This is 100% why DeepSeek has suddenly appeared – they want to ruin the economy before Trump gets a chance to put his anti-globalist measures in place – the US economy, recession, your future and US investments mean nothing to these people – they have bigger fish to fry – it’s not about money – they can print all the money they want. It’s about power and control, they are so blinded by their power they think they own the CCP - and that’s the real threat. China is playing along and playing the long game.

  2. Tron Silver badge

    Is 'learnings' a word?

    Presumably from the people that gave us 'harms'.

    1. navarac Silver badge

      Re: Is 'learnings' a word?

      Bastardisation of the English language by a foreign country (US in this case).

      1. Blazde Silver badge

        Re: Is 'learnings' a word?

        Bastardisations of the English language

        (If you can't beat em join em)

        1. Eclectic Man Silver badge

          Re: Is 'learnings' a word?

          Languages evolve, new words are created, old words get new usages, some go 'out of fashion'. Shakespeare introduced us to 'Schoolboy', 'bedroom', 'eyeball' etc.

          https://www.shakespeare.org.uk/explore-shakespeare/shakespedia/shakespeares-words/

          As an old codger, I suspect that I resent the new usages ('invite' instead of the correct 'invitation' etc.).

          One cannot stand in the way of progress, but in some cases one can watch it go past with a sigh as it leaves you behind.

          1. ChrisElvidge Silver badge

            Re: Is 'learnings' a word?

            Schoolboy bedroom eyeball porn?

          2. Doctor Syntax Silver badge

            Re: Is 'learnings' a word?

            I fail to understand why people so often need to envision things that could easily be envisaged. And, of course, a gift is a noun, that which is given so there is no need for it to serve dual purpose as a verb.

        2. jake Silver badge

          Re: Is 'learnings' a word?

          How about "bastardizations of the language of the English"?

          These bastardizations are spoken in place like Yorkshire, Cornwall, Liverpool, Manchester, London, Teeside, etc.

          Note the proper use of the Z ... none of that French ise shit here.

          1. Blazde Silver badge

            Re: Is 'learnings' a word?

            Bastardeiddio o'r Brittonic, erbyn Saxon a Norman llysnafedd!

        3. TimMaher Silver badge
          Gimp

          Re: ‘join em’

          And then beat them.

      2. jake Silver badge

        Re: Is 'learnings' a word?

        One wonders how many of the people who complain about the bastardization of English realize what percentage of the language has been borrowed from other languages over the years.

        Hint: Only about 30% is derived from Old English[0], the rest are bastardized loanwords, mostly French and Latin.

        [0] And of course Old English itself was mostly Old Frisian mixed with Old Saxon and a smattering of Old Norse.

        1. Nick Ryan

          Re: Is 'learnings' a word?

          Well the history of the British Isles can be summarised as:

          • Invaders come over and settle and before they know it, find that they have become natives.
          • Invaders come over and settle and before they know it, find that they have become natives.
          • Invaders come over and settle and before they know it, find that they have become natives.
          • Invaders come over and settle and before they know it, find that they have become natives.
          • Invaders come over and settle and before they know it, find that they have become natives.
          • Invaders come over and settle and before they know it, find that they have become natives.
          This makes for quite a mix, in particularly regionally. Also the inhabitants of the British Isles have traditionally been quite an unruly lot and prone to invading each other's locations and moving around, swapping between islands and regions as they can. This makes for quite a lot of regional dialects and accents and some interesting genetic studies

          1. Doctor Syntax Silver badge

            Re: Is 'learnings' a word?

            You could also include

            Invaders come over here, settle, eventually say "everything's your problem now" and leave to continue their quarrelling back where they cam from.

            What did the Romans do for us?

            1. Jaybus

              Re: Is 'learnings' a word?

              "What did the Romans do for us?"

              Oh, you know, paved roads, bridges, aqueducts, written law, grapes, apples, figs, chickens, sewage systems, indoor plumbing, central heating......just trifles.

              1. John Brown (no body) Silver badge

                Re: Is 'learnings' a word?

                I'm not sure they brought trifles with them! That seems to more of a mid-18th century thing :-)

                1. jake Silver badge

                  Re: Is 'learnings' a word?

                  "[trifle] seems to more of a mid-18th century thing"

                  Shirley sweet glop on a plate goes back to before the Early Dynastic Period of Egypt?

                  1. John Brown (no body) Silver badge

                    Re: Is 'learnings' a word?

                    It probably does, but trifle is a more specific combination and arrangement of sweet glop ina bowl or glass :-)

                    Did you never have trifle when you lived on the right side of the pond?

                    1. jake Silver badge

                      Re: Is 'learnings' a word?

                      "trifle is a more specific combination and arrangement"

                      I hear you ... but is it? Is it, really?

                      https://duckduckgo.com/?t=ffab&q=trifle&iax=images&ia=images

                      Yes, I have made, and have been served trifle many times in Blighty ... and made/had it here long before my family started traveling when I were a nipper. In all that time, no two trifles have been identical.

                      1. John Brown (no body) Silver badge

                        Re: Is 'learnings' a word?

                        "In all that time, no two trifles have been identical."

                        LOL, so true. Unless you buy a Birds "ingredients in a box" mix kits :-)

              2. jake Silver badge

                Re: Is 'learnings' a word?

                "Oh, you know, paved roads, bridges, aqueducts, written law, grapes, apples, figs, chickens, sewage systems, indoor plumbing, central heating......just trifles."

                The Romans stole pretty much all of that from the Greeks.

          2. ReggieRegReg

            Re: Is 'learnings' a word?

            However genetic studies show that British citizens as of <1948 stock shared a 75% common ancestry ooing back thousands of years - even the Romans only left a single digit genetic footprint - similarly the Normans tended to breed amongst themselves. One of, if not the most genetically homologous groups in the whole of Europe.

            1. Yet Another Anonymous coward Silver badge

              Re: Is 'learnings' a word?

              So no raping and pillaging ? Just pillaging

            2. Hubert Cumberdale Silver badge

              Re: Is 'learnings' a word?

              "...studies show..."[citation needed]

              I do wish people wouldn't just assert stuff without any indication of a source. Without an actual citation, that phrasing is almost guaranteed to make me assume you just made it up.

              1. jake Silver badge

                Re: Is 'learnings' a word?

                "I do wish people wouldn't just assert stuff without any indication of a source."

                Especially politicians. Make it a law that if you are caught in a lie more than twice in a day, or five times in any given 7 day period, you are no longer eligible for political office at any level.

        2. ChodeMonkey Bronze badge
          Headmaster

          Re: Is 'learnings' a word?

          You should their faces when informed about Hindi words used in English.

        3. gryphon

          Re: Is 'learnings' a word?

          And the inevitable Terry Pratchett quotation.

          English doesn’t borrow from other languages. English follows other languages down dark alleys, knocks them over and goes through their pockets for loose grammar.

          GNUTerryPratchett

          1. Yet Another Anonymous coward Silver badge

            Re: Is 'learnings' a word?

            Actually James Nicoll

    2. Mitoo Bobsworth

      Re: Is 'learnings' a word?

      Not according to George W. Bush, who once famously said "Rarely is the question asked: Is our children learning?"

      1. Gary Stewart Silver badge

        Re: Is 'learnings' a word?

        Right up there with "Fool me once, shame on...shame on you. Fool me...you can't get fooled again". Has anybody else noticed the long running trend of Republican Presidents being dummies, as in not too bright and easily manipulated.

        1. Blazde Silver badge

          Re: Is 'learnings' a word?

          I'd take funny clown over angry clown any day, I miss Dubya.

        2. Yet Another Anonymous coward Silver badge

          Re: Is 'learnings' a word?

          To be fair on the shrub, he wasn't that dumb - he just realised that playing dumb gets you elected by Republicans (if only we knew)

          I suspect he saw the phrase "shame on me" heading toward him and realised the chance of it becoming a meme-clip and tried a hurried verbal swerve

          1. Anonymous Coward
            Anonymous Coward

            Re: Is 'learnings' a word?

            I really do wonder if he intentionally cultivated the country-bumpkin concept about himself. It's much easier to defeat opponents if they underestimate you by thinking you're an idiot. And his decisions didn't seem to match the "playing dumb" appearance.

            1. Yet Another Anonymous coward Silver badge

              Re: Is 'learnings' a word?

              You mean the Connecticut born, Harvard + Yale graduate who won a Tony award for his role as a Texan cowboy in Washington ?

              1. Spamfast
                Trollface

                Re: Is 'learnings' a word?

                You don't have to be smart to get into Harvard or Yale - or Oxford or Cambridge. Having rich parents generally makes you a shoe-in, especially if they themselves are alumni, having got in by the same method. Once there, you are almost guaranteed to achieve a degree in some fatuous subject like PPE or law without having to do any real thinking. It has to be this way if we're not going to run out of "qualified" senators & MPs, of course.

                Only poor people have to be smart to have a chance at elite universities, and they also have to take on a lot of debt to do it.

                Interesting side comment, despite its repeated claims to be the land of opportunity, the USA is one of the least socially mobile countries in the western world. Even the UK has better statistics. (Look 'em up yourself by the way. This is a rant not a scientific paper!)

    3. LBJsPNS Bronze badge

      Re: Is 'learnings' a word?

      It's a perfectly cromulent word.

      1. neilg

        Re: Is 'learnings' a word?

        "It's a perfectly cromulent word."

        Using a children's cartoon as a form of verification? Are you Dubya in disguise?

        1. jake Silver badge

          Re: Is 'learnings' a word?

          Words enter the English Language in many ways, none of them official.

          Like it or not, cromulant is now a perfectly cromulant part of the English lexicon.

          1. Ken Hagan Gold badge

            Re: Is 'learnings' a word?

            Apparently it even has a different spelling on either side of the pond. You can't get much more official than that.

  3. ecofeco Silver badge
    FAIL

    Foolish?

    Understatement of the century.

    Oh it's FAR worse than just foolish. ------------------------------------------->>>>>>>>>>>>>

  4. jake Silver badge

    Foolish?

    Shirley he meant asinine?

  5. jake Silver badge

    Bad timing ...

    ""No one was kicked off the NTSB, the National Transportation Security Board, in the middle of investigating a flight that crashed here, or a flight that crashed there," Montgomery said. "

    We shall see.

    Trump has already indicated that he wants DEI to be seen as the reason for the crash, and as we all know, if you're not a Trump sycophant, you have no place in the current federal system. Will the existing NTSB kiss the ring[0], or will they be allowed to produce an honest report?

    The mind absolutely boggles that this kind of thing seriously exists outside a bad Hollywood script.

    It's traditional to kiss the ring on the finger to show fealty, but these days it seems to be in fashion to kiss the one he sits on ...

    1. Boris the Cockroach Silver badge

      Re: Bad timing ...

      Quote

      "It's traditional to kiss the ring on the finger to show fealty, but these days it seems to be in fashion to kiss the one he sits on ... "

      This is how trumpty views himself... as Don Corleone extracting favours from people wanting help and dominating his rivals into submission. whereas he's really just a jumped up bully forever trying(and failing) to win his daddy's love and respect

    2. m4r35n357 Silver badge

      Re: Bad timing ...

      s/federal/feudal/g

    3. Spamfast
      Terminator

      Re: Bad timing ...

      kiss the one he sits on

      In that case ...

      Bender for president!

  6. Ex IBMer

    We ignore the true reason

    We are ignoring the real reason why these boards were terminated.

    Trump is the greatest.... asset that's the Russians and Chinese have ever cultivated.

    They were both backing his campaign. Either monetarily or through social media manipulation.

    He is singularly the most disruptive cyber asset that both countries could ever dream of. Single handedly, he is doing more to actively destroy US interests than all of the spies caught in the last 20 years... and he is still free to keep causing destruction...

    And we can't talk about it...at least not is you're American.

    1. jake Silver badge

      Re: We ignore the true reason

      I'm an American, and I'm talking about it.

      We still have freedom of speech and the Constitution, and probably will for a long time, regardless of what the anti-American Trump administration (and the un-American MAGA idiots) have to say on the matter.

      1. gnasher729 Silver badge

        Re: We ignore the true reason

        Freedom of speech, yes. But not for everyone. And not if your speech disagrees with Trump.

        1. jake Silver badge

          Re: We ignore the true reason

          Yes, for everyone. Read the Constitution.

          For fun and excitement, ask your Congress-critter to summarize the First Amendment.

          1. Gary Stewart Silver badge

            Re: We ignore the true reason

            You have apparently missed several of the latest Supreme Court decisions. The most blatantly unconstitutional was giving him immunity from prosecution for committing crimes. Supposedly he would be held accountable by impeachment but given his recent attempted impeachment history that is clearly a stupid assumption.

            1. Anonymous Coward
              Anonymous Coward

              Re: We ignore the true reason

              >You have apparently missed several of the latest Supreme Court decisions.

              Wait until the one stating that candidates for President must own slaves

              1. spold Silver badge

                Re: We ignore the true reason

                ...he has minions - does that count?

                1. John Brown (no body) Silver badge

                  Re: We ignore the true reason

                  Only if they are small and yellow :-)

                  1. Casca Silver badge

                    Re: We ignore the true reason

                    And have some weird italian language fettish

          2. Anonymous Coward
            Anonymous Coward

            Re: We ignore the true reason

            In law, yes.

            In practice... I wouldn't bet on it.

          3. Anonymous Coward
            Anonymous Coward

            Re: We ignore the true reason

            You forgot the exception - can't oppose a genocide or level any criticism against one certain country. In the US you can boycott other states, as California has done, but woe betide anyone wanting to boycott a state that is carrying out a genocide.

        2. Jaybus

          Re: We ignore the true reason

          I guess you have not seen any mainstream US media lately?

      2. Benegesserict Cumbersomberbatch Silver badge

        Re: We ignore the true reason

        You have the Supreme Court's interpretation of what freedom of speech and the Constitution are. And when you're hitched to a wagon being pulled by the likes of Thomas, Alito, Gorsuch and Barrett, you can predict which direction you'll go and I don't think it's the one you want.

        1. Anonymous Coward
          Anonymous Coward

          Re: We ignore the true reason

          Ah, but we have the Holy Second Amendment beloved by Republicans and their stooges on the Supreme Court and lower courts like the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals, which just ruled that it’s unconstitutional to stop teenagers from buying guns. Texas Stupid, is it bigger than even Florida Stupid?

          1. Ken Hagan Gold badge

            Re: We ignore the true reason

            For extra irony, the second amendment (unusually) contains a rationale, which is to allow folks to see off bullies like Trump if they ignore the other bits of the constitution egregiously enough.

            It's like the US Constitution actually has a civil war built-in as a feature.

      3. Anonymous Coward
        Anonymous Coward

        Re: We ignore the true reason

        Unless you criticise a certain foreign government. Then you will be deported or jailed depending on your residence status.

    2. 8bitHero

      Re: We ignore the true reason

      While I don't disagree Trump certainly had help from both China and Russia, who at a minimum find him a useful idiot to work with, I think most of us forget Trump, and to a lesser extent Musk, are the symptoms, not the disease. There were other choices, even within the Republican party, and none of them gained any traction. A free and fair election (which is what we had) is just a set of fancy words for mob rule. Right now, although only a small percentage of the Trump voters will say the quiet part out loud, they really are racist, homophobic and anti-intellectual and are cheering all of this stuff along, even if it hurts them personally. There is no other reasonable explanation. You can blame Harris, and Biden all you want, but that wasn't the only other choice the voters had. The only difference between Trump and the other Republican candidates was Trump was blowing racist, homophobic dog whistles and the others weren't (or were not as effective at it). The majority of the people in this country are getting exactly what they asked for and if it wasn't Trump it would have been someone else.

      You can look at the rise of the KKK after the civil war and in the 1920's. Hell, you can look at Truman's second election and McCarthyism. People are tribal. People are creatures of fear. This is what they do. I wish I knew how to solve this problem, but I don't. I am certainly not going to suggest we find a benevolent dictator. I do know replacing the orange idiot won't change anything. America will just grow a replacement.

  7. Mitoo Bobsworth

    So long, & thanks for the fish.

    Now that America has subjugated common sense & decency to stupidity & ignorance, expect more of this.

    1. jake Silver badge

      Re: So long, & thanks for the fish.

      Don't tar us all with the same brush. MOST Americans don't agree with the anti-American Trump and his flunkies/sycophants.

      Hopefully we can get everybody off their fat asses to vote in the midterms ...

      1. Gary Stewart Silver badge

        Re: So long, & thanks for the fish.

        Very true, I am one of the never ever ever Trumpers. The problem is that he has tapped into a very large portion of the American voting public that would vote for Mr. Hilter (obligatory nod to Monty Python, who knew they were predicting the future of American politics) in the blink of an eye.

        1. m4r35n357 Silver badge

          Re: So long, & thanks for the fish.

          "If Adolf Hitler flew in today, they'd send a limousine anyway"

          White Man In Hammersmith Palais - The Clash, 1978

          1. jake Silver badge

            Re: So long, & thanks for the fish.

            Also from 1978, today's yoof could do worse that listen to, and UNDERSTAND, Tom Robinson Band's Power In The Darkness.

            The above song is a good start ... Then take in the rest of the album.

            1. The man with a spanner

              Re: So long, & thanks for the fish.

              Where left is right and right is wrong?

      2. normal1

        Re: So long, & thanks for the fish.

        What a country.

        Nowhere else can a guy talk about stealing the election, with the help of your North Korean buddies making bamboo ballots for four years, and nobody looked for bamboo ballots when he won.

        Those weirdo trips to swing states at the last minute, was to deliver the ballots.

        Trump saluted the North Korean general for a reason.

        1. Anonymous Coward
          Anonymous Coward

          Re: So long, & thanks for the fish.

          He was still complaining about a rigged election... until someone pointed out that he was actually ahead

          Things went quiet after that...

      3. EnviableOne

        Re: So long, & thanks for the fish.

        Unfortunately, he won the popular vote this time round, so MOST Americans who expressed a preference can be tarred with that brush.

        the real reason he got into power though, is not his supporters, it's the misogynistic Old World US that would rather have the Chetto in Chief back or any man than have a woman president.

        The US is a relic of its origins, the people that moved across the ocean rather than evolve with the reformation of the church.

        if you look at the majority of Western democracies that are thriving they are run by women under 35, and neither of those criteria has ever been US president, in fact, Obama was the youngest president ever when he took office, and the average age of the candidates last time round was twice that

        1. Doctor Syntax Silver badge

          Re: So long, & thanks for the fish.

          "The US is a relic of its origins, the people that moved across the ocean rather than evolve with the reformation of the church."

          Actually they were the people who quit because the church wasn't evolving in the direction they wanted.

          1. jake Silver badge

            Re: So long, & thanks for the fish.

            And then those people discovered that life was really, really rough on this side of the pond, and so moved back to Blighty, founded The Royal Society and pretty much took over the government.

            The folks left behind in the colonies went on to found the United States, and were quite vocal in their distaste for the concept of religion ... Thus explaining Article Six of the United States Constitution. (If you've never actually read the document, it says "no religious Test shall ever be required as a Qualification to any Office or public Trust under the United States" ... Which tells you how many of the MAGA crowd have actually taken the time to read and understand the Constitution ... but that's a rant for another day.)

      4. Jaybus

        Re: So long, & thanks for the fish.

        That one from 2016 doesn't work any longer. Trump won the popular vote too in 2024.

        1. jake Silver badge

          Re: So long, & thanks for the fish.

          Yes. He won the vote.

          But he did not win with a plurality of votes. He barely squeaked by, receiving less than 50% of the total votes cast. It was not the "great, resounding victory" that most republicans are claiming. They are barely hanging on by a thread. The mid-terms are coming.

  8. Omnipresent Silver badge

    inconceivable!

    Sir frumpy the wise is incapable of foolishness.

    1. Gary Stewart Silver badge

      Re: inconceivable!

      At least he's less foolish, I think, than the people who support him. Especially the ones in high places that know better.

    2. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: inconceivable!

      Really? Why does he smear cocoa on his face every day?

      1. Yet Another Anonymous coward Silver badge

        Re: inconceivable!

        >Really? Why does he smear cocoa on his face every day?

        He doesn't. He smears white on the rest of his body.

        Have we seen the Oompa-Loompas birth certificate ?

  9. Winkypop Silver badge
    FAIL

    Stupid?

    As Bachman-Turner Overdrive sang: you ain’t seen nothing yet…

  10. kmorwath

    The board previously investigated Microsoft's "cascade of security failures"

    Oligarchs don't want to be accountable. They wanted Lina Khan out of the job even if Democrats won. Now the panel has been disbanded after grilling Microsoft, even if they were so kind to grill an underling, not Nadella himself, as they should have been, since that abysmal security stance was due to the very CEO decisions.

  11. ReggieRegReg

    Trump ate my hamster

    All this “Trump ate my hamster” stuff is hilarious. Funny how nobody was worried about “national security” despite the Biden family taking over $4m dollars off a Chinese energy company with no discernible goods or services going back the other way, was Biden’s subsequent dismantling of America’s Energy independence a coincidence? Nobody was worried about national security when, week two into office he pushed the Saudi’s into the arms of the Chinese – complete with state-of-the-art European weapons after cancelling a major arms deal (which is why they also refused to pump more oil when Biden begged them.) Nobody was worried about national security when Biden spent the strategic oil reserves (that are supposed to be for times of war) in a failed bid to control the gas price surge his geopolitics created. These reserves have been allowed to drop so low, many of the mines holding the oil will have collapsed losing that storage capacity forever. If WWIII broke out tomorrow, the US is xxxxed – they have no oil to run their military machine. Biden’s administration was an absolute disaster for national security – I won’t even bother with low-hanging fruit such as borders.

    Yes Trump is an orange buffoon – but the west is in much safer hands with him at the helm rather than the usual pwned cookie-cutter globalist puppets.

    The thing that fascinates me is what big ticket item "they" will pull out the bag (this time) to bring the second ever anti-globalist administration down.

    1. LBJsPNS Bronze badge

      Re: Trump ate my hamster

      You really need to stop listening to "news" sources that lie to you so blatantly. Yes, I know they're comforting and reinforce your already held ideas. But they're full of crap, as evidenced by your comment.

    2. Boris the Cockroach Silver badge
      Facepalm

      Re: Trump ate my hamster

      4 million eh?

      Amateurs

      Trumpy's son in law took 2 billion off the Saudis for 'services rendered'

      1. LBJsPNS Bronze badge

        Re: Trump ate my hamster

        And there's actual evidence and everything!

        1. ReggieRegReg

          Re: Trump ate my hamster

          I'm not aware of it - but unlike the Bidens I bet he actually did something for the money - it's called business. Not raw influence peddling which is all Hunter got up to.

          1. LBJsPNS Bronze badge

            Re: Trump ate my hamster

            I have no doubt you're not aware of it.

            I'll wager there are many many many many many things you're not aware of.

          2. jake Silver badge

            Re: Trump ate my hamster

            I'd fade that bet.

          3. Alumoi Silver badge

            Re: Trump ate my hamster

            raw influence peddling

            Did you mean lobby? I thought that was legal in US.

      2. Mitoo Bobsworth

        Re: Trump ate my hamster

        " Trumpy's son in law took 2 billion off the Saudis for 'services rendered' "

        That's an awful lot of bending over!

    3. Gary Stewart Silver badge

      Re: Trump ate my hamster

      "Tell me lies

      Tell me sweet little lies

      (Tell me lies, tell me, tell me lies)"

      I just watched a Jon Stewart video where he bent America's "mainstream media" over his knee and gave them a royal butt reddening for repeatedly using such phrases as "we live in two realities now" and allow the lies to slide on by. As he rightly pointed out we live in only one reality and trump and his hoard aren't in it. I'm beginning to think that the movement of Earths magnetic pole is being caused by the near relativistic spin of Walter Cronkite.

      1. LBJsPNS Bronze badge

        Re: Trump ate my hamster

        Yeah, well fuck Jon Stewart. He's one who was calling out Kamala as not being a unicorn, while reassuring people on his first show back that "no matter who's elected, we'll be fine." Yeah, rich folk like you will do great no matter who's in office, Jon. I think we're seeing how wrong you are, and how people like you and Bill Maher and George fucking Clooney should shut your goddamned face holes.

  12. Caver_Dave Silver badge
    Facepalm

    I sit here on the right hand side of the pond, looking in on in equal amounts of mild terror and mild amusement at the machinations in and around the White House.

    Nowhere else in nature does the most stupid get to lead the pack/herd/etc.!

    1. cmdrklarg

      Hear, hear. I'm on the left of the pond, and my reactions are mostly of disgust.

    2. Like a badger

      "Nowhere else in nature does the most stupid get to lead the pack/herd/etc.!"

      As a fellow rightpondian, I must respectfully ask how you explain Johnson, May, et al?

      1. Wellyboot Silver badge

        I think Caver_Dave was refering to humanity in general, there are many examples from many countries that fit the profile.

  13. Winkypop Silver badge
    Trollface

    Trump

    The single greatest DEI hire ever

    1. Mitoo Bobsworth

      Re: Trump

      Yup - Destruction, Entropy & Insolvency.

  14. scottro

    Seriously, are you Trumptards OK with what he's doing? His complete choice of incompetents for his cabinet. Are you really too stupid to see that he promised various things, when he saw he couldn't do them, started trying to distract with more moronic ideas? Are you really OK with him? Do you think he's doing a good job, gutting the FAA, then when a crash comes, blaming it on DEI? If you want to see why nothing's wrong with DEI, look at his cabinet appointees? Are you people in red states really OK, with your senators and congress people (Hey you stupid morons, some of them are women! What happened, DEI take over? )

    Are you ok with his attempts to hurt news services that didn't praise him? Suppose BIden had used the powers given him by the court of Trump bootlickers to shut down Fox. He should have. They admitted they made things up to get viewers and were still allowed to call themselves news.

    Or are you beginning to see how stupid you were? Are you beginning to be ashamed? Silly question, Trump supporters don't have a sense of shames.

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