It's little surprise that actual actors started playing a larger role in politics after that debate. Regan was an actor. Trump was a TV celebrity. It's as though if you want to run a country, sell soap first.

That's it - also a great argument for a Plato's cave/game simulation. I watched Mr. McMahon - Trump appears in it. It gives an insight into his mindset - & the way the politico-entertaino game is trending. We've said this before - world politics is like WWE reality-projection. At the end of the day, Trump had the most viewer interest/better story-lines.

To explore all sides of the equation - this is not necessarily what i think, just spit-balling - maybe Trump is playing China, maybe Musk is playing a long game - despite his public comments that sell out Taiwan. Twitter/X was the only platform that allowed Origin questioning. You can still rag on CCP 'til your heart's content there.

Kennedy has a radical (but sensible) agenda - anti the Monsantos of the world - a stance which used to be anathema to Republicans but resonated with the public.

Immigration - you can have all the humanitarian views you like, but 2 million illegal immigrants a year is not where the electorate's thinking is at. Australia proved that 20 years ago with it's turn-back-the-boats policy.

Rubio is a wait & see on Taiwan - but his past comments on the issue are fairly solid.

I'd argue that Harris also had it. She clearly has more charisma than Biden.

I agree, but that's not a very high bar. A dying pot-plant has more charisma than Biden. He was America's version of Andropov. Dispensing with the primaries deprived Harris of a chance to shine on the performance stage, take the public with her. AOC might be the one - but they've gotta let go of the Listen to the experts mantra. The experts behaved appallingly during Coivid - you can't sweep that under the rug. Well, you can, coz that's exactly what did happen, but ultimately the public is not buying it. I see it a bit like KMT having to abandon it's overt re-unification platform - just doesn't jive with the public.

What colonial superpower has ever, in the history of the world, ever recovered from its decline? None I can think of.

Right, let's Make Greece Great Again. I'm wondering if countries are even where it's at anymore. We're living in a globalized world - in some ways the UN is now a super-power - or at least a vessel to be inhabited by historical power. Even when empires decline, the power doesn't evaporate - it goes somewhere.