what does god need with a starship? (12. 479)

Somewhat prepared for when the conversation goes of the rails and girded against ambush and entrapment taking notes after the Oval Office meeting with Zelenskyy, South African leader Cyril Ramaphosa managed to maintain his professional composure presidential bearing despite Trump’s incessant rantings of white genocide and the murder of thousands of Afrikaner farmers—just after taking fifty-nine in as refugees, rehashing without evidence the ahistoric grievances amplified by himself and Musk of a conspiracy circulated since the end of apartheid rule in 1994 and his most significant gesture to date pandering to Christian white nationalism. That says a lot already, but moreover he is using the false paradigm to illustrate where progressive DEI initiatives and restitution would take America. Subjected to this diatribe plus a surprise screening of a propaganda film, a misrepresented newsreel, Ramaposa tried to steer the talks back to trade and security cooperation, admitting to a problem with crime while dismissing a concerted assault against settlers, citing his entourage, and at one point, exasperated offered, “I wish I had a plane to give you.” After accusing his interlocutor of non-existent crimes which he in no way condoned, Trump replied that he would gladly accept such a gift.