The Trump Presidency

[Stacko]

When did Trump attack ISIS?

He's continued Obama's agenda.

There have been hints in recent months that Trump’s plan would mirror the Obama administration’s plan – which is to say, the plan Trump said was a failure – and the New York Times reported in March that, with limited exceptions, Trump administration officials showed little interest in abandoning Obama’s strategy.

With the “new” plan nearly complete, the Washington Post reports today that the coming policy looks an awful lot like the old policy.

The Pentagon is putting the final touches on a promised new counter-Islamic State strategy for Syria and Iraq, and it looks very much like the one the Obama administration pursued, according to senior defense officials.
​

As Retired Admiral James Stavridis, an NBC News analyst, put it a few months ago, “The current plan to defeat the Islamic State is just like that old saying: Plan B is just, ‘Try harder at Plan A.’”

 

[Regnad Kcin]

I've asked. In-between all the insults and name-calling, the belief seems to be that Obama supported ISIS and that most of the military actions seemingly taken against ISIS during his administration were either fake news or deliberately ineffectual. Trump actually attacks ISIS rather than simply pretending to.

So, dedicated scholars of the highest renown, then.

 

[wareyin]

I saw this with the right with just about everything Obama did. And now the left gets a chance to exhibit the same behavior.

Leaving aside the false equivalency of the complaints from the right (wasn't it in this thread that Obama was criticized for making a Basketball bracket?) about trivial things, and complaints from the left about Trump's despicable behavior, let's see:

Republican remains silent in the face of a transgression - criticized for not saying anything.

As well they should be. Criticized for not even saying anything.

Republican speaks out in the face of a transgression - criticized for not doing anything.

We have a lot of examples of this, don't we. Republicans have "spoken out" about Trump ever since he was only one among many candidates vying for the nomination. They never actually did anything, though, and always fell in line to support him no matter what. I still think it's fair to criticize them for this.

Republican does something in the face of a transgression - criticized for not doing more.

I can't think of a single example of this. Can you provide one? It would really help move this into an actual equivalency. Without this one, it seems we are stuck in hypothetical territory, and it's not quite fair to blame the left for what you imagine they would do in some hypothetical with no basis in reality.

Republican does exactly what the left was calling for in the face of a transgression - criticized for not doing it sooner.

Hmmm, same as above. Can you support this?

There's just no winning with some people.

Indeed. Especially when they create some sort of false equivalence between what the right has actually done with what they imagine the left would do in some scenario that has not happened.

edited to add: I just saw Arguememnon's "Uh-huh. Criticise them for doing nothing. Criticise them for doing too little. I don't see a contradiction, there." Really, the game plan seems to be to criticize them no matter what.

I dunno, perhaps if they ever did anything, rather than make "tut-tut" noises then fall right back in line to support him, they just might, maybe, not get criticized for not doing anything?

 

[Civet]

So, dedicated scholars of the highest renown, then.

I have to admit that they've constructed a remarkably resilient worldview. I must point out that I'm only talking about the vocal, alt-right portion of Trump's supporters. I have no idea what more traditional Republicans think of his performance.

 

[pgwenthold]

We have a lot of examples of this, don't we. Republicans have "spoken out" about Trump ever since he was only one among many candidates vying for the nomination. They never actually did anything, though, and always fell in line to support him no matter what. I still think it's fair to criticize them for this.

Yeah. The problem is that we have heard again and again about McCain and the right being "disappointed" by the President's actions. For a while, we listened to it. But at some point, they have to do something about it. Instead, McCain's approach to showing his displeasure with Trump has been to vote in favor of everything he proposes.

The problem is not that they are speaking out. The problem is that they have demonstrated that these are empty words. If they start backing up the words with action, then, perhaps, they will have some significance. Until then, they may as well be silent, because it means as much.

 

[Fast Eddie B]

I'm still a registered Republican and tomorrow I plan to contact my senators and congressman and recommend they consider a formal censure of the President.

I agree it's time for action.

 

[Skeptic Ginger]

I'm still a registered Republican and tomorrow I plan to contact my senators and congressman and recommend they consider a formal censure of the President.

I agree it's time for action.

Thank you.

Might want to note in your letter how infantile Trump is given all his minions out there whining about how poor wittle Trumpy is treated so badly, of course he would lash out.

Poor wittle Trumpy, everyone picks on him.

 

[newyorkguy]

One big happy (dysfunctional) family:

Secretary of State Rex Tillerson berated Johnny DeStefano, the White House personnel director, in a meeting last Friday, Politico reported. The former ExxonMobil chief is said to have exploded at the 38-year-old career political operative "for torpedoing proposed nominees to senior State Department posts and for questioning his judgment." [Jared] Kushner is said to approached Margaret Peterlin [Tillerson's chief of staff], powerful in Tillerson's small circle, after the meeting to tell her the secretary's conduct was completely unprofessional.

Tillerson also complained that the White House was leaking damaging information about him to the news media, according to a person familiar with the meeting. Link

 

[a_unique_person]

Trump tweets continue his war on Women.

 

[Craig4]

One big happy (dysfunctional) family:

Yet another toy who thought the petulant toddler would never get tired of him.

 

[Trebuchet]

Trump tweets continue his war on Women.

I was thinking about this while driving today. I suspect the reason he hates women so much is that deep down he's afraid of them. Especially any who are powerful and successful; basically other than bimbos he can grab by the pussy.

 

[alfaniner]

It's becoming more and more difficult to know where one stands, isn't it?

Chaotic Neutral.

 

[SezMe]

Energy week is going great.

[qimg]http://i1070.photobucket.com/albums/u492/rfstack/000000_132.jpg[/qimg]

This is the moment Trump became President!

Took him 6 minutes to type the second tweet?

 

[Civet]

So the Republicans got "Kate's Law" passed in the house. Justin Amash was the only Republican who voted against it. He's criticized and insulted Trump before. Be interesting to see if this has consequences.

 

[The Atheist]

Poor wittle Trumpy, everyone picks on him.

What are you talking about?

Rasmussen Reports (The BEST, non-fake reports of all) show a 50% approval rating. Waaay more popular than Obama.

By the end of first term, surely the most popular president ever.

Already holds the record for the biggest inauguration crowd, a hugely successful trip to Europe; if only the Supreme Courts weren't made up of immigrants and ugly women, his ban would be up and running...

Trump's on top of the world laughing at you.

 

[SezMe]

The longer the GOP continues to prop up Trump, the worse it will be for them in the long run.

I wish but I think not. Think of all of Trump's....er....mistakes all lined up. The most recent one is crystal clear and in your face. The further back in line they are, the more vague they get until it's just a shimmering haze. Put the next one at the head of the line and all the rest recede backwards a bit.

To use another metaphor, the Pacific Ocean is already full but you can always pour another bucket of water in.

I'm at the point where I think Trump conducting a disastrous military action is the only thing that will earn him enough demerits to give him the boot, either via impeachment or via the vote in 2020. Each **** up gets its own attention but how often does the press or senior political figure step back and highlight the horrible damage being done to the concept of democracy itself. To the weakening of the very institutions that enable democracy to work.

I despair. I really do.

 

[SezMe]

Voter suppression is a lot easier than you think when laws make it easy. See American History 1865-1970ish. See North Carolina 2016.

Or Florida, circa 2000. Bush won by a few hundred votes while tens of thousands of voters were denied the ballot.

 

[SezMe]

Republican does exactly what the left was calling for in the face of a transgression - criticized for not doing it sooner.

When has that happened?

Really, the game plan seems to be to criticize them no matter what.

No, not exactly. Criticize them until they take effective action. Not talking. Since you have no lost over Trump, surely you don't agree.

 

[Aridas]

Hate to say it, but I think massive voter suppression is not quite as easy to do as you think it is. Or,if it is, then you need to go out and buy yourself a rifle, because armed resistence it what it will come down to.
Of course I also realize you are out to make the GOP look as bad as possible.

There are many ways to suppress votes. After all, all that actually needs to be done is to make the process more annoying or less accessible, and there's a lot of angles and methods that can and have been used to accomplish that. Handing over or being forced to hand over what's basically a map of people to target to one of the worst offenders among those who have been pointedly trying to suppress votes is actually quite a real cause for concern, regardless of the reason.

"Republican condemnation" and $4 won't get you a Starbucks coffee.

I am tired of "republican condemnation" that is nothing more than words.

Like logger's take on adultery? "At least we condemn it loudly, even if it doesn't change our votes at all."

And yet, if they said nothing, you'd loudly criticize their silence.

Of course. Words are dramatically better than nothing, after all, but certainly aren't enough to show that one actually means the words.

I saw this with the right with just about everything Obama did. And now the left gets a chance to exhibit the same behavior.

Republican remains silent in the face of a transgression - criticized for not saying anything.

Republican speaks out in the face of a transgression - criticized for not doing anything.

Republican does something in the face of a transgression - criticized for not doing more.

Republican does exactly what the left was calling for in the face of a transgression - criticized for not doing it sooner.

There's just no winning with some people.


edited to add: I just saw Arguememnon's "Uh-huh. Criticise them for doing nothing. Criticise them for doing too little. I don't see a contradiction, there." Really, the game plan seems to be to criticize them no matter what.

A better standard to evaluate the criticism, though, is "Is the criticism warranted and made in a consistent manner?" Given the Republican reactions to much of what Trump's done, most have failed badly on both counts. To address the latter, specifically, as one of the dramatic examples, support of a missile strike in Syria in response to chemical weaponry when Obama wanted to do it was around 22%. When it was Trump, it was more like 86% in practically the exact same situation. For Democrats, the difference was that about 2% more supported missile strikes when Trump wanted to do them. Another dramatic example can be seen with TrumpCare, where the Republicans not only showed themselves to be hypocrites by doing what they criticized Democrats of doing for Obamacare, they took it several steps further into indefensible territory on top of that. Clearly, consistency isn't a strong suit of the Republican party as a group.

See Wisconsin 2016, 200,000 suppressed votes, Trump won by ~23,000.

That's one of the more direct methods, yes, though likely not the only method in play there.

Trump's job approval is in the low 40's. Is 40% of our country that stupid? Does anyone here approve of Trump's job performance? I would love to hear the reasons why. I think that if Trump acted the way he acts anywhere BUT elected office, he would have been fired months ago.

Since logger's still unable to, likely, he can probably be put down for things like Gorsuch, immigration, tariffs on Canadian lumber, making liberal heads explode, and various other things.

So, dedicated scholars of the highest renown, then.

Possibly subscribers to the theory that Obama created ISIS?

I'm still a registered Republican and tomorrow I plan to contact my senators and congressman and recommend they consider a formal censure of the President.

I agree it's time for action.

I'll echo the thank you, as well. The Republican members of Congress seem to care almost exclusively about their Republican constituents, after all.

 

[skyeagle409]

What are you talking about?

Rasmussen Reports (The BEST, non-fake reports of all) show a 50% approval rating. Waaay more popular than Obama.[/qluote]

Are you just being scarcastic? Let's try Trump's 45% Rasmussen Reports approval rating as of June 29, 2017

By the end of first term, surely the most popular president ever.

I won't be surprised if Trump is impeached or resigns before his first term is up.

Already holds the record for the biggest inauguration crowd,...

... a hugely successful trip to Europe;

Let's take a look.

Trump's Trip Was a Catastrophe for U.S.-Europe Relations

Angela Merkel has served formal notice that she will lead the German wandering away from the American alliance.

https://www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2017/05/trump-nato-germany/528429/

... if only the Supreme Courts weren't made up of immigrants and ugly women, his ban would be up and running...

Like Trump Airlines.

Trump Shuttle never turned a profit. In September 1990 the loans were defaulted and ownership of the airline passed to its creditor banks, led by Citicorp.

Trump's on top of the world laughing at you.

And, the Russians are laughing @ Trump.

Watch The Russians Laugh At Trump In This Video Clip

The Russian government has posted an embarrassing video clip showing Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and a European official chortling about President Donald Trump “passing secrets” to Russians.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/russians-laugh-trump_us_591f7c79e4b034684b0c834f