Cont: The Trump Presidency Part III

Status
Not open for further replies.
The Don said:
It's "interesting" that US corporate tax rates are "the highest in the developed world" (they're not AFAIK but I'll let that go for now) and yet the share of federal tax revenue paid by corporations has fallen from around 30% in the 1950's to single digits these days.
Click to expand...

This link posted by Bob001 speaks directly to that issue. You're right to be skeptical.
 
Craig4 said:
Who is this 37% who approves of him? How can that large of a minority of the country be that stupid? It's still a minority but what the hell?
Click to expand...

Question: Are there parts of the U.S. where outlets like Fox TV and AM radio are the primary sources of information? I don't just mean where they are most popular, but places where people actually can't get network news, CNN, PBS, public radio etc. I know broadband can be hard to get in rural areas; what about mainstream media?
 
Bob001 said:
Question: Are there parts of the U.S. where outlets like Fox TV and AM radio are the primary sources of information? I don't just mean where they are most popular, but places where people actually can't get network news, CNN, PBS, public radio etc. I know broadband can be hard to get in rural areas; what about mainstream media?
Click to expand...

A lot of people aren't really sufficiently interested to have a primary source of information. They're more interested with putting food on the table, bitching about the success/failure of their favourite sports team(s) and generally getting on with life than politics.

Anything they do pick up will tend to will be headline soundbites picked up in passing from the media and friends and colleagues, and if they agree with their own views those soundbites will be retained, and if not they will be forgotten rather than researched and challenged.
 
Friends say President Donald Trump has grown frustrated that his greatness is not widely understood, that his critics are fierce and on TV every morning, that his poll numbers are both low and “fake,” and that his White House is caricatured as adrift.

So on Monday, the consummate salesman — who has spent his life selling his business acumen, golf courses, sexual prowess, luxury properties and, above all, his last name — gave the Trump White House a Trump-sized dose of brand enhancement.

With both the Roosevelt Room and the Rose Garden as backdrops, he mixed facts and mirage, praise and perfidy in two head-spinning, sometimes contradictory performances designed to convince supporters and detractors alike that everything’s terrific, moving ahead of schedule and getting even better. His opponents were cast as misguided, deluded or even unpatriotic.

It was the latest instance of Trump bypassing his own communications staff to speak directly to the press, and the public, after weeks of blistering criticism and as White House aides struggle with the increasing possibility that they may end the year without accomplishing any of their grand legislative goals.
Click to expand...

http://www.politico.com/story/2017/10/16/trump-press-job-performance-243842

Everything is great at the White House. It's never been better no matter what the fake news media says about us. They should spend more time giving the president more praise. Sad!
 
Emails!

The White House brushed off a bipartisan request from House investigators for details of senior administration officials' use of private email and encrypted messaging apps for government work, including possible violations of federal record-keeping laws, a letter obtained by POLITICO shows.

In a terse letter to Reps. Trey Gowdy (R-S.C.) and Elijah Cummings (D-Md.) — leaders of the House oversight committee — President Donald Trump's congressional liaison Marc Short declined to indicate whether any administration officials had used personal email accounts or messaging services, despite reports suggesting such communications were common in the West Wing.

"The White House and covered employees endeavor to comply with all relevant laws," Short wrote in a two-page reply delivered late last week and obtained Monday by POLITICO.

Short's statement comes despite recent revelations that several senior aides to President Donald Trump routinely used private email addresses and personal devices for government business. Among the current and former aides who POLITICO found at least occasionally relied on private email addresses were Jared Kushner, Steve Bannon, Gary Cohn and Reince Priebus.
Click to expand...
 
dudalb said:
Just heard Trump's bizarre news conference with McConell.....
My god, the man sounds more and more like Captain Queeg every day.....
Click to expand...

You can see McConnel at the side watching Trump with a look that seems to be one of extreme fear since there is no way you can know what will come out of Trumps mouth next.
 
a_unique_person said:
You can see McConnel at the side watching Trump with a look that seems to be one of extreme fear since there is no way you can know what will come out of Trumps mouth next.
Click to expand...

Something that's part of his alternate reality.

A look at Trump's alternative reality:
  • Trump says he and McConnell are "closer than ever before." Both men and their staffs have been trashing each other in public and private for months.
  • Trump says other presidents "didn't make calls" to families of soldiers killed in duty. They did.
  • Trump says Obamacare is "dead." His repeated efforts to repeal it failed.
  • Trump says it's been established that "no collusion" took place with the Russians. Bob Mueller is interrogating the president's associates and advisers on this very point in real time.
  • Trump says he's on a historic pace of accomplishment. He's not.
  • Trump says he "already" has "the votes right now" for a bipartisan health care fix. He doesn't.
Sound smart: The damnedest thing is not a single bullet point I just wrote is disputable — while every one of those things the president said was.
Click to expand...
 
Is there actually any penalty if they fail to comply on the e-mails ?

The Trump Administration seems impervious to reputational damage - which would be one form of penalty - so is there any other penalty ?
 
Skeptic Ginger said:
It's a self-preservation function of the human mind. Once you believe something—Trump is great—to admit to yourself that was wrong is painful. So you simply keep believing your original belief. The human brain is perfectly capable of believing false things.
Click to expand...

On this we agree. I don’t think his supporters can be assumed to be stupid or gullible or evil.

It HAS to be rooted in psychological factors. Once one has latched onto an authority figure, from that point on ego defense mechanisms lead to confirmation bias, emphasizing the “good” and glossing over the “bad”. Avoid the discomfort of cognitive dissonance at all cost.

And the bias of news sources can only further that individual bias, in a self-perpetuating loop. Think Trump’s horrible? Tune into MSNBC and “Morning Joe”. Which I have playing in a window on my iPad right now. Think Trump’s great? There’s always Hannity on Fox or Breitbart or Rush on the radio.

It’s almost as if there’s no longer an objective reality. Which is hardly a new idea.

37704120686_0809c4a041_n.jpg
 
Last edited:
The Don said:
Is there actually any penalty if they fail to comply on the e-mails ?

The Trump Administration seems impervious to reputational damage - which would be one form of penalty - so is there any other penalty ?
Click to expand...

Not as long as Republicans are in power and have no desire to impose any penalties.
 
Fast Eddie B said:
It HAS to be rooted in psychological factors. Once one has latched onto an authority figure, from that point on ego defense mechanisms lead to confirmation bias, emphasizing the “good” and glossing over the “bad”. Avoid the discomfort of cognitive dissonance at all cost.
Click to expand...

And let me be clear: we must admit the opposite is in play...

Once one has found an authority figure lacking, from that point on ego defense mechanisms lead to confirmation bias, emphasizing the “bad” and glossing over the “good”.

You’d have to be blind not to see that going on as well.
 
The Don said:
Is there actually any penalty if they fail to comply on the e-mails ?
The Trump Administration seems impervious to reputational damage - which would be one form of penalty - so is there any other penalty ?
Click to expand...

Hilited:

Yes, The Big Dog will start a thread about it. Much pearl clutching will ensue.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.

Back
Top Bottom