Cont: The Trump Presidency IX: Nein, Nein!

[Stacyhs]

I keep thinking about how a building collapses. Sometimes, you see that a structural member is failing, and if you act expeditiously, and correctly, you can replace or shore up that member, and save the building.

But sometimes the damage is too severe, or you catch it too late, and all you can do is stand back and let it collapse, and try to rebuild afterwards.

I often wonder if we'll be able to distinguish these options when it comes to the collapse of society. The Germans in the 1930s weren't able to, as a collective.

How badly will Trump et al. have to fail, to get his supporters to actually stop and say, "Man, we really screwed that up, didn't we?"

You'd be surprised at how much support there still was for Hitler even after the war. My great-uncle, a German born naturalized citizen, went back to Germany in 1957 for a visit with his family. He was appalled to find that his brother was still a Nazi at heart and refused to have anything more to do with him.

 

[Craig4]

The Republican establishment is as bad at assessing their ability to control demagogues as the German military and industrialist class in the 30s. Mitch McConnel just sees a rubber stamp on conservative judges and Ryan sees a dripping wet pen ready to sign a give away tax bill. In the end, you're still left with a Russian whore with bills to pay to his masters. Both Ryan and McConnel probably thought they could keep the political novice in check. The results were, based on history not unpredictable.

 

[CapelDodger]

Question: Would Democrats in contested districts generally be better advised to take the confrontational position that "A vote for the Republican is a vote for Trump!," or a more conciliatory "I will work with Trump whenever I can to protect and promote your interests."

No contest : you can't work with a twitter-fiend.

"A vote against a Republican is a vote against Trump, and your best chance of causing him pain". I'd start from there.

 

[Mumbles]

No contest : you can't work with a twitter-fiend.

"A vote against a Republican is a vote against Trump, and your best chance of causing him pain". I'd start from there.

Even this will often depend on local polling. For example, this recent poll (the first PDF) found that an outright majority of black Americans agree with the statement "Trump is a racist who intends to harm black people". This is pretty powerful if you're running in a majority black district. Joe Manchin, however, likely won't get nearly as far on this issue.

 

[acbytesla]

Is it merely coincidence or can we tell the man by the company he keeps? Manafort is on trial for tax evasion and bank fraud. It appears that New York State is prepared to charge Michael Cohen fo numerous counts of Bank Fraud adding up to 20 million dollars.

 

[Skeptic Ginger]

... In the end, you're still left with a Russian whore with bills to pay to his masters. Both Ryan and McConnel probably thought they could keep the political novice in check. The results were, based on history not unpredictable.

And almost certainly McConnell and Ryan cannot admit, even to themselves, what a mistake they made.

No doubt they rationalize it daily assuring themselves Clinton would have been worse even though there is no way that is even close to being true.

A lot of people on the right bought into the fear mongering, convinced with the lies that everyone on the left is just waiting to turn the county into a communist version of economics, oblivious to the irony of Putin helping Trump get elected.

 

[CapelDodger]

Even this will often depend on local polling. For example, this recent poll (the first PDF) found that an outright majority of black Americans agree with the statement "Trump is a racist who intends to harm black people". This is pretty powerful if you're running in a majority black district. Joe Manchin, however, likely won't get nearly as far on this issue.

If you're going to lose a majority black district to a Republican you'd better have a damn' good excuse worked out. I'm thinking of an over-arching message that evey vote against a Republican makes the baby Trump cry, which can be wroked up with local concerns and reasons to want him to suffer.

I can't see the strategy losing votes. Worst case is it doesn't gain many.

 

[Slings and Arrows]

"Do you know the difference between a crisis and a catastrophe? A crisis is if Donald Trump falls into the Potomac River and can’t swim. A catastrophe is if anybody saves his ass."
-- Rep. Alcee Hastings, D-Fla (Aug 19, 2018)


Rumor has it, Maxine Waters is writing the material for his stand-up routine.

 

[Travis]

I think that is damned funny.

 

[Minoosh]

If I understand you correctly, I agree with you - I'm not sure money is the critical aspect, but I don't see much else that a regular citizen can do, who already sees the danger, to help forestall the danger. I suppose I'd add in election organizing (phone banks, get out the vote work, etc.) to donating money.

Yes, that is what I was referring to. It gets people engaged. I have a theory, that if I'm tasked with working a certain neighborhood to get out the vote, my commitment is greater than writing a check, and might result in more neighborhood engagement as well.

It's just a hunch; I could be wrong.

ETA: Offering rides to the polls, making sure people had proper ID and were encouraged to vote early, etc.

 

[Andy_Ross]

Here's the transcript of Trump's remarks at a New York fundraiser last week about coal and windmills.


"You remember Hilary with the coal, right? Sitting with the miners at the table? Remember?
That wasn’t so good for her.
So the people of West Virginia and all over, you look at Wyoming, you look at so many different places where they just Pennsylvania, where they loved we what did, and it’s clean coal and we have the most modern procedures.
But it’s a tremendous form of energy in the sense that in a military way - think of it - coal is indestructible.

You can blow up a pipeline, you can blow up windmills. You know, the windmills, boom, boom, boom, bing, that’s the end of that one.
If birds don’t kill it first, the birds could kill it first. They kill so many birds. You look underneath one of those windmills, it’s like a killing field, the birds.
But you know, that’s what they were going to do, they were going to windmills.
And you know, don’t worry about when the wind doesn’t blow - I said,”What happens when the wind doesn’t blow? Well, then we have a problem”
OK, Good. They were putting them in areas where they didn’t have much wind too. And it’s a subsidary - you need subsidy for windmills, you need subsidy.
Who wants to have energy where you need subsidy? So, the coal is doing great."

 

[Guybrush Threepwood]

Here's the transcript of Trump's remarks at a New York fundraiser last week about coal and windmills.


"You remember Hilary with the coal, right? Sitting with the miners at the table? Remember?
That wasn’t so good for her. So the people of West Virginia and all over, you look at Wyoming, you look at so many different places where they just. Pennsylvania, where they loved what did, and it’s clean coal and we have the most modern procedures.
But it’s tremendous form of energy in the sense that in a military way - think of it - call is indestructible.

You can blow up a pipeline, you can blow up windmills. You know, the windmills, boom, boom, boom, bing, that’s the end of that one.
If birds don’t kill it first, the birds could kill it first. They kill so many birds. You look underneath one of those windmills, it’s like a killing field, the birds.
But you know, that’s what they were going to do, they were going to windmills.
And you know, don’t worry about when the wind doesn’t blow - I said,”What happens when the wind doesn’t blow? Well, then we have a problem”
OK, Good. They were putting them in areas where they didn’t have much wind too. And it’s a subsidary - you need subsidy for windmills, you need subsidy.
Who wants to have energy where you need subsidy? So, the coal is doing great."

Yep, you can't argue with that.

 

[The Great Zaganza]

Here's the transcript of Trump's remarks at a New York fundraiser last week about coal and windmills.


"You remember Hilary with the coal, right? Sitting with the miners at the table? Remember?
That wasn’t so good for her. So the people of West Virginia and all over, you look at Wyoming, you look at so many different places where they just. Pennsylvania, where they loved what did, and it’s clean coal and we have the most modern procedures.
But it’s tremendous form of energy in the sense that in a military way - think of it - call is indestructible.

You can blow up a pipeline, you can blow up windmills. You know, the windmills, boom, boom, boom, bing, that’s the end of that one.
If birds don’t kill it first, the birds could kill it first. They kill so many birds. You look underneath one of those windmills, it’s like a killing field, the birds.
But you know, that’s what they were going to do, they were going to windmills.
And you know, don’t worry about when the wind doesn’t blow - I said,”What happens when the wind doesn’t blow? Well, then we have a problem”
OK, Good. They were putting them in areas where they didn’t have much wind too. And it’s a subsidary - you need subsidy for windmills, you need subsidy.
Who wants to have energy where you need subsidy? So, the coal is doing great."

Did Ivanka forget to give him his meds?

 

[timhau]

Yep, you can't argue with that.

Argue? Hell, you can't even parse it.

 

[Foolmewunz]

Here's the transcript of Trump's remarks at a New York fundraiser last week about coal and windmills.


"You remember Hilary with the coal, right? Sitting with the miners at the table? Remember?
That wasn’t so good for her.
So the people of West Virginia and all over, you look at Wyoming, you look at so many different places where they just Pennsylvania, where they loved we what did, and it’s clean coal and we have the most modern procedures.
But it’s a tremendous form of energy in the sense that in a military way - think of it - coal is indestructible.

You can blow up a pipeline, you can blow up windmills. You know, the windmills, boom, boom, boom, bing, that’s the end of that one.
If birds don’t kill it first, the birds could kill it first. They kill so many birds. You look underneath one of those windmills, it’s like a killing field, the birds.
But you know, that’s what they were going to do, they were going to windmills.
And you know, don’t worry about when the wind doesn’t blow - I said,”What happens when the wind doesn’t blow? Well, then we have a problem”
OK, Good. They were putting them in areas where they didn’t have much wind too. And it’s a subsidary - you need subsidy for windmills, you need subsidy.
Who wants to have energy where you need subsidy? So, the coal is doing great."

I need everybody to put this in perspective. Picture the person saying this in a turquoise tutu with a pink feather boa and a pair of tighty whities on his head.

(Reads much better that way. Ruthie the Duck Girl made more sense.)

Anyone else getting giggles imagining MIGs taking out thirty or forty thousand individual wind mills, each knocking out a half-mile square of the power grid in Cheyenne vs, say, four directed attacks taking out four massive coal-fired plants and cutting off the power for the entire eastern seaboard.

 

[a_unique_person]

Yep, you can't argue with that.

Sarah Palin is wondering why she didn't run for President after all.

 

[WilliamSeger]

I need everybody to put this in perspective. Picture the person saying this in a turquoise tutu with a pink feather boa and a pair of tighty whities on his head.

(Reads much better that way. Ruthie the Duck Girl made more sense.)

Anyone else getting giggles imagining MIGs taking out thirty or forty thousand individual wind mills, each knocking out a half-mile square of the power grid in Cheyenne vs, say, four directed attacks taking out four massive coal-fired plants and cutting off the power for the entire eastern seaboard.

It's been pointed out that his speech sounds slightly more parsible than the transcriptions, more like normal speech -- at least when you're talking to people who frequently shift thoughts in the middle of a sentence. You naturally try to glean some meaning from where he seemed to be going, and then try to catch up. But that doesn't leave time to actually think much about where he seemed to be going. You don't expect to have to do that in written text, and when it's written, you can see how utterly chaotic and idiotic it really is, and start to suspect that he changed directions when he realized that himself. But he delivers it with total confidence and finishes up by acting like he just said something profound. If you didn't get it, maybe you didn't keep up, or maybe you'll just forgive him for not expressing his profound ideas clearly. Apparently, it fools a lot of people.

 

[kookbreaker]

(Reads much better that way. Ruthie the Duck Girl made more sense.)

Dr. Brommer made more sense!

 

[ponderingturtle]

Stories all over the place that Trump wanted Omorosa arrested, but Sessions refused because Omorosa has broken no federal law.
If Trump now thinks he should have the right to have people arrested on his whim, then his delusions are worse then we thought...if that is possible.

Strictly speaking he might, detain her as an enemy combatant and send her to Gitmo. The courts were not hugely for limiting the administrations powers to do that. See the court cases around the "dirty bomber"

 

[WilliamSeger]

Strictly speaking he might, detain her as an enemy combatant and send her to Gitmo. The courts were not hugely for limiting the administrations powers to do that. See the court cases around the "dirty bomber"

From the ground up, our government was not designed for a person like Trump. I've said before that Trump's superpower is that he has no fear of consequences, so I'm extremely concerned about what he might do.