Cont: The Trump Presidency 11: Insert something funny

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phiwum said:
Right.
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Nah.

If push comes to shove, kill 'em.

Again, they have the option. They can walk away from their white nationalism, their hateful bigotry. LGBT folk, Hispanic folk, black people like me, can't walk away from that.

And just for reference, they're pushing right now.
 
Mumbles said:
Sorry, but we're currently in one of the hotter periods in US history, caused mostly by the likes of Mitch Mcconnell and Dolt 45, with the approval of the GOP caucus, due their increased fanaticism, and their anger at a black guy being elected president, and the prospects of white people not being an outright majority of the US in the future..
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And here's the thing. While Republicans are struggling to come to terms with (indeed, they fear) the fact that that being a privileged, white, male, Christian is no longer the only qualification needed to be POTUS, Democrats have embraced this as a good thing. You only have to look at the faces of the newly elected representatives to see this graphically illustrated......



116-Reps_Elect.jpg

The Republican group looks like a cross section of an exclusive Mens Social Club; 30 middle aged to old white men and a token blonde woman.

116-Dems_Elect.jpg

The Democrat group looks like a cross section of, well... America.




 
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phiwum said:
I really didn't think you meant that Schiff should investigate Trump because he was insulted. It is what you said, but I thought that it wasn't what you literally believed.

I've read enough of your posts to know that you are decent.

Trump's lies to the public are a reason he should crash and burn. It's not right to have a president who lies with such impunity. It's a damned shame.

Better would be, of course, a more substantial reason to take him down. One that even his supporters would, for the most part, accept as going too far. Even then, impeachment and removal might cause more damage to our nation than allowing this incompetent to finish his term and vote him out, but that's taking a risk of another sort: reelection. Again, perhaps enough dirt will come out between now and then that he will lose some of the base.

It's a terrible situation right now. Our disgust with Trump might cause even greater divisions, leading to a worse outcome for our nation.

Nonetheless, I'm all in favor of legitimate (not vengeful or purely partisan) investigations. Trump sure looks dirty from where I sit. Perhaps the emoluments clause can actually spur some action, though I doubt it with a Republican controlled Senate at present. They just don't seem to care about that kind of corruption, so long as they can get votes by siding with Trump.
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I believe the emoluments alone is justification. But I think he has clearly obstructed justice. And I'm convinced this is just the tip of the iceberg with Trump.
 
phiwum said:
One of the ways that Trump has damaged our political system is by making everything personal, objective standards be damned. If Schiff or other Democrats follow this lead, so much the worse for informed governance.

Don't pretend that winning is all that matters. The further the Democrats go down Trump's path, the worse for the future. You can't pretend that winning by despicable means doesn't matter. It encourages the same behavior in the future.
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And I'm sure the Benghazi inquiry was entirely motivated by an impartial desire to find the truth. Stop thinking we're on the edge of an abyss. We've already done a spinning cannonball into it. Embrace the new reality and move on.
 
I was interested in the reports that Trump's support in the military is declining and wondered if it was true. Apparently it is. In fact, as reported in the National Review, support for Trump among those in uniform was never all that robust to begin with. In 2016 it was 46% approve and 37% disapprove. Now it's virtually neck-and-neck, 43.8% approve - 43.1% disapprove.

I was interested because I served in the U.S. Army in the 1970s, I was even ready to make a career of it. (Except I couldn't switch my MOS to Army aviation; with the Vietnam War winding down there were no slots and a reenlistment in exchange for an aviation MOS wouldn't go through.) If I was in the military now, what would I think about Trump? I might not think about him at all.

Being in the military seemed a somewhat cloistered life to me, insular. I worked, lived and socialized pretty much exclusively within the military community. Events in the 'civilian world' seemed remote, far-off, having little to do with me. I was in uniform when Nixon was just beginning his Watergate descent and while it was interesting to see it didn't seem terribly relevant to me. I just couldn't get too worked up about it. Regardless of what happened to Nixon, it wasn't going to change my life. I was more interested in what kind of a guy my new NCOIC was going to turn out to be. Would I remain at Ft. Sill for the remainder of my enlistment? I didn't especially want to have to go back overseas. When were we going on maneuvers again?

Of course, as a member of the military the president is your Commander-in-Chief so you owe the office (if not the man) a good deal of respect. Not a good idea to be too vocal. Which makes the way Navy Admiral William H. McRaven recently spoke out even more remarkable, but of course he is retired.

As the National Review reported, Trump's popularity with the military is definitely waning. They seem to be becoming wise to him. Many military members, like Admiral McRaven, recognize the type.
Even worse for Trump, the percentage of troops who had a “very unfavorable” view of Trump exceeded those with a “very favorable” view by more than seven points (23.6 percent to 30.8 percent). More than half of all officers disapproved of the president. Interestingly, this was after a number of positive things Trump had done [for the armed forces].

So why the slide?

He has repeatedly committed a cardinal sin of leadership. He’s demonstrated that his support for soldiers — and on occasion, even bereaved families — is conditional. He doesn’t necessarily “love the troops.” He loves the troops who love him. He turns on the troops who turn on him. Cross him, and all bets are off. NPR link
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smartcooky said:
And here's the thing. While Republicans are struggling to come to terms with (indeed, they fear) the fact that that being a privileged, white, male, Christian is no longer the only qualification needed to be POTUS, Democrats have embraced this as a good thing. You only have to look at the faces of the newly elected representatives to see this graphically illustrated......



[qimg]https://www.dropbox.com/s/932jcs2vbc6sn0d/116-Reps_Elect.jpg?raw=1[/qimg]
The Republican group looks like a cross section of an exclusive Mens Social Club; 30 middle aged to old white men and a token blonde woman.

[qimg]https://www.dropbox.com/s/kzp4pefxa3uuj5r/116-Dems_Elect.jpg?raw=1[/qimg]
The Democrat group looks like a cross section of, well... America.

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Here's the best platform and positive message the Democrats need to campaign in 2020. They are afraid of alienating the white vote. They don't need to be, they just need to frame the message right.
 
Allowing Trump to serve out his term, even if he is indicted the moment his arse crosses the WH threshold, would be to let him and the GOP off too easily. That crew, in totality, needs to be taught the lesson that abdication of duty, criminal behavior and undemocratic means are not to be kissed off with a silken admonition. A right royal impeachment would hopefully be a start down the road to redemption for the Republicans.

Just as it was deemed that the whole of the German people of 1945 required to experience for themselves the horrors brought on by what they had wrought in order to extirpate aggressive militarism.

And we should not be overly concerned about the 'damage' a Presidential impeachment might do to the Nation. To give fear of consequences for exercising the just rule of law cause to recoil from the responsibility is to descend into lawlessness. The Constitutional tool of impeachment was envisioned for precisely such nepotistic, money-grubbing, tyrant-loving, anti-democratic scum as Trump.
 
Human history is littered with examples of what happens when a powerful official has an avalanche of litigation both civil and criminal waiting for them after some period of sacrosanctness expires. Because they make the only obvious move left to make at that point. That's what "the die is cast" means. It's not a decision, that decision was already made.

That's about the most direct argument against the practice of untouchable offices right there.
 
Delphic Oracle said:
Human history is littered with examples of what happens when a powerful official has an avalanche of litigation both civil and criminal waiting for them after some period of sacrosanctness expires. Because they make the only obvious move left to make at that point. That's what "the die is cast" means. It's not a decision, that decision was already made.

e.
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The move may not be as obvious as you imagine: I have no idea what the move is.
 
Ladewig said:
The move may not be as obvious as you imagine: I have no idea what the move is.
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The obvious move is to use one's power to alter the situation so that one doesn't leave office.
 
Mumbles said:
You don't seem to realize that you hit upon the exact problem.

"The Republicans aren't going to forget the utility of Trump's tactics when Trump is gone"

That's exactly why they should learn the cost of Dolt 45's tactics. Assuming they survive as a political party. Personally, I'd be fine to see actual conservatives form their own party.

I'd nominate as their leader...um...Rick Wilson. Seems good enough. Maybe Bill Weld.

Sorry, but we're currently in one of the hotter periods in US history, caused mostly by the likes of Mitch Mcconnell and Dolt 45, with the approval of the GOP caucus, due their increased fanaticism, and their anger at a black guy being elected president, and the prospects of white people not being an outright majority of the US in the future.

Not, if they were smart, they'd just start calling any Latinx who wasn't clearly black, "white" , and be done with it. Or even - get this - stop judging people by skin color, sexual orientation, or other markers of "purity". But instead they're freaking out, and lashing out, and so they need to be dealt with.



Nah. In the situation like this, I boost the bastards on my side. I'll note that Hillary Clinton took the media to the cleaners a few days ago, pointing out that they refuse to cover actual issues, instead of Dolt 45's antics. That's a first step forward, more people, including consumers, need to point out how they're dropping the ball.

If mimicking his thin-skinned attacks works, do it. The first job is to destroy the GOP as it exists today - as a cornucopia of ignorant bigotry.
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I do wonder if Trump headlines will stop bringing in the clicks as they become the usual, that may be what will move the media to find other types of headlines to generate the clicks/readership/viewers they need.
 
Trump Tweets

Migrants at the Southern Border will not be allowed into the United States until their claims are individually approved in court. We only will allow those who come into our Country legally. Other than that our very strong policy is Catch and Detain. No “Releasing” into the U.S...

....All will stay in Mexico. If for any reason it becomes necessary, we will CLOSE our Southern Border. There is no way that the United States will, after decades of abuse, put up with this costly and dangerous situation anymore!
 
https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/poli...‘embedded-enemies’/ar-BBQ36gf?ocid=spartanntp

It seems Corey Lewandowski is surprised by the fact that gutter-rat-in-chief doesn't inspire loyalty. Maybe Lewandowski wants to get back in the inner circle. After the election results in the House, that seems a bit like running to be with the Captain of the Titanic. Trump might be the captain but he's going down with his ship. If Corey was a smart gutter rat, he'd get as far away from the ship as possible.
 
P.J. Denyer said:
Or, if they're going down they'll bring the whole temple down on everyone's heads.
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Indeed, and this ties in with something I said early on in the Trump's psychiatric illness thread.

If you are a narcissist in the mould of David Koresh, then going down in history in infamy is probably as good for your ego as going down in history with praise.

Getting your name remembered is what is important.

There is already strong evidence which that Trump has mental illnesses that cause him to behave erratically and it also looks as though his faculties are declining as well.

Not a pretty picture.
 
He might try to go out in a blaze of unconstitutional glory but I don't think the institutions of government will allow that. He could probably disrupt the inauguration some or not allow the transition teams into the government agencies.

The bottom line though is that if he loses in 2020, he will no longer be president at noon on the 21st of January 2021.
 
Craig4 said:
He might try to go out in a blaze of unconstitutional glory but I don't think the institutions of government will allow that. He could probably disrupt the inauguration some or not allow the transition teams into the government agencies.

The bottom line though is that if he loses in 2020, he will no longer be president at noon on the 21st of January 2021.
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War is an option.
 
phiwum said:
One of the ways that Trump has damaged our political system is by making everything personal, objective standards be damned. If Schiff or other Democrats follow this lead, so much the worse for informed governance.

Don't pretend that winning is all that matters. The further the Democrats go down Trump's path, the worse for the future. You can't pretend that winning by despicable means doesn't matter. It encourages the same behavior in the future.
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Naaah, Trump just brought it out in the open and added direct name-calling. The media and comedy monologists have been doing it for years. Al Gore became "stiff as a plank of lumber" for a couple of years leading up to the 2000 election. Howard Dean became "unhinged screaming guy". Gerald Ford, a somewhat talented college athlete, was made into a clumsy clod.*

Trump, being a creature of the media and whose only experience with interviews was drive-time radio, merely took it to the bully pulpit. We've already had one scurrilous Republican president who earned "Tricky Dick" all on his own. Do we feel bad that he's as well know by that nick instead of "Mr. President". Trump's in a category unto himself, and the only problem I see is that we can't agree on the best appellation.

I know you don't approve of the practise but I also know that we've all heard you and we pretty obviously don't agree. Constant repetition borders on tone policing.


*Best line from the Chevy Chase news era. I paraphrase 'cuz I can't find a transcript. "We are a comedy show and in our pursuit of the humorous slants on news we will satirize everyone and in no way do we mean any stories to be disrespectful to the station of President of the United States. We have heard from a number of viewers and from the heads of the network that some people have been misconstruing our slapstick humor about President Ford as being disrespectful to that high office. We hear you and will cut back on direct references to our President.

In other news, an unidentified man stumbled and fell out of a second story window in the White House today...... "
 
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