Cont: The Trump Presidency 11: Insert something funny

[The Big Dog]

say, what does everyone else think the US should do?

Open forum...

Oh well, bit of a shame that I was the only one to come up with solid suggestions.

 

[Minoosh]

Why was Jamal heartbroken?

Writing this question gives me flashbacks to these reading comprehension cards we had in primary school. You read a grades passage then had to answer a series of questions on it to demonstrate and practice your ability to understand a text.

He understands. It's misdirection. It's all Trump apologists have left.

 

[Norman Alexander]

There's a reason I have a certain canine poster on Ignore. This most recent exchange, even appearing just semi-quoted, confirms my decision. It's gone beyond just plain ****-stirring. Here is your poster-boi: Roland Freisler

MEANWHILE...!

Turns out GM has been warning about the layoffs for some time, with the much-vaunted Trump trade-war with China and tariffs to "protect" US jobs being pretty much the last straw by adding $1bn in production costs. Of course, Trump is "not happy" and is ordering GM to "get back to Detroit". Funny, I didn't realise private companies in the USA took orders from the President. You learn something new every day.

Michelle Krebs, an executive analyst at Autotrader, said Barra [GM exec] was “trying to get ahead of a potential crisis by making cuts now”. She said a confluence of factors had triggered GM’s actions: a downturn in the important China market and a potential downturn in the North American market; the dramatic shift by consumers from traditional cars to utility vehicles; and the impact of tariffs and trade issues.

https://www.theguardian.com/busines...force-as-slowing-sales-and-steel-tariffs-bite

 

[Minoosh]

Trump Tweets

Mexico should move the flag waving Migrants, many of whom are stone cold criminals, back to their countries. Do it by plane, do it by bus, do it anyway you want, but they are NOT coming into the U.S.A. We will close the Border permanently if need be. Congress, fund the WALL!

The only flag I saw being waved was a homemade American flag. Which I think was a fairly manipulative image, but it's interesting that Trump does not specify which flag was being waved. Maybe there were more, but I didn't see it.

And I can't help but thinking that the ramifications of "closing the border permanently" are far beyond Trump's ability to comprehend. 90,000 legal crossers go through the San Ysidro port of entry every day.

 

[Norman Alexander]

The only flag I saw being waved was a homemade American flag. Which I think was a fairly manipulative image, but it's interesting that Trump does not specify which flag was being waved. Maybe there were more, but I didn't see it.

And I can't help but thinking that the ramifications of "closing the border permanently" are far beyond Trump's ability to comprehend. 90,000 legal crossers go through the San Ysidro port of entry every day.

He watches Fox News, which is more fake than WWE. He isn't even seeing reality.

 

[The Big Dog]

Of course it is helpful to look at what sanctions the US has already imposed, which include 17 Saudis, who were punished under the Global Magnitsky Act, which seems very reasonable under all the circumstances.

Perhaps President Trump realizes that the US does not always have to be the World's Policeman?

 

[Segnosaur]

Of course it is helpful to look at what sanctions the US has already imposed, which include 17 Saudis, who were punished under the Global Magnitsky Act, which seems very reasonable under all the circumstances.

Perhaps President Trump realizes that the US does not always have to be the World's Policeman?

If he doesn't think the U.S. has to be the world's policeman, why did he express a desire to boost military spending?

Oh, and by the way, the idea that perhaps you may not want to be too friendly with a nation that murders U.S. residents is not necessarily being the "world's policeman", it just means you are taking a moral stance.

Yeah, bizarre notion, I know.

 

[The Big Dog]

If he doesn't think the U.S. has to be the world's policeman, why did he express a desire to boost military spending?

Oh, and by the way, the idea that perhaps you may not want to be too friendly with a nation that murders U.S. residents is not necessarily being the "world's policeman", it just means you are taking a moral stance.

Yeah, bizarre notion, I know.

Then undoubtedly you have some suggestions for what else Trump should be doing?

Excited!

 

[acbytesla]

Then undoubtedly you have some suggestions for what else Trump should be doing?

Excited!

He should have denounced the Prince and recommended sanctions. He should have demanded reparations from the Kingdom for Kashoggi's family. Instead, the leader of the most powerful nation on earth weakly gave this authoritarian regime a pass and denounced our own intelligence services.

Can you say 'PATHETIC'?

Can you say 'TRAITOR'?

 

[Tsukasa Buddha]

Poor Donnie. The lynchpin of his "tease the Chinese" gambit, the DPP in Taiwan, is in deep doo-doo. The DPP lost big time in their version of off-year elections, losing the majority of the city/county ridings and a couple of their traditional "must-haves", Kaohsiung and Taichung. The DPP president will stay in office, but she's resigned as party head, a tradition in Taiwanese politics. Since she's only been pro-independence due to DPP pressure, it's not likely she's going to spend a lot of time playing footsie with Trump's designs on the area. Taiwanese sentiment is decidedly leaning back to more cooperation with the mainland.

Knowing politics in Taiwan, I suspect she'll try to salvage her job by making overtures to China. Probably something seemingly innocuous to us, but important to them. Increased tourism is an easy thing. The Chinese use their tourists as an economic bludgeon. A couple of new j.v. between mainland electronics produces and Taiwanese would be more significant. Something dramatic like Huawei partnering with Foxconn would provide more bang for the buck. Whatever the moves or gestures, it ain't going to include getting more Trump-friendly. Jared and Ivanka can go suck an egg.

I feel making this about Trump is like cutting off the nose to spite your face.

 

[Tsukasa Buddha]

President Donald Trump on Monday dismissed a study produced by his own administration, involving 13 federal agencies and more than 300 leading climate scientists, warning of the potentially catastrophic impact of climate change.

Why, you ask?

"I don't believe it," Trump told reporters on Monday, adding that he had read "some" of the report.

Linky.

 

[Minoosh]

Linky.

It ended up on Page 1 of my local paper Friday, so it wasn't buried that well.

Is it a problem that the actual findings of the report become subordinate to Trump's petulant dismissal of the report? The CNN piece is less about climate change than about Trump's denial of climate change.

He's a talented enough manipulator to have seen that coming.

 

[Sideroxylon]

Because Seal Team Six had just put two in the heart and two in the head of Osama bin laden.

"context"

Go on. Just for giggles, offer the most charitable explanation you can think of here. You know - The very obvious one that you are dishonestly avoiding. Then put it under scrutiny like a skeptic. Prentend you are on the CT boards.

 

[The Big Dog]

Go on. Just for giggles, offer the most charitable explanation you can think of here. You know - The very obvious one that you are dishonestly avoiding. Then put it under scrutiny like a skeptic. Prentend you are on the CT boards.

I am interested in your theory that putting something under scrutiny "like a skeptic" involves offering "the most charitable explanation" one can think of....

Because that does not make sense, just like putting "heartbroken' and "brave" and beautiful in a description of history's most monstrous terrorist.

 

[Tsukasa Buddha]

It ended up on Page 1 of my local paper Friday, so it wasn't buried that well.

Is it a problem that the actual findings of the report become subordinate to Trump's petulant dismissal of the report? The CNN piece is less about climate change than about Trump's denial of climate change.

He's a talented enough manipulator to have seen that coming.

I've heard it said they miscalculated because there weren't any other major stories over the weekend, so it ended up dominating the news.

 

[Giordano]

He should have denounced the Prince and recommended sanctions. He should have demanded reparations from the Kingdom for Kashoggi's family. Instead, the leader of the most powerful nation on earth weakly gave this authoritarian regime a pass and denounced our own intelligence services.

Can you say 'PATHETIC'?

Can you say 'TRAITOR'?

The usual, acceptable government response when dealing with abhorrent but necessary allies is well established in practice:

1. Announce publicly that your government is deeply, deeply concerned with reports of X having occurred. "We are shocked and dismayed to learn..."
2. Indicate that X goes against important internationally established law and human values, and certainly should never be permitted to occur again.
3. Publicly announce one or a few sanctions against the guilty ally. Preferably sanctions that sound really tough but have no very painful or long lasting bite (it helps if you do this with the secret cooperation and understanding of the guilty party. "Hey, would it be okay if... We don't really want to hurt or upset you. You understand we have to do something for our own public relations.").
4. Later, quietly remove even these sanctions when the fuss has died down.

This is exactly what many other governments dependent on Saudi oil and political power have done. The fact that Trump is unwilling to go even this far even this adds OBSEQUIOUS and COWARDLY to the words you employed as descriptors. Trump: a bully to the 98% of people he perceives as less powerful than himself, but an unbelievable quaking, rear-end kisser of the remaining 2%, who he fears.

 

[Minoosh]

I've heard it said they miscalculated because there weren't any other major stories over the weekend, so it ended up dominating the news.

I'm glad the federal government is taking it seriously, even if Trump isn't. I like to see him alienating his own administration.

 

[Sideroxylon]

I am interested in your theory that putting something under scrutiny "like a skeptic" involves offering "the most charitable explanation" one can think of....

Because that does not make sense, just like putting "heartbroken' and "brave" and beautiful in a description of history's most monstrous terrorist.

That part of the post was dripping with sarcasm. If I didn’t think I was being trolled I might describe what only you in this thread allegedly cannot see in the sentence you originally quoted and the wider context from the rest of the article you linked.

 

[Mojo]

ecause that does not make sense, just like putting "heartbroken' and "brave" and beautiful in a description of history's most monstrous terrorist.

That’s your problem: if you want to comprehend something, you need to do more than considering individual words.

 

[Mojo]

Trump: a bully to the 98% of people he perceives as less powerful than himself, but an unbelievable quaking, rear-end kisser of the remaining 2%, who he fears.

As with all bullies, he fears all of them. That’s why he’s a bully.