The Trump Presidency: Part 21

[Stacyhs]

Sure. You have to throttle demand somehow. You either do it with money, or with queues and refusing expensive treatments....
.

You don't indicate where you live. From your use of 'queues' instead of 'lines' I assume you aren't from the US.

 

[shuttlt]

Perhaps you'd care to let us know your position on basic GOP supported issues so we can better understand where you are in the political spectrum?

More easily, what do you like about Trump and what do you dislike? That will give us a pretty good idea.

You want me to muse on politics? OK.

I think the Democrats are profoundly lost right now. You of course will disagree. They need to keep losing until they sort themselves out. That's probably the main thing.

If I have any political views that I'm certain of I'm with Burke in his Reflection on the Revolution In France. It is very easy to be in favour of liberté, égalité, fraternité... or universal healthcare... the question is how you are going to implement it and how that would play out in the real, complicated, corrupt world we live in. I don't think it is so very wicked to think that it would be implemented in such a way that the downsides outweighed the upsides. If one were to implement it state by state so that its glorious success brought everybody onboard, I'd certainly be in favour.

Is that sufficient? I think you will find me irritatingly equivocal and uninvesting on most topics.

 

[Andy_Ross]

Can a President be guilty of Sedition?

 

[shuttlt]

You don't indicate where you live. From your use of 'queues' instead of 'lines' I assume you aren't from the US.

I'm not from the US. I'm from the UK, but Trump is the great engine about which all other politics turns.

 

[shuttlt]

Can a President be guilty of Sedition?

They should try to impeach him. Sedition would at least be a crime.

 

[Cain]

Trump Tweets

THANK GOD FOR TRUCKERS!

There is something to be said about the moronic brilliance of these types of tweets. Suppose you're a hard-core Trump supporter; you're not a trucker, but you know truckers. Maybe the truckers you know are relatively apolitical; they dislike a lot of things the president says and does but believe the media is unfair. You retweet it to a trucker, or a trucker reads it, or the family member of a trucker, and how does it make them feel? Probably pretty good. Can you imagine Obama singling out truckers? They'd get a mention along with others performing essential services in a polished, scripted remark. No mention of the Almighty, no exclamation mark, and absolutely, positively no cap-lock. Maybe it would be sincere, but it wouldn't make anyone feel special. It might even come off as condescending.

We've seen Trump in the captain's seat of an eighteen-wheeler behaving like a little kid. If you're primed to loathe the president as a purely self-interested huckster, then the tweet rings hollow. It might be difficult to imagine the braying buffoon as ever being genuinely appreciative of truckers prior to public life. I'd guess that that's true, but it's not a calculated move. Trump's a narcissist, and narcissists are quick to reciprocate praise. If truckers love Trump, then Trump loves truckers. When Clint Eastwood made the comments that he made at the Republican National Convention, Obama didn't mock or insult the icon. He said Eastwood is a great actor and a terrific director. In other words, he behaved like an adult.

 

[Stacyhs]

You want me to muse on politics? OK.

I think the Democrats are profoundly lost right now. You of course will disagree. They need to keep losing until they sort themselves out. That's probably the main thing.

If I have any political views that I'm certain of I'm with Burke in his Reflection on the Revolution In France. It is very easy to be in favour of liberté, égalité, fraternité... or universal healthcare... the question is how you are going to implement it and how that would play out in the real, complicated, corrupt world we live in. I don't think it is so very wicked to think that it would be implemented in such a way that the downsides outweighed the upsides. If one were to implement it state by state so that its glorious success brought everybody onboard, I'd certainly be in favour.

Is that sufficient? I think you will find me irritatingly equivocal and uninvesting on most topics.

While I agree that the Dems can often badly screw things up and tend to fight among themselves, it is the GOP that I find to be lost.They have strayed so far from their traditional values that they are hardly recognizable. They are certainly no longer the party of so called 'family values', of limited government power, or of fiscal responsibility including a balanced budget. They are no longer Republicans but The Party of Trump.

I agree with Burke on some things, including the French Revolution. All one has to do is compare the results of that revolution to that of America to see it was a failure. I agree that this world is inherently corrupt and most certainly power corrupts. All healthcare systems have faults and all are vulnerable to corruption and the greed of those running them. But does that mean we have to stop trying? The idea of healthcare for all regardless of income is good; how we implement it is the burning question.

You did not answer my question about what you like and dislike about Trump. Frankly, that will give me a better idea about your political leanings than anything else.

 

[newyorkguy]

Looks like Trump is starting to lose it. This is from NBC News:

When President Donald Trump tweeted "LIBERATE MINNESOTA!" on Friday morning, some of his most fervent supporters in far-right communities — including those who have agitated for violent insurrection — heard a call to arms. Link

Gov. Jay Inslee of Washington -- who Trump called "a snake" a few weeks ago -- urged the president to use restraint.

Trump's tweets, however, pushed many online extremist communities to speculate whether the president was advocating for armed conflict, an event they’ve termed "the boogaloo," for which many far-right activists have been gearing up and advocating since last year. There were sharp increases on Twitter in terms associated with conspiracies such as QAnon and the "boogaloo" term immediately following the president’s tweets, according to the Network Contagion Research Institute, an independent nonprofit group of scientists and engineers that tracks and reports on misinformation and hate speech across social media.

This is horrible.

 

[Stacyhs]

There is something to be said about the moronic brilliance of these types of tweets. Suppose you're a hard-core Trump supporter; you're not a trucker, but you know truckers. Maybe the truckers you know are relatively apolitical; they dislike a lot of things the president says and does but believe the media is unfair. You retweet it to a trucker, or a trucker reads it, or the family member of a trucker, and how does it make them feel? Probably pretty good. Can you imagine Obama singling out truckers? They'd get a mention along with others performing essential services in a polished, scripted remark. No mention of the Almighty, no exclamation mark, and absolutely, positively no cap-lock. Maybe it would be sincere, but it wouldn't make anyone feel special. It might even come off as condescending.

We've seen Trump in the captain's seat of an eighteen-wheeler behaving like a little kid. If you're primed to loathe the president as a purely self-interested huckster, then the tweet rings hollow. It might be difficult to imagine the braying buffoon as ever being genuinely appreciative of truckers prior to public life. I'd guess that that's true, but it's not a calculated move. Trump's a narcissist, and narcissists are quick to reciprocate praise. If truckers love Trump, then Trump loves truckers. When Clint Eastwood made the comments that he made at the Republican National Convention, Obama didn't mock or insult the icon. He said Eastwood is a great actor and a terrific director. In other words, he behaved like an adult.

I agree. Obama didn't spend hours a day tweeting this kind of crap. Trump targets the under-educated, the poorly informed, and extremists. Quite frankly, Trump's tweets work for them because they are so simple. Trump's base are, in general, not deep thinkers.

 

[Stacyhs]

Looks like Trump is starting to lose it. This is from NBC News:

Gov. Jay Inslee of Washington -- who Trump called "a snake" a few weeks -- urged the president to use restraint.


This is horrible.

The term "liberate" most certainly carries inferences of violence for the right wing extremists. This is why many psychologists and other mental health professionals have said Trump is dangerous.

 

[uke2se]

Is your unhinged president trying to start a civil war in the middle of a pandemic? Does he realize that most of his "footsoldiers" are elderly?

 

[Lurch]

I understand. The Democrats are making small businesses suffer to try to get some money allocated to other areas. It's your basic hostage situation.


So, hey haven't decided not to approve it. They've just decided that for the moment it isn't going to get approved?


I hope so.

Incidentally, at the risk of asking a question I don't know the answer to, had the Republicans already rejected the funding the Democrats are now asking for, or is the current hostage situation pre-emptive?

You seem rather focused on this 'obstruction' by the Dems. They are negotiating.

Contrast that against the 300+ Bills (some actually bi-partisan) that have languished on Moscow Mitch's desk because he outright refuses to even put them up for a vote.

And forget not the Republican obstructionism during the entirety of Obama's term. The most egregious being the blocking of Obama's right to nominate a Supreme Court Justice.

The Dems have *miles* to go to start to catch up with the Reps' level of blockage and obstruction.

But let's rip the Dems for negotiating and fighting for what they want, and call it obstructionism.

 

[Andy_Ross]

The term "liberate" most certainly carries inferences of violence for the right wing extremists. This is why many psychologists and other mental health professionals have said Trump is dangerous.

It does when he includes the 2nd amendment in the tweet.

 

[uke2se]

It does when he includes the 2nd amendment in the tweet.

His acolytes in Nazi and CT-circles certainly got that message. Any attacks coming out of this will be blood on Trump's hands.

 

[newyorkguy]

From Fox News:

Trump specifically blamed congressional Democrats for job losses, arguing that they failed to pass needed economic relief in response to crisis. "Today people started losing their jobs because of Crazy Nancy Pelosi, Cryin’ Chuck Schumer, and the Radical Left, Do Nothing Democrats, who should immediately come back to Washington and approve legislation to help families in America. End your ENDLESS VACATION!" he tweeted.

Washington state Gov. Jay Inslee fired back at the president with an incendiary statement accusing Trump of "fomenting domestic rebellion and spreading lies. The president’s statements this morning encourage illegal and dangerous acts. He is putting millions of people in danger of contracting COVID-19," Inslee said. "His unhinged rantings and calls for people to “liberate” states could also lead to violence. We’ve seen it before." Inslee went on to say that Trump "is off the rails. He’s not quoting scientists and doctors but spewing dangerous, anti-democratic rhetoric." Link

What's happening?

 

[Stacyhs]

It does when he includes the 2nd amendment in the tweet.

True. Ever notice the lack of assault rifles and other guns at 'leftie' protests?
But this is what Trump advocates:

 

[Shalamar]

They should try to impeach him. Sedition would at least be a crime.

He was impeached. The GoP did not convict.
Trump, The Chosen One, after all, has Total Power. And demands that Three states be 'liberated'.

If Obama had said these things, conservatives would have hanged him from a tree on the White House lawn. Why does trump get a pass?

 

[newyorkguy]

I haven't been paying much attention to the news today -- I try not to watch the news but it is all over the nightly newscasts -- and apparently Trump is trying to rally people to defy state orders to remain shut down and... What? Take to the streets? Already the Texas governor is saying Texas is going to reopen.

This really seems like... I don't even have words. I have never seen anything like this before. I could never have imagined something like this before.

 

[johnny karate]

I understand. The Democrats are making small businesses suffer to try to get some money allocated to other areas. It's your basic hostage situation.

Your attempt to claim the moral high ground through cheap rhetorical tactics is severely undercut by your earlier defense of people who are literally and directly responsible for cause of suffering.

Did you actually think anyone would fall for it?

 

[Shalamar]

I haven't been paying much attention to the news today -- I try not to watch the news but it is all over the nightly newscasts -- and apparently Trump is trying to rally people to defy state orders to remain shut down and... What? Take to the streets? Already the Texas governor is saying Texas is going to reopen.

This really seems like... I don't even have words. I have never seen anything like this before. I could never have imagined something like this before.

People are going to die, and somehow it will be all the Democrats fault.