POTUS Donald Trump

[D. Hocking]

It is disturbing how he has to go after anyone who criticizes him, and goes out of his way to get down and dirty and make his response personal often in a way that is not relevant to the argument.    

 

I am  not a big fan of the current state of the media, but it is also disturbing how he is doing his best to delegitimatize them.  Now anything that he does not like is "fake news".  Perhaps a bit hypocritical for the King of the Birthers and someone with strong Breitbart ties to act so outraged and sanctimonious in this fashion. Not to mention he just cite OANN in his latest tweet.   

 

I noticed he is posted in all-caps more and more.  I think he is getting more and more rattled by everything that is happening.

[drjim]

I do think we are going to see a spectacular collapse of his Administration and all time historical personal humiliation. But so much bad can happen between now and then.

[diehardtwinsfan]

 

It is disturbing how he has to go after anyone who criticizes him, and goes out of his way to get down and dirty and make his response personal often in a way that is not relevant to the argument.    

 

I am  not a big fan of the current state of the media, but it is also disturbing how he is doing his best to delegitimatize them.  Now anything that he does not like is "fake news".  Perhaps a bit hypocritical for the King of the Birthers and someone with strong Breitbart ties to act so outraged and sanctimonious in this fashion. Not to mention he just cite OANN in his latest tweet.   

 

I noticed he is posted in all-caps more and more.  I think he is getting more and more rattled by everything that is happening.

 

Honestly, this has been American for 20 years now, and let's not pretend that politics is above that either. It's been going on there for as long as I've been alive.  Is anyone actually surprised that society as a whole continues to de-evolve?  Can you honestly say that having a President who is doing all the same things that most of a America already does is a surprise?  Goodness... just look at the political thread. Neither Democrats or Republicans are immune to it.  HRC certainly did it.  Trump did it.  Can you really be honest and say this is a surprise? 

[Badsmerf]

Yes, it is a surprise to me. While I partied and chased girls in college, I didn't expect a president to do the same. I wouldn't Have voted for someone that did the same. I don't believe most Americans behave that way. There is a terrible trend happening in society. People are becoming more ignorant, more gullible, quick to make judgments, and more comfortable with conformational bias. Sometimes you have to go down before you go up I guess.

[drjim]

Honestly, this has been American for 20 years now, and let's not pretend that politics is above that either. It's been going on there for as long as I've been alive. Is anyone actually surprised that society as a whole continues to de-evolve? Can you honestly say that having a President who is doing all the same things that most of a America already does is a surprise? Goodness... just look at the political thread. Neither Democrats or Republicans are immune to it. HRC certainly did it. Trump did it. Can you really be honest and say this is a surprise?

I still stunned every time he says or tweets something over the top. This is not normal.

 

Politics is a nasty business, but this is a new level. I don't accept it. And if this is the new normal going forward we are in a bad spot.

[Craig Arko]

Surprised, no. Accepting, uh-uh. We are becoming an international laughingstock.

[diehardtwinsfan]

 

Yes, it is a surprise to me. While I partied and chased girls in college, I didn't expect a president to do the same. I wouldn't Have voted for someone that did the same. I don't believe most Americans behave that way. There is a terrible trend happening in society. People are becoming more ignorant, more gullible, quick to make judgments, and more comfortable with conformational bias. Sometimes you have to go down before you go up I guess.

 

Unfortunately, politics continues to cater to a lower common denominator across both sides of the aisle. I agree with Craig that we don't have to accept it, but it should not be a surprise. This is where our culture has been headed for a LONG time. It shouldn't be a surprise at all that this is what you get.

 

I think my biggest complaint about it is that it's often presented in a partisan manner, as if only one side engages in this and that 'my side' is somehow above it. They all do it. They just do it differently.  Just as a massive culture shift has created this, it is going to take a massive culture shift to get rid of it.

[diehardtwinsfan]

 

I still stunned every time he says or tweets something over the top. This is not normal.

Politics is a nasty business, but this is a new level. I don't accept it. And if this is the new normal going forward we are in a bad spot.

 

Don't get me wrong, I 100% agree with you. I'm just pointing out that this shouldn't be a surprise. As a culture, we've been moving in that direction for a while. The very existence of Twitter is proof of that.

[PseudoSABR]

Interesting read on the former MI6 agent who wrote the dossier on Russia and Trump, suggesting that the FBI ignored investigating Trump during the summer prior to the election.

 

It also looks swell guy Michael Flynn made as many as five calls to Russians on the day sanctions were announced.  

 

Still, without a smoking gun, I fear all this smoke will get smoldered out and forgotten before long by the public.

 

[drjim]

Still, without a smoking gun, I fear all this smoke will get smoldered out and forgotten before long by the public.

Perhaps, but only when another scandal comes about. But it is important to note that by all measures Trump is by far the least popular President elect of the modern era.

 

He'll be ok as long as the economy is acceptable and he plays along with the Republican agenda. If either of those waver it will go bad in a hurry.

[Badsmerf]

Perhaps, but only when another scandal comes about. But it is important to note that by all measures Trump is by far the least popular President elect of the modern era.

He'll be ok as long as the economy is acceptable and he plays along with the Republican agenda. If either of those waver it will go bad in a hurry.

You think he'll be ok if he plays along with the Republican agenda? Which one? The current one that has moved so far off center many have left the party? Trump didn't win because people thought he would follow the Republican agenda, he won for many other reasons.

[diehardtwinsfan]

yeah if anything having the Republican establishment against him is more likely to boost his cause.  I think the real issue here is the Reps don't quite understand just how much power he has.  You can say that they back tracked on gutting the ethics committee due to Dems working the phones, but in honesty the Dems had no power to stop it. It was Trump taking to Twitter that killed that plan, and if he keeps doing stuff like that, you're going to find his popularity increasing throughout his term... not the other way around.

[drjim]

It's really hard for a President to do much if both parties are hostile to him.

 

And his popularity is not going to "continue" to rise. It's been falling since the election. Might get a little post-inauguration bump, but that only stays if everything stays in really good shape. He has a passionate base, but it is much smaller than a typical President. He won because enough Republicans held their nose and supported him. They are not committed to him and especially not if he is warring with the party. The popularity of that is vastly overstated.

[Badsmerf]

Depending on how the next for years go, out really won't surprise me if the republicans challenge him for re-election. He is unpopular enough already if they ran the primary over again with someone like Ryan he might lose. I truly believe the party is fractured, and the cracks will start to show the longer trump is in office.

[kydoty]

Obama: "I am considering evicting the press from the White House!"

 

Average Trump supporter: "You treasonous Muslim communist bastard! What are you hiding now!"

 

 

 

Trump: "I am considering evicting the press from the White House!"

 

Average Trump supporter: *blows load*

[diehardtwinsfan]

 

It's really hard for a President to do much if both parties are hostile to him.

And his popularity is not going to "continue" to rise. It's been falling since the election. Might get a little post-inauguration bump, but that only stays if everything stays in really good shape. He has a passionate base, but it is much smaller than a typical President. He won because enough Republicans held their nose and supported him. They are not committed to him and especially not if he is warring with the party. The popularity of that is vastly overstated.

 

The establishment isn't committed to him, I agree.  But I think you underestimate how much of the Reps base is fed up with the establishment.  I could just as easily see him torpedoing lots of the GOP establishment during primaries in a couple of years, and honestly, that might work.

 

Pay attention to what he's doing right now. He's working the disgruntled Democratic base in the rust belt, focusing on getting those jobs back that have been lost due to globalization. There is a lot of potential there to see his popularity rise if he is at all successful.  Again, the Ford/Chevy thing from a couple weeks ago is a good example of that. He bashes Chevy for sending jobs overseas and within hours, Ford is taking about how they are bringing jobs back into America. They can say all they want these are unrelated, but I don't think Americans are going to see it that way. He's got the leeway to do quite a bit in terms of tariffs, and if he's smart about it, he can force a lot of jobs back into the US. 

 

Theatrics aside, he will be very popular if he succeeds. I don't like a lot of what he stands for, but I don't think he's nearly as stupid as everyone around here seems to think.

[diehardtwinsfan]

 

Obama: "I am considering evicting the press from the White House!"

Average Trump supporter: "You treasonous Muslim communist bastard! What are you hiding now!"



Trump: "I am considering evicting the press from the White House!"

Average Trump supporter: *blows load*

 

I'm so tired of hypocrisy in politics, and it happens everywhere.  This is a great example of it.

[drjim]

 

The establishment isn't committed to him, I agree.  But I think you underestimate how much of the Reps base is fed up with the establishment.  I could just as easily see him torpedoing lots of the GOP establishment during primaries in a couple of years, and honestly, that might work.

 

Pay attention to what he's doing right now. He's working the disgruntled Democratic base in the rust belt, focusing on getting those jobs back that have been lost due to globalization. There is a lot of potential there to see his popularity rise if he is at all successful.  Again, the Ford/Chevy thing from a couple weeks ago is a good example of that. He bashes Chevy for sending jobs overseas and within hours, Ford is taking about how they are bringing jobs back into America. They can say all they want these are unrelated, but I don't think Americans are going to see it that way. He's got the leeway to do quite a bit in terms of tariffs, and if he's smart about it, he can force a lot of jobs back into the US. 

 

Theatrics aside, he will be very popular if he succeeds. I don't like a lot of what he stands for, but I don't think he's nearly as stupid as everyone around here seems to think.

 

This is all the key. If it works, he'll pull it off and the Republicans will have to pull back.

 

The Republicans in Congress clearly have an agenda that they want passed. As long as that is moving along and the country is in good shape, it will be fine. If the economy starts to fail or Trump doesn't sign the agenda passed, Republicans will jump ship fast.

[nicksaviking]

One down...

 

http://money.cnn.com/2017/01/16/media/kfile-crowley-out/index.html

[drjim]

I continue to be torn on Trump.

 

I initially thought he would be taking the country into a darker, more authoritarian place, but lately I've been coming around to the thought that he is just going to be so comically inept that all the worst fears won't be realized. There will be all kinds of bluster but not the massive changes. All talk and no action, if you will.

 

It's not going to be a good by any means, and there will be plenty of bad policy, but it might be much more easy to recover from than I had feared a couple months ago. Seems we'll at least have a competent Defense Secretary, so foreign policy won't be a complete disaster.

[Brock Beauchamp]

 

It's not going to be a good by any means, and there will be plenty of bad policy, but it might be much more easy to recover from than I had feared a couple months ago. Seems we'll at least have a competent Defense Secretary, so foreign policy won't be a complete disaster.

I'm really torn on foreign relations with Trump.

 

If he's truly willing to take a back seat to Pence and his advisors, we'll probably be fine... But Trump is an egomaniac and a thin-skinned one at that. I don't know if he's willing to really relinquish power because that kind of personality doesn't allow for it.

 

On the flip side of that coin, Trump loves to grandstand. He might be willing to take a backseat and enjoy the adulation of "getting things done" without actually doing anything. I could see him running four years of victory parades without actually doing much of anything.

 

And separate from that issue, he's going to cause problems with that ****ing Twitter account. Whether Pence and his cabinet can soothe ruffled feathers caused by idiotic bluster is another problem we'll see on a regular basis.

[nicksaviking]

 

 

And separate from that issue, he's going to cause problems with that ****ing Twitter account. Whether Pence and his cabinet can soothe ruffled feathers caused by idiotic bluster is another problem we'll see on a regular basis.

 

Ha, yeah remember when everyone freaked out because Obama wanted to keep his Blackberry?!

 

If he takes a backseat, he's going to be a backseat driver for sure. I can't for a minute see another country or world leader make a critical statement regarding the US or US leadership without him throwing a fit and making things worse. The US and US leadership get criticized globally all the time, and often justifiably.

[stringer bell]

Here's my take. According to polls, about half of the 46% that voted for Trump believed what he said--that Hillary belonged in jail, that Muslims should be kept out of the country and a wall built to keep out the Mexicans, that Obama was a Kenyan (and probably a Muslim) etc. The other 23% held their noses and voted for him, some to express their displeasure with "politics as usual", some to express their misgivings about where the country was headed, some because Trump was on the ballot as a Republican and some because they hated Hillary Clinton so much that they would vote for Donald Trump instead of her.

 

Trump is going to disappoint many of those that aren't true believers. He seems to have no impulse control and his stew of opinions don't make any kind of ideological policy. Most of the Republicans in Congress weren't in Trump's base, but they are going along because they have all the power if they can get Trump's signature on bills. The coalition is fragile and neither the Republican establishment nor Donald Trump have anything close to support of half of the people.

 

I expect Republicans will get a good share of their agenda codified in law. I also expect fireworks at some point, with President Trump in the middle of the fray.

[DaveW]

Chelsea Manning, thoughts?

[Craig Arko]

Sounds like he's planning to take the weekend off. Maybe just stay on vacation until 2020?

[D. Hocking]

 

Sounds like he's planning to take the weekend off. Maybe just stay on vacation until 2020?

 

Which leaves us with Pence and his soulless eyes...

 

I am guessing he is taking the weekend off in part so he can pretend the planned post-inauguration are not happening.  He does not like things to disturb his perception of reality.

[Craig Arko]

Which leaves us with Pence and his soulless eyes...

 

I am guessing he is taking the weekend off in part so he can pretend the planned post-inauguration are not happening.  He does not like things to disturb his perception of reality.

Pence is reminiscent of a Great White, isn't he?

[D. Hocking]

 

Pence is reminiscent of a Great White, isn't he?

 

If you look more closely, you will see more compassion and empathy reflected in the shark's eyes.

 

http://images.earthtouchnews.com/media/1946750/shark-page-2016-10-4.jpg?mode=crop&width=1060&height=707

[Brock Beauchamp]

 

Chelsea Manning, thoughts?

I found myself not caring very much, surprisingly.

[PseudoSABR]

More smoke?