TRUMP 2020!

[Most Lee Harmless]

One tires of the increasingly used argument that 'haters gonna hate' : I have a good friend that I love dearly but frankly, I would not let them arrange a piss-up in a brewery. Competence is not judged by affection. I had a work-mate who was obnoxious, ill-mannered and foul-mouthed with no regard for others feelings. But there were few better at organising schedules, rosters and keeping day to day organisation in hand.

I dont care if the people in charge are lovable or not, judge them on what they do. On those grounds Trump is somewhat ineffective, beneath the PR spin, which these days covers all leaders actions in smoke and mirrors, he has not advanced US interests that much yet pissed off a lot of allies and potential support.

Is China a 'threat'? Well, if you firmly believe that one specific nation has some innate right to be top dog then yes, it is. But China is not the first nor only nation that, due to circumstance or intent, finds itself challenging for top dog spot. The US itself was a challenger to that spot when European nations held the top dog spots. In Europe itself the top spot has rotated around a number of nations and none have held it for long. Britian held it for a while, as did France, Germany, Spain, Austria and so on. Even Holland once ruled the waves and trade routes.

It is hard to judge what Trumps position on many policies actually is. The verbals and the pictures disconnect, reverse and switch so often. What does become clear is that he can not abide what he perceives as disloyalty and derides in personal terms those he perceives as guilty of it. He seems to perceive any opposition to himself or his words as 'disloyal' and by extension 'unpatriotic'. Which does smack of the divine right of kings attitude. As the old French monarch once said 'The State is me.'

Would Biden be any better? Unlikely, but its not proof that Trump is better. Both seem inadequate in my view. But given the way the political structures work in the US, both are exactly what the voters get offered to choose between, Tweedledum and Tweedledee.

Swipe right, swipe left, leave a like.

[Argo]

[quote="Lord Mustache"]You cannot factually be an idiot.

Idiot, imbecile, and moron were, not so long ago, used in a psychological classification system, and each one was assigned to a fairly specific range of abilities.

Idiots. —Those so defective that the mental development never exceeds that or a normal child of about two years.
Imbeciles. —Those whose development is higher than that of an idiot, but whose intelligence does not exceed that of a normal child of about seven years.
Morons. —Those whose mental development is above that of an imbecile, but does not exceed that of a normal child of about twelve years.
— Edmund Burke Huey, Backward and Feeble-Minded Children, 1912

https://www.merriam-webster.com/words-a ... ve-history

[Mack]

i think the many things trump has accomplished and is moving toward are very good for our nation. i dont understand how others dont see the same.

[Most Lee Harmless]

You assume they are firstly: progress solely occuring because of his actions, and secondly : that the outcomes only occur because of his actions.

For example : a record harvest can have many causes. Some are affected by the farmers decisions. More than a few are not. The farmer could take the same decisions yet end up with a failed harvest just as easily as a bumper one.

Economic progress is rarely affected by any decision taken that day, or week or even year. They unwind over decades. Saying you are investing billions in a sector is meaningless. The benefits dont show up until long after, often decades later. As do the downsides.

Will Trumps policies and actions prove to have been of benefit or not? Ask me again in 2030.

But again, what are his policies? Not the soundbites or headline quotes : the actual nitty-gritty facts on the ground. Trade tariffs sound fine but are a two-edged sword. They hurt the folk you impose them on but also increase the tax burden on your own populace. They affect your own economy as much as they affect your target. So a stated policy of reducing tax burdens by cutting headline tax-rates is undermined by increasing the cost of living by imposing tariffs on buying both raw materials and finished goods. What use an extra few dollars in your take-home pay when you have to spend more than that elsewhere than you did before.

You can talk up spending more or spending less as much as you like, what are the actual facts in reality : what actually affected the economy? Will California's economy be more affected by wildfires, covid, drought or state economic policy? Which has hurt Florida more : Covid or hurricanes? Or the events in the stock markets impacting on pensions?

Like I said, ask me in 2030. But is the good stuff down to Trumps policy or random event? You don't know and neither does anyone else. Politically, its an act of faith and like all faith, based on belief and the depth of that belief, not on facts.

[Meliva]

Not all of trumps actions are tied solely to the economy. For the most part, I tend to agree with Trumps decisions, at least the one's I've heard. Sure you can't attribute everything to him, but he does play a major role.

I largely like that he's been trying to make deals we had with foreign nations better for the US. Like changing Nafta, and refusing to donate American money to certain programs that have been overly reliant on the US. I also approve of him having Suleman or however it's spelt killed, as well as not letting refugees into the US, when there were closer nations that could take them in.

Don't agree with all his decisions, and I think ultimately he's kind of an arse, but like you said earlier Danik-I'd rather have a guy I don't like but I think does a decent job running things then the opposite.

[Dmanwuzhere]

https://www.thecentersquare.com/nationa ... 62306.html


russian collusion everywhere but with trump
gotta love it
hunter should hook his dad up from the sex traffickers numbers so he leaves all the lil kids alone

[Most Lee Harmless]

The current political landscape of the Middle East is based on two policy decisions dating back to WW1 and how the Ottoman Empire was to be dismantled.

Will US actions regarding various treaties and trade pacts impact the future as much? That is what I mean by saying ask me in 2030 if Trumps actions are good or bad for the US.

Nothing occurs in isolation or is insulated from historical influence or bias. The Middle East is the way it is today with all its inbuilt problems and tensions because Britian and France in acting in their nations perceived best interests decreed it so. The Kurds exist without a nation because it did not suit the neat lines carving up areas of influence for them to have one.
That is one example of history affecting today and Trump using their lack of presence at D-Day as a justification for not considering their interests today does not address the complexity of the issue. It was a soundbite, not a policy, but that is the level of political discourse he operates on.

I dont have to like the person in charge but I do have to see that they are mostly competent.

Trump fails on both counts. A good measure of a businesses underlying strength is employee churn and length of service. Trump's administration is like a revolving door and all flipped out of it get called useless, incompetent, etc. Well, who employed them in the first place? There is something other than poor judgement in hiring going on there.

It reminds me of a girl I knew : every new boyfriend was a paragon of manly virtue, hung like a donkey and insatiable. Once they became an ex-boyfriend they were toyal shytes, hung like a hamster and couldn't get it up.

Thats pretty much how I view the justifications given for the latest administration person booted out. There is something rotten at the core of the Trump Administration.

[Mack]

he is doing very very good for an incompetent person.
i see trump as an outspoken smartas that knows how to take care of bussiness.

[Lachlan]

You cannot factually be an idiot.

Idiot, imbecile, and moron were, not so long ago, used in a psychological classification system, and each one was assigned to a fairly specific range of abilities.

Idiots. —Those so defective that the mental development never exceeds that or a normal child of about two years.
Imbeciles. —Those whose development is higher than that of an idiot, but whose intelligence does not exceed that of a normal child of about seven years.
Morons. —Those whose mental development is above that of an imbecile, but does not exceed that of a normal child of about twelve years.
— Edmund Burke Huey, Backward and Feeble-Minded Children, 1912

https://www.merriam-webster.com/words-a ... ve-history

lol nice set of definitions

[Most Lee Harmless]

he is doing very very good for an incompetent person.
i see trump as an outspoken smartas that knows how to take care of bussiness.

He is very good at telling us he is very good. But that is not the same as being very good.

As for his business acumen, pretty basic research soon shows up that he inherited a pretty sound property business which he just kept rolling. Following which he adopted a succesful policy of 'branding' businesses which were not actually his a la Richard Branson's 'Virgin' model. There is a basis for calling some of those 'branding' schemes little more than money-laundering schemes for some highly dubious figures. His reality TV show proves little more than a publicity exercise for himself and his so-called business acumen. He is a consumate salesman and his best product pitch is himself. Does that make him a president? Meh, with the right administration around him, it makes him no worse than some. But you dont vote for that administration and you dont get a say in who they are. Democracy does not extend beyond those headlines either.