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MajinCry

Platinum Member
Jul 28, 2015
2,495
571
136
What single thing worries you most about Trump?

For me it is deregulation of banking. The patently insane Republicans are baying for it in Congress and Trump wants it badly too. It is like a pack of wolves around a fresh carcass. I don't recall ANY of the voters calling for banking deregulation. This is something only the most evil corrupt filthy wealthy Americans want. More plunder, more privatized profit and socialized risk, more bubble creating, more catastrophic collapse.

All the sanity added Obama to the banking industry completely wiped out by people voting for the anti-establishment guy...... TRUMP IS THE OLIGARCHY.... YOU JUST CUT OUT THE MIDDLE MAN!

You might as well ask which finger I want pulled out first.

Trump is the dude that raped his (now ex-)wife.
The same dude that proudly molests women.
The same dude that wants to give the go ahead for oil pipelines across the USA; say bye-bye, Mister Red.
The same dude that wants to give the rich all the tax cuts, rather than just some.
The same dude that wants to bomb the shit out of more brown people.
The same dude that wants to give even more power to corporations.

It's like America found the most despicable person imaginable, pointed at him and said "This guy, this guy understands me". He's the god damn American stereotype that the rest of the world jeers at in sitcoms, cartoons 'n' whatnot, and America wants that person to steer one of the most powerful countries in the world.

But if I had to pick a single thing, right now I'd say it's the racism. I'm morbidly curious in how much worse Native Americans will be treated by the rest of America, now that there's a KKK sympathizer in charge. David Duke is mighty happy, after all.
 

realibrad

Lifer
Oct 18, 2013
12,337
898
126
So to be clear you agree that Trump represents conflicts of interest without parallel in US history, you just think this additional conflict of interest isn't a big deal? Uhm, okay.

To me that is a very big difference. I believe the message needs to be level and directed at something that is more important. Trump has shown conflicts during his run, and I would bet does the same when he starts picking. Making his campaign pay rent to his company is a great example. Not enough is made of that from what I see.

I don't know what else to say to this as you previously said this was your opinion and no evidence could change it. If that's the case then there's nothing to discuss.

Yes, its my opinion, but I feel I am backing it up with logic. It could be wrong, but that is how we start.

Yes, because what he described was sexual assault. How can you be disputing that? Non-consensual touching of someone's genitals is sexual assault regardless of whether they actually stop you or not. That it was non-consensual was backed up by more than a dozen people. That's the beginning and end of it.

No. He said they let him do it. The context was not that they let him because they were afraid. The context was that he was rich and a star, and he could do things like that and they were willing.

"And when you’re a star, they let you do it. You can do anything."

If he were saying he could because he had power over them, that would be different. In this context, it was that he was a star and they were willing. That is not assault. Gross, but not assault. When you read the transcript, most that I have seen think there is something else that people are referring to because that transcript is not assault.

As for the ones that came forward, its not so clear. Some have already been shown to be lying. If it turns out that some were actually assaulted, then I hope he gets punished. The point is that making out his Bush statements to be assault hurt Hillary with many people. Those who already were voting Hillary saw it as a sign, but those who were undecided saw it as a smear campaign.

When you try to dispute obvious cases like that where he straight out admitted to sexual assault it's hard to take your other statements seriously because you're not basing your opinions on facts.

Except I did not. His statement was not promoting assault.

I work about 5-10 feet away from three people under 30. Only one of the three had ever heard the term social justice warrior and even he had to think about it and said he thought it was a stupid term. It is simply not a commonly used term for lots of people. It's easy to mistake the people you know as representative of people in general. 'Social justice warrior' is the language of internet message boards and YouTube. Most people don't give a shit about them.

How can you tell me that the people around me are not representative, and then back that up with people around you? I just gave you twitter trends, youtube views, and what I see. You gave me people around you.

Understand that we agree that Trump is bad. What I am trying to explain to you is why he was able to win. I am in no way pro Trump. He will do what is best for him which is what he always does. Those who voted for him did so out of ignorance. I am trying to explain how you would be more effective at reaching people. Think of it like this... why would someone like me, who is not pro Trump disagree with you on Trump? I'm not promoting him. I do not agree with him on almost everything. I told those around me to vote Hillary.

I believe the answer is because I am being more reasonable than you are. Of all the people whom you disagree with on this tech forum, I am probably the one who will hear you out the most. So if you have an explanation, please give it to me. I would much rather take a more liked position with those around me.
 

fskimospy

Elite Member
Mar 10, 2006
87,925
55,252
136
To me that is a very big difference. I believe the message needs to be level and directed at something that is more important. Trump has shown conflicts during his run, and I would bet does the same when he starts picking. Making his campaign pay rent to his company is a great example. Not enough is made of that from what I see.

Yes, its my opinion, but I feel I am backing it up with logic. It could be wrong, but that is how we start.

No. He said they let him do it. The context was not that they let him because they were afraid. The context was that he was rich and a star, and he could do things like that and they were willing.

"And when you’re a star, they let you do it. You can do anything."

If he were saying he could because he had power over them, that would be different. In this context, it was that he was a star and they were willing. That is not assault. Gross, but not assault. When you read the transcript, most that I have seen think there is something else that people are referring to because that transcript is not assault. As for the ones that came forward, its not so clear. Some have already been shown to be lying. If it turns out that some were actually assaulted, then I hope he gets punished.

I'm sorry but this is just factually incorrect. Whether Trump himself thought of it as sexual assault has no bearing on whether it was sexual assault. If you're trying to claim that all dozen+ women are part of some anti-Trump conspiracy that's some Alex Jones tinfoil hat stuff that there's no point in discussing. By the letter of the law what he is describing is explicitly sexual assault now that we know there were numerous unwilling victims of his attention. This is just a fact. If you can't accept this then I don't know what else to say because we're just not on the same planet.

The point is that making out his Bush statements to be assault hurt Hillary with many people. Those who already were voting Hillary saw it as a sign, but those who were undecided saw it as a smear campaign.

Can you show me any credible public polling that reflects this?

Except I did not. His statement was not promoting assault.

As covered, it unequivocally was.

How can you tell me that the people around me are not representative, and then back that up with people around you? I just gave you twitter trends, youtube views, and what I see. You gave me people around you.

You said that I'm out of touch because this is what most people under 30 think. You've provided no evidence for this outside of twitter accounts and youtube views, both of which not only don't give the ages of those subscribing or watching, which was of course your point, but are obviously easily manipulated by bot activity. If you want to provide me with some scientific polling on the matter I'd be glad to drop the people around me as evidence but when all you've got is the people you know it's pretty easy to refute in about ten seconds.

Understand that we agree that Trump is bad. What I am trying to explain to you is why he was able to win. I am in no way pro Trump. He will do what is best for him which is what he always does. Those who voted for him did so out of ignorance. I am trying to explain how you would be more effective at reaching people. Think of it like this... why would someone like me, who is not pro Trump disagree with you on Trump? I'm not promoting him. I do not agree with him on almost everything. I told those around me to vote Hillary.

Again, what you think about Trump is irrelevant. You don't seem to get the point of my disagreement which is that you aren't providing any facts and the facts that are available directly contradict you. If you had actual facts at your disposal that showed what you're saying I would be very interested to listen. More than any specific policy or stance I care about the process that they were arrived at. If you are using facts and evidence I'm all for it. If you're using feelings and anecdotes then that's just bad reasoning and it's not important to me.

So to be clear, if you think that liberal messaging on Trump was all personal attacks and no policy critiques and this approach turned off moderates then please provide empirical evidence of some sort for this. If you can't, just say you don't have any evidence for your opinion and we can let it drop. Without facts what's there to even say?

I believe the answer is because I am being more reasonable than you are. Of all the people whom you disagree with on this tech forum, I am probably the one who will hear you out the most. So if you have an explanation, please give it to me. I would much rather take a more liked position with those around me.

My explanation would be that Clinton did not motivate her base sufficiently in swing states to overcome losses in the white working class who were amenable to a white nationalist campaign message. This can be shown in the racial resentment measurements of Trump supporters as well as turnout numbers in crucial Democratic constituencies.[/QUOTE]
 

MooseNSquirrel

Platinum Member
Feb 26, 2009
2,587
318
126
So to be clear, if you think that liberal messaging on Trump was all personal attacks and no policy critiques and this approach turned off moderates then please provide empirical evidence of some sort for this. If you can't, just say you don't have any evidence for your opinion and we can let it drop. Without facts what's there to even say?

Well to be fair that would have required actual policy.
 

realibrad

Lifer
Oct 18, 2013
12,337
898
126
I'm sorry but this is just factually incorrect. Whether Trump himself thought of it as sexual assault has no bearing on whether it was sexual assault. If you're trying to claim that all dozen+ women are part of some anti-Trump conspiracy that's some Alex Jones tinfoil hat stuff that there's no point in discussing. By the letter of the law what he is describing is explicitly sexual assault now that we know there were numerous unwilling victims of his attention. This is just a fact. If you can't accept this then I don't know what else to say because we're just not on the same planet.

There are two things we are talking about, and I think you are mixing them which is making it hard to follow.

1. Bush interview where he said grab her by the pussy.
The Bush interview is not an example of sexual assault unless they were unwilling. The context clearly was that they were. Maybe in reality they were not, but that is a totally different discussion. Again, gross actions, but not assault and not the promotion of assault.

2. Women that came forward that said trump sexually assaulted them.

Accusation are not proof of guilt. The ego he seems to have leads me to believe that he may have grabbed a woman who did not want to be grabbed, and that would 100% be assault. That said, we already know some came forward and were lying. Until such time there is something more than accusations, I will not say he assaulted anyone simply based on women coming forward.



Can you show me any credible public polling that reflects this?

Can I provide evidence that has been my experience? Just me telling you I guess. I was pretty clear that it was my experience when I said "most that I have seen"




You said that I'm out of touch because this is what most people under 30 think. You've provided no evidence for this outside of twitter accounts and youtube views, both of which not only don't give the ages of those subscribing or watching, which was of course your point, but are obviously easily manipulated by bot activity. If you want to provide me with some scientific polling on the matter I'd be glad to drop the people around me as evidence but when all you've got is the people you know it's pretty easy to refute in about ten seconds.

If you dont think that is good enough fine, but dont pretend its nothing either. Younger people get most of their media online, which I'm pretty sure you know. Places like youtube reaches far more younger people that I think you might realize. Social media like twitter allows you to track tags like SJW that people are using. So if you think channel subs and number views is not important, and you think twitter trends to mean anything, then I dont know what to tell you. This is the evolving media world we now live in.


Again, what you think about Trump is irrelevant. You don't seem to get the point of my disagreement which is that you aren't providing any facts and the facts that are available directly contradict you. If you had actual facts at your disposal that showed what you're saying I would be very interested to listen. More than any specific policy or stance I care about the process that they were arrived at. If you are using facts and evidence I'm all for it. If you're using feelings and anecdotes then that's just bad reasoning and it's not important to me.

Its not bad reasoning so long as I use them a guides and am open to changing my mind if I get information that goes against what I currently believe. I am telling you what I think happened. You keep asking for proof, and can only give you the logic that I feel fits the situation. Right now I am building my hypothesis and talking to people to see if it fits the situation. So far, it is. I'm not a scientist and I'm not trying to be. I will never do a full study and I think it would be stupid to expect that from me.

What I do think is that my view fits and explains a lot of what is going on. Dont know what else to tell you. Are you not in the same position I am for why he got so much support in terms of your opinion?

So to be clear, if you think that liberal messaging on Trump was all personal attacks and no policy critiques and this approach turned off moderates then please provide empirical evidence of some sort for this. If you can't, just say you don't have any evidence for your opinion and we can let it drop. Without facts what's there to even say?

Jesus man, I have told you its my opinion based on what I have been seeing. I have not once tried to make it seem like I am an expert on what is going on. Expecting empirical evidence is a stupid bar to set in this context. Not only that, but you seem pretty pissed at me as if somehow I have done something too you.


My explanation would be that Clinton did not motivate her base sufficiently in swing states to overcome losses in the white working class who were amenable to a white nationalist campaign message. This can be shown in the racial resentment measurements of Trump supporters as well as turnout numbers in crucial Democratic constituencies.

So, you believe that a bunch of her base did not vote because they were not excited enough, but were willing to let Trump win knowing he was a shitbag? Why, if they knew Trump was so bad, would they not be willing to vote? Your argument does nothing to that question, where as my reasoning seems to answer it. Had they believed Trump was as bad as he is, they would have gone out to vote. They stayed home because A, the media was saying she was going to win. I believe they missed the growing movement of younger people. B, they stayed home because they though Hillary was as bad as trump, because the facts about Trump were washed out by the exaggerations.

I cannot understand why so many did not vote if they knew Trump was so bad. If they did not know, then explain why they did not get the message.
 

soundforbjt

Lifer
Feb 15, 2002
17,788
6,041
136
realibrad said:
So, you believe that a bunch of her base did not vote because they were not excited enough, but were willing to let Trump win knowing he was a shitbag? Why, if they knew Trump was so bad, would they not be willing to vote? Your argument does nothing to that question, where as my reasoning seems to answer it. Had they believed Trump was as bad as he is, they would have gone out to vote. They stayed home because A, the media was saying she was going to win. I believe they missed the growing movement of younger people. B, they stayed home because they though Hillary was as bad as trump, because the facts about Trump were washed out by the exaggerations.

I cannot understand why so many did not vote if they knew Trump was so bad. If they did not know, then explain why they did not get the message.
868 polling places closed mainly in the south, NC repubs purging voters, Voter ID etc. That's how it was done. Add that to the thought that HRC had it in the bag because no one in their right mind would vote for Trump and there you have it.
 

Londo_Jowo

Lifer
Jan 31, 2010
17,303
158
106
londojowo.hypermart.net
Is that why there were polling places in the Philly area that had little to no lines or voters? Just imagine had those who lived in those areas voted, Pennsylvania could have gone to Clinton.
 

fskimospy

Elite Member
Mar 10, 2006
87,925
55,252
136
There are two things we are talking about, and I think you are mixing them which is making it hard to follow.

1. Bush interview where he said grab her by the pussy.
The Bush interview is not an example of sexual assault unless they were unwilling. The context clearly was that they were. Maybe in reality they were not, but that is a totally different discussion. Again, gross actions, but not assault and not the promotion of assault.

This is simply provably false. By statute, Trump's perception of their willingness is entirely irrelevant as to whether or not it was sexual assault. This is just the letter of the law and there's no arguing it.

2. Women that came forward that said trump sexually assaulted them.

Accusation are not proof of guilt. The ego he seems to have leads me to believe that he may have grabbed a woman who did not want to be grabbed, and that would 100% be assault. That said, we already know some came forward and were lying. Until such time there is something more than accusations, I will not say he assaulted anyone simply based on women coming forward.

Actually we don't know that they were lying, but since we are not seeking to convict Trump of sexual assault in a court of law it seems reasonable for the purpose of debate to go by a preponderance of the evidence standard, no? Your choice is whether you believe a dozen women are lying or Trump is. I will say he assaulted someone based on a majority of the evidence. Honestly it sounds like he's assaulted far more than one. To pretend like we just can't know is another case of false equivalence.

Can I provide evidence that has been my experience? Just me telling you I guess. I was pretty clear that it was my experience when I said "most that I have seen"

If you dont think that is good enough fine, but dont pretend its nothing either. Younger people get most of their media online, which I'm pretty sure you know. Places like youtube reaches far more younger people that I think you might realize. Social media like twitter allows you to track tags like SJW that people are using. So if you think channel subs and number views is not important, and you think twitter trends to mean anything, then I dont know what to tell you. This is the evolving media world we now live in.

I don't know what to tell you either, as you're using stats on youtube and twitter that don't track age and are easily manipulated by bots to say that young people feel a certain way. That's an incredible stretch. I'm not aware of any credible organization that would track things in that way.

Its not bad reasoning so long as I use them a guides and am open to changing my mind if I get information that goes against what I currently believe. I am telling you what I think happened. You keep asking for proof, and can only give you the logic that I feel fits the situation. Right now I am building my hypothesis and talking to people to see if it fits the situation. So far, it is. I'm not a scientist and I'm not trying to be. I will never do a full study and I think it would be stupid to expect that from me.

What I do think is that my view fits and explains a lot of what is going on. Dont know what else to tell you. Are you not in the same position I am for why he got so much support in terms of your opinion?

No, as turnout percentages are actually readily available information that's compiled by voter registration databases and exit polls. Exit polls indicate that Hispanics, African-Americans, and young people comprised a smaller share of the electorate than in 2012 and white working class voters went to Republicans in a greater percentage than 2012. This is empirically verifiable.

http://www.cnn.com/election/results/exit-polls

Jesus man, I have told you its my opinion based on what I have been seeing. I have not once tried to make it seem like I am an expert on what is going on. Expecting empirical evidence is a stupid bar to set in this context. Not only that, but you seem pretty pissed at me as if somehow I have done something too you.

It's more that I've just grown tired of going around on this if there aren't going to be any facts presented, and you seem to hold your opinion very strongly considering its lack of factual foundation. It's also annoying to be told that when I call out your opinion for lacking facts or analytic rigor that you would try and say it's because I'm mad, not because your point was bad. Doing that is a cheap dodge that you are normally better than.

So, you believe that a bunch of her base did not vote because they were not excited enough, but were willing to let Trump win knowing he was a shitbag? Why, if they knew Trump was so bad, would they not be willing to vote? Your argument does nothing to that question, where as my reasoning seems to answer it. Had they believed Trump was as bad as he is, they would have gone out to vote. They stayed home because A, the media was saying she was going to win. I believe they missed the growing movement of younger people. B, they stayed home because they though Hillary was as bad as trump, because the facts about Trump were washed out by the exaggerations.

I cannot understand why so many did not vote if they knew Trump was so bad. If they did not know, then explain why they did not get the message.

The Democratic base are not the moderates that you're claiming were turned off by mean liberal messaging though.
 

realibrad

Lifer
Oct 18, 2013
12,337
898
126
This is simply provably false. By statute, Trump's perception of their willingness is entirely irrelevant as to whether or not it was sexual assault. This is just the letter of the law and there's no arguing it.

So now your point is that he thought they were willing, but they might not have been. So what is there to discuss? You think that it was assault because he could not have known if they were actually willing if/when he grabbed them? Its not assault unless they were unwilling. His perception is irrelevant, but what is important is if they were not willing. Again, if the women that came forward are telling the truth, then he assaulted them even if he thought they were willing. If that is true, then he should be punished.

Trying to argue he was promoting assault is not true. Its dumb idea to grab people you dont know because the risk of being wrong is huge. His intent does not matter in terms of assault, but if he is correct that they were willing then its not assault. You cannot know if its assault until there is an investigation because claims are not proof. I would say that its a signal to investigate, but is not proof. I'm not saying I think he is an upstanding guy, and this is all a misunderstanding either. I am saying that telling people he is promoting assault is not true. He is gross, but unless we have evidence its assault, you cant say he assaulted anyone as a fact.



Actually we don't know that they were lying, but since we are not seeking to convict Trump of sexual assault in a court of law it seems reasonable for the purpose of debate to go by a preponderance of the evidence standard, no? Your choice is whether you believe a dozen women are lying or Trump is. I will say he assaulted someone based on a majority of the evidence. Honestly it sounds like he's assaulted far more than one. To pretend like we just can't know is another case of false equivalence.

But we dont know. Just because people have accused you, does not make you guilty. Jesus man. Look, Trump is not a good person. Being connected to Epstein and the things he has said makes me believe he as likely done some awful things. That does not mean he actually did anything enough to say he assaulted women. His comments with Bush 100% is not proof of anything. Unless you have some reason to believe they were unwilling, the Bush thing does not help get the message out. Saying that his comments to Bush were promoting assault is not true.


I don't know what to tell you either, as you're using stats on youtube and twitter that don't track age and are easily manipulated by bots to say that young people feel a certain way. That's an incredible stretch. I'm not aware of any credible organization that would track things in that way.

This proves you do not know what you are talking about on this topic. Youtube absolutely tracks age. That is part of what Nielsen looked at when they did their joint study on their markets. When you set up your android phone, you have to put in your age. That syncs with chrome which carries over that information. Couple that with how google tracks you and they can get a pretty clear picture of who is watching what. Google is pretty damn amazing at tracking people for adds.

This is a tech forum and this is pretty well known by now I would have imagined.


No, as turnout percentages are actually readily available information that's compiled by voter registration databases and exit polls. Exit polls indicate that Hispanics, African-Americans, and young people comprised a smaller share of the electorate than in 2012 and white working class voters went to Republicans in a greater percentage than 2012. This is empirically verifiable.

http://www.cnn.com/election/results/exit-polls


It's more that I've just grown tired of going around on this if there aren't going to be any facts presented, and you seem to hold your opinion very strongly considering its lack of factual foundation. It's also annoying to be told that when I call out your opinion for lacking facts or analytic rigor that you would try and say it's because I'm mad, not because your point was bad. Doing that is a cheap dodge that you are normally better than.

So explain to me why those groups, considering what you think Trump has said, did not realize they should get out and vote to stop him? Why in the world did 1/5 Latinos vote Trump? Either they are stupid, or they did not get the information. If its the first, then I have nothing. If its the 2nd, I have something.



The Democratic base are not the moderates that you're claiming were turned off by mean liberal messaging though.

Evidence for this claim, either you have it or you are doing the same thing.

Obviously there are moderates in the party. Its my argument that those were the people who did not vote.
 

fskimospy

Elite Member
Mar 10, 2006
87,925
55,252
136
So now your point is that he thought they were willing, but they might not have been. So what is there to discuss? You think that it was assault because he could not have known if they were actually willing if/when he grabbed them? Its not assault unless they were unwilling. His perception is irrelevant, but what is important is if they were not willing. Again, if the women that came forward are telling the truth, then he assaulted them even if he thought they were willing. If that is true, then he should be punished.

Trying to argue he was promoting assault is not true. Its dumb idea to grab people you dont know because the risk of being wrong is huge. His intent does not matter in terms of assault, but if he is correct that they were willing then its not assault. You cannot know if its assault until there is an investigation because claims are not proof. I would say that its a signal to investigate, but is not proof. I'm not saying I think he is an upstanding guy, and this is all a misunderstanding either. I am saying that telling people he is promoting assault is not true. He is gross, but unless we have evidence its assault, you cant say he assaulted anyone as a fact.

He is saying that you can go up and grab women because you are famous. It is now quite clear that significant numbers of women he grabbed did not consent. It doesn't take a rocket scientist to realize that if you go up and just grab women by their crotch that a significant portion won't want that no matter who you are. He was describing a situation that under any rational assessment will lead to multiple sexual assaults over time. We have his own statements that say he took these actions and we have the statements of over a dozen women saying these same actions were a sexual assault.

I mean this is getting close to Bill Cosby levels here. I am frankly baffled that anyone would try and deny this at this point. Are you saying we can't say Cosby was a serial assaulter?

But we dont know. Just because people have accused you, does not make you guilty. Jesus man. Look, Trump is not a good person. Being connected to Epstein and the things he has said makes me believe he as likely done some awful things. That does not mean he actually did anything enough to say he assaulted women. His comments with Bush 100% is not proof of anything. Unless you have some reason to believe they were unwilling, the Bush thing does not help get the message out. Saying that his comments to Bush were promoting assault is not true.

Again, I we are not in a court of law, we are people making a rational assessment of his actions in light of the available evidence. That evidence STRONGLY suggests he committed multiple sexual assaults.

This proves you do not know what you are talking about on this topic. Youtube absolutely tracks age. That is part of what Nielsen looked at when they did their joint study on their markets. When you set up your android phone, you have to put in your age. That syncs with chrome which carries over that information. Couple that with how google tracks you and they can get a pretty clear picture of who is watching what. Google is pretty damn amazing at tracking people for adds.

This is a tech forum and this is pretty well known by now I would have imagined.

This is wrong, I said you weren't using STATS that tack based on age, which is true. YouTube tracks based on age but that information is not available to you. That means your conclusion was not based on evidence, which is again the whole point. Evidence, evidence, evidence.

Always evidence.

So explain to me why those groups, considering what you think Trump has said, did not realize they should get out and vote to stop him? Why in the world did 1/5 Latinos vote Trump? Either they are stupid, or they did not get the information. If its the first, then I have nothing. If its the 2nd, I have something.

Either that or party affiliation trumps ethnic affiliation.

Evidence for this claim, either you have it or you are doing the same thing.

Huh? The Democratic base is basically by definition not moderate. The minorities that largely comprise the Democratic base didn't turn out as much as in 2012. We already covered this?

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Base_(politics)

Obviously there are moderates in the party. Its my argument that those were the people who did not vote.

Based on what evidence?
 

trenchfoot

Lifer
Aug 5, 2000
15,764
8,342
136
And that's unfortunate if it happens, because no politician should ever be a "Teflon Don" where no accusation or criticism can ever stick.

My hunch: there will be some disillusionment if/when Trump doesn't live up to his larger promises, but his bigger problem will be when it becomes increasingly clear that his administration doesn't know what it's doing. Remember, his team didn't even realize that it had to hire new staff for the West Wing of the White House -- what happens when there's obvious mismanagement of a government division, or when Trump triggers a diplomatic incident? Optimism tends to fade pretty quickly when real-world experiences go badly.

Hiring a FNG (****new guy) and then have him go through on the job training has its serious risks, but when the job title is POTUS, well, you'd expect the people doing the hiring to be awfully careful in the vetting process.

I had my turn at hiring workers for a few years, and I certainly didn't hire any of them based on the likes of what Donny Trump was offering up as qualifications. From that point of view, I must assume that when Trump won, it surely wasn't because of his past experience as a politician, he has none. And it surely wasn't because of his business acumen and style, history shows that he's not good at all in either category. I can guarantee that it wasn't because he's such a nice honest humble man, because well, we all know he just ain't.

So really, all he's offered up was a bunch of promises that he's now by the numbers walking back on, so what's left?

What has he actually offered in the way of job qualifications, skill and potential such that he was hired over everybody else that applied for the job?

As far as I'm concerned, zero, nada, nicht.

BUT! He spoke the right words, in just the right way, at just the right time, and that apparently, is all it takes to be the leader of the free world. What scares me most is that those words have zero credibility and value other than they hit the right pitch, rhythm and rhyme. Those words have as much value had he hummed his way into office.

Yikes.
 
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agent00f

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How is appointing people with conflicts of interests different under Trump than anyone else? I mean, its not like the head of the FCC "worked as a venture capitalist and lobbyist for the cable and wireless industry". Something like that should be a big problem if it were done under a Dem. Or maybe someone like Islam Siddiqui, head of the USTR.

The government was filled with conflicts of interest before, and will be after Trump.

Indeed, we should be holding people to their word. Sadly, we only do that when its the other side that says it. It's only a problem when the wrong side does it. When the right side does it, that turns into pragmatism.

I pointed this out in another thread, but when the Left tries to make a point that Trump is bad and this is a unique example, they lose the argument. Their goal is to show how Trump was the wrong choice, but at best this is an example that shows he is not better than the Left's options. The left needs to stop with the BS arguments, and trying to take Trump down by personal attacks. This should be used to show that Trump is equal to all the bad things, not worse. In trying to exaggerate things he does, they end up making people think he is better than he actually is. Trump has interests outside of the American people, but, by trying to make him seem like his interests are worse than others, you end up losing.

If the previous corruption has not been the end of the US, don't pretend it will be now. Focus on the fact that it hurts and makes is less well off. Until such time that we see something unique, don't call it unique.

Funny how conservatives are already making excuses for the lies they consciously helped propagate, and the guy hasn't even started work yet.
 
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raildogg

Lifer
Aug 24, 2004
12,892
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Some of these things cannot be made up, even in a movie.

Trump is picking the exact people that will create the most division in this already divided country.

Sometimes it seems that our system (politicians and other people in charge) want to deeply divide us among the following categories:

  • Race
  • Religion
  • Political party
  • Political beliefs
  • Sports teams
  • Gender
  • Sexuality
  • Economics
  • And more ...

I mean, everything around is making us more and more divided. The media (including the internet) seems to be working side by side with the government in this goal.

They are winning since we humans are dividing ourselves into little groups. It's growing every single day.
 

agent00f

Lifer
Jun 9, 2016
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And that's unfortunate if it happens, because no politician should ever be a "Teflon Don" where no accusation or criticism can ever stick.

My hunch: there will be some disillusionment if/when Trump doesn't live up to his larger promises, but his bigger problem will be when it becomes increasingly clear that his administration doesn't know what it's doing. Remember, his team didn't even realize that it had to hire new staff for the West Wing of the White House -- what happens when there's obvious mismanagement of a government division, or when Trump triggers a diplomatic incident? Optimism tends to fade pretty quickly when real-world experiences go badly.

That's because they knew he was lying, remember they voted for the guy because they identify with him.