What? No knight in shinning armor?

[sportage]

I guess not....
As you may have already guessed, this is yet another outrage thread over Donald Trump.
Lets do some reflecting.

Donald was a failed game-show host pitching his reality TV show. I never watched, not one single time, but I could pretty much imagine considering the host was Donald Trump.
Then the people, way too many people, thought it would be FUN and NEAT-O and KOOL to have a comic for president. Especially since people believed ANYONE could do that job. It doesn't take a lot of smarts to run the country, as so many believed. Lets turn it all into one big crazy joke and elect the most ignorant bastard that we can to run the country, then... sit back and lets see what happens. THIS should be quite an entertaining four years, to say the least.
And with that, Donald Trump became president of the United States of America courtesy the ignorance of the American people.
AND courtesy the ignorance of the media as well, one must give credit where credit is due.

Then we had Mueller and Russia and Kim Jong and Pelosi and impeachment and... am I forgetting anything?
And damn it all to hell, sure enough along comes "THE VIRUS".
WHO KNEW? And Holy cow Louise... THIS is going to be fun thought Trump. Thought his devoted followers. The HOAX. The FAKE.
So considering THE VIRUS, all of that past Mueller stuff and that Russia stuff and that impeachment stuff would seem a walk in the park.

Oh I guess its all fine and dandy to have a comedian as president, a fool, a con-artist, just as long as the country is on auto-pilot.
The jet will fly itself as long as the auto-pilot is engaged, so lets elect THE CLOWN.
BUT.... what happens to that plane and all of those entertained passengers should the plane encounter real danger?
Does the clown take over the controls? Is THAT the only option, to have the clown fly the plane?
The clown... the guy that never flew a plane in his life, that never landed a plane in his life, who has no idea what-so-ever how a plane becomes airborne or remains airborne in the first place.
So here we are, riding in a plane with a clown at the controls.
The clown who only knows how to make funny faces and pull funny stunts. But to fly a plane? With so much at stake? With hundreds of passengers on board? And with those passengers assuming the auto-pilot would handle everything? Did it never occur to anyone that the clown would take over when the auto-pilot failed?

Our airplane, our fancy huge high-tech jet is in real trouble. The auto-pilot has failed and now the clown is at the controls.
And as one of the millions of passengers looking out the window, I do believe the ground is getting closer and closer.
The plane appears to be rapidly descending. Our ears beginning to pop.
I cannot be sure but I do believe this clown is about to crash this plane right smack-dab into Mount Coronavirus.
Oh hell.... is this when the knight in shining armor rushes in to save the day? Where is that knight in shining armor? Everyone expects the knight in shining armor to rush in. That is why we elect the clown in the first place, because we have that knight to save the day. Right?

You see folks, it can be quite entertaining and fun to follow a clown. Aren't clowns funny? Don't they make you laugh? So wouldn't it be really really fun and funny if that clown were president of the United States? Lets elect that clown, I mean... WHY NOT? The country is on auto-pilot so we have nothing to fear. Nothing to fear in the least.

 

[Moonbeam]

Too bad we didn’t nominate Sanders in 2016. Maybe we could have avoided all this. No telling how many ears might have opened hearing him campaign with a real message. The nice thing about the truth is that most of us pretend we believe in it. When you wish upon a star......

 

[tweaker2]

I've too often heard Trump supporters claim that "Trump was just joking" when he let loose one of his many gaffs, his jaw dropping lies.

And now it's come to pass that it was only Trump playing a joke on his supporters when they thought he was being serious.

 

[MagnusTheBrewer]

I guess not....
As you may have already guessed, this is yet another outrage thread over Donald Trump.
Lets do some reflecting.

Donald was a failed game-show host pitching his reality TV show. I never watched, not one single time, but I could pretty much imagine considering the host was Donald Trump.
Then the people, way too many people, thought it would be FUN and NEAT-O and KOOL to have a comic for president. Especially since people believed ANYONE could do that job. It doesn't take a lot of smarts to run the country, as so many believed. Lets turn it all into one big crazy joke and elect the most ignorant bastard that we can to run the country, then... sit back and lets see what happens. THIS should be quite an entertaining four years, to say the least.
And with that, Donald Trump became president of the United States of America courtesy the ignorance of the American people.
AND courtesy the ignorance of the media as well, one must give credit where credit is due.

Then we had Mueller and Russia and Kim Jong and Pelosi and impeachment and... am I forgetting anything?
And damn it all to hell, sure enough along comes "THE VIRUS".
WHO KNEW? And Holy cow Louise... THIS is going to be fun thought Trump. Thought his devoted followers. The HOAX. The FAKE.
So considering THE VIRUS, all of that past Mueller stuff and that Russia stuff and that impeachment stuff would seem a walk in the park.

Oh I guess its all fine and dandy to have a comedian as president, a fool, a con-artist, just as long as the country is on auto-pilot.
The jet will fly itself as long as the auto-pilot is engaged, so lets elect THE CLOWN.
BUT.... what happens to that plane and all of those entertained passengers should the plane encounter real danger?
Does the clown take over the controls? Is THAT the only option, to have the clown fly the plane?
The clown... the guy that never flew a plane in his life, that never landed a plane in his life, who has no idea what-so-ever how a plane becomes airborne or remains airborne in the first place.
So here we are, riding in a plane with a clown at the controls.
The clown who only knows how to make funny faces and pull funny stunts. But to fly a plane? With so much at stake? With hundreds of passengers on board? And with those passengers assuming the auto-pilot would handle everything? Did it never occur to anyone that the clown would take over when the auto-pilot failed?

Our airplane, our fancy huge high-tech jet is in real trouble. The auto-pilot has failed and now the clown is at the controls.
And as one of the millions of passengers looking out the window, I do believe the ground is getting closer and closer.
The plane appears to be rapidly descending. Our ears beginning to pop.
I cannot be sure but I do believe this clown is about to crash this plane right smack-dab into Mount Coronavirus.
Oh hell.... is this when the knight in shining armor rushes in to save the day? Where is that knight in shining armor? Everyone expects the knight in shining armor to rush in. That is why we elect the clown in the first place, because we have that knight to save the day. Right?

You see folks, it can be quite entertaining and fun to follow a clown. Aren't clowns funny? Don't they make you laugh? So wouldn't it be really really fun and funny if that clown were president of the United States? Lets elect that clown, I mean... WHY NOT? The country is on auto-pilot so we have nothing to fear. Nothing to fear in the least.

You forgot one thing, the only one on board with a parachute is Trump.

 

[BonzaiDuck]

If MSNBC survives the End of the Republic, I'm hoping the parachute drops the Trump-Meister right into Super-Max, so he can give us at least a full season of "MSNBC Lockup: Presidential Cell-Block".

But really.

This is all about ignorance.

The Base wanted a bidnissman to take charge. A risk-taking bidnissman. Not a calculating card-counting businessman, guaranteed to run the tables in a game of BlackJack. Oh, no! A risk-taker, with no sense. Since the purpose of government is to mitigate risk, they naturally assumed that a seat-of-the-pants senseless risk-taker would run it right! Such wisdom! Such enlightenment!

But they didn't pick a bidnissman. They picked a fraud pretending to be a bidnissman. Because any collection of MBA graduates sitting around the TV watching "Apprentice" would certainly shout in unison "Fraud! Fraw-uud!!" Of course, all dem educated MBAs ain't got nuthin' on the Base.

The virus is killing thousands, and could end up killing millions.

But the virus is just the instrument of . . . The Virus. For who is really responsible for killing thousands eventually turning into millions?

The Virus-in-Chief.

Or, just as well -- a Clown-in-Chief. Except this clown is really the clown Penny-wise, from Stephen King's "IT".

But there's one more aspect of stupid.

I know someone who lives in an exclusive residential enclave of million-dollar homes. They're all big Trump contributors.

His wife just died. [and that's another story . . it merely looks as though she just died.] He was telling me about adjusting to being single and tracking down a new cow. So he tells me he goes into this bar, wearing a watch that probably cost $10,000 dollars or more. And right away, this babe starts to make moves on him. Eventually, she tells him about his watch.

"See?" he says. "That's what I have to watch out for! It's just terrible! All those gold-diggers!"

And I tell him. "Look, Asshole! Why do you want, then, to wear a $10,000 watch? Why don't you spend $50 on a Casio? Change your sartorial splendor to something more interesting but seedy?"

"Well -- then I wouldn't attract any babes?!"

These are the assholes who feel entitled to run things.

Friends! Brothers! Sisters! On this Easter Sunday, let us give praise to the Lord Jee-sus, who has taught us to save time and careful thought by following the only thing that matters . . . . they only real reliable measure of everything!

The Lord sitteth at the Right hand of Mammon! It's the Money! The Money is everything! We have found our one, true Savior on this Blessed Day of Easter! Praise the Money!

Hail Satan! Hail Trump! Hail Satan! Hail Trump! And thank you, Lord, for this hoax of a virus. We can be sure, when we cough up bloody sputum, that it's fake blood and fake sputum! It's not Real! The Real is the Money!

 

[shortylickens]

Am getting sick of the constant Donald bashing I see here every day.
Nobody (including me) has the balls to go out and actually do something. Why do we keep whining? Is it fun? Are we venting? Does any of this serve a purpose?

Would also like to come clean and admit I broke my resolution very early this year. I had promised to stop whining about Donald both for my health and the good of the forum.
Then the beautiful being beat an impeachment with damning evidence on the floor.
Then he went golfing while a deadly plague invaded America.
Then he blamed everything on Obama and Hilary.

 

[Fenixgoon]

Am getting sick of the constant Donald bashing I see here every day.
Nobody (including me) has the balls to go out and actually do something. Why do we keep whining? Is it fun? Are we venting? Does any of this serve a purpose?

Would also like to come clean and admit I broke my resolution very early this year. I had promised to stop whining about Donald both for my health and the good of the forum.
Then the beautiful being beat an impeachment with damning evidence on the floor.
Then he went golfing while a deadly plague invaded America.
Then he blamed everything on Obama and Hilary.

1. Yes
2. Yes, see 1.

It's impossible to overstate the colossal fuckup Trump is. Granted I wasn't as into politics at the time as I am now, but I don't remember people being nearly as pissed about Bush and he got us into 2 wars. I mean yes lots of Democrats hated him, but even he showed some semblance competence and leadership during 9/11 and Katrina

 

[Lost_in_the_HTTP]

I believed we needed an outsider business person to shake things up.

They installed an imbecile instead.

 

[Jhhnn]

I believed we needed an outsider business person to shake things up.

They installed an imbecile instead.

You are "they" if you voted for him.

 

[ElFenix]

is shinning armor the one you apply to your lower leg when shimmying up ropes all day?

 

[ondma]

I would disagree somewhat.

Trump's base supports him unconditionally due to basically single issue politics (abortion, gun control, immigration, misguided religious fervor, etc) and a reaction against the social changes of the past few decades. They did not vote for him just to see what would happen. And these issues have now been reinforced by 3+ years of "validation" by Fox News, et.al.

However, I think maybe 5 to 10% of those who voted for him did vote out of a simple "Please not Hillary, we need something different, lets see what happens" mentality. Perhaps this group will see what a disaster Trump's presidency has been, switch their vote, and be enough to swing the election to the Dems. It doesnt help though, that the democrats nominated a candidate who I once respected greatly, but who now seems to lack the focus and energy (putting it kindly) to effectively counter Trumps bullshit.

Edit: I no longer belong to an organized church, but grew up in an evangelical background. I am absolutely flabbergasted by the unwavering support of evangelicals for Trump. The man is the antithesis of everything that I thought was the basis of Christianity (love, acceptance, helping others and self-sacrifice). I can understand how the wealthy can support him and even the redneck parts of the base who want social changes reversed, but the evangelical support of such a cheating, egotistical, hate spewing, inveterate liar just blows my mind.

 

[Jhhnn]

I would disagree somewhat.

Trump's base supports him unconditionally due to basically single issue politics (abortion, gun control, immigration, misguided religious fervor, etc) and a reaction against the social changes of the past few decades. They did not vote for him just to see what would happen. And these issues have now been reinforced by 3+ years of "validation" by Fox News, et.al.

However, I think maybe 5 to 10% of those who voted for him did vote out of a simple "Please not Hillary, we need something different, lets see what happens" mentality. Perhaps this group will see what a disaster Trump's presidency has been, switch their vote, and be enough to swing the election to the Dems. It doesnt help though, that the democrats nominated a candidate who I once respected greatly, but who now seems to lack the focus and energy (putting it kindly) to effectively counter Trumps bullshit.

Edit: I no longer belong to an organized church, but grew up in an evangelical background. I am absolutely flabbergasted by the unwavering support of evangelicals for Trump. The man is the antithesis of everything that I thought was the basis of Christianity (love, acceptance, helping others and self-sacrifice). I can understand how the wealthy can support him and even the redneck parts of the base who want social changes reversed, but the evangelical support of such a cheating, egotistical, hate spewing, inveterate liar just blows my mind.

They all think they're fighting some kind of culture war when they're just cannon fodder in top down class warfare.

 

[mindless1]

Anyone heard of the new cure for TDS? It's a multi-stage treatment consisting of the following:

G oing outside
E njoying spring
T aking a walk

A iring out your bare feet

L ying in a hammock
I nhaling the fresh air
F ishing
E xperiencing something other than your festering hatred.

 

[shortylickens]

Anyone heard of the new cure for TDS? It's a multi-stage treatment consisting of the following:

G oing outside
E njoying spring
T aking a walk

A iring out your bare feet

L ying in a hammock
I nhaling the fresh air
F ishing
E xperiencing something other than your festering hatred.

Yur cute.
Not too swift.
Not a thinker.
But super cute.

 

[skyking]

cute like a baby rattlesnake.

 

[tweaker2]

Yeh, let's not worry about the damage in lives lost due to Trump's incompetence, narcissism and cowardliness and how ALL our lives are threatened by his self-serving words and deeds in his reaction to how the virus' spread has exploded over the nation.

No need to worry, we should all obey our fearless leader as he stamps his "Trust in Trump" seal of approval over his desire to wipe out this virus by simply wiping its devastating effects from our minds.

Ignorance is Bliss. Believing in Trump is believing in God and Country. "Trust me" he says. "Believe me" he says.

Kill yourselves so Trump can get reelected.

 

[Jhhnn]

cute like a baby rattlesnake.

Not just everybody can live up to their chosen moniker...

 

[BonzaiDuck]

I believed we needed an outsider business person to shake things up.

They installed an imbecile instead.

Kudos. Albert Einstein would never have hesitated to confess his ignorance. That's the difference between ignorant and stupid: the stupid are like the insane -- doing the same over and over, never to admit they made a mistake.

Let us, however, attempt to consign this "Bidniss-man" Myth to the round file.

There are many successful "bidniss-men" who chose a niche in a market that mostly offers "normal" profits. In the perfectly-competitive model, "normal" profits approach zero. As Stigler the economist observed in a book he published many years ago, the fundamental motivation in business is not profitability, but survivability.

There is academic preparation one can acquire to be a "bidniss-man", even if someone could start a business with a high-school diploma, an urgent need for income, and some means to generate customers and revenue. And there is an army of MBAs in addition to "MPA"-holders ("Public") in the career service. There is an army of qualified accountants in the career service. There is an army of information-system specialists, statisticians and other specialists . . . in the career service.

Any group of ten MBA graduates, who took their education seriously, to receive more than mere "schooling" for their tuition, might have met over beer and pretzels 20 years ago to watch the "Apprentice". There would have been an immediate consensus shouted from the sofas and chairs: "Fraud! Charlatan!"

If you want a "Bidniss-man" in government, it would be prudent to find one with vast experience in running a large organization like GM, 3M, Merck, etc. Trump's "bidniss" is a family-owned quasi-criminal organization.

If Warren Buffett or Howard Schultz were challenged to take a sabbatical and prove their cunning by frequenting the Black Jack tables at several casinos, they would most certainly study something taught to me by a statistician who survived Bergen-Belsen at age 3: Card Counting. They would prepare. They'd probably take Prevagen or whatever might naturally enhance their memory.

And if they had "tells" at the tables -- fiddling with their fingers or some other indicator -- they'd be asked to leave the tables and the casino. In the old days of 1950s' Las Vegas, they'd get their hands smashed with a claw hammer.

Trump would merely get "comped" -- offered the best suite of rooms, touted to free dinners, room service, the best liquor. They would do that for him, since the house always wins more than it loses, and Trump -- believing in "gut feeling", seat-of-the-pants intuition with no feel for probability and statistics -- would lose his shirt and boost the casino's profits overnight.

That's the kind of Bidniss-man that you -- we collectively -- elected.

In parting, my old colleague Lester knew his field well. His book was about Fortran programming, but it followed the "single project" model throughout its chapters: Construct a computer Black Jack simulator. Lester was otherwise an extremely damaged person, given his early childhood. His human relations skills were so lacking as to be pathological. He had vision problems -- his eyes always appeared crossed, and he needed to wear very thick bifocals. He would not have made a great "Bidniss-man".

But, you see, he knew quite a lot about a major aspect of what we call "Business".

Trump doesn't have a clue. Clinical scrutiny of his prepared speeches in which he's allowed to use a teleprompter make it fairly certain to anyone who's ever taught adolescents and college students that he has a reading disability, and his reading ability and comprehension is at best 10th grade.

This is even worse, because he refuses to do the work of reading required of a "real" president.

 

[mindless1]

Yeh, let's not worry

Do you recognize that your worry does nothing useful?

Make a plan. One that has an expectation of a desirable outcome.

If your plan is solid and reasonable, the majority will agree with it. Whining doesn't appeal to the majority.