iNow Posted June 2, 2017 Posted June 2, 2017 Thew thing about Covfefe is not the tweet itself (though some were concerned he had had a mini-stroke). It's the WH response to it. Insisting that it was not a typo and that certain people in the WH knew exactly what it meant was ludicrous. Precisely. https://youtu.be/wRFCC03po8w
KipIngram Posted June 2, 2017 Posted June 2, 2017 Well, I think the whole tweet business itself is silly. Irregardless of what I think, though, I certainly agree with those that point out what a mess the guy is making of his operation (his immediate staff, handling of "business as usual" issues, etc.) Clearly successfully running a business does NOT translate into successfully running the White House. You'd think he'd get over wanting to send tweets - it's clear that he's going to get torn to shreds over literally any misstep he makes. So no, I don't think covfefe means that Trump's becoming senile. But he clearly has the maturity of a twelve year old boy. He's accustomed to getting his way in business by being a bully, and he's trying to bring that same mind set to the White House. I'll tell you what was the most telling thing to me re: his intelligence - the fact that he seemed absolutely gobsmacked that he got opposition from the courts and so forth on the immigration bans. WHAT DID HE EXPECT? I think what he expected was for everyone to roll over for him just like they did in his business empire. I'll also tell you what raised my concerns more than anything else. A few weeks ago he did an interview, and the report of the interview I read quoted him as saying something like "the system of checks and balances put forth by the Constitution made it hard to get anything done, and that was bad for the country" (emphasis mine). I later decided the quote wasn't precisely accurate - there was a ... somewhere in it and it looked like the media organization involved had crafted the quote to look as bad as possible. But nonetheless the tone was in that ballpark and I wound up with a deep concern re: Trump's respect for constitutional government. Putting all the above together, I wound up suspecting that what he really wants is to be a dictator, just like in his business empire, and I am beyond happy that he's not able to be.
DrP Posted June 2, 2017 Posted June 2, 2017 We all knew that this was going to be the case before he got in, it was obvious to many... but you still voted him in. What did you expect him to do? As far as I'm concerned he is actually doing things exactly the way he said would pretty much. I assume a lot of Americans that are right of centre in their politics are very happy with him. You got pretty much exactly what you voted for.
KipIngram Posted June 2, 2017 Posted June 2, 2017 We all knew that this was going to be the case before he got in, it was obvious to many... but you still voted him in. What did you expect him to do? As far as I'm concerned he is actually doing things exactly the way he said would pretty much. I assume a lot of Americans that are right of centre in their politics are very happy with him. You got pretty much exactly what you voted for. In at least one way he's not (doing what he said he would). During the campaign he advocated a tax (I believe he said 35%) to penalize companies that send American jobs overseas. I was delighted to hear that - I think such things are part of the right solution. Of course, that was notably *missing* from his tax proposal, and instead corporate America just got Christmas months early.
Airbrush Posted June 2, 2017 Author Posted June 2, 2017 (edited) Well, I think the whole tweet business itself is silly. (....) You'd think he'd get over wanting to send tweets - it's clear that he's going to get torn to shreds over literally any misstep he makes. So no, I don't think covfefe means that Trump's becoming senile. But he clearly has the maturity of a twelve year old boy. He's accustomed to getting his way in business by being a bully, and he's trying to bring that same mind set to the White House. I'll tell you what was the most telling thing to me re: his intelligence - the fact that he seemed absolutely gobsmacked that he got opposition from the courts and so forth on the immigration bans. WHAT DID HE EXPECT? I think what he expected was for everyone to roll over for him just like they did in his business empire. I'll also tell you what raised my concerns more than anything else. A few weeks ago he did an interview, and the report of the interview I read quoted him as saying something like "the system of checks and balances put forth by the Constitution made it hard to get anything done, and that was bad for the country" (emphasis mine). I later decided the quote wasn't precisely accurate - there was a ... somewhere in it and it looked like the media organization involved had crafted the quote to look as bad as possible. But nonetheless the tone was in that ballpark and I wound up with a deep concern re: Trump's respect for constitutional government. Putting all the above together, I wound up suspecting that what he really wants is to be a dictator, just like in his business empire, and I am beyond happy that he's not able to be. Excellent points! Point by point, his tweets are a continuously updated roadmap to Trump's mind. It is like a diary of evidence AGAINST him. (Keep tweeting Donald!). It helps him in getting his message out to the world instantly, but it hurts him in that it provides evidence for his impeachment. About his covfefe tweet, it's not senile dementia, probably something like he was tweeting and had to go to the bathroom and accidentally brushed those keys before walking away. Or he got distracted by a story on Fox News and interrupted his tweet. Then he forgot about it until the next day. How does twitter work? If you stop typing and don't send it, and you walk away but forget you were tweeting, does the message get sent after a long time? What is weird, again, is Trump turned it into a joke and told us to "Enjoy" his baffling tweet. Trump's strange behavior reminds me of an old man who doesn't care what people think. He has always done whatever the hell he pleased. Remember he was a bad little boy who got sent to military academy high school by his dad for discipline. Combine that with his off-the-scale narcissism, which is because of the bubble of privilege he lived his entire life. He always got his way. That is hard to imagine for us ordinary people. Everyone is a little delusional in SOME ways, myself included. But Trump's ability to self-delude is off the scale. He was surprised his travel ban would be halted in court. He was surprised the democrats would complain about the firing of Comey. He was surprised that replacing Obamacare would be difficult. The list of his SURPRISE goes on and on. He reminds me of Hitler in his bunker in 1945, taking over command from his generals because he thought he could do better than they did. Then he would putter around the models of the great city he was planning to build. Yes, he would love to be a dictator. Just don't call it that. Call it "unlimited powers for a really great guy, a real WINNER". Edited June 2, 2017 by Airbrush
Raider5678 Posted June 2, 2017 Posted June 2, 2017 Remember he was a bad little boy who got sent to military academy high school by his dad for discipline. He always got his way. These two statements contradict.
Airbrush Posted June 3, 2017 Author Posted June 3, 2017 (edited) Yes, he didn't always get his way, not during his 4-year-confinement in military academy. Only before and forever after. Was that military academy for bad little rich boys? If they misbehave they get a lecture and a slap on the wrist? Or take a lap around the track and down for 10 pushups? He did well in military school and rose to the rank of captain. "He attended the Kew-Forest School from kindergarten through seventh grade. At age 13, Trump's parents enrolled him in the New York Military Academy, after discovering Donald made frequent trips into Manhattan without permission.[14][15]" https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Donald_Trump Take a look in this book below, especially interesting starting on page 31 in the chapter of his early life. "By his own account, Trump's primary focus in elementary school was "creating mischief, because for some reason I liked to stir things up and I liked to test people....It wasn't malicious so much as it was aggressive" Trump Revealed: The Definitive Biography of the 45th President https://books.google.com/books?id=x2jUDQAAQBAJ Edited June 3, 2017 by Airbrush
dimreepr Posted June 3, 2017 Posted June 3, 2017 (edited) Yes, he didn't always get his way, not during his 4-year-confinement in military academy. Only before and forever after. Was that military academy for bad little rich boys? If they misbehave they get a lecture and a slap on the wrist? Or take a lap around the track and down for 10 pushups? He did well in military school and rose to the rank of captain. "He attended the Kew-Forest School from kindergarten through seventh grade. At age 13, Trump's parents enrolled him in the New York Military Academy, after discovering Donald made frequent trips into Manhattan without permission.[14][15]" https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Donald_Trump Take a look in this book below, especially interesting starting on page 31 in the chapter of his early life. "By his own account, Trump's primary focus in elementary school was "creating mischief, because for some reason I liked to stir things up and I liked to test people....It wasn't malicious so much as it was aggressive" Trump Revealed: The Definitive Biography of the 45th President https://books.google.com/books?id=x2jUDQAAQBAJ Is this what a crusade looks like? I'm not saying you're wrong, Per se, but even the Donald is just another human. Edited June 3, 2017 by dimreepr
Delta1212 Posted June 8, 2017 Posted June 8, 2017 (edited) Fromer FBI Director James Comey is set to testify before the Senate Intelligence Committee today on the subject of Russian interference in the US election. His testimony begins in about 20 minutes at 10 am Eastern Time. Here's a link to the C-SPAN live stream for anyone who is interested. His prepared opening statement has been entered into the record and can be viewed ahead of time here. Edit for comments: Comey just called Trump a liar under oath. Edited June 8, 2017 by Delta1212 1
iNow Posted June 8, 2017 Posted June 8, 2017 Comey just called Trump a liar under oath. I wish this whole thing didn't feel so much like reality tv
dimreepr Posted June 8, 2017 Posted June 8, 2017 I wish this whole thing didn't feel so much like reality tv That's how the BBC described the coverage.
zapatos Posted June 8, 2017 Posted June 8, 2017 Fromer FBI Director James Comey is set to testify before the Senate Intelligence Committee today on the subject of Russian interference in the US election. His testimony begins in about 20 minutes at 10 am Eastern Time. Here's a link to the C-SPAN live stream for anyone who is interested. His prepared opening statement has been entered into the record and can be viewed ahead of time here. Edit for comments: Comey just called Trump a liar under oath. Thanks for the link! I watched for a while and wish I didn't have to do actual work today. Fascinating stuff. My quick impression is that Comey is professional and truthful. I also get the feeling that Trump's lack of a basic understanding of how government works is a cornerstone of his ongoing problems. He seems to think being elected President means he gets to 'manage' the US like he was able to manage his companies.
iNow Posted June 8, 2017 Posted June 8, 2017 He seems to think being elected President means he gets to 'manage' the US like he was able to manage his companies. Into bankruptcy and laughing stocks? Pretty sure he's managing to achieve that with great success.
Delta1212 Posted June 8, 2017 Posted June 8, 2017 Thanks for the link! I watched for a while and wish I didn't have to do actual work today. Fascinating stuff. My quick impression is that Comey is professional and truthful. I also get the feeling that Trump's lack of a basic understanding of how government works is a cornerstone of his ongoing problems. He seems to think being elected President means he gets to 'manage' the US like he was able to manage his companies. I've been able to keep it on in the background throughout and have only missed a couple of brief sections so far, and this closely tracks with my impression.
dimreepr Posted June 8, 2017 Posted June 8, 2017 Any of my American friends think this is terminal for the Donald?
zapatos Posted June 8, 2017 Posted June 8, 2017 Any of my American friends think this is terminal for the Donald? Thus far, I don't believe so. Donald seems more inept and sleazy than criminal. Unless he commits an overt criminal act I don't believe a Republican controlled House and Senate will agree to any sanctions for Trump.
dimreepr Posted June 8, 2017 Posted June 8, 2017 (edited) Thus far, I don't believe so. Donald seems more inept and sleazy than criminal. Unless he commits an overt criminal act I don't believe a Republican controlled House and Senate will agree to any sanctions for Trump. Doesn't this seriously undermine that control? How many rats jump ship on the back of it? Edited June 8, 2017 by dimreepr
zapatos Posted June 8, 2017 Posted June 8, 2017 Doesn't this seriously undermine that control? How many rats jump ship on the back of it? Sorry, but doesn't this seriously undermine what control?
Delta1212 Posted June 8, 2017 Posted June 8, 2017 Any of my American friends think this is terminal for the Donald? I agree with zapatos. This doesn't paint a favorable picture of him, but it's largely an enhanced picture of things that are already known about him with reasonable certainty, and it will take something significant and new in terms of evidence to prompt any real sort of action. I don't think even if Comey testified that Trump had committed obstruction of justice that it would be terminal on its own. It would take tangible evidence of a crime rather than an opinion from a former FBI director to have even a chance of that, and the testimony hasn't even gone so far as to directly characterize Trump's actions as criminal in that way. I'd say it hurts him politically by increasing the pressure of the current situation and by failing to relieve it as it could have if the testimony were different than what has been given so far, but it's not a final bullet by any stretch, especially given what the Trump administration has been weathering so far.
dimreepr Posted June 8, 2017 Posted June 8, 2017 The number of republicans that distance themselves from him politically.
zapatos Posted June 8, 2017 Posted June 8, 2017 The number of republicans that distance themselves from him politically. I don't think Trump has any control over Republicans. They are acting in their own best interest, and their own best interest says 'don't let a Republican President be impeached'.
Delta1212 Posted June 8, 2017 Posted June 8, 2017 (edited) John McCain is giving by far the weirdest line of questioning of the whole hearing so far. He questioned why Comey announced that no charges would be filed over Clinton's use of the email server, but the investigation of Trump's campaign is on going and this is a double standard because both candidates were part of the election where Russia interfered. He was attempting to imply that 1: Clinton should be under investigation for collusion with the Russians just like Trump is. 2: clearing Clinton of criminal wrong-doing in the email situation is the same as clearing her of collusion with the Russians and 3: that clearing her of wrong-doing with the Russians while continuing to investigate Trump shows that the investigation is biased. There are so many false connections in there that it took me several minutes to figure out how to properly summarize it in a way that outlined the chain of logic he was attempting to draw. Edited June 8, 2017 by Delta1212 1
dimreepr Posted June 8, 2017 Posted June 8, 2017 I don't think Trump has any control over Republicans. They are acting in their own best interest, and their own best interest says 'don't let a Republican President be impeached'. Ah well, hope springs eternal
Phi for All Posted June 8, 2017 Posted June 8, 2017 John McCain is giving by far the weirdest line of questioning of the whole hearing so far. That was an enormous disappointment for me. I had hoped McCain would be more on point about Trump, but the bits about Clinton sounded like he was catering to the worst of the GOP base that wants to continue stomping on her career because they're sure she's guilty of something. Integrity -1.
Delta1212 Posted June 8, 2017 Posted June 8, 2017 That was an enormous disappointment for me. I had hoped McCain would be more on point about Trump, but the bits about Clinton sounded like he was catering to the worst of the GOP base that wants to continue stomping on her career because they're sure she's guilty of something. Integrity -1. You could tell Comey was struggling to understand what the hell McCain was even talking asking about because the logic was so broken and the premises some of the questions were founded upon were themselves simply wrong.
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