Donald Trump

[MigL]

Excellent Delta.

The 'other side' isn't always stupid or ignorant for thinking the way they do.

They simply have different priorities, which we may not even consider until we've 'walked a mile in their shoes'.

And they have a right to a vote like all Americans.

 

I may be embarrassed by how low this election has sunk, but democracy is still the best !

[Airbrush]

Interesting how Trump's mannerisms resemble other dictators. A Clinton ad should have a split screen showing Trump giving a passionate speech next to Kim Jong Un, Reverend Jim Jones, Mussolini, Hitler, etc. Trump very much resembles Kim Jong Un at the start of a rally, walking around for a prolonged period of time applauding himself.

 

Notice Trump's response to the firebomb attack on the GOP office in North Carolina. "Animals representing Hillary Clinton and Dems in North Carolina just firebombed our office in Orange County because we are winning @NCGOP"

 

Use of the word "Animals" for people sounds like Hitler, Mussolini, or any dictator dehumanizing a group of people.

 

"Because we are winning..." Yes, Donald you are absolutely winning!!! That's the ticket, you are winning, terrific, spectacular, sure you are winning, (and yet the system is rigged?)

Edited October 18, 2016 by Airbrush

[Ten oz]

I still think we are giving Trump too much credit. Trump hasn't shown himself to be a leader. He hasn't been able to move his base and get them supporting new positions which allow for growth. Trump hasn't even been able to shore up Republican support. Rather he just echos a loud and enthusiatic group on the right which national candidates before him understood wasn't big enough to win with alone. If Trump could have repositioned himself on immigration and racial issues, things he attempted to do, and expanded his base of support than that would have been a different ball game.

 

Trump has been a great candidate for this cycles click bait media. His right wing supporters are open to conspiracy and eager to follow any media source that produce material they want to see. Trump says Hillary is on drugs, that Obama was born in Kenya, Ted Cruz's father helped kill JFK, and many other idiotic things and the media has millions of hits by noon. Credentialed journalists with an ounce of integrity wouldn't promote Trump's wild nonsense but they don't need to. Trump supporters don't believe real journalism. They prefer Drudge, Breitbart, Alex Jones and etc. Trump didn't build that infastructure of conspiracy and distrust. Trump didn't create that audience. They already existed. They already wanted a wall on the Mexican Border, they already wanted to ban Muslims, they already wanted the police to be tougher on minorities, and etc. Trump hasn't created a movement or grown an already standing movements voice. This is the tea party that took over Congress in 2010. They chose him.

 

Rather than looking at all the ways Trump has used language to succeed I am concerned about the ways he has failed. No candidate in history ever got so much free media. So little public vetting. Imagine if (when) someone comes along who is truly a masterful manipulator and is able to solidly get those tea party conservative onboard but then pivot without losing energy or support. Jim Jones started off reading from the bible and once he had a following moved them towards communism and colony building. Imagine if Jim Jones had today's social media. The next Trump, I fear, will start with immigration and than shift to a more libertarian view on drugs and international isolationism which may attract young voters and establishment weary independents.

[hkstudent2]

Is he an undercover of Democratic Party?

[geordief]

Is he an undercover of Democratic Party?

No,he is an agent for the "Serious Party of America" whose goal is to put satire out of business in the 21st century.

[Airbrush]

Melania Trump says she has "two boys at home, her son and her husband..."

 

Interesting to know he doesn't act like a 5-year-old only in public, he acts that way at home too.

 

His childhood was a spoiled, bad little boy. He got into a lot of trouble, so his Dad sent him away to military academy to learn discipline. He was the only one of his siblings that was sent to military academy. It is very important to remember that Donald was a bad little bully as a child, which created his personality disorder. With above average intelligence he excelled and performed well in high school. Not long after that he got a loan for $14 million to start a business from his wealthy father. That would be about $50 million in today's dollars. At a young age, after that loan from his Dad, he entered a bubble. He could hire and fire, so soon everybody around him was a yes-man, yes-woman, and yes-lawyer. That is how he grew so obnoxiously delusional and acquired his personality disorder. They say he can turn on the charm when he wants to, but I don't remember ever seeing a "charming" Donald in front of a microphone. That mike is a drug that he cannot and will not ever give up. Even if he has to bank roll it himself and it is not profitable, but it may be, it has to happen as surely as his own breath. Welcome to Trump TV.

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Donald_Trump

Edited October 18, 2016 by Airbrush

[swansont]

Is he an undercover of Democratic Party?

 

 

If he is, he was playing the long game by being (or pretending to be) a horrible person for pretty much his entire life. All in anticipation of running for president when he's 70.

[Airbrush]

My first opinion of Trump formed 10 years ago when his feud with Rosie O'Donnell was in the news too much. I was thinking what an idiot this billionaire is to get in a war with a comedian. When I heard he was running for president I thought "Fat chance" for such an idiot to get anywhere, but was I wrong!

 

"...Trump has made similarly vile comments about other women, but his vitriol for O’Donnell has always been next-level. The duo's longstanding feud dates back to 2006, when O’Donnell, speaking on The View, questioned Trump’s decision not to fire controversial Miss USA Tara Conner over drug abuse, calling him "a snake-oil salesman." O’Donnell also said of Trump: "[He] left the first wife—had an affair. [He] had kids both times, but he's the moral compass for 20-year-olds in America. Donald, sit and spin, my friend."

 

"Trump wasn’t pleased. He told People that O’Donnell was "a woman out of control," and that "Rosie's a loser. A real loser. I look forward to taking lots of money from my nice, fat little Rosie."

 

http://www.newsweek.com/behind-donald-trumps-sexist-debate-comment-rosie-odonnell-pigs-fat-view-360701

With Trump's tendency towards psychological projection, don't you think that when Trump proposed a DRUG TEST for himself and Hillary before the 3rd debate, he was projecting his own drug habit on Hillary? Isn't that the way it works? He knows the drug test will never happen, so he safely says he wants the drug test to make himself look drug-free and cast suspicion on Hillary.

 

I find it hard to believe a man-of-the-world like Trump, who was born in 1946, was a young adult at the time of the hippies avoided using drugs. What is that sniffle he has all the time, from cocaine up the nose? Sometimes he looks so wired he may appear to be on some kind of stimulant.

[johnmusic]

This is what the media wants. Or the 1 percent i mean. Trump is only put into the race to scare dumb asses unto voting hillary. No offence. And it is working.

[swansont]

This is what the media wants. Or the 1 percent i mean. Trump is only put into the race to scare dumb asses unto voting hillary. No offence. And it is working.

I beg to differ. From where I stand, there are plenty of dumbasses who are voting for Trump, and plenty who will never vote for Hillary (some of whom would not vote for any woman). There's a large contingent amongst the 1% that want lower taxes, which is what the GOP is offering up.

 

Don't blame the media. They gave Trump more coverage than anybody else. If he had an actual message (other than him being a horrible person) he could have taken advantage of that.

[Delta1212]

This is what the media wants. Or the 1 percent i mean. Trump is only put into the race to scare dumb asses unto voting hillary. No offence. And it is working.

Are you implying that the Republicans rigged their own primary in order to promote Trump to the position of nominee in order to ensure that they lose the election to Hillary at the behest of their wealthy masters?

 

Because that's what it sounds like you're implying.

[Ten oz]

This is what the media wants. Or the 1 percent i mean. Trump is only put into the race to scare dumb asses unto voting hillary. No offence. And it is working.

No one could have predicted that Trump would win the primary and GOP supporters had several chances to stop him.

[MigL]

I don't think D. Trump himself thought he was going to win the nomination.

He was just in it to stir up sh*t and get more publicity/exposure.

He said whatever came into his head, whether it made sense or not, and had no platform to speak of ( he still doesn't ).

 

He has, however succeeded in making Republicans look bad for backing him, Democrats look bad for getting in the 'mud' to fight him, and all of America look bad for taking him seriously.

[Delta1212]

Last night, Trump refused to commit to accepting the results of the election on the debate stage. I realize he's been pretty strongly hinting that he wouldn't at rallies recently, but I didn't expect him to do that on the national stage. He didn't even give a qualified answer. It was just a straight refusal.

 

I don't like making sweeping statements like this because they smack of hyperbole and are a good way to get people to think you're exaggerating and stop taking you seriously, but:

 

That may very well be the scariest answer that has ever been delivered on a Presidential debate stage. I certainly can't think of one since the dawn of televised debates. This is the kind of shit that you get in banana republics and third world countries.

 

In 2000 we had a recount, as a result of the entire election being decided by fewer than 600 votes in Florida. Despite complaints from a lot of Democrats about the whole situation regarding how ballots were counted or determined to be invalid with the entire process being overseen by the administration of George Bush's brother, following the recount process, Al Gore conceded. Because, as pointed out last night, the peaceful transfer of power facilitated by the acknowledgement of the loser of the legitimacy of the victory of the new regime is a critical tradition of our democracy. Even with the concession, that period left a lot of people who lived through it more jaded and with a shaken faith in the strength of our democracy.

 

And Trump is pushing this even further as his default position before the votes are even cast. At his rallies and directly on the debate stage last night, he claimed that the entire process is rigged top to bottom. This isn't a matter of a statistical fluke making a razor thin margin of victory suspicious. Any result is untrustworthy because the elections are inherently not free and fair. Unless, of course, he wins, in which case everything is fine.

 

Trump has a history of casting external blame and refusing to acknowledge any situation that doesn't result as a victory for him as having been fair. But the presidency isn't any Emmy. We're so used to having a stable democracy in this country that I think most people take said stability of our institutions for granted. But we're no more immune to a system failure than any other democracy or republic throughout history and this is the kind of shit right here that can cascade into the death of a republic.

 

Donald Trump's inability to accept defeat in any circumstance could do serious lasting damage to the long term stability of our country, and that's not something I say lightly.

[Ophiolite]

He has, however succeeded in making Republicans look bad for backing him, Democrats look bad for getting in the 'mud' to fight him, and all of America look bad for taking him seriously.

Excellent summary.

[neutrinosalad]

That may very well be the scariest answer that has ever been delivered on a Presidential debate stage. I certainly can't think of one since the dawn of televised debates. This is the kind of shit that you get in banana republics and third world countries.

 

Donald Trump's inability to accept defeat in any circumstance could do serious lasting damage to the long term stability of our country, and that's not something I say lightly.

 

I wish you had the same concern of Barack Obama ruling by executive fiat as you do of Trump saying he would not accept defeat. For the last eight years, Barack Obama has openly defied the constitutional boundaries of the presidency and consolidated power underneath the executive branch, yet no one seems to bat an eye. On top of that there is evidence (if you believe Wikileaks) that Hillary has used the foundation to sell United States government favors to foreign entities and businessmen while she was in the State Department.

 

Trump, however, questions whether or not Hillary's corruption will extend to the election process, and now is the time to freak out. Me thinks there is a (partisan) double standard here.

[swansont]

For the last eight years, Barack Obama has openly defied the constitutional boundaries of the presidency

 

 

Back this up. (probably should go in a new thread) You don't get to claim this without support.

[Ten oz]

 

I wish you had the same concern of Barack Obama ruling by executive fiat as you do of Trump saying he would not accept defeat. For the last eight years, Barack Obama has openly defied the constitutional boundaries of the presidency and consolidated power underneath the executive branch, yet no one seems to bat an eye. On top of that there is evidence (if you believe Wikileaks) that Hillary has used the foundation to sell United States government favors to foreign entities and businessmen while she was in the State Department.

 

Trump, however, questions whether or not Hillary's corruption will extend to the election process, and now is the time to freak out. Me thinks there is a (partisan) double standard here.

Got to go back to before WW1 to find a 2 term president who has used executive orders less than President Obama.

http://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/data/orders.php

[Phi for All]

 

I wish you had the same concern of Barack Obama ruling by executive fiat as you do of Trump saying he would not accept defeat. For the last eight years, Barack Obama has openly defied the constitutional boundaries of the presidency and consolidated power underneath the executive branch, yet no one seems to bat an eye. On top of that there is evidence (if you believe Wikileaks) that Hillary has used the foundation to sell United States government favors to foreign entities and businessmen while she was in the State Department.

 

This sounds like the empty rhetoric Republicans have been slinging around whenever Obama has been able to figure out a legal workaround that thwarts this Congress' attempts to block everything positive our first black president wants to do.

[dimreepr]

 

This sounds like the empty rhetoric Republicans have been slinging around whenever Obama has been able to figure out a legal workaround that thwarts this Congress' attempts to block everything positive our first black president wants to do.

 

 

From this side of the pond he seems to be one of the best; I've lived through two 3 term Pm's, which convinced me the American limit of two is correct, I think Obama would be an exception.

Edited October 21, 2016 by dimreepr

[Phi for All]

From this side of the pond he seems to be one of the best; I've lived through two 3 term Pm's, which convinced me the American limit of two is correct, I think Obama would be an exception.

 

Neither major party represents me very well, but because the overall social perspective of the Democrats is much more reasonably and realistically aligned with mine, I tend to give them my vote. Personally, I think if Obama had been white, he might have been given the respect his behavior should have earned him (in many stances, he and Hillary look just like moderate Republicans). Throughout his terms, President Obama and his family have embodied the very best of what it means to serve the US as its highest elected official. Whether or not you agree with his policies, I think an honest person has to admit the deck was stacked against him in terms of situation and support. He inherited a country in wreckage, and did the best he could with little help from the other branches supposedly dedicated to our prosperity. He was absolutely one of the best.

 

The Republicans feared this nightmare of blacks and women running for POTUS would unfold eventually, and their intractable, juvenile, fingers-in-the-ears-blockade of anything good that might come of it has tarnished their reputation worldwide, something they seem oblivious to (or just don't give a rat's ass about, because hey, foreigners). They've done things other administrations would have considered unimaginable (like denying a POTUS hearings on SCOTUS candidates - last time that was done was 1875).

 

And now it looks like they're going to urinate similarly all over the first woman POTUS' administration. Trump is their candidate, and he's the perfect embodiment of what the party has become, as evident by all the support he's still getting from the party and its members. At this point, I'm so tired of the gridlock that I might even welcome a Democrat-controlled Congress. But I'd rather the Republicans would decide to just get their shit together and stop blocking non-white, non-male presidents just because of who they are.

[Delta1212]

Can you name any moderate Republicans that Obama and Hillary look like? Preferably ones who are at least still alive and at best actually in office?

[Phi for All]

Can you name any moderate Republicans that Obama and Hillary look like? Preferably ones who are at least still alive and at best actually in office?

 

I said they look alike on many stances.

 

Shelley Moore Capito has actually voted for some Obamacare expansions that would make it harder to overturn it.

 

Mark Kirk has a pretty liberal voting record on social issues and the environment, that offsets his more conservative stances on foreign policy.

 

I think John McCain would have made a decent POTUS. He was against the debt-ceiling and government shutdown strategies to block the ACA, which I always applauded him for.

 

Earlier this year, Carlos Curbelo worked to create a bipartisan caucus on climate solutions, trying to acknowledge the very real issues facing us and our lack of viable policy options.

 

Jeff Denham from CA co-sponsored an immigration reform bill created by the Dems. He's also broken with Republican ranks to defend some of Obama's immigration policies.

 

And I don't think Clinton and Obama are that far off the moderate Republicans when it comes to favorable dealings for Big Business. Corporate taxes are consistently low imo, and the regulations that govern them continue to be relaxed in too many key areas.

[Delta1212]

But if we're just picking out some specific issues where a moderate Republican holds a more liberal view, wouldn't most Democrats look like that moderate Republican on that issue because the Republican in question is essentially holding the Democratic view?

 

I mean, it certainly shows moderate enough left-leaning views that there are still Republicans close enough to reach that far across the aisle to subscribe to them, but generally when someone says that Obama or Hillary look like moderate Republicans on some issues, they don't mean that there are moderate Republicans who look like generic Democrats on some issues and that Obama and Hillary share those positions.

 

The big business answer is slightly better but lacked the specificity of your other responses.

[Airbrush]

Did you see Trump & Hillary give speeches at the Al Smith Fundraiser?

 

Trump pushed to the limits of civility to see how far he could go. He said Hillary hates Catholics, she is totally corrupt, but there was no joke to go along with it. He used the word "hell" gratuitously. Finally the audience had enough and booed him. Then he said "Are you booing me or Hillary?" Like it wasn't obvious. The only one sounding hateful during this entire campaign is Trump. He sounds hateful, looks hateful, and acts hateful, then he unabashedly projects that onto Hillary by calling her hateful, nasty, etc. This is a man with a personality disorder.

Edited October 22, 2016 by Airbrush