President Donald Trump

[Hornsby]

So what are we to make of Kim Jung Un’s capitulations prior to the meeting with Trump. Does Trump get any credit?

Sure, if it actually happens. I'm pretty sure I recall this particular scenario before with Un. Obama agreed to provide aid to NK and Un agreed to a moratorium on nuclear weapons and missiles. I believe that lasted a month or so...I don't believe that any meeting will happen between Trump and Kim Jung Un. Nor do I actually believe that N Korea will stop its nuclear program in any way.

If Trump can make it happen, and stick, he deserves all of the credit in the world.

[DMT]

So what are we to make of Kim Jung Un’s capitulations prior to the meeting with Trump. Does Trump get any credit?

This is one area I am fully supportive of Trump accomplishing his goals, but like Hornsby I'm highly skeptical.

[Bernie Brewer]

This is one area I am fully supportive of Trump accomplishing his goals, but like Hornsby I'm highly skeptical.

Until it happens, we should all be skeptical. But it is interesting.

[cardboardbox]

So what are we to make of Kim Jung Un’s capitulations prior to the meeting with Trump. Does Trump get any credit?

not sure which one is less stable. Better make sure no launch buttons (big or small) are near either of them during this face to face meeting.

[nullnor]

Obama making Melania smile at Barbara Bush's funeral... a lot of things going on in the photo. guy across the isle with bionic woman hearing. Michelle looking like she's thinking, Barack's in trouble later. Bill and Hilliary pretending they are studying the memorial book. the english guy next to them with the stiff upper lip. i think thats Condoleezza Rice behind them looking at the camera. Obama's great.

[Teenwolf]

not sure which one is less stable. Better make sure no launch buttons (big or small) are near either of them during this face to face meeting.

CBB with the most sensible response in the Bar, cheers to you...

I can't believe that you guys actually WANT your idiotic buffoon of a President speaking with a nuclear capable rival... it's insane.

Remember the report about Trump stating that he wanted to increase the US nuclear arsenal tenfold!

https://www.independent.co.uk/news/w...-a7994956.html

Remember that he continually shows a lack of understanding his own legislation, or understanding what the US policy on anything is. You all know he makes everything up! Remember when he stated that there were no tax implications from the planned Obamacare repeal, saying "taxes come later"...? He never knows what the hell he's talking about. He rambles incoherently with the vocabulary of an 8 year old.

Oh, and he's known for threatening anybody who doesn't lick his boots, even some who do... The "rocket man" tweets and whatnot... You guys want this absolute BOZO deciding the fate of nuclear relations?

Before the damn meeting happens, Trump is going to pull the effing US out of the Iran nuclear deal! Iran hasn't done anything to break the agreement, so it's the US just deciding on a whim to pull out because Trump is a moron, and thinks it makes him personally look tough.

How the hell do these factors help the US in negotiations with NK? You think it gives any credibility to negotiate de-armament of NK, when Trump is pushing to break a nearly identical agreement? When he's called for 10x the nuclear arsenal for the US? When he fails to understand the basic goals of de-armament, and has never shown a willingness to spend more than 10 minutes of preparation on anything?

It's so nuts that most of you are seemingly dancing on your tippy toes, ready to give Trump credit for solving the NK nuclear crisis.

The fact is, NK has bombed themselves into oblivion. Their nuke testing site is in their mountain region, which they've apparently destroyed through their own exhaustive nuke testing... so I believe they might be trying to play out what little leverage they have left to finally accept a deal. Trump just happens to be President right now. Isn't it great how he's immediately given legitimization to a dictator who's own citizenry are brainwashed to believe such things as Kim Jong Un doesn't defecate, he has no butthole... Isn't it great how we're simultaneously legitimizing 2 madmen who prefer dictatorships?

http://time.com/4981037/north-korea-...ear-test-site/

Their citizens are starving and miserable, up to half of the population living with intestinal parasitic worms, and all kinds of nasty crap. So I think the limits of total isolationism are peaking, but that's just my take.

But to be actively seeking to heap praise on Trump, when he's simultaneously pushing to pull out of the Iran deal... it's short-sighted, guys.

[nullnor]

North Korea's main goal is unification with the south.. taking over the south. the only way the regime will collapse is by it's own citizens becoming being more aware of the outside world. DVD movies.. stuff like that. less nukes and more John Wayne.

[Hornsby]

CBB with the most sensible response in the Bar, cheers to you...

I can't believe that you guys actually WANT your idiotic buffoon of a President speaking with a nuclear capable rival... it's insane.

Remember the report about Trump stating that he wanted to increase the US nuclear arsenal tenfold!

https://www.independent.co.uk/news/w...-a7994956.html

Remember that he continually shows a lack of understanding his own legislation, or understanding what the US policy on anything is. You all know he makes everything up! Remember when he stated that there were no tax implications from the planned Obamacare repeal, saying "taxes come later"...? He never knows what the hell he's talking about. He rambles incoherently with the vocabulary of an 8 year old.

Oh, and he's known for threatening anybody who doesn't lick his boots, even some who do... The "rocket man" tweets and whatnot... You guys want this absolute BOZO deciding the fate of nuclear relations?

Before the damn meeting happens, Trump is going to pull the effing US out of the Iran nuclear deal! Iran hasn't done anything to break the agreement, so it's the US just deciding on a whim to pull out because Trump is a moron, and thinks it makes him personally look tough.

How the hell do these factors help the US in negotiations with NK? You think it gives any credibility to negotiate de-armament of NK, when Trump is pushing to break a nearly identical agreement? When he's called for 10x the nuclear arsenal for the US? When he fails to understand the basic goals of de-armament, and has never shown a willingness to spend more than 10 minutes of preparation on anything?

It's so nuts that most of you are seemingly dancing on your tippy toes, ready to give Trump credit for solving the NK nuclear crisis.

The fact is, NK has bombed themselves into oblivion. Their nuke testing site is in their mountain region, which they've apparently destroyed through their own exhaustive nuke testing... so I believe they might be trying to play out what little leverage they have left to finally accept a deal. Trump just happens to be President right now. Isn't it great how he's immediately given legitimization to a dictator who's own citizenry are brainwashed to believe such things as Kim Jong Un doesn't defecate, he has no butthole... Isn't it great how we're simultaneously legitimizing 2 madmen who prefer dictatorships?

http://time.com/4981037/north-korea-...ear-test-site/

Their citizens are starving and miserable, up to half of the population living with intestinal parasitic worms, and all kinds of nasty crap. So I think the limits of total isolationism are peaking, but that's just my take.

But to be actively seeking to heap praise on Trump, when he's simultaneously pushing to pull out of the Iran deal... it's short-sighted, guys.

Settle down Jesse, nobody is anointing Trump as an international diplomat, we're merely responding to Bernie's question as to whether Trump gets any credit IF something positive happens. SOMEBODY is going to help solve the problem sooner of later, since, as you pointed out, half the population of NK is ill, starving, or both. If it's Trump who gets the credit, I really don't care, it's the final outcome that matters to me.

As has also been stated here, the likelihood of the two actually sitting down at a table and negotiating is slim to none. IF they meet, all of the I will already be dotted and the T's already crossed. It's not like these two clowns are going to hammer out an agreement by themselves...

[revo]

Good article in today's NYT that Kim is just playing Trump to get some much needed relief from the sanctions.

[gcstomp]

I am hoping more people are on the same wave length as us Teenwolf, simple case of inmate running asylum. That people are not beyond outraged that US executive branch is lead by such a seriously limited and depraved person, is in itself sickening. If NK leader forces a massive payout in addition to lifting sanctions in exchange for their nuclear program, it is because Kim needs to feed and heal his sick, starving and dying people. It would be read by NK residents as a great victory by their enlightened leader. In U.S. Trump would be imbued by his propaganda channel as having sagely lead us to a brokered peace.

[Mithrandir]

I am hoping more people are on the same wave length as us Teenwolf, simple case of inmate running asylum. That people are not beyond outraged that US executive branch is lead by such a seriously limited and depraved person, is in itself sickening. If NK leader forces a massive payout in addition to lifting sanctions in exchange for their nuclear program, it is because Kim needs to feed and heal his sick, starving and dying people. It would be read by NK residents as a great victory by their enlightened leader. In U.S. Trump would be imbued by his propaganda channel as having sagely lead us to a brokered peace.

So how do you explain those people that support Trump? I know that's not an easy question to answer. I have friends and acquaintances that i have known for years that support Trump big time. Other than that, they seem like really good people.

[revo]

How do you say "Uh Oh" in Russian?


"President Donald Trump twice gave James Comey an alibi for why a salacious report about the 2013 Miss Universe pageant in Moscow couldn’t be true: He never even spent the night in Russia during that trip, Trump told the former FBI director, according to Comey’s memos about the conversations.

Yet the broad timeline of Trump’s stay, stretching from Friday, Nov. 8, 2013, through the following Sunday morning, has been widely reported. And it’s substantiated by social media posts that show he slept in Moscow the night before the Miss Universe contest.

Now, flight records obtained by Bloomberg provide to-the-minute details, from wheels down to departure. Combined with existing accounts and Trump’s own social-media posts, they capture a mere 45 hours and 43 minutes that, nearly five years later, loom large in the controversy engulfing the White House and at the heart of the Comey memos, which the Justice Department turned over last week to Congress."

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2018-04-23/flight-records-illuminate-mystery-of-trump-s-moscow-nights

[heyelander]

So how do you explain those people that support Trump? I know that's not an easy question to answer. I have friends and acquaintances that i have known for years that support Trump big time. Other than that, they seem like really good people.

https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2018/04/shania-twain-and-the-crisis-of-american-democracy-really.html

When the political system is widely seen as doing its job, somebody like Trump, who violates its basic norms, is seen as illegitimate. A politician who blatantly lies doesn’t stand a chance. But this changes when more and more people come to believe that the system is rigged and that most politicians don’t have their best interests in mind. Amid such a “crisis of legitimacy,” voters don’t particularly care whether a politician plays by the rules of the game. Instead, they long for somebody who bluntly states how rotten the system really is.

In this kind of context, voters no longer abhor detectable lies, or even racist statements, in quite the same way as you’d expect. On the contrary, they start to see such visible violations of basic norms as proof that their favorite candidate really is different from everybody else. As I wrote in The People vs. Democracy, the reason why populists and political newcomers are so willing to challenge basic democratic norms is in part tactical: whenever populists break such norms, they attract the univocal condemnation of the political establishment. And this of course proves that, as advertised, the populists really do represent a clean break from the status quo. There is thus something performative about populists’ tendency to break democratic norms: while their most provocative statements are often considered gaffes by political observers, their very willingness to commit such gaffes is a big part of their appeal.

....

It’s no mean feat to offer a convincing explanation for how Trump could get away with—or perhaps even profit from—his incessant lies. But the part of the paper that most haunts me goes beyond that. A “crisis of legitimacy,” Hahl and his co-authors point out, can take two forms: In a “representation crisis,” large segments of the population feel that the political establishment doesn’t govern on their behalf. Meanwhile, in a “power devaluation crisis,” a once dominant group resents the fact that politicians increasingly seem to pay attention to new, formerly less powerful groups.

The United States is currently suffering from both crises. Many minority groups understandably feel that the current government doesn’t have their best interests at heart. At the same time, many members of the shrinking ethnic majority have good reason to believe that their power will keep on dwindling. In other words, the legitimacy of the American political system is increasingly in doubt on both sides of the partisan divide.
For the foreseeable future, the terrain of American politics will remain ripe for lying demagogues of all stripes

[onejayhawk]

So how do you explain those people that support Trump? I know that's not an easy question to answer. I have friends and acquaintances that i have known for years that support Trump big time. Other than that, they seem like really good people.

Maybe it's because they are good people. That is not something incompatible with liking Trump.

J

[Sour Masher]

Maybe it's because they are good people. That is not something incompatible with liking Trump.

J

Liking Trump is an interesting phrasing, as supposed to supporting him as president, or supporting certain aspects of his agenda. I can understand liking some of his actions as president, but it is very hard for me to understand how a good person can "like" someone I consider a bad person, who says and does many bad things (and I'm not talking about saying and doing things that I disagree with politically). Maybe someone here can help me see how folks who claim to be good can like Trump and everything he is, does, says, and stands for. And again, I'm not talking about cutting taxes or conservative judge appointments. I'm talking about him crapping on the first amendment and attacking the press and anyone who defies him, lying, using hate speech, being ignorant of our laws and the respect afforded the judiciary, complimenting murderous dictators, defending racists, etc.