President Donald Trump

[Hornsby]

Hornsby, your unwavering optimism that Trump will be a one-term POTUS, and the support you bring to that argument, are admirable and welcome, even though, with each passing day, my own optimism for that outcome wanes. In fact, with his attacks on the other branches of government and on the press, coupled with his frequent appeals to the court of public opinion over established laws and precedents, a small but shivering part of my brain fears that, if we allowed it to happen, Trump would seek to make his position a permanent one, like his good friend Putin, elections and laws be damned.

I'm still not sure Trump really wanted to become POTUS, but I suspect he very much would enjoy becoming a dictator, if we allowed him to. Think of how much more pleasant the mantle of leadership would be for him, and how much more effective he could be, if he could free himself from the constraints of an ineffectual congress, a corrupt justice department, and a villainous, biased press. I'm sure he thinks about that. Some of his supports, I fear, would agree with those sentiments as well.

I honestly do believe that he cannot be re-elected, I'm hopelessly optimistic that way. It took a perfect storm to get him into office, I don't think that all those things can happen again. Remember, he lost by more than 3 million votes to a really dysfunctional candidate. He's burning his base now, the very people that thought that he'd help them, and they won't come back, IMO.

The framers of the Constitution were far too smart to allow any man to take power to that dictatorship level...would he like to set up a political dynasty with dump and dumber succeeding him? Sure, but neither son has the chops to do what Daddy has done. I think that this is going to be a very dark time in our nations history, but unless something cataclysmic happens, the checks and balances that have already worked to a degree, will continue to work.

[Sour Masher]

I honestly do believe that he cannot be re-elected, I'm hopelessly optimistic that way. It took a perfect storm to get him into office, I don't think that all those things can happen again. Remember, he lost by more than 3 million votes to a really dysfunctional candidate. He's burning his base now, the very people that thought that he'd help them, and they won't come back, IMO.

IDK man, his approval rating is far higher than I would have thought given all the things he has said and done, and the Mueller investigation. I think it is higher than it was with W at the same point, and he got reelected. All Trump would have to do is start a war, and the same people who didn't want to change dogs in the last fight might use the same logic with him. I think he has other things in his playbook that could work as well, but that is the one I fear the most.

[Hornsby]

IDK man, his approval rating is far higher than I would have thought given all the things he has said and done, and the Mueller investigation. I think it is higher than it was with W at the same point, and he got reelected. All Trump would have to do is start a war, and the same people who didn't want to change dogs in the last fight might use the same logic with him. I think he has other things in his playbook that could work as well, but that is the one I fear the most.

Read the Vox article I linked last page, it's by Ezra Klein...pretty fascinating.

[Sour Masher]

Read the Vox article I linked last page, it's by Ezra Klein...pretty fascinating.

I skimmed it--isn't the basic premise with it that the good economy is buffering his numbers, and others would have better poll numbers in the good ecnomic circumstances we find ourselves in? IDK. Even if that is true, in assuming Trump can't win, are you assuming the economy will tank by 2020? It certainly looks like it will, but who knows? I'm certainly not wishing for a recession, but one does seem inevitable. The Fed seems hell bent on getting interest rates back up, even if it stalls the markets.

[Hornsby]

I skimmed it--isn't the basic premise with it that the good economy is buffering his numbers, and others would have better poll numbers in the good ecnomic circumstances we find ourselves in? IDK. Even if that is true, in assuming Trump can't win, are you assuming the economy will tank by 2020? It certainly looks like it will, but who knows? I'm certainly not wishing for a recession, but one does seem inevitable. The Fed seems hell bent on getting interest rates back up, even if it stalls the markets.

It's a bit weirder than that, Klein really can't put his finger on why Trump's numbers can be so bad, and also better than should be expected. I'm certainly not an economist, but essentially withdrawing from the world markets as currently seems to be happening looks like a recipe for disaster The world as we know it is shrinking, and we need to be a part of a global economy.

[onejayhawk]

Read the Vox article I linked last page, it's by Ezra Klein...pretty fascinating.

There's an even-handed source. Yeesh.

Even if you accept the premise that the economy is propping Trump up, what if the economy stays good? Also, Trump was originally considered a liability in foreign policy. No longer. The article completely ignores the fact that Trump is delivering on his campaign promises.

It's easy to se why Klein is baffled. He knows there is a systematic attempt by the media to torpedo this administration. With the same press, Clinton would not have lasted one term, because he really was corrupt. Obama had difficulty dealing with fawning press. Imagine a shred of open hostility. They stopped GHW Bush at one term. They almost got GW Bush, but Kerry had his own detractors. Trump's numbers have been driven down to bedrock. What Klein does not understand, cannot comprehend, is that bedrock for Trump is 40%.

Still, I agree that Trump will be one term--his choice. He will set things up for another win, then bow out. Ted Cruz anyone?

J

[Sour Masher]

The fact that some of his supporters think Trump is doing well overall on foreign policy baffles me.

[Hornsby]

The fact that some of his supporters think Trump is doing well overall on foreign policy baffles me.

They misread bluster and bullying as strength, they have no concept of the damage that it does in the long term. The fact that longtime allies are pulling away from us as self preservation makes them think that Trump is weeding out the deadbeats.

[onejayhawk]

The fact that some of his supporters think Trump is doing well overall on foreign policy baffles me.

Not just his supporters. Polling is spotty, but with all the bad press on trade he has been running single-digit negative. Foreign policy is an asset to his campaign.

They misread bluster and bullying as strength, they have no concept of the damage that it does in the long term. The fact that longtime allies are pulling away from us as self preservation makes them think that Trump is weeding out the deadbeats.

You speak of allies pulling back as a fact. I'd like to see you establish that. Certainly there are articles that use the same words as an assumption. I have not seen any that back it with ts and sound reasoning.

J

[Hornsby]

Frankly, I am shocked, SHOCKED, by this development. I would have thought that the Elton John CD would have made Kim Jong Un swoon with love and admiration for the Trumpster and his diplomatic skills!

TOKYO — Just hours after Secretary of State Mike Pompeo departed North Korea after two days of nuclear negotiations, North Korea sharply criticized the U.S. team's attitude as “regrettable,” and accused the U.S. of making unilateral demands of denuclearization.

The remarks from North Korea’s foreign ministry directly contradicted statements made by Pompeo that the visit made “progress on almost all of the central issues” and involved “good-faith negotiations.”

The Foreign Ministry statement, issued by an unnamed spokesman, said the U.S. violated the spirit of the June 12 Singapore summit between President Trump and Kim Jong Un.

The mixed messages followed a visit in which Pompeo did not meet with the North Korean leader while in the country and did not secure a breakthrough in forging a shared understanding of denuclearization.

Pompeo has come under increasing pressure to produce tangible results from the summit that President Trump quickly touted as a game-changing moment that eliminated North Korea’s nuclear threat.

But analysts said the reality is now sinking in that any final accord between the two nations to eliminate Pyongyang’s sophisticated nuclear and missile arsenal will be a long slog with no guarantee of success.

“While we were hopeful there would be some sort of breakthrough, it seems both sides agreed to merely keep talking,” said Harry Kazianis, an Asia expert at the Center for the National Interest.

Pompeo told reporters that the two countries would soon hold working-level talks on the destruction of Pyongyang’s missile-engine-testing facility. He also said Pentagon officials will meet with their North Korean counterparts on or near July 12 at the demilitarized zone between the Koreas to discuss the return of the remains of U.S. soldiers from the Korean War.

Last month, Trump told a crowd of supporters that the remains of 200 people had “been sent back,” but U.S. military officials later said that was not the case. U.S. officials viewed the issue as an easy confidence-building measure to demonstrate North Korea’s sincerity and have been frustrated with the speed of Pyongyang’s follow-through.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/north-korean-negotiator-teases-and-flatters-as-pompeo-enters-second-day-of-talks/2018/07/07/d2a06324-8175-4589-bf08-def6e56aa962_story.html?utm_term=.e50272981865&wpisrc=al_news__alert-world--alert-national&wpmk=1

[revo]

Speaking of Sir Elton......from Dopey Donald's July 5th "rally" in Montana:

“I have broken more Elton John records, he seems to have a lot of records. And I, by the way, I don’t have a musical instrument. I don’t have a guitar or an organ. No organ. Elton has an organ. And lots of other people helping. No we’ve broken a lot of records. We’ve broken virtually every record. Because you know, look I only need this space. They need much more room. For basketball, for hockey and all of the sports, they need a lot of room. We don’t need it. We have people in that space. So we break all of these records. Really we do it without like, the musical instruments. This is the only musical: the mouth. And hopefully the brain attached to the mouth. Right? The brain, more important than the mouth, is the brain. The brain is much more important.”

[Moonlight J]

I don't like that we have an employment-based health coverage system at all. I think we should have Medicare-for-All. Unfortunately, that's been politically impossible, leaving pushing coverage mandates on employers as the government's "compromise" to ensure everyone has a baseline level of coverage. It's a crappy solution, but it was better than the status quo ante where vast swaths of Americans were left with no coverage.

Amen, brother!

[swampdragon]

Speaking of Sir Elton......from Dopey Donald's July 5th "rally" in Montana:

“I have broken more Elton John records, he seems to have a lot of records. And I, by the way, I don’t have a musical instrument. I don’t have a guitar or an organ. No organ. Elton has an organ. And lots of other people helping. No we’ve broken a lot of records. We’ve broken virtually every record. Because you know, look I only need this space. They need much more room. For basketball, for hockey and all of the sports, they need a lot of room. We don’t need it. We have people in that space. So we break all of these records. Really we do it without like, the musical instruments. This is the only musical: the mouth. And hopefully the brain attached to the mouth. Right? The brain, more important than the mouth, is the brain. The brain is much more important.”

Ladies and gentleman
The president if the United States

[revo]

Uh oh, it's that trendy "aides were blindsided/caught unaware by Trump" thing again!



White House aides and top diplomatic officials “had no idea what happened” after they were blindsided by a private cell phone call President Trump held with Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau last year, according to a report Saturday.

Trump began handing out his cell phone number to world leaders and urging them to call him directly shortly after entering the White House, it has been previously reported.

The practice led Trump to hold an informal chat with Trudeau in April 2017, catching officials completely off guard, the Washington Post reported.

“We had no idea what happened,” a senior official told the newspaper.

White House aides learned of the call after Canada issued a readout, a standard summary of the conversation.

In it, Trudeau complained of “unfair duties” and “baseless” claims about trade by Trump administration officials.

U.S. officials scrambled to release their own readout based on Trump's memory of the call, according to the Post.

http://www.nydailynews.com/news/politics/ny-pol-trump-cell-phone-trudeau-call-20180707-story.html

[B-Fly]

Trump began handing out his cell phone number to world leaders and urging them to call him directly shortly after entering the White House, it has been previously reported.

But her emails!