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@no-quarter said in US Politics:
@antipodean interesting, thanks. It looks like trends either stayed the same or slightly improved since Trump took over. So if we believe he's a complete idiot, does that mean being president is not that hard?
I don't mean that in a sarcastic way, it just appears to me that everything clicks over regardless of who has the top job.
If you’re in power, growing employment is always the result of careful economic management and the sensible policies of the current administration. If unemployment rises (beyond margin of error/rogue result stuff), it’s wider international economic conditions beyond your control
Very roughly reverse those strategies if you’re in opposition... or challenge the figures... https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/wonk/wp/2017/03/10/19-times-trump-called-the-jobs-numbers-fake-before-they-made-him-look-good/?utm_term=.e70b4ce8cdd8
Though some parties follow a questionable playbook on arriving in power: https://www.kiwiblog.co.nz/2017/11/govt_undermining_neutrality_of_stats_nz.html
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@crucial said in US Politics:
Semantics. My mention of 'idiot' was not a calculated assessment of brain power.
Put it this way, if I came across someone that acted the way he does in real life I would probably describe him as an idiot or fuckwit or twit or twat.....
It wouldn't matter if he was building a rocket in his backyard in between brain surgeries on his kitchen table, he's still an idiot.It is remarkable to see what he has 'achieved ' in his lifetime but he's an anomaly, a freak of circumstance. All of his behaviour over the years, the bullying, the lying, the misogyny, the finding and discarding of 'friends and allies', the shooting from the lip etc should have hindered him in life but has somehow worked for him. He doesn't even surround himself with smart people to do his thinking for him. Yet somehow this buffoon (and I don't believe for one minute that it is an act), has worked himself into a position over the years where his behaviour is not only accepted by a large number of people, it is celebrated.
Don't confuse actions with achievements. Achievements are long lasting unless bettered.
Stimulation of the economy is pretty easy if you get those holding money to start using it. Present an opportunity to make more money to that group and they will grab it. Fair enough. Tends to be short lived though as gains are locked in and the initial stimulus has less effect.
I've yet to see a convincing argument that any of this economic stimulus is sustainable.
That doesn't mean that the short term benefits aren't good just that they aren't as great as some would have us believe.Now, from an international view of whether he is a good option to lead the USA, what good is a stimulated US economy if it has an insular view? Sure the US is big enough that for a period it can feed on itself but if they don't want to play then people will find new friends.
On other international levels there are people working hard to barely maintain relationships that have taken decades to build. Relationships that benefit all sides. This is where Trumps ego becomes a problem. There's a lot of give and take that makes the international community tick. By refusing to recognise anything other than a one sided view, by refusing to acknowledge that others actually provide as well as take, he will eventually break these relationships down.
You still seem to think him succeeding is some sort of freak occurrence that is a statistical anomaly. In a way you may be right, but only if you believe everything is a statistical anomaly on some level.
Some people have painted themselves into a corner where they cannot praise or give credit for anything he does. I had similar feelings about Obama. I thought he was a slow talking sound bite spouting moron. A complete and utter fuckwit who accomplished nothing of worth at all.. So in some ways I can relate to this irrational thought process.As for your views on the economy...... simply WTF???
The economy was going to tank under Trump, everything was going to be a disaster... we were told so by 'experts'. Turns out they were full of shite. Now people are using some partisan mental gymnastics to tell us that Trump is just stimulating the economy which is 'easy'... and that good news isn't good news until it is 'sustainable'.. which usually means until some shred of bad news comes out so they can quickly and loudly crow how they were correct all along.As for the international stuff.... the US has bent over and taken it up the ass for decades and got fuck all in return except derision and demands for cash. Of course countries are not happy that the US is now longer playing the fool and subsidising them , the relationships might have benefited all sides, but that doesn't mean the benefits outweighed the costs for all sides. Look beyond Trump, the way Bush was treated was fucking disgraceful, he to as derided and mocked. Then look at Obama and how he was lauded before he even took office... based on?? Soundbites? He won a Nobel peace prize for nothing within the fist year.. fuck off! Democrats = good guys.. republicans = buffoons. That is how media and globalists like to portray things.
How the 'international community' reacts to US presidents depends alot on wether they are Republican or Democrat, The US should care less what these types of people think. They need to do what is right for them, sure make sure that international relations happen and are beneficial for all.. but benefits have to outweigh costs for all sides.
Look at Pakistan currently... taking hundreds of millions in aid money. And they are a fucking hopeless basket case when it comes to helping US interests. That money should be cut off and used to build US infrastructure. If Pakistan need a bail out.. it will come at a cost. A real cost.
Countries wont find new friends and ignore the US.. cause money.
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@no-quarter said in US Politics:
@antipodean interesting, thanks. It looks like trends either stayed the same or slightly improved since Trump took over. So if we believe he's a complete idiot, does that mean being president is not that hard?
I don't mean that in a sarcastic way, it just appears to me that everything clicks over regardless of who has the top job.
Effectively yes - if the situation doesn't call for it and you don't make any particularly shocking policy pronouncements, the market can continue on its merry way. I'm a firm believer that economically speaking the less interference by governments, the better - take a light hand and let it run its natural course. Particularly when you're surrounded by people who are supposed to be within their area of expertise and have parameters to operate within, e.g. Federal Reserve.
Case in point; look at Dubya. Hardly considered as a genius and everything would have been great in his presidency if not for the nasty business of subprime and CDOs...
@rembrandt said in US Politics:
@antipodean Like I said, lots of ifs, buts and maybes. Not bad for a supposed idiot though especially considering 'expert' predictions about what was to happen. You could say the expectation bar was set incredibly low, unfortunately rather than have a bit of introspection about his non-disatrious reign many popular political commentators seem to have instead doubled down on the craziness.
I agree that the level of criticism is from a lot of commentators, but empty vessels make the most sound. I ignore them and don't pretend they constitute the majority, nor of considered individuals who have the access, means and opportunity to formulate their own opinions.
A couple articles from left leaners on illegal immigration and unemployment records:
Perhaps his rhetoric has had an effect, but as the article itself points out 'apprehension rates have been declining since the recession, and significantly so since their peak of 1.6 million in 2000.' If he substantially increased funding for the Border Patrol so they had more patrols, more surveillance etc. then you could reasonably correlate the two to the point you could say it had a clear and measurable effect.
From the article: During the aftermath of the financial crisis, black unemployment soared to 16.8 percent in 2010, meaning more than 1 out of every 6 African Americans was looking for a job but could not find one. The rate has steadily declined since, breaking the prior all-time low of 7 percent that was set in 2000 during the dot-com boom.
Both articles point to a continuation of trend.
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A couple of warning claxxons keep wringing out when I try to analyse and assess trump.
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I can't know what a president actually does or have control over on a day to day basis
It's impossible that he is across all aspects of governing the US
Is it essentially a figurehead role where he relies on all institutions and departments to continue to function
I suspect he (or any prez) has far less influence than we think and he rides praise and blame in equal measure. -
Nobody ( including Trump) knew if he'd be a good prez or not when he got elected. No political ecperience and a garish campaign that had hope and dread in equal measure depending on where you nailed your flag.
Anyone condemning or championing his success from day one did so on a hunch. Or a hope. Or a dread.
12 months on, given that we're feed subjective information, opinion and speculation, anyone strongly in the love him or hate him camp is more concerned with proving their hunch correct than an objective analysis of his performance
In short, I reckon we're getting insufficient and emotive data about whether a president is a good one or not.
Besides, isn't their true performance realised after they leave and what they left behind?
His on screen behaviour is about as raw as any data we've got so it's no surprise people assess him on that - it's how he got the job and what advocates based their hope on, and detractors their dread
A common pattern of distilling a massive complex situation down to good or bad is the media plague of modern times.
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There’s talk of Oprah running for president, by the looks of her it’ll be the first time in quite a while she’s actually done some running.
I’d imagine on the campaign trail she’s going to have to confront the rumours once and for all that she’s a fur trader too. -
@jegga said in US Politics:
There’s talk of Oprah running for president, by the looks of her it’ll be the first time in quite a while she’s actually done some running.
I’d imagine on the campaign trail she’s going to have to confront the rumours once and for all that she’s a fur trader too.It would be the Marxist virtue signalling trifecta; a gay, black, Woman candidate.
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@kirwan said in US Politics:
@jegga said in US Politics:
There’s talk of Oprah running for president, by the looks of her it’ll be the first time in quite a while she’s actually done some running.
I’d imagine on the campaign trail she’s going to have to confront the rumours once and for all that she’s a fur trader too.It would be the Marxist virtue signalling quintet ; an obese , gay, black, Woman candidate.
Made a minor adjustment there.
If she ran against Trump I think that would pretty much guarantee him a second term.
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@jegga said in US Politics:
@kirwan said in US Politics:
@jegga said in US Politics:
There’s talk of Oprah running for president, by the looks of her it’ll be the first time in quite a while she’s actually done some running.
I’d imagine on the campaign trail she’s going to have to confront the rumours once and for all that she’s a fur trader too.It would be the Marxist virtue signalling quintet ; an obese , gay, black, Woman candidate.
Made a minor adjustment there.
If she ran against Trump I think that would pretty much guarantee him a second term.
Yep, if she doesn’t run as a Democrat it would split the vote in the left, and if she did she’s not going to be popular enough with people that disagree with her politics.
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@kirwan said in US Politics:
@jegga said in US Politics:
@kirwan said in US Politics:
@jegga said in US Politics:
There’s talk of Oprah running for president, by the looks of her it’ll be the first time in quite a while she’s actually done some running.
I’d imagine on the campaign trail she’s going to have to confront the rumours once and for all that she’s a fur trader too.It would be the Marxist virtue signalling quintet ; an obese , gay, black, Woman candidate.
Made a minor adjustment there.
If she ran against Trump I think that would pretty much guarantee him a second term.
Yep, if she doesn’t run as a Democrat it would split the vote in the left, and if she did she’s not going to be popular enough with people that disagree with her politics.
I’d imagine the percentage of the blue collar heterosexual male vote for the democrats would be close to the margin of error if she was the candidate.
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@kirwan said in US Politics:
@jegga said in US Politics:
@kirwan said in US Politics:
@jegga said in US Politics:
There’s talk of Oprah running for president, by the looks of her it’ll be the first time in quite a while she’s actually done some running.
I’d imagine on the campaign trail she’s going to have to confront the rumours once and for all that she’s a fur trader too.It would be the Marxist virtue signalling quintet ; an obese , gay, black, Woman candidate.
Made a minor adjustment there.
If she ran against Trump I think that would pretty much guarantee him a second term.
Yep, if she doesn’t run as a Democrat it would split the vote in the left, and if she did she’s not going to be popular enough with people that disagree with her politics.
Given this is the kind of nonsense the DNC tweets I wouldn't rule her out of running as a Democrat.
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@jegga said in US Politics:
@kirwan said in US Politics:
@jegga said in US Politics:
There’s talk of Oprah running for president, by the looks of her it’ll be the first time in quite a while she’s actually done some running.
I’d imagine on the campaign trail she’s going to have to confront the rumours once and for all that she’s a fur trader too.It would be the Marxist virtue signalling quintet ; an obese , gay, black, Woman candidate.
Made a minor adjustment there.
If she ran against Trump I think that would pretty much guarantee him a second term.
I'd vote for Trump ...
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@booboo said in US Politics:
@jegga said in US Politics:
@kirwan said in US Politics:
@jegga said in US Politics:
There’s talk of Oprah running for president, by the looks of her it’ll be the first time in quite a while she’s actually done some running.
I’d imagine on the campaign trail she’s going to have to confront the rumours once and for all that she’s a fur trader too.It would be the Marxist virtue signalling quintet ; an obese , gay, black, Woman candidate.
Made a minor adjustment there.
If she ran against Trump I think that would pretty much guarantee him a second term.
I'd vote for Trump ...
I’d vote for a nutless monkey over her.
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At least we know how firmly Democrats hold their conviction about having qualified, experienced people as President.
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I see Trump is at it again with tweeting 'alternate facts', this time about the new US Embassy in London.
He really doesn't care about truth does he, just his version of it?
It was Bush not Obama that signed off on the new Embassy deal and far from being a waste of money they did such a good deal that they have effectively swapped outdated and difficult to secure premises for a brand new purpose built building with change.
But hey, let's not let facts get in a way of bullshit.
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@catogrande Ha, usually due to an inferiority complex about something (like hand size)
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The latest controversy surrounds Trump’s alleged use of the term “ shithole countries” during a meeting at the White House about immigration. To be honest I have some sympathy with him here. Whether or not he used the term, it was in a private meeting and it really ought to stay that way.
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@baron-silas-greenback said in US Politics:
I am not avoiding the question I am laughing at the absurdity of it.
Becoming president is not an accomplishment. .. lolA novice running in what was called the most competitive GOP primary ever defeated FIVE governors, NINE senators... and ONE brain surgeon. In the general, he was outspent 2-to-1, slimed by the media and his own party, but, yeah, “not an accomplishment.” Anybody could have done it. Right-place, right-time, etc.
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