In the interests of balance, I feel it necessary to say that Trump has done a few things that are really good ideas. Not trying to impose ridiculous conditions on other countries with trade agreements is, despite the problem where trade isn’t so easy, a good idea. Investing in infrastructure at this time is a great idea. Using social media to communicate directly with the electorate is a good idea- although Ideally it needs to be done by somebody less bloody precious. And not deliberately antagonising the Russians is a very positive development.
Because we’ve been watching 1984 level doublespeak since at least that era, and the press and left can’t deal with basic realities. They’ve yelled “racist, mysogist and Hitler” so many times they actually believe this crap. Until recently I thought reasonable discussion would help, but it won’t. There are way too many true believers on the left. The Republican Party will tear itself apart over issues. On the other hand, the Democrats will fall in line and patiently obey, and even Sanders did so. Just like a good party slave. Moderates like myself have been pushed to the brink by this. I held my nose and voted Trump because he sees through the crap and refuses to be swayed by whining. Hillary would have even more of the same.
Maybe Trump is Hitler. he’s going to have to go a tad beyond basic border enforcement and pissing off Mexico though to get there, no matter how hard people shout about it. I’m not convinced people even understand what happened in NAZI Germany or Maoist China, or Cuba. If that happens many of us would rise up. Hard to take over though when you willingly allow the populace to be armed and have a press who is so openly hostile.
I don’t bother trying to question his competency (although there’s an argument that running a business doesn’t necessarily prepare you to understand economics on the largest scale, and an equally valid ‘skin in the game’ argument). It’s his intentions I question- tax breaks for the rich seems like a recipe for more wealth inequality, as does appointing swam creatures from Goldman Sachs to important positions in government.
I think we have to accept that obamacare, on the whole, was a mistake. It’s resulted in millions having to pay huge premiums, and being forced to do so by the government. What that proves, IMO, is that these squalid half measures benefit nobody. What is needed is fully publicly funded healthcare that is free at the point of delivery, like we have in the UK. It works. Despite what you hear in our media, the UK is ranked no.1 in the world for cost-efficient healthcare.
I don’t think you can really talk about ‘1984 level doublespeak’ while defending the originator of ‘alternative facts’. Glass houses and stones come to mind.
As for Trump being Hitler, no. Not at the moment. But the intimidation and prosecution of journalists who say things he doesn’t like is a bad sign. Remember Hitler didn’t start off as bad as hitler.
Look, if Trump does a good job, gets millions back into work, fixes the economy, etc. I’ll be the first to throw my hands up in the air and say ‘you know, what, I was wrong. He did a good job’. I don’t think I’ll have occasion too, but I flatter myself that that makes me different from the majority of people who crap on trump- but, significantly, also makes me different from the millions who crapped on Obama.
Trump is simply parroting the media on mostly trivial issues. The media has brought this on themselves with their pettiness during the campaign. They haven’t even attempted to report objectively, and have mocked and ridiculed criticism on media bias going all the way back to the 1980s. They created the perfect environment for Breitbart and now, Trump. They always treat Republican presidents with disdain.
I see Trump’s approach as akin to broken windows, don’t let anything pass. And sure he’s exaggerating. So what? He didn’t create the environment of lies and deceit, why play fair with extremists?
That said, he wasn’t my first choice, but he’s been far more effective at countering the progressive narrative than those who were. As I’ve said several times, the media and progressives created him. Enjoy him.
“Trump’s first week in office leaves one fundamental question in its wake: Can he successfully govern a complicated and divided country without bringing his erratic behavior under control? For now, there is no answer…”
I wouldn’t say it sums it up given the article recognizes something I’m seeing many refuse to recognize:
“Those who see Trump’s ignition of controversies as a distraction from the real work of governing miss the point – his behavior is an intrinsic part of his method. Trump is leaving rival centers of power uncertain about his motives and unsure of his red lines, putting everyone off balance and increasing his own influence as the only stable force in the chaos.”
The larger point though that I made above, is that his refusal to back down with the press seems to be having an effect on their reporting. It is almost as if there’s a slow recognition that he was elected and is POTUS. We will see. I doubt the less serious rags like HuffPost will ever get there.
That’s a highly emotional statement made by listening to the media. Are you ok with Richard Blum benefiting from his wife’s political career? Or do you not know about this because the media hasn’t told you?
I’m not sure if hes actually doing this but it would be clever of him if he did. Yesterday for example the news was mostly about Mexico and the wall with his 20% tax proposal. If that could take over the headlines for a week or so he could do a lot of other small things without getting noticed, then ultimately regarding the wall he could “compromise” to something less drastic. At any given time something he is doing is the major news story of the day he could use that to his advantage, basically how he won the election assuming the media was against him and provided billions in free advertising.
Another strategy from him with all this news coverage, its like information overload. Any single negative news story about him is less damaging because there are so many others. Although liberals don’t like anything he does, at any given time the anger is spread to separate issues.
This is why I chuckle at the claims that he’s stupid or amateurish. He’s completely changed the game in a way that Bernie could only aspire to. The ones who mistakenly think I’m an all-in Trump supporter are very mistaken, but after I ranted about him in the primaries and changed my registration to independent, I ended up voting for him. He’s playing the press like a fiddle. He’s a game changer and he’s POTUS. All these Internet geniuses who think they have him figured out and think he’s the second coming of Hitler or that he’s Putin’s stooge, would be wise to step back and consider that the true experts (the ones in top banks and lobbying firms) were wrong about him.
If he starts rounding up minorities I’ll be changing sides, but if I thought that was seriously going to happen I wouldn’t be supporting him.
As I’ve said numerous times, I’m far more afraid of politicians who are supported by a fawning media than Trump.
I dont desire to derail this thread, so will save discussion for a different time. However I feel compelled to say that while I agree with your assessment that Obamacare was a costly mistake, I disagree that it didn’t go far enough.
The reason I feel so is that it did not address COST, except through attempting to mandate it in a roundabout form. I believe we would be infinitely better off mandating competition between health insurance providers across states. As it stood before obamacare, there was very little in the way of true competition, and it has not gotten better. Competition helps to bring costs down and spur innovation.