Mega-Thread: Trump Focused Discussion

[Thekri]

I was able to buy three whole unicorns and a cantaloupe.

Unicorns only costs a nickel each, so damn, that must be a nice cantaloupe.

[NED funded]

Well with the way the U.S. is being run we also now have a terrible track record up upholding treaties. How many agreements has Trump burned to the ground or scrapped (that were actually working and beneficial to us) and still hasn't replaced them with anything.

Its not to the scale that China does. They fake data all the time and having them comply is basically impossible because its hard to tell what is real and what was faked by the party. You can point the iran deal, but at leas the US formally broke that agreement.

Why do you think tariffs to China are calculated using fair prices of other countries?

[NED funded]

And this would be an excellent argument. If we had a trade agreement of any kind, that Trump or Pence or whoever was backing away from.

There isn't one. This is Sour Grapes. Trump has been losing the trade war since he started it -- and remember, he claimed he would declare them a currency manipulator on Day One, so this has been a struggle since before he was elected -- and the Hong Kong thing, yes par for the Chinese course, is recent.

Let's put it in context: if the USA vs China trade war was a football game, regulation time 90 minutes, then this most recent issue with Hong Kong, the specific even Pence cited, was the last one minute, fifteen seconds. Less, actually. You cannot play an entire football game, find yourself down 3-1 and your own fans are booing you while they walk out, then at 88:45 say "Hey! That guy's flopping to draw a foul! You'd better give him a yellow card, or this game is unfaaaAAAAaaair and we'll walk off and that means we didn't lose!"

Pence is threatening to walk away from a deal that doesn't exist. This is spin. This is a vlame-ass vlimp-dick IMVPOTUS excuse. The fact that he's right about China's behavior is irrelevant in context.

How do you win or lose a trade war? Because so far Chiba has much bigger economic problems thsn the US. Their entire agri sector is being ravaged by army worm and swine flu, resulting in much higher prices. Sales are down across multiple industries, imports are down. Industries are moving away to Vietnan, Mexico and other industries.

Or is winning defined as Trump having an agreement? Because its much preferable to have no agreement than to have one where China cannot be held accountable if they break it.

[Redwyrm]

Its not to the scale that China does. They fake data all the time and having them comply is basically impossible because its hard to tell what is real and what was faked by the party. You can point the iran deal, but at leas the US formally broke that agreement.

Why do you think tariffs to China are calculated using fair prices of other countries?

"Not the scale that China does" is not something that America should be setting the bar at. Hey, at least we aren't as bad as China, right guys...

And it isn't just the Iran deal. It's NAFTA, TPP and the Paris Agreements that Trump thought he could make better but couldn't.

[Rasulis]

Didn't military spending go up in the last budget? I seem to remember something like that, but I got to admit I don't know the structure here well enough. Just don't know how they would be out of money.

The Army Corps asked for 5.3b for 2019 and received 4.7b for their "civil work". That money only covered works on waterway infrastructure under their jurisdiction of which the Corps has a 98b backlog and growing.

The majority of the breached levees are not under the jurisdiction of the Corps. The Corps is managing the repair since most of the local jurisdictions, up to state level in some instances, do not have the expertise to do something like this. The funding up to now has come from patchwork of sources. Assuming we do not have a repeat of this year, full enclosure repair is expected to take 2 years. It does not mean the levees will be restored to the way they were before the flood. For that, the Corps will need a lot more money.

[Belize]

Well then....

.... where do you start with this?

"They're Anti-Semites" screams the people who also chant "The Jews will not replace us".

[Kiri]

"They're Anti-Semites" screams the people who also chant "The Jews will not replace us".

For what it is worth, I don't think those are necessarily the same people. It seems that only a minor segment of Trump's base is made up of people that disdain those of Jewish faith, while the bigger part of it loves them to the extent that any criticism of Israel immediately becomes antisemitism.
In a way, Trump has managed to unite those two groups. Which would be commendable, if he didn't do it by stoking disdain towards a third group.
And, well, by never really distancing himself from the actual Anti-Semites in his base. His uncanny ability to make his followers believe in two exclusive things at the same time allows both groups to see him as their champion.

[Endus]

Well then....

.... where do you start with this?

In a society that respects rule of law and doesn't hold anyone above that law?

By letting Tlaib sue the fucker for defamation.

Defamatory claims in that one Tweet;

That she's "violent".
That she's "crazy".
That she "hates Israel and all her people".
That she's an "anti-semite".

Any one would be actionable in a lawsuit, if it were anyone but the President. He shouldn't have that kind of immunity. Nor should "I'm a fucking moron who makes shit up because I'm an idiot" operate as a defense, which it often does in the USA.

There's reasons that kind of bullshit doesn't really happen, outside the USA. Because there's actually consequences.

[Breccia]

The NRA continues to hemorrhage members. This latest round of three includes 2 celebrities and the deputy executive director.

In the ongoing effort to demonstrate how Trump has helped the steel industry, US Steel closes a plant, laying off 200 people indefinitely.

"So their stock prices dropped today?"

No...okay yes, it lost over a percent. Their price is 11.28 which is down from their highest 45.39 in March 2018. The last time they were this low was Feb 2016, meaning that Trump has helped US Steel so much they're lower than they've been in any point in Trump's tenure. So, it's not so much that their stock price dropped today, so much as "you can't fall off the floor".

Pompeo says talks with NK are failing, or to use his exact words,

We haven’t gotten back to the table as quickly as we hoped but we’ve been pretty clear all along, we knew there would be bumps along the way

Incidentally, NK has called off talks with SK and NK commits to military ties to China. So, NK talks are continuing. Just, you know, not with us.

Pompeo, in the same interview, admits that ISIS is getting stronger. Wanna see the video?

Within 24 hours of denying payroll cuts, WH admits they are looking at other tax cuts during record-breaking deficit. The story is "We think that spurs on this economic expansion" which is what I would say if my policies caused my "economic expansion" to ruin the deficit while creating an economy worse than Obama's.

[Zaydin]

Welp, Trump is now going full anti-semite and declaring that Jews who vote for Democratic candidates are stupid or disloyal.

You think anyone has bothered reminding him it was the neo-Nazi supporters of his he called 'very fine people' in Charlotesville were the ones chanting 'Jews will not replace us!'?

[Hilhen7]

Welp, Trump is now going full anti-semite and declaring that Jews who vote for Democratic candidates are stupid or disloyal.

You think anyone has bothered reminding him it was the neo-Nazi supporters of his he called 'very fine people' in Charlotesville were the ones chanting 'Jews will not replace us!'?

Wait don't American Jews tend to vote for Democrats...?

So Trump is basically calling most American Jews Stupid / Disloyal.

[Edge-]

Welp, Trump is now going full anti-semite and declaring that Jews who vote for Democratic candidates are stupid or disloyal.

You think anyone has bothered reminding him it was the neo-Nazi supporters of his he called 'very fine people' in Charlotesville were the ones chanting 'Jews will not replace us!'?

You’re not gonna support me even though you know I’m the best thing that could ever happen to Israel. And I’ll be that. And I know why you’re not going to support me. You’re not going to support me because I don’t want your money. Isn’t it crazy?

[Zaydin]

Wait don't American Jews tend to vote for Democrats...?

So Trump is basically calling most American Jews Stupid / Disloyal.

And I thought cons declared the most antisemitic thing you could say was imply that Jews have dual loyalties.

[Felya]

You’re not gonna support me even though you know I’m the best thing that could ever happen to Israel. And I’ll be that. And I know why you’re not going to support me. You’re not going to support me because I don’t want your money. Isn’t it crazy?

Are Jews unique in him not wanting our money? Because he vetoed congress to take money from SA and boasted about the millions he takes from SA through his condos...

[DarkTZeratul]

Well, that was painful to read.

"Only the best words" must mean "I only use a few that are repeated many times in a short period of time so that they're the best ones I said".

Obviously. Just like "only the best people" means "only the people who will do exactly what I say, unless they turn against me in which case they're the worst people ever and I barely know them."

[Hilhen7]

You’re not gonna support me even though you know I’m the best thing that could ever happen to Israel. And I’ll be that. And I know why you’re not going to support me. You’re not going to support me because I don’t want your money. Isn’t it crazy?

Trump referred several times to his savvy as a businessman and negotiator, saying he would negotiate a better Iran deal (“It’s so easy”) and calling Secretary of State John Kerry “probably the worst negotiator I’ve ever seen.” He later called the American negotiating team on Iran “stupid.”

Appealing to the audience, Trump said: “This room negotiates deals. Perhaps more than any room I’ve ever spoken to.”

"I'm a negotiator, like you folks," he said.

LOL still waiting on that better Iran deal. I thought it was "so easy"...

[Canpinter]

In a society that respects rule of law and doesn't hold anyone above that law?

By letting Tlaib sue the fucker for defamation.

Defamatory claims in that one Tweet;

That she's "violent".
That she's "crazy".
That she "hates Israel and all her people".
That she's an "anti-semite".

Any one would be actionable in a lawsuit, if it were anyone but the President. He shouldn't have that kind of immunity. Nor should "I'm a fucking moron who makes shit up because I'm an idiot" operate as a defense, which it often does in the USA.

There's reasons that kind of bullshit doesn't really happen, outside the USA. Because there's actually consequences.

The "crazy" one one wouldn't hold up given that its just a common word to describe someone you think is acting ridiculously. Same way you couldn't sue someone for saying your a douche bag just because your not an actual bag used to hold douches.

The other points tho may hold up in court.

[Zaydin]

In a society that respects rule of law and doesn't hold anyone above that law?

By letting Tlaib sue the fucker for defamation.

Defamatory claims in that one Tweet;

That she's "violent".
That she's "crazy".
That she "hates Israel and all her people".
That she's an "anti-semite".

Any one would be actionable in a lawsuit, if it were anyone but the President. He shouldn't have that kind of immunity. Nor should "I'm a fucking moron who makes shit up because I'm an idiot" operate as a defense, which it often does in the USA.

There's reasons that kind of bullshit doesn't really happen, outside the USA. Because there's actually consequences.

I thought past SCOTUS rulings found the president could be subject to civil suits while in office, just not criminal? One would assume that defamation would fall under civil statues rather than criminal.

[Endus]

I thought past SCOTUS rulings found the president could be subject to civil suits while in office, just not criminal? One would assume that defamation would fall under civil statues rather than criminal.

Nixon v. Fitzgerald. The President has complete immunity from civil suits for actions taken while in office. Clinton v. Jones clarified this to only apply to actions taken while President; they're still open to suits for conduct predating their taking the office.

[Poopymonster]

Unicorns only costs a nickel each, so damn, that must be a nice cantaloupe.

It was average, but the tariffs were a bitch.