Mega-Thread: Trump Focused Discussion

[We are covfefe]

Its basic manipulation and it works. Trump knows it does. Make up lies continuously all your life and double down on them; gullible people will end up believing it. Get enough of them to believe it, and this is where we are now. It gets compounded further if the lies never lead to actual severe consequences, either.

[Ashleyxoxo]

It is. Emotional intelligence doesn't mean being nice. Those attacks have built a cult of personality around him. They are a key part of his persona. They are what his base likes so much about him, and he knows it.

It isn't emotional maturity, but it is emotional intelligence. I am not talking about emotional intelligence like you get in your corporate training, I am talking the sinister manipulative kind that lets authoritarians control millions of people with words alone.

Sorry, but the distinction you’re making doesn’t exist.

[Thekri]

Sorry, but the distinction you’re making doesn’t exist.

Sure, we can disagree on labels if you like. But whatever you call it, it works very well, and Trump is a master at it. There is a reason he is still president, and it isn't because of luck. It is because all those childish insults and attacks have bound the GOP to him in a way they can't break out of.

It is why Rubio and Cruz are going to vote to acquit, although both would love nothing more then to see that asshole in prison after what he did to them.

So call it emotional intelligence or not, it doesn't really matter. He is good at whatever it is, and it is what makes him dangerous.

[Benggaul]

If that was ever true, it hasn't been true for the last 3 decades. I rather doubt that it was ever true.

Trump is incredibly emotionally intelligent. He is also extremely bold in his actions, he acts in a remarkably uninhibited manner, and as such has had considerable success due to the sheer brazenness of his actions. I don't think he has ever been "Intelligent" in the sense of logic and applied knowledge. He is the personification of "Fling shit at the wall until something sticks". He fails a thousand times and doubles down on whatever makes progress. It is effective, but it doesn't really require him to be smart.

I think you mistook me. I simply meant that he was, at some point, able to string words together into sentences that sounded like they made sense. I apologize if the hyperbole was too thin.

[Santti]

Sure, we can disagree on labels if you like. But whatever you call it, it works very well, and Trump is a master at it. There is a reason he is still president, and it isn't because of luck. It is because all those childish insults and attacks have bound the GOP to him in a way they can't break out of.

It is why Rubio and Cruz are going to vote to acquit, although both would love nothing more then to see that asshole in prison after what he did to them.

So call it emotional intelligence or not, it doesn't really matter. He is good at whatever it is, and it is what makes him dangerous.

I've no idea what it is that makes people like Trump. Took less than a minute to conclude that he is fucking dumb, when I first learned of his existence, in 2015-2016. Is it really that brashness/crudeness that people identify with? Is that what passes for charisma? I was so certain he would lose, and lose badly. Boy, was I in for a surprise, when he became the president.

I don't really know if he is a master of anything. It really feels like blind luck, that he has gotten as far as he has. That, rich parents and a MASSIVE ego.

[RaoBurning]

I don't really know if he is a master of anything. It really feels like blind luck, that he has gotten as far as he has. That, rich parents and a MASSIVE ego.

Also all the crime. Crime pays well, right until it doesn't. For most people, at least.

[Dontrike]

https://www.techdirt.com/articles/20...y-repeal.shtml

AT&T $T capital spending (network and facility upgrade expenses) dropped to $3.8 billion the lowest level in nearly a decade.

Granted that's the exact opposite of what Comcast lobbyists and Ajit Pai's FCC said would happen when it neutered the FCC at telecom lobbyist behest. The public was told more times that we could count that the FCC's fairly modest (by international standards) net neutrality rules had all but demolished network investment, despite absolutely no evidence that was actually true. The industry and its allies at the Trump FCC then insisted network investment would soar post net neutrality repeal, something that pretty clearly isn't happening:

"Comcast isn't the only major ISP cutting investment, as AT&T projects that it will reduce capital spending from $23 billion in 2019 to $20 billion in 2020. Charter Communications said in October that its capital expenditures excluding mobile services would total $7 billion in 2019, down from $8.9 billion in 2018. Verizon also reported a capital-expenditure decline in the first nine months of 2019."


Gee yet another example of tax cuts....being a huge waste of money.....
on top of deregulation also failing to do what all the corporations promised it would.



…

It's amazing that Shit Pie is even allowed to be anywhere near the FCC and that there are some people out there that actually agreed with repealing net neutrality like it would do anything positive. I've talked to people that actually believed net neutrality was stopping businesses.

[Breccia]

It's still a small number, but with an anti-vaxxer President who has proven unable to handle disasters, this is worth keeping an eye on.

Number of coronavirus cases in the US is now eight. Also known as "a 700% increase since Trump said everything was fine".

Considering the US has its first quarantine since smallpox because of this, and major stores like Starbuck are closing rather than risk themselves, and the DOW dropped 600 because of this thing, this cannot be handwaved.

[Dontrike]

What was he doing today? Oh yeah, playing golf... Same thing he criticized Obama for when Ebola was in the headlines. Shocking stuff.

To top it off, this video shows how "good" he is at the game.

https://twitter.com/jenna92821/statu...78762048339968

I hope that at the very least the one thing he improved during his presidency, 'cause he hasn't improved anything else, is his golf score. Perhaps maybe he cheats just a little less than when he started being president, since he golfs so fucking much.

[Dontrike]

Idk, he couldn't get up and over the hump on a fairly easy pitch to the green. And then instead of walking the 20 yards(max) to the ball he shoved the club back in the bag and drove to it.

If we're lucky the more golf he plays the more he'll tire himself out and can't spit out conspiracy theories for a few hours.

[Stormspark]

Sad part is he's supposed to be doing his physical this weekend. You know, that one he "started" a few months back.

He'll just get some yes-man to sign off on it and say he's in perfect health. He will probably even believe it himself. Despite being morbidly obese to the point where he could hit golf balls with his gut, and constantly high from snorting Adderall.

[Dontrike]

Sad part is he's supposed to be doing his physical this weekend. You know, that one he "started" a few months back.

So he's going to grow another couple inches and suddenly lose another 30 pounds again?

[Fugus]

Sure, we can disagree on labels if you like. But whatever you call it, it works very well, and Trump is a master at it. There is a reason he is still president, and it isn't because of luck. It is because all those childish insults and attacks have bound the GOP to him in a way they can't break out of.

It is why Rubio and Cruz are going to vote to acquit, although both would love nothing more then to see that asshole in prison after what he did to them.

So call it emotional intelligence or not, it doesn't really matter. He is good at whatever it is, and it is what makes him dangerous.

Not really, it worked to get Trump up there because people were dumb enough to believe him and he had no record behind it.

He grew up in a time without the internet. When he grew up, he learned that if you lied confidently enough and convincingly enough you would be believed. That was true because people couldn't fact check you. And even if you were caught repeatedly, the internet wasn't around to spread that fact as easily so your reputation was much safer. That got him into power because his record wasn't a huge topic before then.

Now, he is only there because the Republican party protecting him and obstructing for him at every step. That's it. The majority of the nation want him out at this point or at least half of it. And the main supporters he has left basically have to live in a self imposed bubble where they filter all information they get through cult leaders of one form or another before they ingest it and actively ignore or fight facts.

[Fugus]

I don't think it was that, honestly. It was that he wore his asshole personality on his sleeve and people loved that about him, because that's what they want to do themselves, but are convinced that "PC police" were preventing them from doing so.

It was a big "fuck you" to common civility by millions of people, and frankly I consider it pretty embarrassing as an American.

His asshole on his sleeve was part of it, definitely. But it wasn't just that, he lied through his teeth while doing it and telling them what they wanted to hear.

If he was an honest asshole they would have ran for the hills. But he was an asshole with a message that resonated to many. He said he would bring jobs back, said he would help with healthcare, would help the economy which many still thought was crap due to Fox news plus the fact that the poor and middle class never actually made it out of the last recession.

He was a guy who would "Tell it as it is" except just without any of the truth that went with it.

[Fugus]

Then perhaps it's because of a geographical perspective that we seem to have a disagreement. I live in Alabama. Trump supporters here love him because he pisses people off. Ask him what he did that helped them? Crickets.

Oh yeah, definitely got that level with the hardcore people.

I am talking about what GOT him there, once they clung onto him, they are already sunk costs with him and trying to get them to re-evaluate is a fools errand at this point for many of them.

But for the more sane ones and even them initially, he actually spoke to those problems. Even if he was lying, he still spoke to them.

He effectively was promising what they wanted while being an asshole. He also ticked the right racist and backwards blocks to get both the racist and the evangelicals. His message was tailor made for racists and evangelicals while also speaking of problems that only him and Sanders would even hint about.

[Breccia]

And then instead of walking the 20 yards(max) to the ball he shoved the club back in the bag and drove to it.

I suppose this will have to replace "can't climb a small hill". "Can't walk 20 yards over level grass" is pretty bad. "Drives golf carts on the green" is also pretty bad, but it's more of a niche badness relating to the sport and his lack of concern for rules and other people. "Can't walk 20 yards over level grass" is basically "crippled".

[Breccia]

One of Trump's most necessary supporters, the NRA, is not having a great day.

In addition to their chief of staff resigning and being investigated by their own counsel -- possibly related to the same issues that got LaPierre in trouble, overspending on himself while membership and money drops, they got massive pay raises but lost income -- the organization is also facing twin investigations by NYState and DC about the nature of their finances in general, including how many rubles they have.

The NRA has been losing political clout and it's not hard to see why. Eventually, even Americans will get sick of mass shootings at schools, churches, and military bases. But beyond that, there are three other major factors.

1) The tariffs are eating in to all manufacturing, and that includes guns. Gun companies simply have less money to throw around. We've seen gun makers and gun stores losing business.

2) Even before Trump, gun ownership has been dropping. Oh sure, there might be more guns than ever before, but the percentage of households owning guns is following a continued downwards trend.

3) Most importantly, guns aren't under attack. There's been no move, except for Trump banning bump stocks, against guns. The NRA runs on fear. Simply put, there is no reason for people to be worried the GOP will take their guns away.

So, the NRA is basically a group hemorrhaging money and members with less of a job to do and less of a need to do it. Then it turns out they're handing their CEOs millions for not doing anything. We've seen this behavior before -- it's what happens to a company that gives their CEO a golden parachute while the cops knock on the door asking questions.

Trump might actually be the President who watches the NRA die.

- - - Updated - - -

The man is too lazy

I'm not sure he's lazy. He might just be too old, weak, and infirm to hold his massive bulk upright for more than a few seconds without wheezing. Pick any speech at random and look at how he holds the podium.

[Shadowferal]

Is it wrong to ponder this coronavirus hitting congress?

[JohnBrown1917]

Is it wrong to ponder this coronavirus hitting congress?

They get the best healthcare in the country, if not world. Doubt it'll do much.

[Breccia]

Is it wrong to ponder this coronavirus hitting congress?

No. The coronavirus is as deadly as the flu or SARS and they all have taxpayer-funded health care. You're basically wishing Congress gets headaches and willing to pay to see it happen. Real headaches, that is, not TBI caused by missile strikes.