D(er) Trump(ino) Thread

[Landlord]

Failed and weak are mischaracterizations of different approaches that don't fit what you think should have been done.

 

 

America has a lot to apologize for. Most of it we never have and never will apologize for. Obama is no saint of purity of moral character, but 'weak' and 'failed' aren't fair adjectives at all. Our country is in better shape than it was when he entered office, and going for a non-aggressive, hands-off approach doesn't mean weakness; it means a different strategy, because as zoogs points out, the aggressive intervening approach hasn't really seemed to do much.

[Danny Bateman]

There's a reason that we are currently taking the approach that we are taking with ISIS. Sending troops over there for ground combat is exactly what they want, and we're not giving it to them. If we were to send over troops, I'd argue it'd not only be a boon to morale, but it would risk many service members lives, which again Obama would get hammered for. It's basically a no-win situation, so I applaud them for taking the safer, more strategic route. Keeps our troops as safe as possible and doesn't start a bloody groundwar that would possibly further inflame extremist Islam.

 

We're suffering some collateral damage while they attempt to carry out cowardly attacks and executions to try and legitimize themselves, but I truly believe we're making headway in combating them. I read the other day their so financially strapped they've been forced to HALVE fighters pay. That's a huge blow to their motivation-- I'd imagine recruiting would suffer a good deal. I think we should continue to tighten the stranglehold on their finances, while stepping up the ability to limit their ability to network online. In a sense it's the approach the government took with the lunatics in Oregon-- cut off their supplies and wait for them to crack.

 

Zoogs, insofar as the authoritarian article, I'm patiently waiting for a Dem to win the nod and skewer Trump on the debate stage. He speaks in generalities and is generally inaccurate with a lot of his statements. Furthermore, Trump has laid a lot of bombs along the way that the Dems can lob back in his face in the general election, because it appears that is the tactic that is shaping up to be effective in putting him down. I feel like Hillary would be particularly adept, as smart as she is, at retaliating when other candidates have for the most part declined.

I do not think his authoritarian methods would go over well on a national stage. The discontent in the UK parliament the other day was an embarrassment-- that's our chief ally, and he hasn't even won the nomination. It may have worked in business, but if he goes about trying to bully the rest of the world into compliance, it will be a black mark on our nation and will likely result in further embarrassment. I just hope other voters wake up and have the foresight to realize this.

[zoogs]

I agree, dude. I think Trump would get skewered, but the fact that he is even this far shows the troubling potential of feeding and capitalizing on such a movement. "Conditions are ripe"...is a really, really resonating thing to have sink in. Even if today isn't the day for a Trump to triumph, let's acknowledge the reality that it is far from impossible, especially in the future.

 

At this point, I'd definitely rather Trump get the nod on the Republican side than a wolf in sheep's clothing. Almost all of them have some positions and advocacies I find totally unacceptable. It's too bad, because I'd love to have a substantive choice to make and a true conservative (who, IMO, pushes for civil liberties and the defense of the people from attempts at big money oligarchy) to vote for.

[Danny Bateman]

I agree, dude. I think Trump would get skewered, but the fact that he is even this far shows the troubling potential of feeding and capitalizing on such a movement. "Conditions are ripe"...is a really, really resonating thing to have sink in. Even if today isn't the day for a Trump to triumph, let's acknowledge the reality that it is far from impossible, especially in the future.

 

At this point, I'd definitely rather Trump get the nod on the Republican side than a wolf in sheep's clothing. Almost all of them have some positions and advocacies I find totally unacceptable. It's too bad, because I'd love to have a substantive choice to make and a true conservative (who, IMO, pushes for civil liberties and the defense of the people from attempts at big money oligarchy) to vote for.

 

Just said as much in the Dem Election thread.

 

It is a bit unsettling. I didn't think that America would take the bait this badly from Trump after some of the absolutely abhorrent postions he's championed. But he's clearly the best candidate to face for the Dems, regardless of whether it makes us uneasy having him get that close to the Oval Office. I used to think Cruz would be an easy target as well since he's a hardcore climate change conspiracy guy (as they all are), but Trump actually outdid him:

 

 

Edit: Wow, it took me about a thousand tries to figure out how to embed a tweet correctly. For anyone that doesn't know, just copy and paste the direct URL to the status, absent any bracket tags.

[suh_fan93]

[It'sNotAFakeID]

We can't go around trying to nation build every time a nation falls into a crisis. We shouldn't have to spend our money, our troops every time a nation falls into a crisis. That's not a lack of leadership, that's just common sense. Like in many other arenas the US should lead the way, which we have.

 

You just can't initiate change by looking meaner.

 

Also, people need to recognize that Obama's 8 years of Presidency have not occurred in a vacuum.

[Moiraine]

"I could stand in the middle of 5th Avenue and shoot somebody and I wouldn't lose voters," Trump said at a campaign rally here.

 

 

So he's claiming his potential voters would condone murder. Awesome.

[HuskerNation1]

We can't go around trying to nation build every time a nation falls into a crisis. We shouldn't have to spend our money, our troops every time a nation falls into a crisis. That's not a lack of leadership, that's just common sense. Like in many other arenas the US should lead the way, which we have.

 

You just can't initiate change by looking meaner.

 

Also, people need to recognize that Obama's 8 years of Presidency have not occurred in a vacuum.

 

That's a typical false choice offered by Obama that, somehow if you believe the US should lead in the international world, and not take a position of weakness as Obama has done, that you are therefore in favor of nation building. The majority of the US who does not believe Obama's foreign policy is working is not after nation building. They are after strength in the model that Reagan employed. Sitting back and watching ISIS take more and more territory and spread their values of hate has already come to bite us in San Bernadino, as well as our allies in Europe. I can recall another pacifist President (FDR) that wanted to keep the US out of WW 2, and allowed Hitler to continue to grow his empire, thinking that somehow the US could magically stay out of the international scene. And then Pearl Harbor happened, and thankfully FDR woke up and realized we were at war and was willing to state we are at war and name the enemies for who they really were.

[mrandyk]

Is this honestly still going on? I can't believe there are people that take Trump seriously. Trump isn't even taking Trump seriously. I dearly hope that Trump gets the Republican nomination for presidency because he simply has no chance in the general election. It would also be a black mark for the party itself and would perhaps force them to take a good look at the party as a whole and perhaps come back to reality a bit.

[Landlord]

Trump self-admitting that his followers would condone murder is hilariously poignant.

[zoogs]

By the model Reagan employed, I assume you mean pouring money into the Defense spending until ISIS collapses, and selling arms to Iran in violation of an embargo in order to secure hostage releases.

[It'sNotAFakeID]

Trump self-admitting that his followers would condone murder is hilariously poignant.

 

And his followers applauding him when he said that just shows how dumb they really are.

[It'sNotAFakeID]

 

We can't go around trying to nation build every time a nation falls into a crisis. We shouldn't have to spend our money, our troops every time a nation falls into a crisis. That's not a lack of leadership, that's just common sense. Like in many other arenas the US should lead the way, which we have.

 

You just can't initiate change by looking meaner.

 

Also, people need to recognize that Obama's 8 years of Presidency have not occurred in a vacuum.

 

That's a typical false choice offered by Obama that, somehow if you believe the US should lead in the international world, and not take a position of weakness as Obama has done, that you are therefore in favor of nation building. The majority of the US who does not believe Obama's foreign policy is working is not after nation building. They are after strength in the model that Reagan employed. Sitting back and watching ISIS take more and more territory and spread their values of hate has already come to bite us in San Bernadino, as well as our allies in Europe. I can recall another pacifist President (FDR) that wanted to keep the US out of WW 2, and allowed Hitler to continue to grow his empire, thinking that somehow the US could magically stay out of the international scene. And then Pearl Harbor happened, and thankfully FDR woke up and realized we were at war and was willing to state we are at war and name the enemies for who they really were.

 

 

But that's not what Obama is saying.

 

His ideology is that the United States needs to have a foreign policy in place that doesn't isolate us while simultaneously not making us the world's policemen. Once again, that's not a lack of leadership; that's just plain old common sense.

[Moiraine]

 

 

Trump self-admitting that his followers would condone murder is hilariously poignant.

And his followers applauding him when he said that just shows how dumb they really are.

On top of that this was at a Christian college.

[zoogs]

http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/trump-protester-wearing-turban-wearing-hats/story?id=36487760

 

A turban-wearing protester holding a sign reading "STOP HATE" is escorted out of a Trump rally as the crowd chants "USA, USA, USA".

 

Is this real life?