Trump

[KrisLetang]

I'll say another thing that a lot of smart wonky people were tweeting yesterday on both sides that I kinda agree with: i don't know if "Trumpism" really exists....I think it was more people being tired of Hillary, and the Clinton's. I trudged up to the voting booth that day. I went in more concerned about local elections honestly. I swallowed hard and nicked the button for Jill what's her name and the green party. Jill Stein. I was ****ed about losing good health ins under Obama after he said if you like your doctor you can keep your doctor. And so right before I pressed the "vote" button... I switched to DT. I don't feel great as I walked out. But i celebrated that night. I know that doesn't make a lot of sense but that's the damn truth. I don't like the man. But i like the shrill people like john Oliver (Who TF IS THAT GUY) and Steven Colbert even less. I think the great Norm MacDonald's take on the late night anti Trump brigade was pretty good recently. He said via twitter: "The saddest thing about Trump is that people who hate him think that is a worldview." "Without saying any ideas. It's just simple hate as worldview." Norm is NOT a Trump supporter.

It's not about ideas anymore...its just like...I hate him! So I'm smart! What is that. you know? JMHO. Like personally this is Dahmasta's website or whatever so he can set the rules. I just wish the BS was more seen on both sides of the aisle. Its evident on BOTH sides like crazy, no? I don''t mean here per se...We just elected a old, white, rich Goldman Sachs exec as GOV of NJ. (Over a female I might add.) He was asked how he wound fund things in his plans during the debates (for example pensions) and he refused to say. That's how stupid things have gotten........also old white Goldman Sachs exec who ran out small companies...BAD...well unless he is on our side. Then...good.

[backstothewall]

I trudged up to the voting booth that day. I went in more concerned about local elections honestly. I swallowed hard and nicked the button for Jill what's her name and the green party. Jill Stein. I was ****ed about losing good health ins under Obama after he said if you like your doctor you can keep your doctor. And so right before I pressed the "vote" button... I switched to DT. I don't feel great as I walked out. But i celebrated that night. I know that doesn't make a lot of sense but that's the damn truth. I don't like the man.

Would you mind me asking which state you are in? Or even an idea of the region. It's good for getting an idea of where you are coming from in context.

[Real ale Madrid]

Real ale Madrid has a point, although he broke the rules himself in making it. Pot, meet kettle.

I'd like to apologise for breaking the rules - but I plead insanity due to concussion after getting a clatter across the back of head from a flying Communist playbook. Will keep it civil from now on.

[ontheotherhand]

You don't live in America Danny, do you?
Just wondering?
What American media are you familiar with? Is it CNN, MSNBC, ABC, CBS, NBC? Or do you watch Fox News Channel?
Do you listen to any of the leading Talk Radio shows in America?
I listen to them all because I live here. And the only TV channel who will give you reputable news (they criticize the country's politicians equally) is Fox News. All of the Talk Radio shows are usually on the money when it comes to the corruption in Washington and on how we are being fooled and deceived by the mainstream media when it comes to Donald Trump.

I have seen the American mainstream media lie through their teeth, often through decption, for years now. I never thought one way or the other about the stories on the six o'clock news, but when you finally see what they are saying and how they are
presenting it to you, it is disgusting beyond belief. However, not everyone in America is a news / policical junkie like me and the end result of that is that a good 40 per cent of this country is completely clueless as to what is going on in government in Washington. They get their news from comedians and blogs and Facebook, but I'm sure that is the same in Ireland.

Here are some examples, if you care to read them, of the bias against Donald Trump in the MSM.
On November 8 last year, the day Trump got elected, a man in Chicago was driving away from the poll booth when he was run off the road and pulled out of his car by four youths (three male, one female). His crime - he had a Trump sticker on his car. They beat him senseless and he is lucky to have gotten away with his life. They also robbed him. Now, had the shoe been on the other foot (ie Trump supporters doing that to Hillary supporter) CNN would have broken away from all election coverage and devoted all their time to this incident. What did they do? They tried to bury the story and hope it would go away. It was only two days later that they showed it to the public, and only then because it was all over YouTube.

And what did CNN tell us about the DNC server hacking? They tried to bury that one also. The server was hacked, we were told. And when the FBI came to Philadelphia to investigate the crime (remember it was a crime commited on American soil, which is under the jurisdiction of the FBI, they were told that their services weren't needed). The FBI were told that the DNC had contracted the investigation out to a private firm called Crowdstrike. It is reported that the DNC did not want the FBI looking at the server as it had evidence of the way they had railroaded Bernie Sanders in order to get Hillary elected. CNN, and the other main media outlets kept this under wraps and are still doing it to this day. At the same time they are pushing a narrative that Trump was colluding with the Russians. Now it's ok to say that if there is evidence of that. But there is none, over a year after the story began.

And how can you take CNN et al seriously when their anchors were openly crying the night Donal Trump got elected.

Just the other night, when news came through that unemployement figures were at their lowest since 1973 and the Dow Jones at its highest mark ever, what the ABC and NBC do? They decided not to run their financial segment, which would have showed Trump in a favorable light. And then there was the decision not to investigate Hervey Weinstein, he of Hollywood fame who has now several charges of sexual misconduct and rape against him. Harvey was a big Democrat donor. He contributed to Hillary and others and ABC decided twice not to run a story about him which showed his transgressions.

All day long the mainstream media are criticising Trump. You just cannot take them seriously, because they are trying to deceive you into thinking the way they want you think. Propoganda in other words. Unfortunately too many Americans believe them, and I know from talking to people in Ireland and England that the news is similarly slanted there.

Look, Donald Trump is a brash New Yorker. He has his mannerisms which some people may not like. I'll give you that. But those things are objective. His substance is without question however. He is the best thing to come along in American politics (because he is not a politician) in decades. He is nothing if not a realist - look at his comments on the New York terrorist attack this past Tuesday - while others around him are telling us that day is night, and night is day, and questioning our intelligence when we don't believe them.

I have gone on far too long Danny. But I must say this before leaving. You said the following:

"At the end of the day, Trump still made a hames of the condolence call and of matters since, regardless of what the media wish to say. Perhaps no other president has ever made such a mess of a situation like that, meaning there would have been nothing for the media to uncover then?"

You are as wrong about this as was the man who said the Titanic was unsinkable.

I do live in America and the above is utter garbage. Rupert Murdoch's Fox News is your source of truth? And Talk Radio shows? Alex Jones among others I'm guessing?

The truth is all the media in America is owned by people who want to influence things one way or the other. The hard work is in figuring out what to believe and what not to. The easy work is in figuring out the worst outlets and avoiding them. Fox News is top of that pile of ****.

Donald Trump's substance is without question? Are you a plant, a fool or a WUM?

[KrisLetang]

Would you mind me asking which state you are in? Or even an idea of the region. It's good for getting an idea of where you are coming from in context.

I grew up in Bergen County, NJ. I live in NYC. Went to college in CO.

[strangeirish]

Would you mind me asking which state you are in? Or even an idea of the region. It's good for getting an idea of where you are coming from in context.

As a Trump supporter, he must be in a terrible state altogether...

[KrisLetang]

Here is something I am really interested in:

What would you do about North Korea's nuclear program if you were DT? The reason i phrase it like that is BC someone saying what they WOULDN'T do sort of leads to an endless cycle of conversation like Dahmasta doesn't want. I think we can all agree him tweeting things is not the answer. So what WOULD you do.

[backstothewall]

Here is something I am really interested in:

What would you do about North Korea's nuclear program if you were DT? The reason i phrase it like that is BC someone saying what they WOULDN'T do sort of leads to an endless cycle of conversation like Dahmasta doesn't want. I think we can all agree him tweeting things is not the answer. So what WOULD you do.

I'll bite.

If i was POTUS this is what i would do about North Korean and their nuclear program.

I would invite the Chair and the ranking Democrat on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee to the White House for dinner. Over that dinner i would suggest outlining a clear, bipartisan policy on North Korea. I would propose something like the following

State publicly that:

- The USA will not launch a first strike nuclear attack at North Korea.
- In the event of a North Korean missile being launched against Japan, South Korea, Australia, New Zealand, the USA, or any US territory, the USA will destroy Pyongyang with nuclear weapons in retaliation.
- In the event that it appears that North Korea is preparing to launch and armed nuclear weapon against any target, the USA will attempt to disrupt their launch using non-nuclear weapon systems.

In private I would:

Approach China about a permanent resolution to the partition of Korea. The Chinese aren't stupid. They already know that North Korea is a crisis waiting to happen on their border, and know that a nuclear North Korea only makes the situation worse. The only reason they haven't done anything about it already is that they fear millions of refugees coming over the Yalu River, and suffering significant loss of face.

I would propose a joint Chinese/South Korean "peacekeeping force" entering North Korea from China to provide stability after some manufactured or conveniently timed crisis. The exit strategy is a puppet government lead by a South Korean general taking over, with everyone stating an intention to reunite the peninsula within 2 years.

This would still involve loss of face for China. To address this i would propose partial fulfilment of their One-China policy. I would have my Secretary of State chair negotiations which would lead to Taiwan being reunified with China under similar terms as those the British negotiated when Hong Kong came back under Chinese sovereignty.

[KrisLetang]

interesting. One thing I wonder. if Kim was somehow taken out in a coup, would there be any chance of NK/SK reunification or would China never ever allow that? The Chinese are treating Donald much better than BHO. Xi didn't even greet BHO when he landed, US had to sneak him out of the back of the plane to save face.

[BonnieShels]

Ah sure you know mark12345 (and maybe KrisLetang) is probably sitting in a large office block somewhere in Moscow, although why the FSB is focusing on our nice little corner of the internet here at foot.ie is beyond me - perhaps he's in training or something - or did their algorithm pick up on the fact that somebody set up a thread about Trump and automatically send somebody to troll us?

They're clearly practicing for a full-frontal assault on YBIG.

I grew up in Bergen County, NJ. I live in NYC. Went to college in CO.

And a Penguins fan to boot?

[backstothewall]

I can't imagine a scenario where China would ever allow US allied troops to march up to their border. I just can't imagine that ever happening unless there was something they really wanted in it for them.

America pulling out of TPP was a dream come true for them. They will be delighted to have Trump in the White House. I'd imagine the Chinese are putting on a show as they are aware he is under pressure and want him to look strong on television in America. It is in the interests of China for Trump to be in the White House. He is weak and would find it very difficult to find the political support in Washington for any action to contain their expansion.

All the opposites were true of Obama. There was no negative consequence to embarrassing him as he was leaving office anyway, and that slight gave Trump ammunition to use against HRC in the election (who despite what she said during the campaign would in all probability have signed TPP).

The Obama White House should have seen it coming tbh

[Mr A]

The nuclear NK issue is complicated by their arsenal of biological and chemical weapons which can be deployed more easily and in a more deniable fashion. They could create mass casualties at any time and they are more likely to actually use them than nukes as they know that would see their immediate destruction. There are no easy answers there. Invasion or regime change would potentially see millions of people die. That's why having someone like Trump, who seems so impulsive, playing a key role is deeply scary.

[KrisLetang]

See NK cannot fight a war. Look at this...the soldier is 5'5" 132 pounds. And these are their best guys on the DMZ. Saying nothing of the poor guys other problems. Which are disgusting. A coup has to be coming. The Army is going to get tired of starving. Plain and simple.
https://www.yahoo.com/news/north-kor...113556241.html

[BonnieShels]

They've been starving for 50 years and haven't bothered til now.

[KrisLetang]

It's gotten progressively worse BonBon. USSR fed them 50 years ago.

Al Franken in a Shi* storm, can't believe he lasts the day. Keith Ellison will be appointed in his place as Jr. Sen from Minnesota. First Muslim in the Senate I believe. Fair play to the left wing columnists..I haven't seen even one defending Franken all day. Most calling for him to resign by nightfall.

[BonnieShels]

It's gotten progressively worse BonBon. USSR fed them 50 years ago.

Al Franken in a Shi* storm, can't believe he lasts the day. Keith Ellison will be appointed in his place as Jr. Sen from Minnesota. First Muslim in the Senate I believe. Fair play to the left wing columnists..I haven't seen even one defending Franken all day. Most calling for him to resign by nightfall.

Not to defend Al, but how come the Pussygrabber-in-Chief is getting a pass in all of this?

[Charlie Darwin]

Not to defend Al, but how come the Pussygrabber-in-Chief is getting a pass in all of this?

I guess Franken is a hypocrite because his behaviour is contrary to what he preaches, whereas Trump has never made a secret of the fact he's a lecherous old perv who degrades women and worse.

[backstothewall]

Franken has apologised and the woman in question has accepted the apology. TBD if that will be enough to save his job.

Any ideas about a presidential run are dead for this cycle at least though. Trump/Pence/Ryan just dodged a bullet. Franken would have taken any of them to the woodshed in 2020

[KrisLetang]

Ah, there would be one issue with that.

[backstothewall]

What's that now?