R_P wrote: 
#fuckingmoron

In rare clash between allies, US president tells May to focus on terrorism rather than on him – but sends the tweet to the wrong person

 black321 wrote:

It is unclear to me that the Trump administration should be credited with strengthening the economy or deterring/defeating ISIS beyond building on what already was in place. The strategic foundations for getting the economy moving and for defeating ISIS were set during Obama's tenure.  I am unaware of fundamental strategy changes implemented by the Trump administration in the ongoing war on ISIS. Although Trump continually touts his influence on the economy, I am unaware of actual policy changes that have been implemented to which one would point and credit with spurring the economy in the 11 months Trump has been in office. Mostly, Trump seems to contend that just the prospect of his presidency and the policies he would like to implement created a kind of economic Gold Rush.  One thing I think we all know is that the economy is a rather large ship that turns incredibly slowly. 

The danger of Trump is that he might normalize his MO for future leaders.  A large part of his MO is to seek to undermine many of our institutions and institutional actors, most notably the media.  If this were to take root — and perhaps it already has for many — the lasting damage may prove to be something from which it will take a long time for us to recover, if at all.            

Trump Made the Most Flagrant Bigots Proud. They See Him as Their Leader. Why Wouldn’t They?

 VV wrote: 
You know, he got elected and we didn't. Sounds like we're the losers, all the way around.

 Red_Dragon wrote: 
Ya know... I may have to rethink this. For someone possessing all of those attributes, perhaps
he's not doing such a bad job after all.

 Red_Dragon wrote: 
why would it?  it's how he operates...lie and create ambiguity.  Arguably, he hasnt actually "done" anything outrageous, has he?  he's a serial liar, but most of the lies are innocuous, inflaming, divisive and annoying, but not on the scale of WMD, or even you can keep your doc. 

The economy is strong, though we arent addressing any of its long-term issues.   ISIS appears on the retreat, though here again, i dont see any long-term solutions to stemming future terrorists (ie., too many innocent lives are also being lost, while the economies of these areas are decimated...creating resentment).  So it's certainly a different book  - a cheap dime store novel - but the results are more or less the same.

 Red_Dragon wrote:
I'm seeing some shift among my Republican friends. It's slow. No one wants to admit they were wrong, that they were complicit.

But remember when Nixon resigned? He was elected in '72 by the largest landslide in history, but by the time he waved goodbye from the door of Air Force One you couldn't find anyone who admitted to voting for him.

 Red_Dragon wrote: 
I wonder if there's some agreement that - besides the inherent rightness of it - the groundswell of folks talking about sexual inappropriateness/aggressiveness is to bring it more to the forefront of how wrong it is, especially in the arena of politics and the entertainment industry.

Whom do we know that has his feet in both arenas? And is a known admitted bad apple in those fields?

(Heh. Second answer is Al Franken if you want...) 

When is the outrageous behavior going to become enough?

Mick Mulvaney on his assignment at the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau: President Trump "wants it back to the point where it can protect people without trampling on capitalism."

 Er, uh, um . . . ok. And never the twain shall meet.

 Red_Dragon wrote: 
The sheer, unmitigated, and unending vulgarity of this man is having a serious negative effect on the emotional health of society, imo. 

 Steely_D wrote: 
Oh, c'mon. They're not that bad. Really.

Melania Trump’s Creepy White House Holiday Decorations

Trump White House is most dishonest ever, says presidential historian

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/us-politics/donald-trump-white-house-liar-us-president-dishonest-history-richard-nixon-robert-dallek-oval-offic-a8073036.html

The hidden history of Trump’s first trip to Moscow
woo-ing soviet gals, trying to get buildings made, being suckered by the KGB who recorded EVERY LITTLE ENTERTAINMENT he enjoyed for 30 years, he is their puppet

Trump’s presidency may present “the greatest psychiatric disaster in history”

Johns Hopkins psychologist John Gartner suggests an “80 percent chance” that Trump will push the nuclear button

I, personally, would say "want to push the nuclear button" or even "try to push..." because I believe there are safeguards in place to keep one out-of-control power whore from taking us all down.