Everything you didn't want to know about Trump and were not afraid to ask

[pErvinalia]

I'm generally not a fan of dailykos, but I would have to agree with that article. Trump seems to be the first president to be elected out of sheer spite and with malicious intent. A big 'fuck you' to all those evil, educated liberals for wanting want blacks and gays and women to be treated like human beings.

I think the spite portion is not about treatment as human beings, which most everyone agrees with except some fringe wackos. But, the absurd lengths the so-called "educated liberals" have taken their "social justice" narrative. When there is a daily drumbeat against "whiteness" and concepts like the "progressive stack" - microaggressions ("aggressions" that are hidden inside otherwise normal things - e.g. "hi guys.") - dopey bullshit where people "identify" as one of 872 "genders." The constant refrain of racist racist racist racist over things like "capitalism" (because it's inherently racist, white/male, and misogynistic), and illegal immigration (must be racist to oppose illegal immigration) - all white people are racist by definition - we live in some sort of "patriarchy" where white men have it easy and everyone else is oppressed.

Clinton had nothing to do with any of this.

[Joe]

Low unemployment, low inflation, low interest rates, rising stock market, high worker participation rates, expanding industrial base, expanding business sector overall, reduced regulations, renegotiated trade deal with Mexico, lower taxes, no new wars and more peace talks .....

So he's (allegedly) making the trains run on time?

Oh, and interest rates just went up for the first time in about an epoch.

No, you gotta finish the thought to get the real message!

Well, it's not accurate to say rates went up for the first time in an epoch. in 2016, they were down to 0.25 which is pretty much effectively 0, and the lowest they go. They've been creeping up ever since then, both under Obama and under Trump. It's not great to have interest rates that low. Serves a purpose, but typically, they ought not be that low. There are also purposes for raising rates- higher returns to bank accounts, guard against inflation, increase lending, higher income for retirees (who tend to invest in CDs and guaranteed savings accounts), strengthens the dollar (as compared to other currencies - more purchasing power abroad), helps stocks trade more on fundamentals. Also if rates are going up, it tends to trigger potential homebuyers to get off the pot in order to take lower rates now instead of higher rates later.

..... but, the president is an uncouth cad who cheats on his wives and pays for nondisclosure agreements, and lacks grace, poise and overall presentation, the orange bastard with the funny hair.

I'll take that deal, any day of the week.

By that level of moral relativism, our friend must have worshiped Bill Clinton.

I voted for him in 1996, and I would again.
He was a solid president and he knew how to strike a deal. His rhetoric regarding immigration would have him strung up by the left-leaning crowd today as a racist and xenophobe. He was to blame for "ending welfare as we know it" which pissed off the more lefty Democrats at the time. His economic rhetoric was largely in line with the Chicago school. Not a perfect president, and a cad who took advantage of a 21 year old intern and splooged all over her in the oval office. But, he did his job.

By his measure, Clinton's record of scandals and accusations of sexual predation were a small price to pay for such a good economy.

By any measure, yes, in my view. His personal issues sucked, but certainly not an impeachable offense. Even the lying in a deposition, I think, doesn't warrant impeachment.

Imagine Trump saying this:



Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act of 1996 - states that immigrants unlawfully present in the United States for 180 days but less than 365 days must remain outside the United States for three years unless they obtain a pardon. If they are in the United States for 365 days or more, they must stay outside the United States for ten years unless they obtain a waiver. If they return to the United States without the pardon, they may not apply for a waiver for a period of ten years. The IIRAIRA explicitly authorized construction of walls along the US-Mexico border and authorized the construction of a secondary layer of border fencing to buttress the already completed 14 mile primary fence. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Illegal_I ... ct_of_1996

Congress passed it - but Bill Clinton signed it. He didn't veto it. He didn't let it pass into law without signature. He supported it in his public statements.

Clinton declared the "era of big government over." Legislative achievements included - the Defense of Marriage Act, welfare reform (end of welfare as we know it), massive trade deals like Nafta and Gatt (the Left resounding opposed both), financial and telecommunications deregulation, and the Religious Freedom Restoration Act, which served as the basis for the Hobby Lobby Supreme Court decision.

The Cato Institute opined that Clinton was more "conservative" economically than GWBush. https://www.cato.org/publications/comme ... ative-bush

In less than two years, President Bush has presided over more government expansion than took place during eight years of Bill Clinton. For instance:

— The education bill expands federal involvement in education. The administration originally argued that the new spending was a necessary price to get vouchers and other reforms. Yet the final bill boosted spending and was stripped of almost all reform initiatives. And there is every reason to believe that this new spending will be counter-productive, like most other federal money spent on education in the past 40 years. Children and taxpayers are the big losers.

— The farm bill is best characterized as a bipartisan orgy of special interest politics. Making a mockery of the Freedom to Farm Act, the new legislation boosts farm spending to record levels. Old subsidies have been increased and new subsidies created. Perhaps worst of all, the administration no longer has the moral credibility to pressure the European Union to reform its socialized agricultural policies. Taxpayers and consumers are the big losers.

— The protectionist decisions on steel and lumber imports make free traders wish Bill Clinton were still president. These restrictions on world commerce have undermined the productivity of U.S. manufacturers by boosting input prices and creating massive ill will in the international community. American products already have been targeted for reciprocal treatment. Consumers and manufacturers are the big losers.

— The campaign finance law is an effort to protect the interests of incumbent politicians by limiting free speech rights during elections. The administration openly acknowledged that the legislation is unconstitutional, yet was unwilling to make a principled argument for the Bill of Rights and fair elections. Voters and the Constitution are the big losers.

— New health care entitlements are akin to throwing gasoline on a fire. Medicare and Medicaid already are consuming enormous resources, and the burden of these programs will become even larger when the baby boom generation retires. Adding a new prescription drug benefit will probably boost spending by $1 trillion over 10 years. A mandate for mental health coverage will drive up medical costs, making insurance too expensive for many more families.

Those policy decisions make government bigger and more expensive. They also slow the economy and hurt financial markets — read the headlines lately? For all his flaws, President Clinton’s major policy mistake was the 1993 tax increase. Other changes, such as the welfare reform bill, NAFTA, GATT, farm deregulation, telecommunications deregulation and financial services deregulation, moved policy in a market-oriented direction.

The Atlantic opined that the Democrats had become the Conservative party.... https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/ar ... ty/496670/

By any reasonable definition, Democrats are now the more conservative of America’s two parties. They are more interested than Republicans in conserving America’s international relationships, cultural norms, and political and economic institutions as they are.

Yeah, I figured you wouldn't have had a problem with old Bill's philandering, given your statement about Trump. Clinton was a deal-maker in reality, not reality TV.

[Seabass]

Bob Woodward (one of the Watergate reporters) has a new book coming and Benedict Donald is not happy about it...

[pErvinalia]

Including the claim that Trump wanted to assassinate Bashir Al-Assad. But yeah, Trump is really a liberal who is all for world peace..

[JimC]

Kennedy wanted to assassinate Fidel Castro. Whatever their politics, power seems to have this effect on American Presidents...

[pErvinalia]

Not Trump. He's a true liberal and peace lover.

[pErvinalia]

[Tero]

Trump shot out about 10 tweets to Woodward. I responded to 2. I called his presidency a joke and his White House a clown car.

[Forty Two]

Including the claim that Trump wanted to assassinate Bashir Al-Assad. But yeah, Trump is really a liberal who is all for world peace..

What's Mattis say? Mattis has already denied other allegations in the book about what he supposedly said about Trump.

A true liberal adopts the power to assassinate American citizens without charges, let alone trial -
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfr ... t-doj-memo (imagine the reporting, if that was the Trump DOJ who released a memo like that....).

Oh here - https://www.mediaite.com/online/defsec- ... agination/ “While I generally enjoy reading fiction,” he [Mattis] continues, “This is a uniquely Washington brand of literature, and his anonymous sources do not lend credibility.”



In other words, cutting through all the bullshit - Trump is doing a great job.

[Forty Two]

Trump shot out about 10 tweets to Woodward. I responded to 2. I called his presidency a joke and his White House a clown car.

How incisive of you.

[Tero]

He does not read them. My tweets are only there to annoy you Trump fans. He could have accomplished so much! Now even the end of abortion is in danger as his judge nomination will drag on to election day and mess up GOP chances. If Trump ONLY could refrain from tweeting say 2 months.

Aide: there is a another book coming out about you.
Trump: it's full of fake news, must tweet 20 times about this today
Aide: but it's all true
Trump: you are fired!

[Forty Two]

Not Trump. He's a true liberal and peace lover.

Talk about it if he starts a new war. Obama was gearing up for the new Libya War which started 2 years into his presidency. Trump has no new wars in sight, he ended ISIS, and he's quieted the Syria matter by joining with France and the UK in knocking out the chem weapons sites. Nothing much happening there since. He's toned down the rhetoric with North Korea and has started a road to peace.

Looking at events and actions, rather than talking points, Trump is a pro-peace President. https://www.greanvillepost.com/2018/07/ ... since-jfk/ and https://www.forbes.com/sites/ralphbenko ... 48e5977d94

"If Clinton had won, we would be on a fast track to war with Russia, either in the Baltics, Ukraine or in Syria. She made that perfectly clear." Trump, meanwhile, "had over the course of this election cycle said the very opposite. Many people thought that by coming out against war with Russia, he had disqualified himself. In fact he went so far as to attack the generals and those who are running foreign policy."

https://sputniknews.com/us/201611091047 ... ommentary/

On Tuesday, voters in the US went to the polls to choose their next president, electing Republican Donald Trump. Speaking to Sputnik, Professor Tony Monteiro, peace activist and scholar at the department of African American Studies at Temple University, suggested that Trump’s election may have just saved the world from World War Three.

https://rightwingnews.com/donald-trump/ ... let-audio/

Croatian leaders says Trump and Putin's good relations are the key to peace....
https://www.usnews.com/news/world/artic ... y-to-peace

[Forty Two]

He does not read them. My tweets are only there to annoy you Trump fans. He could have accomplished so much!

He has accomplished a ton.

Now even the end of abortion is in danger as his judge nomination will drag on to election day and mess up GOP chances. If Trump ONLY could refrain from tweeting say 2 months.

Always the "the end [of abortion] is nigh" - every election for the last 35+ years, it's Democrats pretending that the abortion is going away. If Trump proposed exactly the same type of laws on abortion they have in Europe, the left would scream that he's oppressing women and destroying the right to abortion. OMG! Two doctors need to approve! Nooooooooo!!!!! OMG! Abortion more or less eliminated after 22 weeks! Noooooo!!!!! The world is ending!!!! ....errr... they do it in Europe.... yes, but, in Europe they do it more thoughtfully and with care, so it's o.k.

Aide: there is a another book coming out about you.
Trump: it's full of fake news, must tweet 20 times about this today
Aide: but it's all true
Trump: you are fired!

Except the parts where it quotes Mattis, and then Mattis calls it a work of pure fiction and the words were never uttered by him or in his presence.

But.... we know Trump is like that, so even if it's not "true" it's still true.

[Tero]

The man has become the myth. His own fault. His tweets have given us an accurate picture.

[Forty Two]

The man has become the myth. His own fault. His tweets have given us an accurate picture.

Low unemployment, low inflation, reasonable interest rates, GDP roaring at 4.2% growth, stock market soaring, labor participation rate at highest level in generations, massive elimination of wasteful regulations, peace talks with North Korea, renegotiating NAFTA, manufacturing on the upswing, hiring up, homelessness and poverty down, black/hispanic unemployment at lowest levels ever, ISIS eliminated, no new wars on the horizon, consumer confidence up, worker satisfaction up, job openings reached 6.6 million (highest ever recorded - pretty much more jobs than qualified unemployed), 67% of people think now is a good time to find a quality job (most ever since Gallup began asking the question), executive order to expand apprenticeship opportunities, optimism among manufacturers is sky high, historic tax relief, regional and community bank relief, withdrawal from the TPP, withdrawal from the Paris Climate Boondoggle, withdrawal from Iran bullshit deal, efforts to defend American intellectual property abroad, renegotiate KORUS (Korea Free Trade Agreement), gained new markets for American agriculture, US embassy moved to Jerusalem, sanctions on Iran, sanctions on Russia, release of Americans from Venezuela and North Korea, release of remains of American soldiers from North Korea, refurbish our military, military pay raises, improvements to the Veteran's Administration, sanctions on Venezuela, border fence, efforts to improve immigration law (albeit stymied and stalled by the Democrats and establishment Republicans), tariffs to help American workers (with a view to eliminating tariffs if other countries would do the same), increased border patrol, reduced illegal immigration, policy to reduce prescription drug prices, massive effort to help address the opioid addiction problem, and the list goes on.

The guy is doing a great job.