My favorite quote from the article from the foremost expert on the subject -- "America has the third-generation head of a white-collar crime family in the White House."
Link: https://www.dcreport.org/2019/02/06/trump-the-demagogue-takes-on-congress/
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I think the Trump that gave the speech last night was what some of us optimists hoped he'd be when he was elected.
But starting from his inauguration speech, it was clear he would not be. I am glad he acted more or less presidential last night. It will make the next 2 or 6 years more pleasant if he keeps that up.
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Yes, he showed better poise working the room/stage.
Yes, he checked some boxes, e.g., infrastructure (albeit with no substance).
He threatened that there would be no legislative deals unless investigations go away. That was weird.
He did a terrific job with the stories of heroes in the room. But, these are real heroes who in real time, when it mattered, rose to occasion, putting others ahead of self.
Trump's problem is that he is a divider, not a leader. He is a coward, a bully, but not a leader. Trump would not only never spill blood for America, but he would sell it (see Helsinki).
His "unity" remarks rang hollow, as Trump has never once walked that walk. It is always about him. Just hours before the SOTU speech. he was slinging insults at people at a TV News luncheon, including John McCain.
Good SOTU in relative terms for Trump? Yes.
But, nothing of substance, nothing of great intellect or vision, and certainly nothing for which he will stay the course.
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Independents largely can't stand him, yet they overwhelmingly liked that speech.
I think that should tell you a lot about why we don't like him. The guy you saw last night was reasonable. The guy that has been running the country the last two years is not.
he wants to go when not lashing back at antagonists. i understand that he is a buffoon oftentimes. But had Obama (as much as I disagreed with him politically) had these kind of results, i would have reconsidered my position. He's the first president in many years wanting to get us out of wars, he's stoked the economy, he's brought back jobs, he's renegotiated NAFTA, he's caused China to pull back, he's defeated ISIS, and he's brought Nkorea from the brink of nuclear war to the negotiation table....and those are just some of the accomplishments that both sides of the aisle can agree are god things.
He has been trying to reach out on the wall which Dems themselves wanted including Obama until it was Trump....and at this point it is purely political for Dems that they don't want Trump to deliver on his best publicized campaign promise. But it is in the best interest of the country that they get something effective done in compromise. The Dems won't even negotiate. In the 3 week hiatus since the last shutdown, Pelosi called one short meeting where she didn't even attend & none since. She has no interest in compromising at all.
I aminterested inhearing what exactly the Dems plan to run on other than Trump hatred and hard core socialism that will destroy the middle class as we know it.
He's the first president in many years wanting to get us out of wars
You must have a zinger here, because it makes no sense. Obama wanted us out of wars, but was intelligent enough understand that things aren't that simple, and had to stay in Bush's wars more than he had wanted. Hell, when he did bring people home, people accused of creating ISIS. Obama wanted us out of wars.
he's stoked the economy, he's brought back jobs
He gave us a deficit funded fiscal stimulus at a time of near record unemployment. That is almost completely unforgiveable. And for what, temporary raising GDP growth from 2-something to 3-something. The estimates for 2019 for GDP growth are already back in the 2's. As far as bring jobs back, he inherited an economy with about 4.8% unemployment. It's down a point from there. That's nice, but Obama brought us from about 9 or 10 percent down below 5 percent.
he's renegotiated NAFTA,
Sure. But I believe NAFTA was scheduled to be renegotiated in any event. I'm not sure the renegotiation really helped anything, much less helped anything that wasn't going to happen anyway. I'll admit that I haven't studied the differences much.
he's caused China to pull back,
Pull back from what. As we shrink away from our leadership role in the world, China is filling the gap. They are not pulling back - they are pulling forward into the world leadership void we created.
he's defeated ISIS,
He beat the JV. Swell. They were badly crippled by the time he took office in any event.
and he's brought Nkorea from the brink of nuclear war to the negotiation table
To the extent we were ever on the brink of nuclear war, it was due to Trump's loud mouth. N. Korea now continues its nuclear weapons program unabated while their leader has achieved reduced sanctions, the gravitas of meeting with a U.S. President, and the cancellation of troop exercises in S. Korea. Trump got absolutely pantsed in that mess.
....and those are just some of the accomplishments that both sides of the aisle can agree are god things.
Mostly, he didn't screw up everything Obama left him. But he did screw up our future with the tax cuts, withdrawing from the Paris Treaty, N. Korea, and healthcare.
The poll numbers say it all. Independents loved it and a whopping 30% of Dems gave it a thumbs up. He crushed it.
Even more so, the Dems showed how unhinged they are by TDS. The sourpuss hags dressed in white couldn’t bring themselves to applaud such partisan things as low minority unemployment, a rebirth of manufacturing jobs or an ICE agent who’s fighting child trafficking, but instead saved their revelry to applaud.....themselves! Nothing says female empowerment like every chick dressing alike and waiting to see if it’s ok to clap. They made fools of themselves.
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Link: Oh, Snap!