The Former Trump Presidency Thread

[$iljanus]

Around a million US citizens spent about 40 minutes today wondering if they were going to die in a nuclear fireball. And this, this is what you choose to say instead of making any sort of statement addressing that situation.

Fuck you, sir.

Look, he was shooting 3 under par. You think had time for 4 electoral votes that went Clinton anyway?

And it's not like Hawaii is part of the US anyway.

[pr0ner]

Around a million US citizens spent about 40 minutes today wondering if they were going to die in a nuclear fireball. And this, this is what you choose to say instead of making any sort of statement addressing that situation.

Fuck you, sir.

Look, he was shooting 3 under par. You think had time for 4 electoral votes that went Clinton anyway?

And it's not like Hawaii is part of the US anyway.

Just like Obama, I was not born in the US then.

[Zaxxon]

Around a million US citizens spent about 40 minutes today wondering if they were going to die in a nuclear fireball. And this, this is what you choose to say instead of making any sort of statement addressing that situation.

Fuck you, sir.

Look, he was shooting 3 under par. You think had time for 4 electoral votes that went Clinton anyway?

You mean 'that went to Crooked Hillary,' sir. Get it right.

[Holman]

.@RandPaul tells me "You can't have an immigration compromise if everyone is out there calling the president a racist"

Ah, sure. That's the problem.

[Skinypupy]

If he stopped doing and saying racist things then maybe, just maybe, people would stop calling him a racist.

Crazy thought, I know.

[$iljanus]

If he stopped doing and saying racist things then maybe, just maybe, people would stop calling him a racist.

Crazy thought, I know.

Well a racist is as a racist does...

[Combustible Lemur]

.@RandPaul tells me "You can't have an immigration compromise if everyone is out there calling the president a racist"

Ah, sure. That's the problem.

Also, why not?
If ego and pride preclude the president and Republicans from producing quality legislative practices they are neither professional nor qualified to be legislators.

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[Zarathud]

You can't have an immigration compromise if the President is talking like a racist.

Fixed that for you.

[malchior]

Great - now we are at the point where US Senator's are claiming the other side is personally lying about Trump's remarks. This is a promising development.

[GreenGoo]

No, he's just saying that everyone should stop acknowledging that Drumpf is a racist if they want immigration compromise. But they aren't going to, especially so soon after he says racist things. It's kind of a foolish suggestion.

[YellowKing]

Great - now we are at the point where US Senator's are claiming the other side is personally lying about Trump's remarks. This is a promising development.

The hard part is figuring out who to believe: the two Senators who support the biggest lying shitbag to ever disgrace the face of the earth, or everyone else in the room.

[tjg_marantz]

[Jaymann]

He is crazy as a shithouse rat.

[Holman]

People have pointed out that the problem isn't the word "shithole." It's the idea that everyone from a place is worthless.

It's like the Access Hollywood tape. The problem wasn't the word "pussy." It was "I don't even wait."

[GreenGoo]

Agreed. Hilarious that they are arguing shithole versus shithouse like it makes any difference whatsoever.

How tone deaf can you get?

[YellowKing]

So let me get this straight. It's 2017, and we're analyzing whether "shithouse" is a better Presidential description of a predominantly black country than a "shithole."

Damn I miss the 90s.

[malchior]

Agreed. Hilarious that they are arguing shithole versus shithouse like it makes any difference whatsoever.

How tone deaf can you get?

I don't see it as tone deaf. It is the old guard using the tricks they howled about in the past to try to adapt to a post-decency world. Unfortunately it is hard to defend an indecent man. Especially with 10 people in the room. Maybe they'll learn to stop trying.

[Holman]

Claiming it was *anything* but "shithole" allows Trump and his supporters to fall back on "See, FAKE NEWS!!"

[Chaz]

On top of that, the shithole comment has completely overshadowed the fact that he made those comments in a meeting where he was rejecting a bipartisan compromise that would've protected dreamers and given Trump some of what he wants, but not all. Which is how compromises work.

Of course, he didn't get enough, so he rejected it, and now the talking point is that the Democrats are refusing to work with him, don't want to make a deal, and just want to shut down the government entirely to stop paying the military.

This is the shittiest timeline.

[GreenGoo]

Claiming it was *anything* but "shithole" allows Trump and his supporters to fall back on "See, FAKE NEWS!!"

So does "I never said that".

[LawBeefaroni]

I would love to have seen that damage control meeting. You could watch the last remnants of their souls leaving their bodies as they come up with this strategy.

[Paingod]

I look forward to people complaining about how our next President accidentally slurped soup instead of sipping it or gets two neighboring countries mixed up in a public forum.

[Moliere]

President Trump Earns the Highest Presidential Approval Level of All Time

The Small Business Optimism Index hit an all-time high. That’s the new Presidential Approval Poll.

In olden days (pre-2016), candidates for president were not so different from each other. I can remember pundits complaining endlessly about how similar the Democrats and Republicans had become. In that environment, you can easily imagine someone who voted for Candidate A warming up to Candidate B. In those simpler times, a presidential approval poll meant something.

Today, a “presidential approval poll” is little more than taking attendance. If you’re a Democrat, you disapprove of President Trump as a lifestyle choice. If you voted for Trump, you probably still approve of him because you knew exactly what you were getting. And if you are an anti-Trump conservative, you allow cognitive dissonance to rule your brain and you say he’s doing a good job but you disapprove of him anyway. David Brooks accidentally described this phenomenon in this article.

I contend that business optimism — and small business optimism in particular — are the new standard for presidential approval because “economics” captures most of what a president influences.

[Holman]

Take every Obama move that a Fox News hero ever called "unpresidential" and add them all up, and they still won't compare to Trump on a slow news day.

[Holman]

President Trump Earns the Highest Presidential Approval Level of All Time

The Small Business Optimism Index hit an all-time high. That’s the new Presidential Approval Poll.

In olden days (pre-2016), candidates for president were not so different from each other. I can remember pundits complaining endlessly about how similar the Democrats and Republicans had become. In that environment, you can easily imagine someone who voted for Candidate A warming up to Candidate B. In those simpler times, a presidential approval poll meant something.

Today, a “presidential approval poll” is little more than taking attendance. If you’re a Democrat, you disapprove of President Trump as a lifestyle choice. If you voted for Trump, you probably still approve of him because you knew exactly what you were getting. And if you are an anti-Trump conservative, you allow cognitive dissonance to rule your brain and you say he’s doing a good job but you disapprove of him anyway. David Brooks accidentally described this phenomenon in this article.

I contend that business optimism — and small business optimism in particular — are the new standard for presidential approval because “economics” captures most of what a president influences.

Click the link for the punchline.

[Paingod]

If I'm reading that right, Scott Adams (Dilbert author) is somehow saying Trump is deliberately hammering down on North Korea as a strategy - and that it's working?

I'm sorry. If there's any strategy in the White House, it's coming from somewhere behind the President. The man-child can't go three words without violently rubbing his own ego and making rational people cringe. His only strategy is to praise himself above all else. You don't need media spin to see that.

If anything good happens "because" of Trump, it's like saying that the comet that wiped out the dinosaurs was "good" because it created a lot of opportunity for mammals. Sure, it brought the world to the absolute brink of ruin, but some things survived.

[Rip]

On top of that, the shithole comment has completely overshadowed the fact that he made those comments in a meeting where he was rejecting a bipartisan compromise that would've protected dreamers and given Trump some of what he wants, but not all. Which is how compromises work.

Of course, he didn't get enough, so he rejected it, and now the talking point is that the Democrats are refusing to work with him, don't want to make a deal, and just want to shut down the government entirely to stop paying the military.

This is the shittiest timeline.

I'm not aware of them promising anything other than the standard talk about issue in the future brushoff.

What have you heard they offered?

[GreenGoo]

I'm not sure what's wrong with Adams, but he's been broken ever since he got behind Drumpf during the campaign. The idea that the economy has ANYTHING to do with Drumpf or his policies is asinine, and that's not even addressing the retconning of small business confidence into some sort of presidential approval rating.

No sane person can look at Drumpf and see a keen strategist or even mediocre thinker. You have to be seriously delusional to see him as anything but random, incoherent and easily manipulated.

[Chaz]

https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics ... 1102bdeb6d

The deal included a solution for “dreamers,” as well as improvements to border security and changes to two other elements of the immigration system: one allowing U.S. citizens to sponsor certain relatives for citizenship, and the other, known as the “diversity visa lottery,” which distributes 50,000 visas annually to nations with low rates of migration to the United States.

[Paingod]

I'm not sure what's wrong with Adams, but he's been broken ever since he got behind Drumpf during the campaign.

Perhaps it's a kind of PTSD. He's perpetually rationalizing his choice and can't believe he made such a poor choice... so he's got to keep inventing a better reality where he's not part of the problem.

[Zarathud]

Adams has become confused enough to support the pointy haired boss -- as President.

[Moliere]

Watch Scott Adams podcast with Joe Rogan. He clearly says that he's not a Trump supporter and didn't back him in the election. What he did was make observations about how Trump communicates and how persuasive is that versus Hillary's techniques. Even in this article everyone seems to be missing the message: a poll of small businesses like what Trump is doing. And by "Trump" you can blame/credit his administration if you don't want to give him direct credit for the positive polling.

[malchior]

Watch Scott Adams podcast with Joe Rogan. He clearly says that he's not a Trump supporter and didn't back him in the election. What he did was make observations about how Trump communicates and how persuasive is that versus Hillary's techniques.

That doesn't say much. Hillary Clinton has an absence of charisma that is fairly amazing for a candidate that made it as far as she did.

Even in this article everyone seems to be missing the message: a poll of small businesses like what Trump is doing. And by "Trump" you can blame/credit his administration if you don't want to give him direct credit for the positive polling.

Right - small business people tend to be Republicans anyway. I'll withhold my judgement on why this is but it isn't too positive in my experience. The real punchline is that Adams is comparing a Presidential poll to an attendance test and then goes on to point to a poll that has pretty much that same problem in a worse and more biased way.

[Moliere]

The real punchline is that Adams is comparing a Presidential poll to an attendance test and then goes on to point to a poll that has pretty much that same problem in a worse and more biased way.

That might very well be true. I didn't research the polling data or organization. I just thought it was an interesting perspective on how different groups view Trump.

[Kraken]

My takeaway is "The economy is good. Trump hasn't screwed it up. Yay Trump!" It's more that they like what he isn't doing.

[GreenGoo]

30-35% of Americans approve of Drumpf and are unlikely to ever change their opinion, no matter what he does (as these supporters themselves have said). We know this. Drumpf hasn't submarined small businesses, yet.

Great. Good job Drumpf. Keep up the good work.

No one is missing the fact that some people, in this case some small business owners, think Drumpf's doing a good job. That doesn't change the fact that he isn't. Clearly. Objectively. He's not doing an overly bad job either, mostly because he hasn't been able to accomplish much in nearly a year of trying. Some of the more successful small businesses and their owners are going to see a tax break. NEXT YEAR.

What he is doing is representing America incredibly poorly on the international stage, from China, to NAFTA, to North (and South) Korea, to the UK, to the Netherlands...I mean, the list goes on.

He's an objectively awful person and he illustrates this fact every time he speaks. I wouldn't care so much if he didn't illustrate that fact when he speaks on BEHALF of the USoA.

[Remus West]

He's not doing an overly bad job either

He absolutely is doing a horrible job. Our international relations have been weakened and continue to be weakened daily. Our trade agreements have been shredded and our environment is in more danger than ever. All of this to simply put more lining in the pockets of the ultra wealthy. He is not just a horrible person he is an absolutely horrible president and has been damaging the office as much as he has America's standing n the world. Just because we have not yet entered The Great Depression II doesn't mean he doesn't suck ass.

[RunningMn9]

Yeah, he’s doing an objectively terrible job. Just not in a way that has affected small businesses (yet).


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[GreenGoo]

He's not doing an overly bad job either

He absolutely is doing a horrible job. Our international relations have been weakened and continue to be weakened daily. Our trade agreements have been shredded and our environment is in more danger than ever. All of this to simply put more lining in the pockets of the ultra wealthy. He is not just a horrible person he is an absolutely horrible president and has been damaging the office as much as he has America's standing n the world. Just because we have not yet entered The Great Depression II doesn't mean he doesn't suck ass.

Which trade agreements are shredded? Your environment isn't in any more or less danger than during Obama's last year, is it?

There have been a number of deregulations, and a number of departments gutted, but those have yet to have an impact outside of their immediate sphere of influence. Net Neutrality is obviously one I care about, but you almost lost that one under Obama. It was a near thing.

Just tell me specifically what he has done that makes him worse than, say, Bush. Or Obama on domestic surveillance for example.

He's just awful at diplomacy, but I mentioned that. He's terrible at personnel. He's random.

What damage has he caused (besides undermining democracy, although admittedly that's a big one)?

[YellowKing]

It's just typical GOP short-sighted strategy. Win at all costs today, who cares who it hurts tomorrow. When your greatest achievement is that you're giving a few people a little extra cash today in return for economic collapse a few years from now, you're not really #WINNING.