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Konspiracy Korner: Trump Scorecard

perhaps it's not the prettiest in modern history

Posted by

5/17/17

Like we sez, a balanced diet in your political oatmeal is -- if nothing else -- less MONOTONOUS. Y'feel me?

If this kind of masochism means for you a challenge to progressive consensus, we can recommend Camille Paglia's latest this week. She had a great line that helped revolutionize my own understanding of gender politics: she said "never for a moment in my life have I felt like a female." Neither has she ever felt like a male. For some reason, that put her perspective in a new light for me. It's also mostly consistent with the Scriptural concept of "eunuchs," those not driven by large imbalances of testosterone or estrogen. Up until Paglia's remarks, I thought my own friends and family were kidding, sort of.

Also provocative was her casual wave and dismissal of -all- news talk TV. It's the way she does it. Heh. Only Camille would admit the first time she ever laid eyes on Megyn Kelly was at the debate. Or was the admission a backhanded compliment to herself?

...

If you're in the mood for anti-Trump material this morning, here is Silver's inner circle discussing hopefully whether the week's 'scandals' are damaging Trump's re-election chances. For a progressive intellectual, it doesn't get much better than that roundtable, I wouldn't guess.

;- ) Or if it does, feel free to link us up. Do give preferential treatment to ideas.

Actually it is fascinating to me that 538.com speaks in terms of Trump's 2020 "election." Every month that goes by without impeachment is a considerable surprise to me, considering (1) the fervor of the Democratic base, (2) the attitude of the Republican NeverTrumpers, (3) the "Deep State" leaks and opposition, (4) the disaffection of the hard-right base typified by Ann Coulter, (5) Trump's own talent for self-immolation, (6) etc.

Why would the Left prefer a religiously committed President such as Mike Pence to a Manhattan real estate mogul? The best explanation I've heard is that the Left figures they could "roll Mike Pence in two weeks." Another explanation has been that the Left WANTS Trump to remain President so that it can waltz to huge election victories the next two cycles.

But James predicts an 80%, 90% chance of Trump still being in office when the next election is held, factoring in life expectancy and everything else.

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The Dilbert guy has a fairly serious attempt at a relatively Centrist scorecard for Donald Trump.

He has Trump doing extremely well on his own card. So, I would be very, VERY interested in a -dispassionate- reply from a NeverTrumper (perhaps Matty?) who doesn't have much of an axe to grind on the subject. That's because my own irritation at CNN/MSNBC -- which are to be differentiated from reasonable outlets like CBS and the WSJ -- my own irritation at the sabotage sites have given me cataracts on the Presidential scorecard five months in.

(Scott Adams is hardly a convicted right-winger. He's a devout materialist who believes we are probably living in a Matrix-like simulation run by unfriendly beings. No, I'm not kidding.)

So would be quite interested in getting some help as to figuring out how it's going. Like the Dilbert guy says, what is the baseline for success here? Abraham Lincoln's first 100 days fighting ISIS and Kim Jong-Un? It's a tough read. If you can help me out, thanks in advance.

Respectfully,

Jeff

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Camille Paglia

Nate Silver

Donald Trump

Comments

In response to both of your comments, Doc

I have to fill you in that every time most liberals hear people citing 'Hillary' or 'Obama'--we chuckle, because we know the argument is already conceded.

(I have an inlaw I still argue with about FDR, for goodness sake.)

Which is my way of saying...Hillary/Obama--what difference does it make now? Hillary did not win, and Barack is not President anymore. (Thank goodness those horrific days are gone, right? So much better now!) Why are we litigating history? Isn't the only thing that matters what we should do now?

I THINK this is brought up (please correct me if I'm wrong) as a means of demonstrating how 'unfair' the media are. As you know, both sides claim this. But to repeat my earlier point, the clear majority of Trump's problems are self-inficted. There are things he did that are wrong--not things made up by the media.

And concerning your link, where in those claims does it show that the Russians attempted to contaminate our electoral process? The Flynn charge is blackmail, and that because of it they exerted pressure on our foreign policy and potentially endandered our intelligence agencies. Hillary allegedly profited from a deal that was reviewed by eight different agencies. One is espionage. One is not.

On your point concerning the Trump/Bernie voters, I have always agreed with this. They both appealed to people who were fed up with the lies and inequity. They worked hard--why should they suffer? Certainly they'll do better once their health insurance is gone...and their air and water are more polluted.

And Mr. Trump charged that Hillary was too close to Wall Street. And you look at where all of his financial advisors come from. Golman Sachs ascendent.

It's so shocking--he LIED! :)

Look, I am convinced that 80%+ of the people posting here agree on what the country should look like. Probably more. We may disagree on how to get there.

But special interests are in control of Congress, and one of their own is in the Oval Office.

The longer he remains President, the better it is for those special interests. But also, ironically, the better it is (in my opinion) for liberals. Because he is the lighting rod that mobilizes people...now including some who voted for him.

He is the (fully justified) punching bag that gives the Dems a chance to win back the house in 17 months.

So, long live the King!

Are you saying ...

that Hillary selling U.S. policy to Russia for $100's of MM's is water under the bridge - anybody who brings that up is conceding that Trump must be impeached? I'm guessing I must have misread you.

For one thing, we remind people of Hitler and the Nazis so we can steer around a repeat of the same thing. An awareness of the bribes going to the Clinton Foundation is the first step in preventing similar things from occurring in the future.

....

No, I don't care about the media as such. I am seeking a FAIR OBJECTIVE STANDARD -- in our society generally, in the way we treat each other as human beings.

When Elizabeth Warren sells U.S. policy to Russia in 2021 (or meets her A.G. on the tarmac to call off an investigation) it will suddenly be a nonissue again, correct?

By "fair" we are talking about applying the same standards to friends and enemies. Any fair person will at least attempt to apply exactly the same logic to Barack Obama and to Donald Trump.

Donald Trump and treason

By the way, if the "special counsel" proves that Donald Trump attempted to win the election by colluding with the Russian government, in my world (and in Teddy Roosevelt's world) he is not impeached.

Rather, he is convicted of treason and executed. The same applies to past politicians and ANY treasonous act (not just election-related) as defined in the Constitution.

Of course, the same standard would also apply to those politicians that the media adores - those who send chills down Chris Matthews' leg.

"water under the bridge"

Exactly!!

Declare her the devil incarnate. Send her to the guillotine if that floats your boat.

How does that in any way impact where we are now?

Hillary+Obama+the media+'the elites'=The Four Strawmen.

Let's deal with the here and now.

Do you support the appointment of a special prosecutor? if not, why not?

Do you support the disclosure of ALL document, tapes, memorada, etc., relating to all poeple and interchanges pertinent to this issue?

Trump says he wants to get to the bottom of this.

OK...will he release his tax returns?

See above

My reply to your post would be my comment preceding your post. :- )

The GOP and the DNC are the same beast.

Yes, a foreign power meddling in our election is worrisome. But, if sovereignty is your concern how do you not see that the GOP and DNC are both globalist institutions? The choice isn't between those two but Nationalism or Globalism. The DNC was more successful in tangibly rigging things, HRC wasn't going to get blindsided by the unwashed rabble and their populist leanings again. While the GOP arrogantly assumed they could just throw money at Trump's opponents and defeat him.

Trump,.Assad Korner

Just my .02$

ON the pipeline and policy: I did not want to make a long post where I spell out my positional opinion as the one true path sort of thing. But I will attempt to explain in short. I believed Trump saw that the two pipelines wanting to go through Syria and the regime change push as simple power politics to undermine a clear Russia & Syria alliance. I believed Trump wanted to back off from the momentum of another costly ( In many ways) destabilization effort from the US military industrial complex. The fact is no man is an island and i believe the intelligence community has a mind of its own and pushed forward. I believe that the gassings in Syria were probably US backed ( Or OPEC ~ Saudi, Iranian, NATO, EU) and forced Trump to reverse course. Russia is no longer the face of the cold war foe they played up until the 80's. Russian intersts could align with our own in a very tangible mutually beneficial manner in the years to come if our leaders were to cultivate that relationship. Oh, and the general push I am making is that both the left and the right ( DNC, RNC, and those that pledge alligiance to them) are absorbed in "group think". Those that disagree with the group are not simply an appreciated representitive of diversity of intellectual thought but an enemy to be shouted down, attacked, undermined, by any means necessary.

All very thoughtful - thanks for that

If the CIA in our country is up to clandestine support of gassing children, the world's an even worse place than I feared. Hope you're wrong but wouldn't completely rule it out.

Your last phrase, "by any means necessary" - it does seem to have come to that, and I wonder what happens when the next riot involves violence on *both* sides.

A riot with violence on both sides, you say?

I'll hazard a guess:

Any Campus-USA "Violence erupts as peaceful progressives are violently attacked by Neo-Nazi's. The smell of pathcoulli and petrol permeated the proceedings as progressives attempted to defend themselves from the violent assault of NAZI words. Progressives were reluctantly forced to defend themselves by premptivly using Molotov cocktails, hammers, and other tools of the oppressed, to stave off future NAZI attacks. Many victims of NAZI violence were treated at local safe spaces after enduring multiple triggerings. Multiple NAZI's died (thankfully) died at the scene."

Witty, Charles :- ) but

The objection to your first post is sustained my friend. Here we bend over backwards to avoid provoking each other. Please be aware of the need to encourage those of the opposite viewpoint to follow up on your comments.

Thanks!,

Mod

This is me trying to encourage a divergent view to post, doc

The reduction ad absurdum in the fake story was by design to soften the corners a bit, but also shine a light on the biased way the media treats each group. After the Scalise shooting and if anything a ratcheting up of the ridiculous notion that speech can be a a violent assault deserving of physical violence, along with the labeling of anyone who disagrees with a progressive as a NAZI, it's my fervent opinion a segment of the left is eager for political violence and the media is more than ready to condone, Enable, and soft peddle their crimes. This is the first time in my life where I've had to confront the fact my worldview might be met with violence, in *America*.

Sorry for the late in replying!

Thanks for the neutral tone!

the feeling you articulated, of feeling suppressed, I believe was the #1 driving force in a backlash that resorted to Donald Trump. If PC/identity suppression had not been so insufferable we would have a different person in the White House. (In Canada you can now be put in prison for using a pronoun that offends another person. )

The Georgia ads, with their images of Kathy Griffin, college rioting, and Nancy Pelosi failing to reign it in, were fantastically effective and could wind up costing Pelosi her job.

Our friends on the left sincerely believe, way down deep in their hearts, that the hatred has been at least as bad coming from the right. But we will see if they have the same kind of video ammunition to run in 2018 that the rIght does. You show your worst images, we'll show ours, and we'll see what the 50th percentile voter has to say about it.

Left hates, Coulter disappointed, must be doing something right

Trump's form is ugly as ugly, but I'm fine with the results.

A friend recently asked me why I support Trump, when Mike Pence stands ready to step in, someone more inclined to see things the way I do. One reason is that while I think his form is atrocious and not my preferable way, it's his way. He needs to do what he thinks is necessary, within the law, to achieve his objectives. If he has to tweet to get health care passed, or get the press to put the focus where he thinks it should be, so be it. He always does what he thinks he has to do, to get things built, or promote himself for ratings or whatever. Will it work as President? Is it "Presidential? I never cared whether Obama was being presidential or not. According to some, he was the most Presidential President the world had ever seen. That and a terrible Iran deal will buy you a cup of coffee and a $400k speech nobody will long remember, I suppose.

So, I try to overlook form and focus on substance - the bottom line. In that regard, I have very little objection to Trump's actual performance. But you gotta follow the law. Unfortunately, these days what passes for "law" is how an obscure judge feels about it. Hopefully Neil Gorsuch will help to fix that.

Nobody gets everything he wants, but I'm basically ok with what we're getting: Obamacare needs to be fixed because insurance costs are a joke and freedom and market approaches need to be re-introduced in order to correct them. Border security is greatly improved. I support drill, baby drill and modern, new pipelines. I want tax reform to encourage investments in capital and support budget cuts - and don't care at all what our spending says about our values. I don't want to spend money to signal virtue. I want to spend money on essential government services. I fully support Israel's right to exist in safety behind workable borders. North Korea must not be allowed to build an intercontinental nuke missile. Sarin gas attacks, especially on populations, cannot be allowed to go unchallenged.

I might wish he could be as smooth as Barack Obama, or Mike Pence for that matter, but I don't care what elites in foreign capitals think about us. I always wondered why the guy played, "You can't always get what you want" at his campaign rallies. Perhaps to warn both his supporters as well as his opponents.

Like many of you, I am tired of his constant reminder that he won the election. Yes, Donald, you won. We get it. But....well, if anyone was not supposed to win the Presidency at any time between the day he announced to the night he won, it was Donald Trump. He was never supposed to win. Ever. Has anyone ever done this? Hmmmmm.....I can't think of one. Maybe Harry Truman. But Truman was already the sitting President when he was never supposed to win. So, talk about your power of positive thinking. He also did it with half the money of his opponent and an overwhelming deficit of good press, much of it well earned, both then and now. I think Trump is a good observer of society, and has learned that trying to curry good press is a trap that will render one ineffective. BUT, he knows the aggregate value of press, good or bad, has always trafficked in it, and you can't argue with the results he has gotten by being ever available to its voracious appetite.

Tragic hero, headed for a great fall due to his fatal flaw? Perhaps. That's his problem. In the meantime, the country needs some things badly, including expanding economic growth and bending the deficit curve. He's headed in the right direction. I think. I could be wrong.