What does a TRUMP presidency look like?

[jimmy olsen]

My eyes, the goggles do nothing!

https://twitter.com/N8TechTweetz/status/1168947625934151681

Someone commented that Donald Trump stands like a centaur without its hind legs, and now I can't unsee it.

[Valmy]

Seth Meyers had a funny clip collection. Trump said something about no one ever seeing a category 5 hurricane before. He then showed clips of a number of times he said the same about the previous three category 5 hurricanes during his presidency.   

You know sometimes I wonder if his age is starting to impact him. He is making gaffs that go beyond just being his special brand of arrogant and ignorant. I don't think Donald of 2015 does this kind of thing.

[HVC]

he's the best senile president since the last senile president, so he's got that going for him. But can he top Reagan as the most beloved GOP president of our time?

[Habbaku]

he's the best senile president since the last senile president, so he's got that going for him. But can he top Reagan as the most beloved GOP president of our time?

If he wins reelection, he will supplant Reagan in the pantheon, yes. The GOP will have no choice but to switch to deification of him instead of Reagan.

[Razgovory]

he's the best senile president since the last senile president, so he's got that going for him. But can he top Reagan as the most beloved GOP president of our time?

If he wins reelection, he will supplant Reagan in the pantheon, yes. The GOP will have no choice but to switch to deification of him instead of Reagan.

In many ways they already have.  I'm not Reagan fan, but at least he had warmth, compassion, and humility.  He was smart enough to know that he wasn't the smartest man in the room, which is an important quality in a leader.  Carter did not have that quality, which is why he wasn't that successful.  Reagan's hand's off method created it's own serious problems, but most President's can have find middle ground.

[Camerus]

God help us if Biden is the Dem nominee. At least his brand of senility is less angry, but surely the US can do better than rambling old embarrassments.

[dps]

God help us if Biden is the Dem nominee. At least his brand of senility is less angry, but surely the US can do better than rambling old embarrassments.

Biden's not senile;  he can just be spectacularly inarticulate.  Making gaffes is what he's been best known for ever since he was in his 40s. 

[Legbiter]

God help us if Biden is the Dem nominee. At least his brand of senility is less angry, but surely the US can do better than rambling old embarrassments.

The problem is that if you're in the market for someone like Biden the alternatives have problems. Harris is bad on the stump and Buttgieg hardly polls among black people. 

[Razgovory]

I'd be fine if he was senile.  It might be helpful if the Congress had no choice but to govern.  I would very much like to see the executive weakened and the Congress empowered.

[The Larch]

So apparently Pence's recent visit to Ireland went like a lead balloon...

Mike Pence accused of humiliating hosts in Ireland
The vice-president's comments on Brexit while visiting Ireland and his stay at his boss's golf course did not go down well

Missteps during Mike Pence's visit to Ireland that included controversial praise of the British prime minister, Boris Johnson, have led to accusations of betrayal and "humiliation".

One Irish Times columnist concluded that the vice-president, a "much-anticipated visitor", turned out to have "shat on the ... carpet".

Pence's problems started with his decision to stay for two nights at Donald Trump's golf resort in Doonbeg, County Clare, more than 140 miles from Dublin, necessitating costly and logistically complex travel. The move quickly drew fire from ethics experts and political rivals.

The House speaker, Nancy Pelosi, called Trump's properties a "cesspool of corruption" and accused the president of "prioritizing his profits over the interests of the American people".

"Pence is just the latest Republican elected official to enable President Trump's violations of the constitution," she said.

A spokesman for the vice-president said the decision was partly based on the president's suggestion Pence stay there, and partly on secret service concerns about costs and logistics. Questioned about the decision on Wednesday, Trump claimed he had "no involvement, other than it's a great place".

But that was only the start of the controversy.

The Irish Times columnist Miriam Lord responded to a tense meeting between the vice-president and the taoiseach, Leo Varadkar, in which Pence urged the republic to protect the "United Kingdom's sovereignty". That Varadkar is gay and Pence a past champion of anti-LGBTQ legislation in Indiana also caused widespread comment.

Pence laid on platitudes about being "deeply humbled" and "honoured" to be visiting Doonbeg, the home of his mother's grandmother. But in Dublin he offered his hosts a clear lesson in his administration's political priorities.

"Let me be clear: the US supports the UK decision to leave the EU in Brexit," Pence told Varadkar in a prepared statement. "But we also recognise the unique challenges on your northern border. And I can assure you we will continue to encourage the United Kingdom and Ireland to ensure that any Brexit respects the Good Friday agreement."

Among media responses, Irish Central asked: "Did VP Pence betray Ireland in his Brexit comments during Irish trip?"

The Irish Examiner accused Pence of trying to "humiliate" the republic.

But Lord struck the most telling blow.

She described the impact of the Pence visit on Ireland as "like pulling out all the stops for a much-anticipated visitor to your home and thinking it has been a great success until somebody discovers he shat on the new carpet in the spare room, the one you bought specially for him".

"As Pence read from the autocue and Irish eyes definitely stopped smiling," she added, "it was clear he was channeling His Master's Voice. Trump is a fan of Brexit and of Boris."

"Pence," Lord continued, "is Irish American and wastes no opportunity to go misty-eyed about his love for the 'Old Country' as he lards on his Mother Machree schtick on both sides of the Atlantic."

Lord wasn't alone in her criticism. The Cork Examiner's political editor, Daniel McConnell, wrote: "The cheek of him coming here, eating our food, clogging up our roads and then having the nerve to humiliate his hosts."

[Valmy]

How are we supporting the UK? Does Pence have any suggestions about how to both create a border while not creating one? Why bring up this issue, and announce our opposition to Ireland while visiting them, if you have nothing to contribute?

I thought Pence was supposed to be the competent one.

[Valmy]

God help us if Biden is the Dem nominee. At least his brand of senility is less angry, but surely the US can do better than rambling old embarrassments.

The problem is that if you're in the market for someone like Biden the alternatives have problems. Harris is bad on the stump and Buttgieg hardly polls among black people. 

I will take my chances

Besides, where is this evidence Biden is great on the stump and polls well with black voters?

[Zoupa]

Everywhere? 

https://www.politico.com/story/2019/09/02/black-voters-sanders-biden-2020-1479234

[Valmy]

Everywhere? 

https://www.politico.com/story/2019/09/02/black-voters-sanders-biden-2020-1479234

Damn. I stand corrected Legbiter.

Well, as that article states, whomever the black people like will win so I guess elderly candidate it is...at this juncture anyway.

[HisMajestyBOB]

I thought Pence was supposed to be the competent one.

Well, relatively speaking...