What does a TRUMP presidency look like?

[CountDeMoney]

 

[Admiral Yi]

that is his admission he was wrong

  Sure.  Just like blaming (incredibly respected) generals and Obama for a raid gone bad in Yemen was admitting he was wrong.  Whenever he blames someone else I'll now know that he's admitting he was wrong.

[jimmy olsen]

what a dumb decision on her part. people can *always* scrounge up $500 through austerity measures.

Lol.

What fantasy world are you living in? 47% of Americans can't raise $400 to pay an unexpected bill.

https://www.google.co.kr/amp/s/www.theatlantic.com/amp/article/476415/

[LaCroix]

that is his admission he was wrong

  Sure.  Just like blaming (incredibly respected) generals and Obama for a raid gone bad in Yemen was admitting he was wrong.  Whenever he blames someone else I'll now know that he's admitting he was wrong.

I mean, it depends to a degree on context.

[grumbler]

It's Buzzfeed, so "grain of salt" warning, but an interesting story:  outrage is its own business. https://www.buzzfeed.com/craigsilverman/how-the-hyperpartisan-sausage-is-made?utm_term=.yb2K23Rq1#.mn24EzMAe

The websites Liberal Society and Conservative 101 appear to be total opposites. The former publishes headlines such as "WOW, Sanders Just Brutally EVISCERATED Trump On Live TV. Trump Is Fuming." Its conservative counterpart has stories like "Nancy Pelosi Just Had Mental Breakdown On Stage And Made Craziest Statement Of Her Career."

So it was a surprise last Wednesday when they published stories that were almost exactly the same, save for a few notable word changes.

After CNN reported White House counselor Kellyanne Conway was "sidelined from television appearances," both sites whipped up a post — and outrage — for their respective audiences. The resulting stories read like bizarro-world versions of each other — two articles with nearly identical words and tweets optimized for opposing filter bubbles. The similarity of the articles also provided a key clue BuzzFeed News followed to reveal a more striking truth: These for-the-cause sites that appeal to hardcore partisans are in fact owned by the same Florida company.

Liberal Society and Conservative 101 are among the growing number of so-called hyperpartisan websites and associated Facebook pages that have sprung up in recent years, and that attracted significant traffic during the US election. A previous BuzzFeed News analysis of content published by conservative and liberal hyperpartisan sites found they reap massive engagement on Facebook with aggressively partisan stories and memes that frequently demonize the other side's point of view, often at the expense of facts.

Jonathan Albright, a professor at Elon University, published a detailed analysis of the hyperpartisan and fake news ecosystem. Given the money at stake, he told BuzzFeed News he's not surprised some of the same people operate both liberal and conservative sites as a way to "run up their metrics or advertising revenue."

Nobody ever lost money betting on the stupidity of voters.

[LaCroix]

what a dumb decision on her part. people can *always* scrounge up $500 through austerity measures.

Lol.

What fantasy world are you living in? 47% of Americans can't raise $400 to pay an unexpected bill.

https://www.google.co.kr/amp/s/www.theatlantic.com/amp/article/476415/

tim, this wasn't an "unexpected" bill. she knew she'd have to renew. also this wasn't any ordinary bill. this was perhaps the most important bill of her life, one that she couldn't just reneg on.

and, like I said, she had time to pay up. she could have stopped everything she did and worked her ass off to get that fee paid.

she neither saved nor did everything possible to pay.

[The Minsky Moment]

re: "such repeated figures of speech," someone can consistently be loose with their words while yammering about something in the heat of the moment. it doesn't have to equal some mental disorder.

I didn't use the word "mental disorder".  I said "communicative disability".  Not the same thing.  Lots of normal people have some sort of communicative disability - a stutter, a lisp, verbal tics, etc.

To be clear, I don't think Trump has a communicative disability.  I think he means what he says and unfortunately what he says is often quite horrible.  It's his defenders like you that keep insisting he has some sort of inability to match his words to his thoughts.  You can't have it both ways.  Either he has to be accountable for what he says, or you have to take the position that he has some kind of problem and really should be in therapy and not in the Oval Office talking to foreign leaders directly over an unsecured Android phone. I don't buy into this postmodern deconstruction of his utterances where blame is read as apology and insult is to be understood as gracious concession.

By way of comparison neither President Bush was known for his smooth oratory; each had his fair share of verbal gaffes.  But neither they nor their supporters ever dreamed of constructing an alternate lexicon to explain them away.  Doing so insults both our intelligence and Trump's.

[LaCroix]

i was referring to this

It only makes sense in the context of someone who doesn't see others as real people, but as objects or tools.  When you're the only person qua person in the world then by definition you are the best, the only, the least vicious, etc.

apologies if i was unclear

[LaCroix]

Either he has to be accountable for what he says, or you have to take the position that he has some kind of problem and really should be in therapy and not in the Oval Office talking to foreign leaders directly over an unsecured Android phone.

disagree these are the only options

[The Minsky Moment]

i was referring to this

It only makes sense in the context of someone who doesn't see others as real people, but as objects or tools.  When you're the only person qua person in the world then by definition you are the best, the only, the least vicious, etc.

apologies if i was unclear

That's also not a mental disorder.  If it was a number of guys on Wall Street would be suffering from mental disorders.  Or for that matter a bunch of RE guys.  It's a mental viewpoint that can be quite functional in some professional settings.   I agree with Allen Frances on this.  Trump is highly functional - his behavior is horrific, but it's horrific because he's been consistently and very powerfully reinforced to act that way.  And the excuse machine of which you are a part contributes to that behavioral reinforcement.  He knows he can cross lines people shouldn't cross because a huge bloc of people will still back him uncritically and make excuses for him.

[The Minsky Moment]

Either he has to be accountable for what he says, or you have to take the position that he has some kind of problem and really should be in therapy and not in the Oval Office talking to foreign leaders directly over an unsecured Android phone.

disagree these are the only options

Unfortunately you are right.  The third option is the status quo where he continues to damage the country and nothing is done about it.

[Grey Fox]

There is a 1990 playboy interview with Trump.

His world view, his plans, what he likes or hates are exactly the same. Nothing has changed.

[LaCroix]

i was referring to this

It only makes sense in the context of someone who doesn't see others as real people, but as objects or tools.  When you're the only person qua person in the world then by definition you are the best, the only, the least vicious, etc.

apologies if i was unclear

That's also not a mental disorder.  If it was a number of guys on Wall Street would be suffering from mental disorders.  Or for that matter a bunch of RE guys.  It's a mental viewpoint that can be quite functional in some professional settings.   I agree with Allen Frances on this.  Trump is highly functional - his behavior is horrific, but it's horrific because he's been consistently and very powerfully reinforced to act that way.  And the excuse machine of which you are a part contributes to that behavioral reinforcement.  He knows he can cross lines people shouldn't cross because a huge bloc of people will still back him uncritically and make excuses for him.

thank you for clarifying what you meant. I took your post by what you literally said, that trump literally did not view others as people.

I agree trump is narcissistic (not NPD), and I don't think anyone is disputing that. plenty of articles suggest many successful people lack empathy.

that doesn't mean this is true-

And because his mental world is built around a solipsism so pure and unadulterated that in his mind, if he doesn't know, no one else knows.  His discovery is the world's discovery.

I think trump was aware before and after his comment (but maybe not as he said it) that at least one other person existed who knew the healthcare problem was complicated.

[jimmy olsen]

https://www.wsj.com/articles/donald-trump-jr-was-likely-paid-at-least-50-000-for-event-held-by-hosts-allied-with-russia-on-syria-1488473640

Donald Trump Jr. Was Likely Paid at Least $50,000 for Event Held by Hosts Allied With Russia on Syria

October appearance by son of then-candidate is one of string of contacts between members of the president's inner circle and individuals connected to Moscow

By
Jay Solomon and Benoit Faucon
Updated March 2, 2017 3:36 p.m. ET

President Donald Trump's eldest son was likely paid at least $50,000 for an appearance late last year before a French think tank whose founder and his wife are allies of the Russian government in efforts to end the war in Syria.

[merithyn]

it's true. she knew it was going to expire, and she could have saved. hell, she could have couch surfed and worked three jobs starting in november and saved that much. eat rice and beans, etc. this wasn't saving for retirement, this was saving for her staying in the country she apparently wanted to continue residing in.

she didn't do that, and if she stops blaming other people, she may very well regret her fuckup for the rest of her life.

Spoken like a man who's never had to scrape by.

Max was illegal for 16 months because we couldn't scrape up the $1800 (fees plus legal costs) we needed to apply for his green card. When it came time to reapply for his green card two years later, to the tune of another $550, we nearly didn't make the deadline because it was so hard to pull it together. Another two years, and we had to come up with another $750 for his actual citizenship.

And every time, it was a nightmare. We were getting by as a family of six on $22k/year plus child support. I assure you, it's not that easy.