Korea Thread: Liberal Moon Jae In Elected

[garbon]

Maybe this was another "joke".

[jimmy olsen]

you guys take diplomatic platitudes too seriously when a Republican is in the Oval Office.

Name one comparable episode from Obama's or Clinton's presidency.

Or any 20th century president.

[Valmy]

Well also how can we know that those are just platitudes and actually he is doing the country's work behind the scenes? I thought the whole point of Trump is that he did not do 'platitudes' like those other swampy politicians. I need to see some evidence of that before I take it on faith that these are 'platitudes'.

[HisMajestyBOB]

He's definitely gone too far with them, but you guys take diplomatic platitudes too seriously when a Republican is in the Oval Office.

Donald Trump is not a Republican. I would give anything for an actual Republican to be president right now.

All the actual Republicans are retiring or losing primaries. The the Republican Party is now Donald Trump and people like him: Corey Stewart, Katie Arrington, and so on.

[derspiess]

I thought the whole point of Trump is that he did not do 'platitudes' like those other swampy politicians.

Seriously?  He's all about platitudes.  At least when he's not trashing someone.

[garbon]

I thought the whole point of Trump is that he did not do 'platitudes' like those other swampy politicians.

Seriously?  He's all about platitudes.  At least when he's not trashing someone.

V is right though that it is rather paradoxical. He's supposed to be the only politician real enough to tell us how it really is, not afraid to be un-PC but then is also just full of platitudes.

[derspiess]

I see that point, but it was never a secret that Trump exaggerates everything he says.

[Tamas]

I see that point, but it was never a secret that Trump exaggerates everything he says.

he is only honest about the things I care about. All the other contradictory shit he also promised and said? Those are platitudes and lies to get the votes of others.

[grumbler]

I see that point, but it was never a secret that Trump exaggerates everything he says.

Yep.  The man doesn't have an honest bone in his body. I don't think he is capable of distinguishing between the truth and what he wants to be true.

[Barrister]

I see that point, but it was never a secret that Trump exaggerates everything he says.

Yep.  The man doesn't have an honest bone in his body. I don't think he is capable of distinguishing between the truth and what he wants to be true.

Don't underestimate him.  He knows exactly when he is lying.

The other most notable moment came during the gaggle, when reporters asked Trump about a statement to The New York Times concerning a June 2016 meeting at Trump Tower between Donald Trump Jr., Jared Kushner, and campaign chairman Paul Manafort, along with a Russian lawyer. The president dictated the statement, as his lawyers acknowledged in a letter to special counsel Robert Mueller. That statement was false and quickly debunked.

"That's irrelevant," Trump said Friday. "It's a statement to The New York Times, the phony, failing New York Times. That's not a statement to a high tribunal of judges. That's a statement to the phony New York Times."

In short, the president is saying that it's totally acceptable to lie to the press, and by extension the public, as long as he is not under oath in the justice system. (As I've reported, Trump is far more honest under oath.) As a matter of law, this is true, but as a matter of character and leadership, it is not. The president is freely telling the public that he has no compunctions about lying through his teeth. Why does anyone still debate whether he means it?

https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2018/06/taking-trump-seriously-on-autocracy-and-lies/562940/

[Valmy]

I see that point, but it was never a secret that Trump exaggerates everything he says.

True but that is different from 'platitudes'. I don't understand his philosophy enough to know for sure what is a platitude and what is a statement of what he intends to do.

[grumbler]

Don't underestimate him.  He knows exactly when he is lying.

The other most notable moment came during the gaggle, when reporters asked Trump about a statement to The New York Times concerning a June 2016 meeting at Trump Tower between Donald Trump Jr., Jared Kushner, and campaign chairman Paul Manafort, along with a Russian lawyer. The president dictated the statement, as his lawyers acknowledged in a letter to special counsel Robert Mueller. That statement was false and quickly debunked.

"That's irrelevant," Trump said Friday. "It's a statement to The New York Times, the phony, failing New York Times. That's not a statement to a high tribunal of judges. That's a statement to the phony New York Times."

In short, the president is saying that it's totally acceptable to lie to the press, and by extension the public, as long as he is not under oath in the justice system. (As I've reported, Trump is far more honest under oath.) As a matter of law, this is true, but as a matter of character and leadership, it is not. The president is freely telling the public that he has no compunctions about lying through his teeth. Why does anyone still debate whether he means it?

https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2018/06/taking-trump-seriously-on-autocracy-and-lies/562940/

Don't underestimate him.  He doesn't know when he is lying and doesn't care.  As he says here, he doesn't care that he was lying before, because, unless he can be charged with a crime for it, truth is not relevant.  He believes that, by wishing something to be true, it becomes true.  He wishes no one cares if he lies, so he believes that no one cares if he lies.  He lies to himself as much as to anyone else.

And his followers actually don't care, because "he pisses off the liberals" and that is more important than competence or honesty.  His followers don't mind being failures if their betters also get dragged down.

[grumbler]

I see that point, but it was never a secret that Trump exaggerates everything he says.

True but that is different from 'platitudes'. I don't understand his philosophy enough to know for sure what is a platitude and what is a statement of what he intends to do.

Platitudes are different from exaggerations.  Platitudes are meaningless statements made in the knowledge that they are meaningless because repeated so often that they have lost all power to inform.  For example, "drain the swamp."  "Fascist" is a word in danger of becoming a platitude.

[Zanza]

WASHINGTON — U.S. intelligence agencies believe that North Korea has increased its production of fuel for nuclear weapons at multiple secret sites in recent months — and that Kim Jong Un may try to hide those facilities as he seeks more concessions in nuclear talks with the Trump administration, U.S. officials told NBC News.[...]

https://www.nbcnews.com/news/north-korea/north-korea-has-increased-nuclear-production-secret-sites-say-u-n887926

Trump is a sucker and has been played.

[mongers]

So was war averted by brilliant diplomacy?