Her plagiarism is a joke.
Mike Rowe made some great points in an article I saw today. I'm on my phone now so I can't post a link. Look it up, it's a great read.
Republican Candidates for 2016 Race
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Mike Rowe made some great points in an article I saw today. I'm on my phone now so I can't post a link. Look it up, it's a great read.
I assume you mean this. Not really seeing any "great points" here, just more of Rowe's characteristic "why is everything so gosh darn complicated, ain't politics silly" shtick.
Have you actually been watching the convention itself, or just listening to the delusional regurgitated propaganda of Dear Leader's brainwashed spokesminions on the news? Because watching the convention itself, it's hard to arrive at the conclusion that Trump has had a "really strong showing," other than when he descended from the Close Encounters mothership at the beginning to address the people of Earth, because his ego would demand no less.
Half the Republican Party refused to attend the convention out of disgust with the candidate (Sen. Sasse of Nebraska saying he would be taking his children on a tour of "dumpster fires" instead, and Sen. Flake of Arizona saying he'll be "mowing his lawn" that week), and the other half have given him the most reluctant, halfhearted endorsements possible, if they endorse him at all. Paul Ryan barely mentioned Trump and gave a speech about Republican values in general, a lot of which Trump doesn't hold. The first female space shuttle commander was supposed to talk about Trump in her speech (as it was presented to the press and entered in the Teleprompter) but just decided to skip it. Rambling idiot Sarah Palin didn't show up to get the attention she craves so much because as Trump said "Alaska is really far away." The entire gaggle of Bushes skipped the event. I guess Dubya was too busy fingerpainting and dancing jigs at cop's funerals to attend.
And how about that star power that Trump brought in to fill out the ranks because he didn't want too many boring politicians speaking (which they conveniently helped him with by not supporting him). It was a veritable who's who of "Who's that?" and who's not on mainstream TV anymore. How'd they manage to pull Antonio Sabato Jr. away from his latest Lifetime or SyFy Movie of the Week gig? And Scott Baio, wow. Is this a convention happening in 2016 or VH1's I Love the 80s? This lineup manages to make the "stars" on Dancing with the Stars actually look like real stars for once.
Then let's get to Trump's kids that "reflected so well on him." Uday and Qusay Trump come out, fresh off skinning alive some endangered African wildlife like the Predator and feeding on their lifeforce to gain power, and barely have a personal anecdote to share about their father. It's all about Gordon Gekko Jrs.' and Patrick Bateman's business relationship with their father, because that's what he is to them, a business partner. Even his other daughter Tiffany's (who he's only gotten closer to recently) one personal anecdote about her father was about him calling her when a friend of her's died because she was across the country living with the mother he cheated on and traded in for a younger model (literally). The one person who had any heartfelt remarks to say about Trump himself ironically demonstrated the separation that exists between him and his children, because she was the "personal assistant to the Trump kids" who had actually worked for them since childhood. I'm not saying the kids don't love him and he doesn't love his kids (we know how much he loves Ivanka in the totally wrong way. We know way too much about that) but the fact that their primary job was to humanize Trump and none of them could share any personal stories that did that is telling.
Then we get to the Melania plagiarism thing, which demonstrates what a flustercuck this campaign is for a number of reasons. First, any eighth-grader can download an app to compare the content of speeches to what's been written before, but apparently the people who want the nuclear codes can't. Secondly, you're supposed to be vetting her speech thoroughly multiple times with multiple aides, and it's obvious no one did. Thirdly, instead of just owning up to it, in which case everyone would have just moved on after some jokes on late-night TV, we got fifteen different explanations for what happened and blaming or shifting attention to everyone else from Michelle Obama to Twilight Sparkle from MLP to Kid Rock in one of the most bizarre interviews I've ever seen. Finally they owned up to it days later after the damage was done. And yes, Hillary Clinton's campaign has done stupid shit too; stipulated, but Trump has the most disorganized campaign I've ever seen, which speaks to his inability to lead. He doesn't even want to do the jobs we expect of the President, he wants to delegate those jobs to his VP and Cabinet while he takes more of a figurehead position like Queen.
Then we get to all the speakers who have made this entire convention a Salem Witch Trial about Hillary Clinton because they have nothing good to say about Trump. Half the speakers have called for Hillary to be thrown in prison while one called for her to be shot by a firing squad. Then they have the nerve to turn around and talk about the divisive rhetoric tearing this country apart? Granted, the Democratic Convention will also not say nice things about Trump, but I'm quite certain none of it will call for imprisoning him or killing him, and there will be plenty of speakers with actual personal anecdotes about Hillary Clinton and how she has helped them or helped her constituents, her state, and her country. Trump's lapdog Chris Christie, still reeling after being passed over for the VP job despite selling his soul to the Devil, I guess decided to audition for the Attorney General in Bane's Gotham City spot instead by holding an impromptu kangaroo court to convict Hillary Clinton. Then the lovechild of a gangbang between Sleepy, Dopey, Grumpy, and Doc from the Seven Dwarves; Ben Carson, said Hillary Clinton was indirectly in league with Lucifer himself. Donald Trump of course was pissed that such a prominent Republican as Satan would endorse Hillary instead of him. I kid because I love.
So yeah, "really strong showing." Just like North Korea's last harvest, said Trump's propagandists in their last report to Kim Jong-un before Trump used his lucrative Dennis Rodman connection to hire them to be his spokespeople instead.
Cruz is already the most hated man in Congress on both sides of the aisle, a fact which he gleefully cultivates and uses as a selling point, and a fact which his not-insignificant base loves about him, because like Trump voters they're all about anger and fear, sticking it to the establishment, and not caring that they're voting against their own self-interest. So I don't think he damages his potential future candidacy at all (quite the opposite), because the people who hate Trump now respect Cruz for sticking to his guns (literally), the Republicans who capitulated to Trump in the end have now been shamed and will have that used against them later, and only the people who already hated him are pissed about it (like the New York delegation who already didn't like him for his "New York Values" comments during the campaign).
Also, what makes him a "punk" (to quote Yanks) about not endorsing Trump? There's typical rival campaign rhetoric, which you expect and can forgive, and then there's Trump rhetoric, which is in a whole different league. Trump birther'd Cruz and said he shouldn't be President just like he did to Obama because Cruz was born in Canada. Trump insinuated that Cruz's father was involved in the Kennedy assassination. Trump has denigrated Latino-Americans repeatedly. Trump constantly called Cruz a liar. Not that Ted Cruz is much better, but why should he forgive and forget that kind of over-the-top hateful rhetoric being thrown his way?
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Not at all. It speaks to the fact that he's not an experienced politician. Guess it was good enough to beat all those other well-organized "leaders" though.
Hillary's record is Hillary's record. Just the email debacle alone would be enough for anyone not named Clinton to loose their clearance and their job - probably with some sort of fine or jail time. So I have no problem at all with "lock her up". Sure they will slam Trump, that's their job. The fact is she couldn't pass what I went through for my clearance, and she's running for POTUS. That's truly laughable (to be nice). But it will be interesting to see how they identify what she has actually accomplished as Senator and Secretary of State.
Cruz is a punk. He took an oath and went back on it. I would have preferred he just stay away. He damaged nothing but his chances in the future and once again demonstrated why he will never win outside of Texas... he can't give a speech... it just drags on and on and on... and he looks like Eddie Munster. As for those that didn't attend? Screw them, they are RINO's anyway and I'd prefer they are never heard from again. As to the "tit-for-tat" politics attacks... if you look back closely Trump didn't start any of them, he retaliated - albeit poorly in most cases.
The funniest part of the convention is every time Paul-no backbone-Ryan comes out to the podium and says "my fellow Republicans" ... he is not a popular guy anymore either, he garners no attention in that hall.
My cut on the convention? It's been kind of blah, with a few highpoints. One of my favorite speeches was from Laura Ingraham. I didn't see all the speeches. Not that any of this matters in modern times anyways... it's all pretty much a waste of $$$$.
Trump obviously isn't an experienced speech giver. He needs to realize the microphone is there for a reason. I didn't like most of what he said. I didn't see the whole thing as I had more important things to attend to.... I saw Star Trek Beyond last night.
I was watching the Clinton News Network yesterday and an anchor was interviewing New Jersey Senator Cory Booker because he's said to be on Killary's short list for VP. He held up a news paper that had a full page article that stated 67% of all Americans think she is untrustworthy and a liar (or something to that effect) and ask his what can she do about this? ... he never once addressed the question. That my friend is what you will see for a week at the DNC.
I'll look forward to your unbiased opinion of the DNC with their epic line-up of "leaders" next week.
Some of his language was inappropriate, especially in response to the crowd's responses, but he tried to convict her of policy errors and bad judgments and lying to the public (and yes, elections do allow the voters to judge the candidates). Of course a challenging party/convention is going to be heavily about and against the incumbent party, let alone after the party has had 8 years to govern and after Hillary Clinton both served in the administration in a key position and tried to portray herself as the president's political heir.
How does supporting Cruz and his principles and goals (protecting Constitutional rights, reducing the deficit, reducing favoritism toward business) mean you are working against your own self-interest? It's true he's also for reducing regulations and some regulations help people but many harm them.
Trump seems very much for big government rather than conservatism while Ryan has been willing to come up with specific policy proposals, I don't see how Trump is truer to a lot of Republican values.
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Because it's a rage and fear driven spectacle election and he excels at capitalizing on both, as well as in promoting his brand, which is all well in good for running a campaign, but doesn't have any applicability to actually running the country.
He's so inexperienced he doesn't even want to be President, but wants to delegate domestic AND foreign affairs to his VP while he takes on a figurehead position like the bloody Queen:
That’s the way things look after the New York Times reported Wednesday that Donald Trump Jr. offered Gov. John Kasich (R-OH) the opportunity to be "the most powerful vice president in history" back in May.
According to a Kasich adviser who spoke with the Times, the younger Trump said that Kasich would be in charge of both domestic and foreign policy. And what would Donald Sr. be in charge of? "Making America great again."
http://www.vox.com/2016/7/20/12235380/trump-kasich-most-powerful-vp
That's consistent with prior comments he's made about wanting to act like a CEO while he delegates all the real work to his VP and to a lesser extent his Cabinet. The guy is an empty suit. He's not strong, he's not smart, and he's not as successful as he likes to let on. He's a corrupt authoritarian who runs up enormous debts and will use the government and lawsuits to crack down on media that questions him, all the while running up the national debt and weakening our trade and alliances with our allies. How are those conservative values?
Hell, just the other day he said he wouldn't honor our NATO commitments unless the member countries paid their debts, like it's a bank or something. He has no understanding of national or international policy and no commitment or loyalty to anything.
You mean like when the Bush administration "lost" 27 million emails from private servers and no one went to jail?
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bush_White_House_email_controversy
You mean the oath Trump himself said he had no intention of honoring if he had not gotten the nomination?
Conservatives with those damn oaths. That stupid ultra-right wing religious oath in Iowa keeps you locked in with the zealots even when the candidate might prefer a more moderate approach, Grover Norquist's ridiculous tax oath keeps you locked in with not raising taxes under any circumstances even if the country needs it in an emergency or it improves the economy, and the NRA's oath keeps you from passing even the most basic, common sense gun control legislation which is agreed upon by 95%+ of your constituents. How is it that people who are rightly opposed to zero tolerance policies that make blanket decisions without consideration sign on for absolutist oaths and pledges that hurt your own standing with moderate voters?
And why should Cruz honor a pact with a racist who insulted his wife, father, questioned his citizenship and denigrated his ethnicity, and called him a liar from day one? How many times does one need to be called Lyin' Ted before you live up to the moniker? And you're grossly overestimating how much this will hurt him next time he runs. Most people will have forgotten about it, but the people that like him will admire his integrity for sticking to his principles, as wrongheaded as they are. Hell, I can't stand Ted Cruz and I have to give him credit for standing up unlike all those other weak-sauce Republicans who hate Trump and everything he stands for but capitulated.
You're kidding me with this right? Trump went right for the jugular with vicious personal attacks on every other Republican from day one, and those were carried over from the kind of personal attacks he's made in social media as long as the format has existed. And before that he did it in the papers and other media, and still does. That's his whole schtick.
I have trouble believing that you watched CNN and then concluded that they're in the bag for Clinton, when the only thing they're in the bag for is ratings. The network has given wall-to-wall free advertising to Trump because he's good for ratings. Do you think it was charity that they went out of their way to host the debates and town halls with him? And it's not a bias one way or another. They're aggressively neutral, even when they shouldn't be because not everything is a two-side issue (like you don't have to invite members of the Westboro Baptist Church on to speak about their perspective on protesting soldier's funerals, but they have).
I've never claimed to be unbiased in my opinions. Why should I be? I am absolutely 100% dirty liberal hippie.
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Other than that Mrs. Lincoln, how was the play?
I offered to get Abe some Life Savers from the concession stand, but he already had Air Heads.
Too soon?
Bravo! Couldn't have it said it better myself. This thing has played out like a three-ring circus from hell. Thus far, the campaign has relied too much on buzzwords, without substance. He reminds me of a scarecrow, doing the one thing he does best. And foreign policies? Horrifying. For a man who's been in business as long as he has, he doesn't seem to really understand worldwide economics either. It's baffling. For him, winning the presidency would be like giving a pyro some matches.
It's because he doesn't read. The man is not intellectually curious in the slightest, by all accounts. He makes Bush look like he was in Mensa.
Donald Trump doesn’t read books. Reading is a popular pastime, for both laymen and presidents. Barack Obama routinely visits independent bookstores and releases his summer reading list every year. And George W. Bush famously got into a reading duel with Karl Rove, to see who could read the most books.
But Donald Trump is not much of a reader, despite having written The Art of the Deal, “the number 1 selling business book of all time.” Asked by Megyn Kelly what his favorite book is besides The Art of the Deal, Trump chose All Quiet on the Western Front. (Not sure what happened to the Bible!) Kelly, perhaps sensing that Trump may not have read a book since sixth grade, asked him to name the last book he read. “I read passages, I read areas, chapters, I don’t have the time,” Trump said. “When was the last time I watched a baseball game? I’m watching you all the time.”
https://newrepublic.com/minutes/133566/donald-trump-doesnt-read-books
And he didn't even write most of The Art of the Deal, Tony Schwartz did, and Schwartz regrets ever popularizing Trump and thinks he's a legitimate threat to the world.
https://www.theguardian.com/books/2...ivilisation-the-art-of-the-deal-tony-schwartz
Current CNN President Jeff Zucker was previously the head of NBC who gave Trump The Apprentice and re-popularized his shitty brand yet again. Zucker's son calls him the Dr, Frankenstein to Trump's monster.
Related to that, and going back to Yanks' calling CNN the Clinton New Network, from Trump's own mouth:
Trump has been vocal about Zucker’s network throughout the election cycle, and even went on Fox News to praise CNN in December.
“Honestly, I think I get better press from CNN than I do Fox,” Trump said on the Dec. 16 edition of cable news’ highest-rated program “The O’Reilly Factor. … I think I get covered better on CNN than I do on Fox.”
http://www.thewrap.com/donald-trump...m-reality-star-frontrunner-presidential-race/
Fine, hate Hillary Clinton. Whatever. But I don't get the people who want to elect this buffoon just because he decided to slap an "R" next to his name this time. He's Sarah Palin with a fancier label on the packaging. He's just vacant, and what he fills the void with is nothing but hate and ignorance and lies. I just don't get it. He's not even into conservative values beyond paying them lip service to get elected, so why are people voting for him? If Hillary gets elected, it'll be four more years of an Obama-like presidency and then you can try again with a better Republican candidate, one that actually believes in your values. Despite all the doom and gloom at the convention, we're still here and the country is doing pretty well. You can tough it out for four more years, right? If Hillary's as bad as you guys think she is she'll be easy to beat next time after she's been in charge for a while. But if Trump gets elected, there's seriously a no bullshit chance of some kind of major national economic and/or social collapse, if we don't get involved in a new war, because he's that incompetent and hateful. He's going to damage our economy, damage our standing with our allies, damage our trade partnerships, and damage the relationship between our government and its people. He's a disaster.
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Maybe some good things will come from this mess. Maybe Trump will lose, Pence won't be Gov of Indiana, & Christie and Cruz will have ruined their political careers.
Oh, you mean like the liberal trope using woman's vagina? Fear driven topics aren't limited to one side. There's been more hate with the George Soros funded "protesters". But the DNC won't have to worry about that at their convention, they built a WALL around it!!
He would offer him the moon, and it has nothing to do with running anything. He's merely thinking O-H-I-O.
The President should act like a CEO. I'm guessing you have no idea what CEO's actually do. You've almost described Obama to a tee. ... and don't for a second tell me he's running the country. I will lose any respect I have to you. Obama has defined the term "empty suit". He asks permission to join the dinner table with Valerie Jarrett (for starters)
Whle the whole debt thing is a problem, mostly for us, tell me this... what IS NATO without the US? NATO's a joke that accomplishes nothing. Just what are our NATO commitments anyway?
You are prepping for the DNC next week aren't you. I told you what they would do and your just getting warmed up. don't even think I'm a Bush fan... another RINO. But you'd think, that since that happened what - quite a few years ago - that the outstanding leader that Hillary is would have LEARNED and not been as stupid, eh?
95% of what constituency want more federal regulations on arms? Didn't the Democrats shoot down 2 bills proposed to cover that life savings issue? Love the Norquist's oath BTW. That should limit government spending, but of course it doesn't.... they just spend at will - never cut anything. .... and the "war" hasn't cost us 19 trillion dollars either. I personally don't like those zero tolerance policies most of the time. I think it hurts judges. We put them there to be Judges and then tell them to just read a handbook. There are times where mercy should be allowed. Speaking about zero tolerance regulations.... how about them gun-free zones... I mean target zones.... not working out so well are they. Tell you what, you get rid of those and I'll get rid of the religious oath. But speaking of oaths... no one is forced to sign them, if they have a smart argument to the contrary, they should use it.
Actually no, I have read it... it's out there somewhere. But again, I'm not agreeing with his responses. It was nice to learn that Cruz's father was in with Castro?
It was the CNN reporter that showed Cory the article.... a point which you seemed to miss. I do watch them... I sort of feel sorry for them, low ratings and all... they really have fallen.
What you don't understand is Trump is playing their game better than they ever have. It's really quite entertaining.
You, a liberal hippie? .... say it isn't so.
Yeah, all that doesn't surprise me in the least. He's intellectually numb. And every time he speaks, he comes across as socially awkward.
.
No, you could not be more wrong about that. The President should act like the President of the United States. He/she should command respect, reflect the dignity of the office and at least appear to possess some sense of empathy.
Oh, you mean like the liberal trope using woman's vagina? Fear driven topics aren't limited to one side. There's been more hate with the George Soros funded "protesters". But the DNC won't have to worry about that at their convention, they built a WALL around it!!
He would offer him the moon, and it has nothing to do with running anything. He's merely thinking O-H-I-O.
The President should act like a CEO. I'm guessing you have no idea what CEO's actually do. You've almost described Obama to a tee. ... and don't for a second tell me he's running the country. I will lose any respect I have to you. Obama has defined the term "empty suit". He asks permission to join the dinner table with Valerie Jarrett (for starters)
Whle the whole debt thing is a problem, mostly for us, tell me this... what IS NATO without the US? NATO's a joke that accomplishes nothing. Just what are our NATO commitments anyway?
You are prepping for the DNC next week aren't you. I told you what they would do and your just getting warmed up. don't even think I'm a Bush fan... another RINO. But you'd think, that since that happened what - quite a few years ago - that the outstanding leader that Hillary is would have LEARNED and not been as stupid, eh?
95% of what constituency want more federal regulations on arms? Didn't the Democrats shoot down 2 bills proposed to cover that life savings issue? Love the Norquist's oath BTW. That should limit government spending, but of course it doesn't.... they just spend at will - never cut anything. .... and the "war" hasn't cost us 19 trillion dollars either. I personally don't like those zero tolerance policies most of the time. I think it hurts judges. We put them there to be Judges and then tell them to just read a handbook. There are times where mercy should be allowed. Speaking about zero tolerance regulations.... how about them gun-free zones... I mean target zones.... not working out so well are they. Tell you what, you get rid of those and I'll get rid of the religious oath. But speaking of oaths... no one is forced to sign them, if they have a smart argument to the contrary, they should use it.
Actually no, I have read it... it's out there somewhere. But again, I'm not agreeing with his responses. It was nice to learn that Cruz's father was in with Castro?
It was the CNN reporter that showed Cory the article.... a point which you seemed to miss. I do watch them... I sort of feel sorry for them, low ratings and all... they really have fallen.
What you don't understand is Trump is playing their game better than they ever have. It's really quite entertaining.
You, a liberal hippie? .... say it isn't so.
Bravo.
And in an ideal world the Trumpists would be consigned to their own third party status and you get a more inclusive center right party. But in the mirror universe we live in, we might as well be seeing the Ku Klux Klan revived as a political party ironically under the GOP banner.
The United States.
I was a little off on the number though, it was 92%.
Americans Favor Limits on Gun Show Sales and High-Capacity Magazines
A significantly higher percentage of Americans -- 62% -- do favor banning the sale of high-capacity ammunition magazines, generally defined as those that contain more than 10 rounds. Also, nearly all Americans -- now 92%, up from 83% in 1999 -- favor laws that require people attempting to purchase guns at gun shows, including gun dealers, to undergo background checks.
http://www.gallup.com/poll/159569/americans-stricter-gun-laws-oppose-bans.aspx
Trump the Chump
Of course Vladimir Putin and Kim Jong-un support the presumptive GOP nominee. He serves their interests.
By Fred Kaplan
It is no coincidence that two of the world’s wiliest dictators—Russia’s Vladimir Putin and, now it seems, North Korea’s Kim Jong-un—are keen to see Donald Trump win this fall’s election.
Trump’s bromance with the Kremlin chief first blossomed late last year, when he praised Putin’s “leadership” and said, “I would get along with Putin”—sparking Putin to call Trump “a very lively man, talented without doubt,” whom he could “get along with” as well.
The salutations from the hermit kingdom of Pyongyang came just Monday, in the form of an article in the official newspaper of the ruling Workers’ Party hailing Trump as a “wise politician” in contrast to “the thick-headed Hillary.”
Some attribute these odd salutes to the like-mindedness of authoritarian personalities, but this misses the point. More likely, Putin and Kim pine for a Trump presidency because they see he’s an easy mark, someone who thinks he’s smart and tough but who, in fact, is all set to give away the store.
Most leaders, perhaps especially authoritarian ones, don’t care about an opposite number’s charms or lack thereof; they care only about advancing their interests. Putin’s main interest in global affairs is to preserve what little semblance of an empire Russia once had—and, toward that end, to split the Western powers: both within Europe and across the trans-Atlantic alliance with the United States.
Trump serves this interest well, having said many times he regards NATO as “obsolete” and that, unless the Western European nations spent more for their defenses, he’d withdraw our army from the continent entirely.
Putin must also have been amused by Trump’s naive remark (uttered in the same interview in which he gave the Kremlin chief an “A” for leadership): “I’ve dealt with Russia”—no doubt knowing that Trump’s only such dealings have been with Russian real-estate magnates and as the proprietor of a Miss Universe contest in Moscow. (Trump later acknowledged this fact with no apparent embarrassment, calling the Miss Universe pageant “a big deal.”)
North Korea’s chief interest, dating back to the country’s founding in the 1940s, has been to play larger regional powers off one another—the shrewd strategy (as Kim’s grandfather, the original Great Leader Kim Il Sung, put it) of “a shrimp among whales.” And the regime’s fanciful dream has been that the Korean peninsula reunify under the Communist North’s terms.
By this measure, Kim must be giddy at the prospect of a Trump victory as the presumptive GOP nominee has wagged his finger at our Asia–Pacific allies with special ferocity, wondering out loud why U.S. forces need to be paying anything to defend South Korea and Japan. The opinion piece in North Korea’s official party newspaper expressed the joy explicitly: “Who knew,” it says of Trump’s policy plans, “that the ‘Yankee, Go Home’ slogan we shouted so enthusiastically could come true as easily as this?” It added, “The day that the ‘Yankee, Go Home’ slogan becomes reality will be the day Korea is unified again.”
This is why, whenever President Obama meets with allied leaders these days he is plastered with questions about Trump—who is this guy, what does he want, could he really be elected? The foreigners ask these questions not out of mere curiosity but panic. They see Trump would be a disaster for their interests and U.S. interests—and a feast for our shrewdest adversaries.
http://www.slate.com/articles/news_...donald_trump_that_should_make_us_nervous.html
The article below that is also a good read:
Trump Is Dangerously Incompetent on National Security
His promise to abandon NATO allies is a huge gift to Russia and China.
Of course Vladimir Putin and Kim Jong-un support the presumptive GOP nominee. He serves their interests.
By Fred Kaplan
It is no coincidence that two of the world’s wiliest dictators—Russia’s Vladimir Putin and, now it seems, North Korea’s Kim Jong-un—are keen to see Donald Trump win this fall’s election.
Trump’s bromance with the Kremlin chief first blossomed late last year, when he praised Putin’s “leadership” and said, “I would get along with Putin”—sparking Putin to call Trump “a very lively man, talented without doubt,” whom he could “get along with” as well.
The salutations from the hermit kingdom of Pyongyang came just Monday, in the form of an article in the official newspaper of the ruling Workers’ Party hailing Trump as a “wise politician” in contrast to “the thick-headed Hillary.”
Some attribute these odd salutes to the like-mindedness of authoritarian personalities, but this misses the point. More likely, Putin and Kim pine for a Trump presidency because they see he’s an easy mark, someone who thinks he’s smart and tough but who, in fact, is all set to give away the store.
Most leaders, perhaps especially authoritarian ones, don’t care about an opposite number’s charms or lack thereof; they care only about advancing their interests. Putin’s main interest in global affairs is to preserve what little semblance of an empire Russia once had—and, toward that end, to split the Western powers: both within Europe and across the trans-Atlantic alliance with the United States.
Trump serves this interest well, having said many times he regards NATO as “obsolete” and that, unless the Western European nations spent more for their defenses, he’d withdraw our army from the continent entirely.
Putin must also have been amused by Trump’s naive remark (uttered in the same interview in which he gave the Kremlin chief an “A” for leadership): “I’ve dealt with Russia”—no doubt knowing that Trump’s only such dealings have been with Russian real-estate magnates and as the proprietor of a Miss Universe contest in Moscow. (Trump later acknowledged this fact with no apparent embarrassment, calling the Miss Universe pageant “a big deal.”)
North Korea’s chief interest, dating back to the country’s founding in the 1940s, has been to play larger regional powers off one another—the shrewd strategy (as Kim’s grandfather, the original Great Leader Kim Il Sung, put it) of “a shrimp among whales.” And the regime’s fanciful dream has been that the Korean peninsula reunify under the Communist North’s terms.
By this measure, Kim must be giddy at the prospect of a Trump victory as the presumptive GOP nominee has wagged his finger at our Asia–Pacific allies with special ferocity, wondering out loud why U.S. forces need to be paying anything to defend South Korea and Japan. The opinion piece in North Korea’s official party newspaper expressed the joy explicitly: “Who knew,” it says of Trump’s policy plans, “that the ‘Yankee, Go Home’ slogan we shouted so enthusiastically could come true as easily as this?” It added, “The day that the ‘Yankee, Go Home’ slogan becomes reality will be the day Korea is unified again.”
This is why, whenever President Obama meets with allied leaders these days he is plastered with questions about Trump—who is this guy, what does he want, could he really be elected? The foreigners ask these questions not out of mere curiosity but panic. They see Trump would be a disaster for their interests and U.S. interests—and a feast for our shrewdest adversaries.
http://www.slate.com/articles/news_...donald_trump_that_should_make_us_nervous.html
The article below that is also a good read:
Trump Is Dangerously Incompetent on National Security
His promise to abandon NATO allies is a huge gift to Russia and China.
Just like a CEO should for the company
And which part of her post in any way sounds like Donald Trump? Respect, dignity, and empathy are not three words anyone would use to describe him, except for himself of course.
"I'm going to bring the most dignity to the office you've ever seen, folks. I'm the best at dignity. We're gonna be feeling the empathy, bigly. Nobody does empathy like Trump. Where's my African-American? I want to empathize with him. And the respect? The respect is gonna be YUUUUGE. There's going to be so much respect, you're not even going to want respect anymore. You're going to be telling yourself, 'Please, please Mr. Trump, no more respect, we can't handle it.' And only I can give it to you."
Other than having an (R) next to his name this time (and that's by no means something he's had long term or something he feels beholden too) can you tell me in detail what it is about Trump that appeals to you as a candidate without insulting Hillary Clinton in the process? I don't say that latter part because Hillary is off limits or because there's not a lot of criticism that can be leveled at her; there is. I say it because, like the convention, instead of being a promotion of Trump's qualifications as a candidate, it's been more of a witchhunt about Hillary. So I'd like to hear why you're so gung-ho about Trump in your own words without any distractions or tangents, and how Trump represents conservative values.
ETA: This summarizes the hypocrisy of GOP voters jumping on the Trump train nicely:
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