US Politics Thread 2016-2020

[Onkel Neal]

Originally Posted by vienna

Um, did anyone tell Trump he actually won? His speech was just a rehash of the other speeches he gave on the campaign trail, nothing really new or compelling. I'd read and heard he was writing his own speech rather than use speechwriters, but this sounded like he gave the occasion very little, if any, thought or preparation...



<O>

What he says doesn't matter, it's what he does that counts

[Aktungbby]

Originally Posted by Onkel Neal

I don't think Trump was ever going to be good for memorable oration. What he says doesn't matter, it's what he does that counts

Let's hope he's not good for 'memorable' anything in the coming four years ... I'll settle for 'no hits' 'no runs' and emphatically 'no errors' with regard to Putin, N. Korea, & ISIS.

[Oberon]

At least all the 'America First' stuff from the 1930s will be useful again for people who've held onto it. They say that if you wait long enough anything comes back into style.

[vienna]

Originally Posted by Onkel Neal

I don't think Trump was ever going to be good for memorable oration.

That was always a given; eloquence is not his strong suit. But there were a couple of times during the campaign when he seemed to allow someone to help him with his speeches and the result was, if not spectacular or quotable, at least serviceable and gave a linearity and cohesion to his normally rambling style. He could have used an assist at least for such a widely viewed occasion; it will be interesting to see what those in other countries think of his spiel...



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[vienna]

BTW, for those looking for possible omens or signs, note was made of Trump taking his oath on two Bibles stacked together. The only other President to take his oath on two stacked Bibles: Richard M. Nixon. Double Bibles couldn't prevent what happened to him...


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[Oberon]

Originally Posted by vienna

it will be interesting to see what those in other countries think of his spiel...



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"Trump gives me outbreaks of sweat", his German translator says. "He is so contradictory that people think the translator talks rubbish."

[Rockstar]

I really do hope we call our troops home and withdraw from NATO and Europe.

[Sung]

What comes next if Trump says the US did not protect the borders of other countries? What does Poland, Estonia, Lithuania, Latvia, Taiwan, Korea and many others think when they look over their border? 70 years the world was dominated by the US. And now - make what you want? We've got 2 Mio Refugees in 2015. I hope not the US get their 200 Mio in 2017

[Catfish]

Originally Posted by Rockstar

I really do hope we call our troops home and withdraw from NATO and Europe.

Yes, please do.
Also, India was probably astonished you could get rid of England just by voting.

[mapuc]

^ When it comes to South Korea I can say what my subsim friends have told before.

US military is not in SK to help or protect SK against NK, but to prevent SK to overrun NK. So if USA should leave SK, it would mean SK would overrun NK.

Europe-Many expert say Russia would be defeated if they attacked on of the former WP member, If this was with USA or without USA in their mind I don't know.

End of military thoughts

I hope Trump will give the Americans new hope for the Future and I hope that American citizens, in some years from now can look back and say-Hey Trump is doing a great job as our President.

Hopefully it will not be years of despair.

Markus

[vienna]

Originally Posted by Oberon

Quote:
"Trump gives me outbreaks of sweat", his German translator says. "He is so contradictory that people think the translator talks rubbish."

...and given the results of the popular vote last November, a majority of the US electorate thought Trump talked rubbish in plain English...

The translation issue has always interested me; I've known a lot of people from other countries and have often been surprised at some of the ways they have misconstrued speeches and statements made by our leaders and politicians. One young lady from China once explained to me how some of the translators in the media in China, seeking to make their translations relatable to their audiences, will throw in distinctly Chinese colloquialisms as part of a translation; she said the results can often be vastly different from the original meaning(s)...

This all reminds me of a scene from Woody Allen's film "Bananas":






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[Oberon]

Originally Posted by Rockstar

I really do hope we call our troops home and withdraw from NATO and Europe.

Indeed, then when China nukes you we won't get the fallout.

[nikimcbee]

Originally Posted by Rockstar

I really do hope we call our troops home and withdraw from NATO and Europe.

The NATO treaty could use some updating.

[Rockin Robbins]

Originally Posted by vienna

...and given the results of the popular vote last November, a majority of the US electorate thought Trump talked rubbish in plain English...

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Actually if you take the votes in 49 states, letting the Socialist Republic of California slide into the ocean, Trump won the popular vote by 4 million. To have let California alone overturn the wishes of the other 49 states would have been the height of tyranny, but of course the left wing will say ANYTHING to justify their lunacy.

Of course, they will all get to vote on whether "progressives" (we need to redefine the term to mean something good, not bad) decide to be useful or irrelevant to the future. I was afraid Trump might have lost sight of the most important thing he can accomplish, but his remarks yesterday morning tell me that his eye is squarely on the ball.

Get yourself an electoral map, divided by county, not state. Look for those counties that voted majority Democrat (well, Hillary if you don't believe she represented the best of what the Democratic Party has to offer). Almost all the sources of Democratic electoral votes came from the rotten, poverty and crime ridden inner cities Democrats have controlled with an iron hand since the 1930s. They buy those votes cheaply, with just enough free stuff to keep their voters alive until their next vote. Those areas are full of despair, predatory behavior, poverty, drugs, gangs and lack of opportunity.

Trump has a clear road to changing all that. He can approach companies with hundreds of billions of dollars stranded in a progressively unfriendly world and our highest corporate taxes in the world give him the leverage to induce them to come back when and where Trump chooses.

If he entices a hundred companies to come back home, relocate to the blighted inner cities under an agreement that in exchange for lower taxes and forgiving penalties, they would have to agree to stay in their new locations for 30 years and hire a certain high number of workers who live there now.

Instead of miserly handouts, these people would have great jobs and opportunity. They would all have health insurance coverage. They would be out from under the stupid government hoops they've jumped through for 70 years to get barely enough to survive.

If this succeeds, where do Democratic votes come from then? There just wouldn't be any. So what do the Democrats do? Do they fight prosperity? They probably will, and lose. And they lose relevancy in the American political system for a half century afterwards.

Or do they have the sense of President Clinton and sign on, sharing the credit? But remember, the precedent is already set. When Newt Gingrich balanced the budget and created the surplus that is the enduring legacy of President Clinton, Clinton stabbed him in the back. That being the precedent, who could blame Republicans for forcing the Democrats to go along and then knifing them when the plan succeeds? It would be justice.

But it would be bad for the country. Two healthy parties are absolutely necessary for at least one of them to be in the best interest of the country. With nobody to keep them in their place the most ruthless always rise to the top. In such a scenario there are no good guys anywhere alive.

If Trump is thinking straight, Democrats are at his mercy. If we have learned anything in the past eighteen months, it should be never to underestimate Donald Trump. He is not a cartoon villian. He just plays one on TV.

[Platapus]

I often wonder what former presidents do on the morning of 21 January.

It has got to be quite the sudden change. The former president was still "on duty" the morning of 20 Jan and got the same briefings and perhaps had to go to the same meetings.

But all that changes the morning of 21 Jan. I bet it is quite the stressful change. On one hand, I believe that there has to be a sense of relief with outgoing presidents. It is, after all, a stressful and thankless job, but on the other hand to switch intellectual gears that quickly. That's gotta be rough.

In some ways, it may be similar to combat troops coming home. I am sure there is a period of adjustment that might not be that easy.

I would imagine the first thing would be that the former president can take a nice long poop in the morning with out having to read or talk to anyone.