The Trump Presidency – 2016

[JPhillips]

Trump said that he doesn't know most of his ambassadors, "I don't even know their names." Somehow that's supposed to make him look better.

[thesloppy]

I dunno where it belongs in the healthcare conversation, but where I live one of our largest healthcare providers is ostensibly a Catholic non-profit organization....but their MO as a religious non-profit healthcare provider is not to keep profit margins low & provide low-cost healthcare, they are keeping their margins high and investing those profits into grabbing as much real estate & property as possible.

[QuikSand]

Originally Posted by Atocep

Earlier in this thread I compared Trump to Slobodan Milosevic. That's looking more accurate by the day.

Side story, but it connects...

Had friends and we used to play board games, including a complicated one called "Road to the White House." A solid presidential campaign sim, I'd recommend it if you can stomach a 3-hour event, at least your first few times.

Anyway, in the game, candidates could have ratings in lots of different aspects, which would carry benefits or penalties based on things that came up at various times during the game. Lots of drawing of cards, unfolding of events, changing of active issues.

So, your candidate would be spelled out in a card, a little like playing D&D. Your standard progressive guy might have ratings like Protect Environment +4 and Support Major Cities +3. Another person's more conservative candidate would have ratings like Pro-Immigration -4 and Domestic Spending -5. Things like that, where it's fairly easy to understand various candidates having either a positive or a negative number. Then, when a related event comes up, you might get a benefit or curse based on your candidate's rating there, and whether it appealed to specific states. Anyway, that's a main function of the game.

Most of the ratings made sense. But some seemed odd. My friends and I would laugh at the rating of "Pro Tyrants." Pro-Education... okay, I get it. Pro-Banks... okay, I get it. But... who the fuck is actually "Pro-Tyrants?"

Anyway... what seemed like a funny joke then seems less so now. This President is clearly as "Pro Tyrants" as the scale allows. Go figure.

[JPhillips]

Some of this has already been reported, but holy hell...

Trump’s calls with foreign leaders have long worried aides, leaving some "genuinely horrified" https://t.co/ZCqFCPPiHe

— The Washington Post (@washingtonpost) October 4, 2019

[PilotMan]

The New Republican Revolution continues. This from our esteemed micro trump in Kentucky. His opponent trying to thread the needle between opposing Bevin, while still hoping to appeal enough to the trump supporters that cover the entire state. So he's not even coming up with a position regarding the impeachment of the president. Meanwhile....



Bevin Would Accept Foreign Help To Investigate Political Rivals

[Radii]

Originally Posted by CU Tiger

I definitely see the point you make, however wouldn't it also in theory increase the number of providers who accept Medicare hence making a transition to Universal Medicare easier?

Quick googles seem to indicate that 2% of medical providers do not accept medicare. I'm not sure how to analyze that but my gut feeling is that it might not be as big a problem as we might think or might be told sometimes? Of course, its a huge problem any time a doctor changes from accepting medicare to not accepting it for all of that doctor's retirement age patients


I was going to point out that, anecdotally, all of the customers for the company I work for are medical providers. We have 350 active customers and likely another 50-100 that have signed with us and left over the last 15 years. Out of that 400-500 providers that we service, one of them does not take medicare.

[GrantDawg]

Originally Posted by Radii

Quick googles seem to indicate that 2% of medical providers do not accept medicare. I'm not sure how to analyze that but my gut feeling is that it might not be as big a problem as we might think or might be told sometimes? Of course, its a huge problem any time a doctor changes from accepting medicare to not accepting it for all of that doctor's retirement age patients


I was going to point out that, anecdotally, all of the customers for the company I work for are medical providers. We have 350 active customers and likely another 50-100 that have signed with us and left over the last 15 years. Out of that 400-500 providers that we service, one of them does not take medicare.

The vast majority of providers do take it. The purpose of this has nothing to do with getting more providers. It has everything to do with making Medicare-For-All less affordable, AND eventually cutting back medicare drastically to seniors. The president had already proposed a budget with huge slashes in medicare funding. Now his plan is to multiply the expense of medicare so high to destroy the system.

[QuikSand]

Originally Posted by Radii

Quick googles seem to indicate that 2% of medical providers do not accept medicare. I'm not sure how to analyze that but my gut feeling is that it might not be as big a problem as we might think or might be told sometimes?

I work in politics, not medicine, so asterisk this. But, let's not lose sight of simple human weakness being part of this. LOTS of people confuse the terms "Medicaid" (health care for poor people) and "Medicare" (health care for old people). At least in this area Medicare (old) gets you in the door virtually everywhere, while Medicaid (poor) leaves you with a much narrower seelction of providers.

It's absolutely possible that some of the perception gap regarding Medicare acceptance traces back to something that simple. A doc/office notes "we do not accept Medicaid clients" and someone along the way mistakenly hears/understands that to reference old people and the program that Bernie Sanders keeps talking about.

[JPhillips]

NK says the nuclear talks have broken down, but the US is saying no they haven't. I'm not sure that even Putin has played Trump better than Kim.

[JPhillips]

dola

Pompeo, former Director of the CIA, says he supports Trump in trying to find out if Ukraine partnered with the DNC to frame the Russians for interference in the 2016 election.

JFC.

[Thomkal]

And now the story is I didn't even want to make the call, but the soon to be resigning Rick Perry persuaded me to do it. Nothing in any of the transcripts mentions Perry as the reason behind the call but don't let evidence get in the way of a good lie.

[tarcone]

When does the federal government start working for the people?

A bunch of jack asses. All of them.

[cuervo72]

The ‘Never Trump’ Coalition That Decided Eh, Never Mind, He’s Fine

I Support the President - The Resurgent

[QuikSand]

Originally Posted by Erickson

What I see is a group of people who have interpreted every single thing the President has done in the worst possible light to continue to do so.

Point conceded, I'm a guilty party. I don't use that as an offramp, but I think there's truth to it.

[JPhillips]

Erickson never deals with the reality, though, that Trump is different, more extreme than anyone who has come before him. Surely, some amount of criticism beyond what is typical is expected and appropriate give Trump's norm breaking at home and coddling of some of the world's worst leaders abroad? Without acknowledging any of that, and instead falling back on media bias and Dem hatred, to me it comes off as just a lengthier version of, "But my judges."

[QuikSand]

Dean Gloster on Twitter: "I don't know who needs to hear this, but back in the day, when I was a lawyer, over 30 years, I represented 2 high-functioning narcissistic sociopaths.
So I know how the endgame is going to be played out:
Bail out now, enablers. Quit. Cut your best deal. 1/x… https://t.co/lNtBFtjjy8"

Thread

[JPhillips]

A second intelligence whistle blower has now come forward.

[JPhillips]

dola

Looks like a lot of the GOP is now going all in on, the Ukrainians did it, not the Russians.

They aren't a Fox News party, they are an InfoWars party.

[GrantDawg]

The defense now is that Trump "wasn't serious" when he asked China to investigate Biden. In the end, it is the "please don't believe what the President says or does" theory.

[Lathum]

Originally Posted by GrantDawg

The defense now is that Trump "wasn't serious" when he asked China to investigate Biden. In the end, it is the "please don't believe what the President says or does" theory.

Yet Trump has been spending the better part of the last week annihilating Schiff over parodying his call.

[GrantDawg]

Originally Posted by Lathum

Yet Trump has been spending the better part of the last week annihilating Schiff over parodying his call.

Didn't you know parodying the president is treason? At least, the what Trump believes and will make so once he dissolves congress and has all power.

[PilotMan]

Originally Posted by GrantDawg

The defense now is that Trump "wasn't serious" when he asked China to investigate Biden. In the end, it is the "please don't believe what the President says or does" theory.

Except when the president literally says "Don't believe what you see or read, only what I tell you."

[NobodyHere]

Originally Posted by GrantDawg

Didn't you know parodying the president is treason? At least, the what Trump believes and will make so once he dissolves congress and has all power.

Unnamed sources have reported that Trump is working with alien powers in order to eliminate congress.

[JPhillips]

I am more certain than ever that this can't end before Trump goes full Q.

[cuervo72]

Originally Posted by JPhillips

dola

Looks like a lot of the GOP is now going all in on, the Ukrainians did it, not the Russians.

They aren't a Fox News party, they are an InfoWars party.

Well, it makes them look more and more like Vlad's party. "Wasn't us. Was those guys. (You know, the guys we took land from and are still attacking.) THEY are the bad ones."

[JPhillips]

Click through to see total effective tax rates for various income groups over time.

For the first time on record, the 400 wealthiest Americans last year paid a lower total tax rate — spanning federal, state and local taxes — than any other income group, according to newly released data.

https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/...gtype=Homepage

[Ben E Lou]

Unfathomable betrayal of the Kurds.


Potential silver lining: early reports make it look like Republicans are going to fight him on this one and win. Maybe a good humiliation will cause him to go off the rails enough for the Rs to get this clown outta there.

[Ben E Lou]

Least surprising news in all this: Pentagon completely blindsided.

[NobodyHere]

https://www.cnn.com/2019/10/07/polit...uit/index.html

Chances of Twitter Rant: Extremely High

Grab Popcorn and Take Cover

[PilotMan]

Originally Posted by Ben E Lou

Unfathomable betrayal of the Kurds.


Potential silver lining: early reports make it look like Republicans are going to fight him on this one and win. Maybe a good humiliation will cause him to go off the rails enough for the Rs to get this clown outta there.

I think you're failure is you still don't fully grasp the narcissistic personality disorder. There is no humiliation for them. There are no others. There is nothing more important then they are and they are ALL that matters. They are unable to even feel humiliation, because they are being treated so unfairly (again the person centered viewpoint). Loyalty only matters as to who will enable them. That's it.

[Ben E Lou]

Originally Posted by PilotMan

I think you're failure is you still don't fully grasp the narcissistic personality disorder. There is no humiliation for them. There are no others. There is nothing more important then they are and they are ALL that matters. They are unable to even feel humiliation, because they are being treated so unfairly (again the person centered viewpoint). Loyalty only matters as to who will enable them. That's it.

I'm not talking about how he sees it. I'm talking about the rage he'll fly into when the headlines and "the shows"--even on Fox--are variations of "humiliating reversal for Trump in Syria." Maybe he'll piss off enough Republicans to seal his own fate.

[Ben E Lou]

Dola:


My baseline assumption here is that the only thing that moves the needle in the Senate is the court of public opinion. They won't find their spines themselves, but if the opinion polls (now rising in favor of removal) show the support of a clear majority of the country, it could change things. Who was it that said a good politician is one who figures out what direction people are going, then takes a shortcut through the woods to get out in front and make folks think he is leading them?

[Thomkal]

Even Lindsay Graham said he was a liar about Isis being defeated on Fox this morning. Gee maybe Dems could be right on most of the other lies too?


Lindsey Graham


I don’t know all the details regarding President Trump’s decision in northern Syria. In process of setting up phone call with Secretary Pompeo. If press reports are accurate this is a disaster in the making.

[QuikSand]

Originally Posted by Ben E Lou

Dola:


My baseline assumption here is that the only thing that moves the needle in the Senate is the court of public opinion. They won't find their spines themselves, but if the opinion polls (now rising in favor of removal) show the support of a clear majority of the country, it could change things. Who was it that said a good politician is one who figures out what direction people are going, then takes a shortcut through the woods to get out in front and make folks think he is leading them?

Agreed. So, if you're watching polls, and so forth, with an eye toward impeachment or other short term issues, the most essential thing is "Trump job approval among Republican voters." This weekend, Trump tweeted out a graphic with that number at 95%... even if it's a baloney number like Rasmussen per usual, the fact/impression that nearly all the GOP voters are now Trump voters is his cudgel. There is no more Republican Party, there's just him... and be assured that Ben Sasse and that ilk all know it.

[JPhillips]

I think the Kurd decision is shameful, but damn there's a lot of irresponsible rhetoric being thrown around. Turkey is a NATO ally. Yes, they have recently been difficult, but our foreign policy does not recognize them as anything but an ally.

As to Trump, I think there is a tipping point, but I'm unsure as to whether we will ever get there. If we do, the collapse in support will be very quick, probably less than a week for a mass of elected officials.

There is one other avenue to get Trump out, big donors. If enough of them bail the GOP for an election cycle, that would change the calculas quickly.

[molson]

Trump has announced this before, but this time he's announcing it contemporaneous with a timetable. Seems like it's something he feels he HAS to do while he's in office. Maybe a last payment for a deal, a last blackmail request, whatever.

Though, it does feel a little, like with the free trade stuff, that Trump is launching another party ideology swap. The most recent polls seem to see that the Democrats and Republicans are almost exactly even on whether they want any troops in Syria - 60% of each do. I'd bet the numbers would have been different a few years ago. It seems Dems stopped talking about the pointlessness of middle east troop deployment and "endless wars" once Trump started picking up that rhetoric a few years ago.

[Warhammer]

Originally Posted by molson

Though, it does feel a little, like with the free trade stuff, that Trump is launching another party ideology swap. The most recent polls seem to see that the Democrats and Republicans are almost exactly even on whether they want any troops in Syria - 60% of each do. I'd bet the numbers would have been different a few years ago. It seems Dems stopped talking about the pointless of middle east troop deployment and "endless wars" once Trump started picking up that rhetoric a few years ago.

I think this is an issue for both sides unfortunately, and it needs to stop. Parties need to stand for things other than the opposite of what the other party stands for. It is ok for both parties to be for something....

[Ben E Lou]

As I have stated strongly before, and just to reiterate, if Turkey does anything that I, in my great and unmatched wisdom, consider to be off limits, I will totally destroy and obliterate the Economy of Turkey (I’ve done before!). They must, with Europe and others, watch over...

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) October 7, 2019

He had me at "great and unmatched wisdom."

[Jstraub]

Originally Posted by Ben E Lou

As I have stated strongly before, and just to reiterate, if Turkey does anything that I, in my great and unmatched wisdom, consider to be off limits, I will totally destroy and obliterate the Economy of Turkey (I’ve done before!). They must, with Europe and others, watch over...

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) October 7, 2019

He had me at "great and unmatched wisdom."

Just destroying it is not enough... It must also be obliterated.

[QuikSand]

I have let my staff know that I fully intend to start employing the phrase "I, in my great and unmatched wisdom" with absolute, unapologetic aplomb.

[Radii]

I'm using that in scrum tomorrow at work.

[JediKooter]

Oh...it's unmatched alright.

[Thomkal]

yeah republicans how do you feel about that "great and unmatched wisdom" right now?

[ISiddiqui]

Which economy has he before "totally destroy and obliterate"? I mean I know he's trying to do it to the US economy.

[JPhillips]

I'll reiterate, Turkey is a NATO ally.

[RainMaker]

Originally Posted by JPhillips

I'll reiterate, Turkey is a NATO ally.

Ally in name only these days. Erogan has been real cozy with Putin.

Regardless, another huge win for Putin.

[RainMaker]

Thank you Prime Minister Erdogan for joining us yesterday to celebrate the launch of #TrumpTowers Istanbul!

— Ivanka Trump (@IvankaTrump) April 20, 2012

[molson]

I'm going to be in Istanbul next week, I'll get to the bottom of this.

[Kodos]

Make sure to ask for dirt on the Bidens!

[ISiddiqui]

Originally Posted by RainMaker

Ally in name only these days. Erogan has been real cozy with Putin.

So has Trump.