Trumpland U.S.A

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Nixon was one of the most effective US politicians in the past 100 years- as far as corruption goes, his greatest crime was that he got caught.

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On 5/9/2017 at 4:55 AM, SympathysSilhouette said:

 

Well it isn't a recent development. e.g. Vlaams Belang has been using the fear of mostly North-African immigrants since the early 1990s to their political advantage.

 

 

I didn't say that it was a recent development.  I said that the global recession released these forces, which were dormant.  I am not referring just to France, but throughout the EU.   Note that during the Bush years, the liberal-Democrat type politicians in Europe did a lot of  phony"moral posturing" .  Clearly Europeans have a lot less backbone concerning poor foreigners entering their countries than their opinion leaders claimed.

 

In NYC, we have illegals entering through shipping containers and other methods.  They get abused/worked to the bone in construction and service jobs, eg. 300 bucks a week cash in hand, with entire families living in one room.  If they get sick or injured, they receive medical treatment from the state even though they often don't pay income taxes at all.

 

Another interesting irony was how the US media in the 2000s celebrated the more socialist and federalized type economic policies of europe.  Editorials, opinions by statist academics, etc. Generally it was the policies of northern europe and france, and often rhetorically presented in opposition to the policies of the Bush Administration.   Then the european economies collapsed hard and in some cases, harder than the US with massive state deficits, unemployment, and economic/demographic problems once the recession hit and unveiled the true colors.

[SympathysSilhouette]

Social media chatter about the FBI executing several raids in relation to their Russia investigation right now. Could all end up being nonsense, of course.

[SympathysSilhouette]

26 minutes ago, Cult Icon said:

 

I didn't say that it was a recent development.  I said that the global recession released these forces, which were dormant.  I am not referring just to France, but throughout the EU.   Note that during the Bush years, the liberal-Democrat type politicians in Europe did a lot of  phony"moral posturing" .  Clearly Europeans have a lot less backbone concerning poor foreigners entering their countries than their opinion leaders claimed.

 

In NYC, we have illegals entering through shipping containers and other methods.  They get worked to the bone in construction and service jobs, eg. 300 bucks a week cash in hand, with entire families living in one room.  If they get sick or injured, they receive medical treatment from the state even though they often don't pay income taxes at all.

 

Another interesting irony was how the US media in the 2000s celebrated the more socialist and federalized type economic policies of europe.  Editorials, opinions by statist academics, etc. Generally it was the policies of northern europe and france, and often rhetorically presented in opposition to the policies of the Bush Administration.   Then the european economies collapsed hard and in some cases, harder than the US with massive state deficits, unemployment, and economic/demographic problems once the recession hit and unveiled the true colors.

 

800K Syrians entered Germany and Merkel's CDU is going to win another term in September and as things look now, she will likely even gain a few percentage points in the process.

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[Stromboli1]

 

[SympathysSilhouette]

12 hours ago, Cult Icon said:

 

Not enough is being made of this. The president of the U.S.A. admitted to obstruction of justice and abuse of power during a TV interview.

[PinkCouture]

1 hour ago, Stromboli1 said:

 

 

Was actually thinking of you when the whole ordeal happened

 

[PinkCouture]

7 minutes ago, SympathysSilhouette said:

 

Not enough is being made of this. The president of the U.S.A. admitted to obstruction of justice and abuse of power during a TV interview.

 

Actually a lot of people are. However his party (which is dominate), fans and supporters don't seem to care much about this  As I mentioned to Dave (?) so many are putting their ego, hunger for power, and personal gain, WAY above what is best for the country and society in general. 

[PinkCouture]

It is stuff like this that makes me question is he playing a character as a trolling and manipulation tactic..

 

Quote

 

Trump: Combative administration 'could be my fault'

President Donald Trump acknowledged in a new interview that the combative nature of his administration could be his fault -- though he also cites "a great meanness" in society that's to blame. "It could be my fault," Trump told Time magazine when asked directly if he feels his administration has been too combative. "I don't want to necessarily blame, but there's a great meanness out there that I'm surprised at."

Trump did not further elaborate. His administration has notably had a tense and antagonistic relationship with the news media -- going so far at one point to bar journalists from a White House briefing -- and his tenure in office has often been the subject of massive protests across the nation. The Trump administration has also been marked by internal squabbling. Trump grew so frustrated last month with the clear tensions between his chief strategist Steve Bannon and senior adviser Jared Kushner, his son-in-law, that he insisted they work out their differences.

The interview, which was published on Thursday, was conducted the day before Trump fired FBI Director James Comey. In the wake of the resulting public outcry, the President took to Twitter to personally attack Democrats who blasted the decision. The President regularly takes to social media to attack political opponents and even those within his political party when he disagrees with them.
 

cnn.com

 

[elfstone]

5 minutes ago, PinkCouture said:

"a great meanness" in society that's to blame.

Sounds like a crony third-world leader blaming the 'backward' masses for his own shit

[Stromboli1]

24 minutes ago, PinkCouture said:

Was actually thinking of you when the whole ordeal happened

 

 

[SympathysSilhouette]

Let's face it, if Obama had fired Comey to end his investigation into Hillary's emails then the GOP would have started the impeachment proceedings the very same day.

[Michael*]

1 hour ago, PinkCouture said:

It is stuff like this that makes me question is he playing a character as a trolling and manipulation tactic..

 

I think it's more a case of Trump being unable or unwilling to learn that he can't approach the presidency like he approached reality TV. There are tons of real-world consequences to his every decision, but he appears completely incapable of predicting the outcome of any action he takes. He still seems to think he can rewrite the narrative, sack the writers, edit out the bits he doesn't like, or any of the other tricks he was used to using on The Apprentice.

[Cult Icon]

1 hour ago, PinkCouture said:

 

Actually a lot of people are. However his party (which is dominate), fans and supporters don't seem to care much about this  As I mentioned to Dave (?) so many are putting their ego, hunger for power, and personal gain, WAY above what is best for the country and society in general. 

 

Eh....you mean the average successful and effective US top level politician

 

The Russian situation is the DNC's strategy to hang the president; it was evident since the elections.  The DNC has a powerful influence on the mainstream media, including DC's authoritative Washington Post and can shape information/influence flows. 

 

Nevertheless, it would be a first to see a president that was backed by Russian and US heavy industry interests, rather than Silicon valley, Media, and Wall Street Interests (Obama).  The Russian interests of course, are 'curious'.

[PinkCouture]

9 minutes ago, Cult Icon said:

 

Eh....you mean the average successful and effective [US] top level politician

 

 

When it comes to Donnie now I agree with that statement  He is definitely a special one...

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24 minutes ago, Michael* said:

 

I think it's more a case of Trump being unable or unwilling to learn that he can't approach the presidency like he approached reality TV. There are tons of real-world consequences to his every decision, but he appears completely incapable of predicting the outcome of any action he takes. He still seems to think he can rewrite the narrative, sack the writers, edit out the bits he doesn't like, or any of the other tricks he was used to using on The Apprentice.

 

I don't think the Trump top leadership knows how to govern and effectively manipulate the media, which was always going to be hostile towards it - essentially this is a social experiment. 

 

Compare Obama's first 100 days (the media turning him into Black Jesus vs Trump being that of scandal).

 

The Trump team rode on being DC outsiders and "not corrupt" but at the same can't compare to say, an entrenched DC insider like a Senator with decades of political experience, networking, and operations...

 

With legislation, the principle ability needed is first, vast understanding of interests of various power groups and then the ability to persuade, compromise, and then coordinate them to a certain goal.  Literally one has to be a DC power broker to do this effectively.

[SympathysSilhouette]

1 hour ago, Cult Icon said:

 

Eh....you mean the average successful and effective US top level politician

 

The Russian situation is the DNC's strategy to hang the president; it was evident since the elections.  The DNC has a powerful influence on the mainstream media, including DC's authoritative Washington Post and can shape information/influence flows. 

 

Nevertheless, it would be a first to see a president that was backed by Russian and US heavy industry interests, rather than Silicon valley, Media, and Wall Street Interests (Obama).  The Russian interests of course, are 'curious'.

 

The Russia situation is out of the ordinary, unless you think it's a good idea for a candidate to be colluding with a foreign state to win an election?

 

It looks increasingly likely that the FBI flipped Manafort, which means that probably some other people inside of Trump's inner circle now have reasons to be worried.

[Cult Icon]

1 hour ago, PinkCouture said:

 

 

When it comes to Donnie now I agree with that statement  He is definitely a special one...

 

Nope, not really.   I find yours and Dave's statements to be idealistic.

 

Most of the greatest presidents in the past 100 years like FDR were objectively speaking, corrupt and power hungry. This was balanced by political genius and operating skill.  There was some compassion in there, too, but the compassion was not in first place.  Power was.  It takes that type of personality to rise in the US gov't.  When their own interests and the interests of their constituents align with the power of the ballot box, then the people can sometimes benefit.  

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14 minutes ago, SympathysSilhouette said:

 

The Russia situation is out of the ordinary, unless you think it's a good idea for a candidate to be colluding with a foreign state to win an election?

 

It looks increasingly likely that the FBI flipped Manafort, which means that probably some other people inside of Trump's inner circle now have reasons to be worried.

 

The "details" of the Russia situation and the strategic intent of the Trump administration, in collusion with Russian state interests-  need more clarifying beyond the usual mud-slinging by the DNC press.

 

Joint ventures?  A leading towards the self-proclaimed "war on Islam" by Russian and US military forces? Re-industrialization?  etc.

 

Bush and LBJ were heavily backed by the US war economy and oil interests so there could be parallels.