Donald Trump is the President Mark IV (Read Mod Warning in OP)

SimonTemplar · 12-09-2018 5:32pm

The thing that always amazes me is just how insanely unsuitable he is for the office. Off the top of my head, these are his traits which are pretty much undeniable:

Misogynistic
Racist
Narcissistic (extremely)
Poor work ethic (his almost weekly golfing weekends)
Inability to empathize
Poor grasp of economic mechanics
Poor grasp of complex international relations and diplomacy.
Ignoring long standing etiquette regarding the distance between the presidency and the FBI and DoJ
Conduct unbecoming of the presidency (his almost daily insults aimed at everyone from political adversaries, the media, former staff and his own Attorney General).
Constant lying (either deliberately or as a symptom of his narcissism and believing his own lies, I don't know which is worse)
Constant paranoia (No Collusion, No Collusion, No Collusion, etc...)

And the thing is, there really is nothing that tempers this. If he was some economic genius or an amazing diplomat moving the world much closer to peace, you could almost tolerate things like narcissism or childish insults.

I mean, any ONE of those points above would be used as major ammunition against a normal president so the fact that he fits into every category is astonishing to me. It really is at the stage where if you picked a random person on the street, they would be a better president. Probably wouldn't be a good president but certainly a better one.

MadYaker · 12-09-2018 5:50pm

Yeah I agree. The fact that his popularity still hangs around 40% is mind boggling to me. Leaving the policy stuff out of it id always thought that Americans expected their presidents to have a shred of common decency and to conduct themselves in a way that would show America and it's people in a positive light. You may not have liked Bush or Obama but they recognised what it meant to hold the office, it meant something to them and when in public they conducted themselves accordingly. It must be pretty galling for many Americans to read his twitter feed and watch him carry on the way he does.

Id understand why 40% of the voters would hold their nose and still support him if he was some great right wing visionary who was going to revolutionise American politics but what he's achieved so far isn't a whole lot and if you took away the stong economy what would he have left to boast about? Hillary isn't in jail, they failed to repeal Obamacare, the wall isn't being built and most likely never will be, after that what else is there?

amandstu · 12-09-2018 5:55pm

MadYaker wrote: »

Yeah I agree. The fact that his popularity still hangs around 40% is mind boggling to me. Leaving the policy stuff out of it id always thought that Americans expected their presidents to have a shred of common decency and to conduct themselves in a way that would show America and it's people in a positive light. You may not have liked Bush or Obama but they recognised what it meant to hold the office, it meant something to them and when in public they conducted themselves accordingly. It must be pretty galling for many Americans to read his twitter feed and watch him carry on the way he does.

Id understand why 40% of the voters would hold their nose and still support him if he was some great right wing visionary who was going to revolutionise American politics but what he's achieved so far isn't a whole lot and if you took away the stong economy what would he have left to boast about? Hillary isn't in jail, they failed to repeal Obamacare, the wall isn't being built and most likely never will be, after that what else is there?

They like the chaos?

MadYaker · 12-09-2018 6:01pm

amandstu wrote: »

They like the chaos?

But why though? To what end are they pushing towards by supporting a chaotic administration and a president who is totally unfit for the office? I don't understand the mindset of trump supporters because when I read their reasons for supporting him they don't make any sense unless you're a racist.

Obama talked in his speech about how Trump isn't the cause, he's a symptom of a deeper malaise in the GOP and the US as a whole. When was the last time a sitting president embraced baseless conspiracy theories? He keeps posting about this hillary nonsense on twitter and his supporters seem to love it but does it never occur to them to ask why he hasn't asked congress or the DOJ to open an investigation into this alleged wrongdoing?

borderlinemeath · 12-09-2018 6:06pm

He doesn't even care when he's called out. Or his chaotic administration. Take "yesterdays" photo of departing for PA that was posted on his twitter feed, I doubt it was posted by him, rather by a staffer - but it was last years photo. It was up a matter of minutes and twitter pointed out that Omarosa and Hope Hicks were front and centre of the photo. And that while it was raining all day in DC yesterday, the weather in the photo was fine and clear. 24 hours later and it's still up on his feed. No owning up, no apology or even removal of it. Brazen lies.

amandstu · 12-09-2018 6:16pm

MadYaker wrote: »

But why though? To what end are they pushing towards by supporting a chaotic administration and a president who is totally unfit for the office? I don't understand the mindset of trump supporters because when I read their reasons for supporting him they don't make any sense unless you're a racist.

Obama talked in his speech about how Trump isn't the cause, he's a symptom of a deeper malaise in the GOP and the US as a whole. When was the last time a sitting president embraced baseless conspiracy theories? He keeps posting about this hillary nonsense on twitter and his supporters seem to love it but does it never occur to them to ask why he hasn't asked congress or the DOJ to open an investigation into this alleged wrongdoing?

True ,it was flippant. I am sure some do enjoy the chaos but it doesn't seem that it could account for his level of popularity being as high as it is.

I wish I knew (i would turn it off:) )

B0jangles · 12-09-2018 6:18pm

I remember reading a thing by a 'reformed' conman who said that the hardest part of running a successful con was right at the start - once you've actually conned someone, even if the con becomes very obvious, they have to choose between accepting that they were conned, that they were gullible and the money's gone forever

or

It's not a con, there really is a prince in Nigeria who is going to send me 260,000,000 dollars just as soon as I send him another $10,000 to bribe the bank officials, just you wait and see...

Accepting the truth in this kind of situation is psychologially very painful, so many people will continue to defend the con even after it has become incredibly obvious that it is a con because they simply cannot bear to admit they were tricked.

StringerBell · 12-09-2018 6:18pm

duploelabs wrote: »

I think the days of calling Fox news a credible media source are long gone and it's more a propaganda mouthpiece/circlejerk for those thirtysomething percent that believe that Trump is an honest politician

I never did call it credible, never would.

I asked is there any media more mainstream than Fox? To my knowledge there isn't but I'm open to correction.

Which cable tv "news" has a bigger audience?

spacecoyote · 12-09-2018 6:36pm

everlast75 wrote: »

I am however interested in your (all of you) perspectives, as ye tend to be less enamoured with the man. Is there any sympathy there, small as it may be? Do you agree that the mental instability has reached a dangerous height, or do you believe it was always there?

I have absolutely zero sympathy for the man. As was stated in Top Gun many years ago(slight paraphrase)..."His ego is writing cheques his body can't cash"

I do agree that his mental instability does seem to have accelerated in recent weeks. Stress & lack of sleep must be taking a toll on an old & fairly unfit man. There has been a marked increase in slurring & vocab problems which, if my father was exhibiting, I'd be insisting he make an appointment with a doc to get checked.

duploelabs · 12-09-2018 6:49pm

MadYaker wrote: »

But why though? To what end are they pushing towards by supporting a chaotic administration and a president who is totally unfit for the office?

When you're looking for a reason to a seemly chaotic event or series of events, look to see who will benefit.

watch 'Active Measures'

Pelvis · 12-09-2018 9:00pm

I just watched Active Measures.... Wow. Utterly insane, and scary.

Superbly well crafted documentary.

mcmoustache · 12-09-2018 9:50pm

Pelvis wrote: »

I just watched Active Measures.... Wow. Utterly insane, and scary.

Superbly well crafted documentary.

I haven't seen it yet although it's sitting in my /home/me/Downloads directory. Is there new information there or does it simplify the existing information that's out there? I've been keeping fairly abreast of all this but it sometimes feels like information overload.

26000 Elephants · 12-09-2018 11:17pm

mcmoustache wrote: »

I haven't seen it yet although it's sitting in my /home/me/Downloads directory. Is there new information there or does it simplify the existing information that's out there? I've been keeping fairly abreast of all this but it sometimes feels like information overload.

It has its moments, but it paints a (fairly ludicrous) picture that it was *all* the Russians fault. Nobody in the documentary was willing to accept that it was America, rightly or wrongly, that elected Trump - not Putin.

Most cringeworthy/comedic moment was the CIA guy saying ( with a straight face) "The Russians would stop at nothing - even orchestrating regime changes in countries they didn't agree with". Oh Boy.

But it completely failed to offer any insight into the details of his financial dealings with Slaters associates in funding Trump SoHo. A lot of smoke, but little we dont already know. An unroll of a typical Seth Abramson tweet storm would yield more detail.

mcmoustache · 12-09-2018 11:30pm

26000 Elephants wrote: »

It has its moments, but it paints a (fairly ludicrous) picture that it was *all* the Russians fault. Nobody in the documentary was willing to accept that it was America, rightly or wrongly, that elected Trump - not Putin.

Most cringeworthy/comedic moment was the CIA guy saying ( with a straight face) "The Russians would stop at nothing - even orchestrating regime changes in countries they didn't agree with". Oh Boy.

But it completely failed to offer any insight into the details of his financial dealings with Slaters associates in funding Trump SoHo. A lot of smoke, but little we dont already know. An unroll of a typical Seth Abramson tweet storm would yield more detail.

Thanks a lot for that. I had suspicions but I'll probably still watch it before bed some night.

I was afraid it would be too simplistic and coming from a biased angle. The Zembla documentary was very good in explaining the money trail and it did include Sater quite prominently. The USA has a lot to answer for regarding Trump and blaming Russia as the sole cause is definitely too simplistic.

Pelvis · 12-09-2018 11:42pm

Apportioning blame for the presidential election was not the focus of the documentary, the election itself wasn't even the focus, though it is obviously a big part. The documentary is about Putin and his efforts to interfere in other nations affairs, not just the US, in an effort to strengthen Russia's position.

aloyisious · 13-09-2018 8:25am

I have a question for Republican Party members in respect of Don Trump. I'm asking you to answer as US Citizens and NOT as people who voted for him. On a scale of 1 to 10, how do you honestly rate him as President in comparison to whatever other US president [regardless of party] you choose? 10 is the top score and 1 the lowest score.

To avoid bias on my part the choice-source is yours to make - personal knowledge, print-media, wiki, TV, WWW - whatever you choose. The only essential is that your comparison choice has to have been an actual US President.

26000 Elephants · 13-09-2018 9:26am

Pelvis wrote: »

Apportioning blame for the presidential election was not the focus of the documentary, the election itself wasn't even the focus, though it is obviously a big part. The documentary is about Putin and his efforts to interfere in other nations affairs, not just the US, in an effort to strengthen Russia's position.

Absolutely, but as we are talking about Trump, I commented on how the documentary related to him and his election.

RIGOLO · 13-09-2018 9:33am

GOOGLE EXECUTIVES VIDEO LEAK

The leaked video of Google Executives reaction to the 2016 election made for excellent viewing.
A great insight into the master puppetters , executives and staff at Google who are shaping society even as we speak.
From purely business, management, corporate, public speaking, etc terms its worth the hour alone.
As for the political context well, its ‘pure gold’

Stick with it , it takes a bit of time to get going as the disappointment in the room that their gal HRC lost is palpable. But once they get the group hug (yes folks they did a hug , and people wonder why they are called snowflakes) , things pick up and its very insightful on many many levels.

Remember this is all 2016 , shortly after Trump election

https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2018/sep/12/breitbart-video-google-trump

Just a few of my own takeaways …
Sergey Brin kind of takes ownership for Googles own security measures being at fault for Podesta phishing hack which ultimately you could say was part of HRCs downfall.. that was ironic.
Pre 2016 Google were more interested in stopping Governments from having backdoors into their systems than they were about nation state sponsored political and social media manipulation.
Embarassingly the bright sparks at Google didn’t see the Fake News whether it be pro or anti Trump or HRC being such a factor and doing little if anything to prevent it.

One beauty – One of the executives said Google WANTED TO PAY MORE TAX BUT COULDN’T.. cos they could not just cut a check and send it off.
That just demonstrates how much neck and sheer lying ability you need to get to some of these lofty positions. Some get their on ability, technical and business acumen, some get there cos they can spin BS and keep a straight face.

The Q&A was one of the better parts. There was a lot of deflection of any blame being attached to google.

Question about perhaps Google being responsible for amplifying voters biases by the way it manages content, again deflection from the panel and talk of more AI to prevent this. Effectively we need more tech (AI, machine learning, JIGSAW project) to prevent other tech from doing bad.

Larry Page had remained very quite throughout, but you could see the brain was swirling.
1 Hour in he makes one of the more balanced comments, and how citizens anger at govt has been building for 10-20 years, and the election should be looked at in that time scale and how there are REAL and genuine issues and concerns that were raised and had been for a long time that brought the US to that point.

And the closing remark from the floor circa 1hr 3 mins , in my opinion sadly brought it all back to square one . It kind of shows why the left isnt making any real progress.
Having had a very balanced, erudite, educational and insightful , frank and open discussion , some white dude grabbed the mic and said ALL White men should check their privilege and prejudice and watch some movie that was airing on Netflix that evening. Cue resounding ovation and applause… What a downer ..

On a lighter side …Who has matching microphone colours and t-shirts .. seriously .

And before I forget … Happy Anniversary to the Trump Adminstration … 600 days

everlast75 · 13-09-2018 9:38am

RIGOLO wrote: »

But once they get the group hug (yes folks they did a hug , and people wonder why they are called snowflakes

RIGOLO wrote: »

So I guess your not one of those who is going along with Nancy Pelosi's recent call for more 'civility' in the debate...

posted without comment

Leroy42 · 13-09-2018 9:43am

So your post is that there is shock that a progressive, liberal, inclusive company such as Google, which has lead to the availability of information away from being controlled by the elites to being available to the masses, is shocked and saddened that not only has the candidate that they felt was better placed to lead America (and Trump is proving them correct each day) lost but that their platform might have been instrumental in the spread of fake news such was dumped at HC.

Once again, you seem to take direct delight in the unhappiness of others regardless of the actual outcome of your position. On no metric can Trump be labelled a success. Whilst he will continue to count the economy, despite numerous requests none of his supporters have been able to detail anything that led to any significant actions he has taken and the results are in line with those started by Obama.

What he has done he increased the divide in America itself, reduced Americas allies, started trade wars, finished no actual wars, solved no military conflicts that he blamed Obama for (though they were Bushs). Massively added to the national debt and increased the trade deficit, attacked American companies (just like you yourself are doing).

And during all that stood over conflicted felons and tried to obstruct justice simply because he doesn't want to look bad.

But you are right. All that is worth it to have a few business executives that have created so much wealth and innovation and taxes and employment in the US, get upset.

BabyCheeses · 13-09-2018 10:07am

Sorry to interrupt the press release. To celebrate the "anniversary" theTrump admin has decided that they will be the ones to pay Mexico.

20 million to deport 17,000 people. I'm sure this is what Trump meant all along.

https://www.nytimes.com/2018/09/12/us/politics/us-mexico-deportation-funds.html

irishash · 13-09-2018 11:01am

Even the weather refuses to entertain him now....

22hrs ago Trump tweeted "Hurricane Florence is looking bigger than anticipated. It will be arriving soon. FEMA, First responders and law enforcement are supplied and ready. Be safe!"

Everything in Trumps world has to be the biggest, the best, the most dangerous and so on.

Shortly after that Hurricane Florence was downgraded to a CAT 2 - still dangerous and all obviously, but must be a major blow to his ego (for some reason??). I predict however he will continue to say this is the biggest storm to hit the USA in forever and ever.

kunst nugget · 13-09-2018 11:26am

irishash wrote: »

Even the weather refuses to entertain him now....

22hrs ago Trump tweeted "Hurricane Florence is looking bigger than anticipated. It will be arriving soon. FEMA, First responders and law enforcement are supplied and ready. Be safe!"

Everything in Trumps world has to be the biggest, the best, the most dangerous and so on.

Shortly after that Hurricane Florence was downgraded to a CAT 2 - still dangerous and all obviously, but must be a major blow to his ego (for some reason??). I predict however he will continue to say this is the biggest storm to hit the USA in forever and ever.

That really is grasping at straws to find something to give out about...

everlast75 · 13-09-2018 11:31am

kunst nugget wrote: »

That really is grasping at straws to find something to give out about...

I don't think the poster was giving out that Trump got it wrong or that somehow the weather contradicted his view.

The point is that Trump exaggerates everything and he does. In terms of how bad something was or how good something was (as in his reaction to Puerto Rico and the performance - remember "A pluses")

Penn · 13-09-2018 11:49am

everlast75 wrote: »

I don't think the poster was giving out that Trump got it wrong or that somehow the weather contradicted his view.

The point is that Trump exaggerates everything and he does. In terms of how bad something was or how good something was (as in his reaction to Puerto Rico and the performance - remember "A pluses")

It's a publicity tactic. Reinforces how extreme the storm is, which even though it is obviously a major storm, he's trying to essentially hype it up. This is for two reasons; a) if it weakens and doesn't cause as much damage as anticipated, he can claim the government's and his role helped prevent such damage and so claim it as a great success, and b) if it does cause as much or more damage as anticipated, well that's because it was such an extreme storm, so it's not their fault, no one would have done better than them with dealing with it and it would have been worse under Obama.

It's all about perception with Trump.

kunst nugget · 13-09-2018 12:08pm

everlast75 wrote: »

I don't think the poster was giving out that Trump got it wrong or that somehow the weather contradicted his view.

The point is that Trump exaggerates everything and he does. In terms of how bad something was or how good something was (as in his reaction to Puerto Rico and the performance - remember "A pluses")

Then the media and emergency services must have been complicit in his exaggeration. It was a Cat 4 storm and they were looking to evacuate over a million people in affected areas.

kunst nugget · 13-09-2018 12:13pm

Penn wrote: »

It's a publicity tactic. Reinforces how extreme the storm is, which even though it is obviously a major storm, he's trying to essentially hype it up. This is for two reasons; a) if it weakens and doesn't cause as much damage as anticipated, he can claim the government's and his role helped prevent such damage and so claim it as a great success, and b) if it does cause as much or more damage as anticipated, well that's because it was such an extreme storm, so it's not their fault, no one would have done better than them with dealing with it and it would have been worse under Obama.

It's all about perception with Trump.

And if he said nothing and it stayed a Cat 4 Storm, he would have been the worst in the world for not trying to alert people to the danger…

There's plenty of things to give the TroglaDon guff over. For me, this isn't one of them and it strays into the realm of the petty.

everlast75 · 13-09-2018 12:19pm

kunst nugget wrote: »

Then the media and emergency services must have been complicit in his exaggeration. It was a Cat 4 storm and they were looking to evacuate over a million people in affected areas.

You're missing the point.
I cannot tell whether it is wilfully or not so let's just agree to disagree

pixelburp · 13-09-2018 12:22pm

Yeah, Trump should be hammered for his administration's continued, shocking response to Porto Rico, not some waffle about the coming (now downgraded storm). I see his last comments on PR had him still making false claims about the electricity grid, while persisting in criticising the mayor (who had the temerity to call out & shame FEMA and Washington in its response). The man is a political coward & then some.

3,000 Porto Ricans dead. From the original estimate of 64, and the President's boasting about the "A+" response, or his tone-deaf tossing of paper towels to the crowd. Not that some folks around here want to address these things. Funny how the few Trump supporters that float in here contribute nothing but sloganeering, propagandist soundbites, then plead 'civility' when called out on the facts of Trumps actions - before disappearing into the ether.

kunst nugget · 13-09-2018 12:27pm

I hope people are not thinking I'm a Trump supporter based on the last couple of posts... I just think he should be called out on more important issues, like his handling of Peurto Rico.

Donald Trump is the President Mark IV (Read Mod Warning in OP)

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