O/T:- Trump Presidency 2.0 [hic sunt dracones]

[Jampie]

I'm not a Trump supporter, but it seems pretty obvious to me that that was his plan. He got what he wanted through the threat of tariffs. This isn't a novel approach. Leaders use leverage all the time. I agree that it won't work with Xi, who is a much smarter and more wily adversary, but it seems to have worked with Mexico.

What you say about Trump supporters is largely true. But the same goes for those on the other side as well. People on the left will ignore anything positive that comes out of the Trump presidency, or spin stuff to make it look worse. Both sides do this all the time, so let's not pretend otherwise.

Yeah I definitely am not in the camp where I think "the left" are angelic beings who never engage in deception, lies of omission (actually the standard MO for lefty press when the truth is uncomfortable), hypocrisy, ignoring science etc etc. Like I keep saying, this isn't really about left or right for me. Most of the "left vs. right" narrative is manufactured and all too convenient for the people who are actually in power (check who owns the media!). Gets the poors snapping at each other over nothing while everything of value is hoovered up in the background.

However, I just don't believe the ever-shifting narrative (multiple ever-shifting narratives) about Trump having a coherent master plan. If he changes his mind again and slugs Canada and Mexico with tariffs on Monday, his supporters will claim THAT was the master plan. If we never hear about these tariffs again, the master plan will have been the "concessions" given by Mexico and Canada and the narrative that he had an election mandate to impose tariffs will be conveniently forgotten.

Whatever Trump does will be right and good, and whatever anyone does that counters him will be wrong and bad. Like Trudeau was the bad guy for imposing tariffs in response to Trump doing it first, but Trump was fine for doing it first. There is no logic. It's just slavish, mindless worship of someone who is utterly, bafflingly unworthy of it.

In 2016 I tried watching one of his speeches, couldn't sit through it. It was embarrassingly bad. He isn't coherent. He's gotten worse since. I have read a few transcripts though and he demonstrates a complete lack of understanding of a wide range of issues and has trouble holding a train of thought for more than a few seconds. In an interview (back then) he was asked for his opinion on the nuclear triad and his answer made it abundantly clear he had no idea what it was. Now if you or I don't know that, no dramas. But a presidential candidate should be well versed and have a strong view on it.

He also acts like a literal child and uses childish language. I just do not see the master strategist his fanclub insist is in there somewhere. Setting aside his conviction for criminal fraud and mountains of evidence for his other crimes, including actual election interference last time (which he was loudly accusing everyone else of), he is just temperamentally and intellectually not suited to the role of a world leader, let alone of the most powerful nation.

His administration will achieve some good things. They will pale in comparison to the damage he does in the meantime. He's extracted some dubious/questionable concessions from Mexico and Canada, and in the process loudly and publicly destroyed both relationships and wrecked the US's reputation. He will spend the next four years stumbling from one pyrrhic victory to the next while his supporters cheer him on.

It's going to be exceedingly dull. I am ignoring the discussion pretty much everywhere but this board, in fact.

[slack_pie]

Yeah I definitely am not in the camp where I think "the left" are angelic beings who never engage in deception, lies of omission (actually the standard MO for lefty press when the truth is uncomfortable), hypocrisy, ignoring science etc etc. Like I keep saying, this isn't really about left or right for me. Most of the "left vs. right" narrative is manufactured and all too convenient for the people who are actually in power (check who owns the media!). Gets the poors snapping at each other over nothing while everything of value is hoovered up in the background.

However, I just don't believe the ever-shifting narrative (multiple ever-shifting narratives) about Trump having a coherent master plan. If he changes his mind again and slugs Canada and Mexico with tariffs on Monday, his supporters will claim THAT was the master plan. If we never hear about these tariffs again, the master plan will have been the "concessions" given by Mexico and Canada and the narrative that he had an election mandate to impose tariffs will be conveniently forgotten.

Whatever Trump does will be right and good, and whatever anyone does that counters him will be wrong and bad. Like Trudeau was the bad guy for imposing tariffs in response to Trump doing it first, but Trump was fine for doing it first. There is no logic. It's just slavish, mindless worship of someone who is utterly, bafflingly unworthy of it.

In 2016 I tried watching one of his speeches, couldn't sit through it. It was embarrassingly bad. He isn't coherent. He's gotten worse since. I have read a few transcripts though and he demonstrates a complete lack of understanding of a wide range of issues and has trouble holding a train of thought for more than a few seconds. In an interview (back then) he was asked for his opinion on the nuclear triad and his answer made it abundantly clear he had no idea what it was. Now if you or I don't know that, no dramas. But a presidential candidate should be well versed and have a strong view on it.

He also acts like a literal child and uses childish language. I just do not see the master strategist his fanclub insist is in there somewhere. Setting aside his conviction for criminal fraud and mountains of evidence for his other crimes, including actual election interference last time (which he was loudly accusing everyone else of), he is just temperamentally and intellectually not suited to the role of a world leader, let alone of the most powerful nation.

His administration will achieve some good things. They will pale in comparison to the damage he does in the meantime. He's extracted some dubious/questionable concessions from Mexico and Canada, and in the process loudly and publicly destroyed both relationships and wrecked the US's reputation. He will spend the next four years stumbling from one pyrrhic victory to the next while his supporters cheer him on.

It's going to be exceedingly dull. I am ignoring the discussion pretty much everywhere but this board, in fact.

I agree about his temperament. He doesn't do himself any favours in the way he talks and acts. But like I said in a previous post, his target audience enjoy it, so he keep on doing it. I have no idea if there's a masterplan or not, but I'm fairly sure he's not the completely unhinged idiot the left makes him out to be.

That said, he's clearly not president material by any reasonable measure. Whether you agree with their views or not, the likes of JD Vance and Vivek Ramaswamy are in a different league in terms of intellect and temperament.

Like you, I think his administration could achieve some positive, much-needed outcomes. If they can shine a light on government inefficiency and wastefulness, that could provide a blueprint for other nations (like ours) to follow. The same goes for illegal/uncontrolled immigration, which isn't even a left-right issue but more about the rule of law and integrity of borders. Time will tell whether the positives outweigh the negatives though.