The Trump Presidency | Biden Inaugurated

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Fergies Gum said:
Its because his supporters are sheep. Mindlessly agreeing and supporting everything he does.

The good news is there's a significant and vocal group of people out there who will keep calling him out when he backtracks or lies on places like social media.
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It's not just his supporters. His opponents have fallen in line.
 
Chip said:
Ftfy :drool:

But in all seriousness, he really is. I still can't believe he's been chosen as "leader of the Western world" - it's a nightmare.
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Looking at how US treats the weakest in their society like the poor, the unemployed, the sick, the mentally ill, criminals you'd almost expect a bully embodiment of this to be president. Trump is closer to this than the seemingly nice guy they had the last 8 years.
 
Pexbo said:
You do realise that by declassifying all the evidence, they would also be revealing a lot of details on the scope of their survelience. The hackers could also trace back any logs they have and build a better picture of all the intelligence services cyber thumb prints.
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They don't need to declasify everything though so that point is moot. Of course there's stuff that they can't declasify as it would divulge certain capabilities but what it does mean is that conventional methods haven't provided the evidence in this case.

Chances are the US know Russia hacked them because the US itself is as aggressive in its own hacking of foreign goverments to observe this.

Its all a bit of a forced show really with the media getting hits for sexed up hacking stories and a political reaction off the back of that. Goverments hacking each other (via third parties) is not news.

The Dems and intelligence agencies are just pissed off that Russia chose to use it for political purposes but the blame is on those exposed not the messenger.
 
Pogue Mahone said:
Yeah, I've gone through shock, indignation, morbid curiosity and even finding a little bit of humour in the whole cluster-feck. The closer we get to inauguration the more it all changes to genuine fear and sadness. It really is a nightmare. In every sense.
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Been going through that loop on a daily basis. Half of the time I'm just weirdly fascinated, asking myself if this is genuinely happening, laughing it off. The other half of the time I'm aware this is very real and the realisation that this just might be unprecedented madness kicks in.

Media over here aren't even covering the latest developments properly, not because there's so many other things going on, I think it's just because it's an incomprehensible mess in many ways. I actually couldn't sleep last night after I read that post of Raoul about the former CIA director stepping down as advisor, spent the rest of the night reading the comments on the New York Times and Huffington. I'm actually waiting until I can leave my work early, so I can go and search for some foreign papers at a station or bookstore, see if they maybe have some in depth coverage of what's happening.

Senator John McCain deeming the alledged hacks an act of war gave me goosebumps, and not the right ones.
 
senorgregster said:


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wow - isn't it reassuring that somebody about to become the defacto leader of the western world about to take over a fairly divided country and of course embroiled in the midst of this whole hacking issue who also needs to be brought up to speed on the whole delicate geo-political situation and what issues he will face as well as the intel briefings etc and appointing the right people to the right job, (plus draining the swamp, and building a wall, and ending obama care, and extremely vetting all muslims and whatever else he has pledged to do) and he is so amazing he actually has the time not only to spend thinking about stuff like Arnie in the apprentice but that but he even has time to use his tiny hands to type out such a petty tweet - the man must be multitasker of the century!
 
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Smores said:
They don't need to declasify everything though so that point is moot. Of course there's stuff that they can't declasify as it would divulge certain capabilities but what it does mean is that conventional methods haven't provided the evidence in this case.

Chances are the US know Russia hacked them because the US itself is as aggressive in its own hacking of foreign goverments to observe this.

Its all a bit of a forced show really with the media getting hits for sexed up hacking stories and a political reaction off the back of that. Goverments hacking each other (via third parties) is not news.

The Dems and intelligence agencies are just pissed off that Russia chose to use it for political purposes but the blame is on those exposed not the messenger.
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DNI and head of the NSA said as much in Congress yesterday, that they would not envision ever calling for retaliation for another country doing surveillance. Even said "he who has a glass ceiling...". But the difference here is that the other country went "active", released information.
 
Smores said:
They don't need to declasify everything though so that point is moot. Of course there's stuff that they can't declasify as it would divulge certain capabilities but what it does mean is that conventional methods haven't provided the evidence in this case.

Chances are the US know Russia hacked them because the US itself is as aggressive in its own hacking of foreign goverments to observe this.

Its all a bit of a forced show really with the media getting hits for sexed up hacking stories and a political reaction off the back of that. Goverments hacking each other (via third parties) is not news.

The Dems and intelligence agencies are just pissed off that Russia chose to use it for political purposes but the blame is on those exposed not the messenger.
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pretty much.

They all hack each other.
 
Adisa said:
Stuff like this is why I think progressives who thought Trump would be better than Clinton or didn't bother to vote, are quite frankly stupid IMO. I'm sorry to say. This administration is going to reverse all the progress that has been made.
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People that thought Trump a better option aren't in any way progressive, even if they'd like to think they are.
 
senorgregster said:
I can't see the planning stage take less than 5 years
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I dont know - its only a wall - he can probably just pop onto any nternet forum and ask if anybody has built a wall.

But yeah in all seriousness if its going to be a concrete wall for example - and lets face it mr trump has a history of favouring concrete (mainly from companies subsequently linked to the mafia) even when its considerably more expensive than other solutions - so yeah lets assume its concrete then your going to have to build a fek load of catching plants etc before you can even think about starting the project properly... and as you say planning consents, compulsory land purchases etc etc
 
sun_tzu said:
I dont know - its only a wall - he can probably just pop onto any nternet forum and ask if anybody has built a wall.

But yeah in all seriousness if its going to be a concrete wall for example - and lets face it mr trump has a history of favouring concrete (mainly from companies subsequently linked to the mafia) even when its considerably more expensive than other solutions - so yeah lets assume its concrete then your going to have to build a fek load of catching plants etc before you can even think about starting the project properly... and as you say planning consents, compulsory land purchases etc etc
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Precisely. This will take a long time.

NoLogo said:
If he gets relected probabler something like 9 years. :D
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Hadn't thought of that. :nervous:
 
Raoul said:
I think there's a decent chance it could happen once his popularity wears off, he continues to behave unhinged to where he is attaching GOP politicians, and he is found to have done something impeachable. At that point, I think Democrats and Republicans, knowing that Pence is available, will take action. But to reach that point, we will need at least 6 months or so until Trump's election popularity wears off.
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I kind of think they won't have a choice at some point.
 
GiddyUp said:
I kind of think they won't have a choice at some point.
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It would take a confluence of events for that to happen - first, he would need to be perceived by his base as not fulfilling some of his primary campaign promises. Most notably building the wall, repeal and replace Obamacare, drain the swamp etc. He's well on his way of not doing any of those. Second, he would need to be dogged by persistent conflict of interest rumors related to his business, Russia, et al. Third, he would need to be perceived as incompetent and a puppet of foreign influence who continues to use his Presidency to shield himself from further investigation into the matter. Fourth, he would need to be plagued by something he does that is considered impeachable (such as being in violation of the emoluments clause on day 1). And fifth and most importantly, he would have to do something to estrange himself from Ryan and McConnell so that they view him as more of an impediment than a vehicle towards enacting their agenda. If all five of these things happen, he will be on very thin ice.
 
Ubik said:
People that thought Trump a better option aren't in any way progressive, even if they'd like to think they are.
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Maybe, not better but thought Clinton wasn't worth voting for.
 
Raoul said:
It would take a confluence of events for that to happen - first, he would need to be perceived by his base as not fulfilling some of his primary campaign promises. Most notably building the wall, repeal and replace Obamacare, drain the swamp etc. He's well on his way of not doing any of those. Second, he would need to be dogged by persistent conflict of interest rumors related to his business, Russia, et al. Third, he would need to be perceived as incompetent and a puppet of foreign influence who continues to use his Presidency to shield himself from further investigation into the matter. Fourth, he would need to be plagued by something he does that is considered impeachable (such as being in violation of the emoluments clause on day 1). And fifth and most importantly, he would have to do something to estrange himself from Ryan and McConnell so that they view him as more of an impediment than a vehicle towards enacting their agenda. If all five of these things happen, he will be on very thin ice.
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Isn't it crazy that everything you said is very likely to happen all at once as each one on its own has happened to some degree before the guy is even inaugurated.
We now have a president who will sit back and take the piss out of all of us on Twitter while we are sleeping. A VP who defends Trumps lies by taking both sides. Cabinet picks chosen by the level of disdain they have for the department they want to head. When Clinton called half of them deplorable she wasn't just talking about the racists and bigots.
At this point I would feel a bit more confident of the safety of my family with Pence in charge. You know what you are getting with him and although we don't want to fight social battles already won we will see him in court with the confidence of previous rulings behind us.
Trump could seriously destroy our economy to a point worse than the Great Depression or snuff out hundreds of thousands of lives because he chooses not to understand the specifics a certain situation or conflict.
 
Raoul said:
It would take a confluence of events for that to happen - first, he would need to be perceived by his base as not fulfilling some of his primary campaign promises. Most notably building the wall, repeal and replace Obamacare, drain the swamp etc. He's well on his way of not doing any of those. Second, he would need to be dogged by persistent conflict of interest rumors related to his business, Russia, et al. Third, he would need to be perceived as incompetent and a puppet of foreign influence who continues to use his Presidency to shield himself from further investigation into the matter. Fourth, he would need to be plagued by something he does that is considered impeachable (such as being in violation of the emoluments clause on day 1). And fifth and most importantly, he would have to do something to estrange himself from Ryan and McConnell so that they view him as more of an impediment than a vehicle towards enacting their agenda. If all five of these things happen, he will be on very thin ice.
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They couldn't put a backbone together between them though. Feckin hell, do I hate hearing Ryan talk.
 
Adisa said:
Maybe, not better but thought Clinton wasn't worth voting for.
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Imagine you had a job opening and were holding interviews for that job that requires a certain level of experience.
Hillary Rodham comes in looking very professional, backed by a resume spanning around four decades of experience. You have a couple of questions about a few grey areas that she explains away using context and when you ask her her weaknesses she replies as expected for someone with her history. Great fit for the job, relevant experience and more, a few reservations about her practices of covering her ass but nothing disqualifying. Credit check is good so a call back, most definately.
Donald Drumpf walks in, the suit doesn't fit and he brought a few family and friends to the interview who are sitting in the lobby. His resume is filled with products, properties and charitable givings. A quick Google search while he rambles ( why isn't he talking English ) about how he alone can fix this company/everyone here is terrible/if we want to win we need a winner like him tells me he has a trail of bankruptcy and thousands of court appearances for theft of labor and liens on numerous properties he professes to be his but under further investigation it turns out he owns less than 10% of them and as such is carrying a massive amount of debt. The charity on his resume seems to be fraudulent and he has been to court for racial housing practices. You're colleague calls from the office down the hall to tell you that the guy sitting in front of you was saying to his friend in the elevator how he likes to grab women's pussies without consent. You ask Donald about his weaknesses and the answer inevitably tells you that this guy is sick in the head so you thank him for his time and tell him the decision will be made in a week or two. You credit check him anyway and then think " feck sending a rejection letter to this weirdo".
Is this even a choice?
 
GiddyUp said:
Imagine you had a job opening and were holding interviews for that job that requires a certain level of experience.
Hillary Rodham comes in looking very professional, backed by a resume spanning around four decades of experience. You have a couple of questions about a few grey areas that she explains away using context and when you ask her her weaknesses she replies as expected for someone with her history. Great fit for the job, relevant experience and more, a few reservations about her practices of covering her ass but nothing disqualifying. Credit check is good so a call back, most definately.
Donald Drumpf walks in, the suit doesn't fit and he brought a few family and friends to the interview who are sitting in the lobby. His resume is filled with products, properties and charitable givings. A quick Google search while he rambles ( why isn't he talking English ) about how he alone can fix this company/everyone here is terrible/if we want to win we need a winner like him tells me he has a trail of bankruptcy and thousands of court appearances for theft of labor and liens on numerous properties he professes to be his but under further investigation it turns out he owns less than 10% of them and as such is carrying a massive amount of debt. The charity on his resume seems to be fraudulent and he has been to court for racial housing practices. You're colleague calls from the office down the hall to tell you that the guy sitting in front of you was saying to his friend in the elevator how he likes to grab women's pussies without consent. You ask Donald about his weaknesses and the answer inevitably tells you that this guy is sick in the head so you thank him for his time and tell him the decision will be made in a week or two. You credit check him anyway and then think " feck sending a rejection letter to this weirdo".
Is this even a choice?
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He also made a scene in the lobby because we don't validate parking. He doesn't think he should pay since we asked him to come in for an interview. To be honest I don't think he has the $7 and his cards are maxed based on his credit report.
 


Yeah, these guys aren't backing one side at aaaaaaall.
 
sun_tzu said:
I dont know - its only a wall - he can probably just pop onto any nternet forum and ask if anybody has built a wall.

But yeah in all seriousness if its going to be a concrete wall for example - and lets face it mr trump has a history of favouring concrete (mainly from companies subsequently linked to the mafia) even when its considerably more expensive than other solutions - so yeah lets assume its concrete then your going to have to build a fek load of catching plants etc before you can even think about starting the project properly... and as you say planning consents, compulsory land purchases etc etc
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He won't be elected.
He won't build a wall.
It'll take years to build a wall.

What next? The wall will fall down?
 
Raoul said:
It would take a confluence of events for that to happen - first, he would need to be perceived by his base as not fulfilling some of his primary campaign promises. Most notably building the wall, repeal and replace Obamacare, drain the swamp etc. He's well on his way of not doing any of those. Second, he would need to be dogged by persistent conflict of interest rumors related to his business, Russia, et al. Third, he would need to be perceived as incompetent and a puppet of foreign influence who continues to use his Presidency to shield himself from further investigation into the matter. Fourth, he would need to be plagued by something he does that is considered impeachable (such as being in violation of the emoluments clause on day 1). And fifth and most importantly, he would have to do something to estrange himself from Ryan and McConnell so that they view him as more of an impediment than a vehicle towards enacting their agenda. If all five of these things happen, he will be on very thin ice.
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His base does not care if he builds a wall or not. They know it was bluster.
Obamacare. The majority want it. The fuss is about the cost. If they repeal it and replace it where the coverage is the same and the cost goes down, there wont be an issue.
His base are not to bothered about the Russian hacks, conflict of interests.
As for McConnell and Ryan. They are far from popular with the base. They see them as the establishment who screwed them. They wont have the guts to try and impeach him, even if there were tangible reasons.
 
Red Dreams said:
His base does not care if he builds a wall or not. They know it was bluster.
Obamacare. The majority want it. The fuss is about the cost. If they repeal it and replace it where the coverage is the same and the cost goes down, there wont be an issue.
His base are not to bothered about the Russian hacks, conflict of interests.
As for McConnell and Ryan. They are far from popular with the base. They see them as the establishment who screwed them. They wont have the guts to try and impeach him, even if there were tangible reasons.
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The base will definitely care if he is broadly perceived as not doing what he said he would. At that point the crowds at his banana republic pep rallies will dissipate quickly. And don't underestimate the power of the repeal Obamacare backlash. When the rubber meets the road, healthcare affects everyone and this guy is going to be the posterchild for the types of people who jump off the Drumpf bandwagon if he cuts off their health care.

 
Raoul said:
It would take a confluence of events for that to happen - first, he would need to be perceived by his base as not fulfilling some of his primary campaign promises. Most notably building the wall, repeal and replace Obamacare, drain the swamp etc. He's well on his way of not doing any of those. Second, he would need to be dogged by persistent conflict of interest rumors related to his business, Russia, et al. Third, he would need to be perceived as incompetent and a puppet of foreign influence who continues to use his Presidency to shield himself from further investigation into the matter. Fourth, he would need to be plagued by something he does that is considered impeachable (such as being in violation of the emoluments clause on day 1). And fifth and most importantly, he would have to do something to estrange himself from Ryan and McConnell so that they view him as more of an impediment than a vehicle towards enacting their agenda. If all five of these things happen, he will be on very thin ice.
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I don't know how you can say that. The repeal and replacement of Obamacare is top order of business for the Republican congress. Funding for the wall is being incorporated into a bill due to come before Congress shortly. Draining the swamp is of course impossible. Everybody in Washington would die of asphyxiation.
 
Will Absolute said:
I don't know how you can say that. The repeal and replacement of Obamacare is top order of business for the Republican congress. Funding for the wall is being incorporated into a bill due to come before Congress shortly. Draining the swamp is of course impossible. Everybody in Washington would die of asphyxiation.
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The repeal of Obamacare is a massive mine the Republicans are going to have to step on to achieve, which is why it may well not happen. Repeal it and you are dumping millions off their insurance, many of which couldn't previously afford it. Don't repeal it and you're a liar who just talked shite to get votes. There's no slithering out of this one.
 
Raoul said:
The repeal of Obamacare is a massive mine the Republicans are going to have to step on to achieve, which is why it may well not happen. Repeal it and you are dumping millions off their insurance, many of which couldn't previously afford it. Don't repeal it and you're a liar who just talked shite to get votes. There's no slithering out of this one.
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They might replace it with a more business-friendly plan, and no Medicare expansion. Win-win.
 
berbatrick said:
They might replace it with a more business-friendly plan, and no Medicare expansion. Win-win.
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They might also turn into Martians and fly away to another planet. Until they have a solid replace strategy (which they don't) they are extremely vulnerable to the consequences of dumping millions off their insurance plans.
 
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