POTUS Donald Trump

[Squirrel]

The Democrats shouldn't be scared of Pence and they probably aren't.

 

He'll be so ineffectual and so resented by the majority of the nation that he'll have to tread lightly if he wants to make it to 2020 in one piece.

 

Because we all know how fondly the nation looked at Ford's presidency.

And Ford was a decent human being and a moderate.

[drjim]

And Ford was a decent human being and a moderate.

I have absolutely no love for Pence, but he strikes me at least as a patriot who does respect our national security apparatus and other institutions. This makes him approximately infinitely morrle preferable to Trump.

[Squirrel]

I have absolutely no love for Pence, but he strikes me at least as a patriot who does respect our national security apparatus and other institutions. This makes him approximately infinitely morrle preferable to Trump.

You misunderstood my point. Brock pointed out that Ford didn't have a good time of it. I think Pence is in for worse because at least Ford was a decent person and moderate. Pence is neither. But yes, in that one aspect you mentioned, I would definitely trust Pence over Trump. I can't imagine anyone who wouldn't except a complete idiot.

[drjim]

You misunderstood my point. Brock pointed out that Ford didn't have a good time of it. I think Pence is in for worse because at least Ford was a decent person and moderate. Pence is neither. But yes, in that one aspect you mentioned, I would definitely trust Pence over Trump. I can't imagine anyone who wouldn't except a complete idiot.

I'm in agreement with all that you said, I was just building on the points. Probably shouldn't have quoted.

 

All that to pile on the original point that the Dems are not holding back and they would not be concerned about Pence.

[DaveW]

After pences comments this week about never having dinner with a woman not his wife or never drinking alcohol if his wife is present, I have to imagine this dude has some serious serious serious skeletons in this closet. Those of which that would make the MSP bathroomgate look tame

[drjim]

After pences comments this week about never having dinner with a woman not his wife or never drinking alcohol if his wife is present, I have to imagine this dude has some serious serious serious skeletons in this closet. Those of which that would make the MSP bathroomgate look tame

I doubt it, for better or worse this is a common rule for male Evangelical leaders.

[DaveW]

I doubt it, for better or worse this is a common rule for male Evangelical leaders.

Unreal, again though, a lot of the most "strict" end up having the most skeletons in the closet.

 

Also I think it's very disturbing that we have a POTUS (can't have a drink) and a VP (can't be alone with a woman or have a drink if his wife isn't around) who clearly have major issues with self control.

[TheLeviathan]

I have a lot of nice things to say about Krugman, even if I sometimes disagree with him, but holy Nostradamus on this article.  

 

His line about the Republican party being a post-policy party is perhaps the most succinct and brutally accurate phrase I can think of for them.  

[Brock Beauchamp]

 

I have a lot of nice things to say about Krugman, even if I sometimes disagree with him, but holy Nostradamus on this article.  

 

His line about the Republican party being a post-policy party is perhaps the most succinct and brutally accurate phrase I can think of for them.  

Whoa. Nailed it.

[ashbury]

You misunderstood my point. Brock pointed out that Ford didn't have a good time of it. I think Pence is in for worse because at least Ford was a decent person and moderate. Pence is neither. But yes, in that one aspect you mentioned, I would definitely trust Pence over Trump. I can't imagine anyone who wouldn't except a complete idiot.

I bet Pence will refrain from doing what killed Ford: pardoning the previous occupant of the big chair.

 

I don't think there's a lot of love lost between Trump and his VP, and yet Pence has been loyal in every public statement; that combination could lead to Pence not merely "not pardoning" his predecessor but actively prosecuting him. He is radio-slick, and has a massive talent for looking sad while saying what he wants to say against someone. It could lead to mucho brownie points in the eyes of the fickle Trump-voting public if the president's sins are viewed as big enough after impeachment.

 

Pence could enjoy a whole lot better honeymoon than Ford ever got, if he looks after his own best interest, instead of the country's as Jerry Ford did.

 

Remember what General Flynn was fired for? Lying to Pence. The same tactic can be used if Trump is impeached. Pence's moral rectitude ("the worst thing was, the President lied to my face") will stand him in good stead through a constitutional crisis like impeachment.

[kydoty]

Ford had two major problems with his Presidency, one not his fault and one absolutely was.

 

1. He was the only President who was not elected to the executive office, but rather appointed by Nixon and confirmed by the Senate. This surrounded his Presidency with an aura of illegitimacy amongst the American people.

 

2. And of course, he pardoned Nixon when everyone was looking for blood. While in hindsight it was probably the right move to make, a tarnished his Presidency before it even began.

[Bark's Lounge]

I am good with people having faith and having it be a big part of their life. I just wish that there was a test that people running for public office had to take to indicate if they were indeed secular, if not they would not be allowed to run for a public office.

 

If they lied on their test and tried to implement religious idealism into law a Independent Court of Secular People with beliefs spanning the gauntlet of the Abrahamic religions, Hindu, Buddhist, Atheists, etc. have the power to fire them from their position... at all levels.

 

A good amount of our country's founding fathers were Deists. They believed that god created the Universe, but the rest of it was left up to it's creation. Thomas Jefferson wrote his own Bible to get rid of the superstition and over the top unrealistic stories that were in the book. This was 200 years ago. Times have changed and instead of looking backwards, we should be moving forward, instead of this super in between teeter tauter we are currently on.

 

Trump is an opportunist and will waive the flag of any religion if it brings him a victory. Mike Pence is a religious fundamentalist wacko.

 

I agree we are in better hands with Pence, rather than Trump. If Trump does quit or gets impeached in this term of his presidency, I will still be haunted in my nightmares by Pence's Fundamentalist beliefs and what he can do with them..

 

To me it is simple in our modern times in a political setting and overall. Religion sets us back. Secularism advances us.

 

It does not fix all of the problems, but it puts us on a better track and then we can counteract the other problems that hinder this nation from being a blind ship in the direct path of an immense iceberg.

 

I only want progress. I want to live in a country where people give a crap about each other, and the law of the land benefits each and everyone.

[D. Hocking]

Jared is now in Iraq assessing the mid-east situation.  I am sure he is the most qualified person to do this -- although I would feel better if Ivanka was there as well.

 

Hypothetical question, if Chelsea and her husband were filling similar roles if Hilary had been elected, do you think every head on Fox News would be exploding?

[TheLeviathan]

 

Jared is now in Iraq assessing the mid-east situation.  I am sure he is the most qualified person to do this -- although I would feel better if Ivanka was there as well.

 

Hypothetical question, if Chelsea and her husband were filling similar roles if Hilary had been elected, do you think every head on Fox News would be exploding?

 

It would look a lot like the end the end of Kingsman I assume. 

[drjim]

I am good with people having faith and having it be a big part of their life. I just wish that there was a test that people running for public office had to take to indicate if they were indeed secular, if not they would not be allowed to run for a public office.

 

If they lied on their test and tried to implement religious idealism into law a Independent Court of Secular People with beliefs spanning the gauntlet of the Abrahamic religions, Hindu, Buddhist, Atheists, etc. have the power to fire them from their position... at all levels.

 

A good amount of our country's founding fathers were Deists. They believed that god created the Universe, but the rest of it was left up to it's creation. Thomas Jefferson wrote his own Bible to get rid of the superstition and over the top unrealistic stories that were in the book. This was 200 years ago. Times have changed and instead of looking backwards, we should be moving forward, instead of this super in between teeter tauter we are currently on.

 

Trump is an opportunist and will waive the flag of any religion if it brings him a victory. Mike Pence is a religious fundamentalist wacko.

 

I agree we are in better hands with Pence, rather than Trump. If Trump does quit or gets impeached in this term of his presidency, I will still be haunted in my nightmares by Pence's Fundamentalist beliefs and what he can do with them..

 

To me it is simple in our modern times in a political setting and overall. Religion sets us back. Secularism advances us.

 

It does not fix all of the problems, but it puts us on a better track and then we can counteract the other problems that hinder this nation from being a blind ship in the direct path of an immense iceberg.

 

I only want progress. I want to live in a country where people give a crap about each other, and the law of the land benefits each and everyone.

Spitballing here, but rather than worrying so much about the source of the opposing political philosophy, perhaps the better solution is to bring forth an alternative that is attractive enough to win the next election.

[Brock Beauchamp]

 

I bet Pence will refrain from doing what killed Ford: pardoning the previous occupant of the big chair.

 

I don't think there's a lot of love lost between Trump and his VP, and yet Pence has been loyal in every public statement; that combination could lead to Pence not merely "not pardoning" his predecessor but actively prosecuting him. He is radio-slick, and has a massive talent for looking sad while saying what he wants to say against someone. It could lead to mucho brownie points in the eyes of the fickle Trump-voting public if the president's sins are viewed as big enough after impeachment.

 

Pence could enjoy a whole lot better honeymoon than Ford ever got, if he looks after his own best interest, instead of the country's as Jerry Ford did.

 

Remember what General Flynn was fired for? Lying to Pence. The same tactic can be used if Trump is impeached. Pence's moral rectitude ("the worst thing was, the President lied to my face") will stand him in good stead through a constitutional crisis like impeachment.

You're leaving out one important component of this whole fiasco: Trump lost the popular vote and not by a small margin. He entered the presidency with an unfavorable rating and it has only become worse over time.

 

And while Pence might mend a few fences with conservatives who refused to vote for Trump, between the stink of the Trump presidency and Pence's own right-wing lunacy, he's going to face an uphill battle for legitimacy.

 

Pence can play the role of righteous warrior but if he pushes his agenda on America, any honeymoon he receives will be brief. I don't see how the timeline works for Pence if things go to hell in a handbasket. Trump would need to be impeached yesterday for Pence to have enough time to repair his image. The midterms happen in late 2018. Democrats will begin stumping for the presidency in late 2019. Any impeachment process will likely string out for months, if not a year or more.

[drjim]

If Trump is forced out of office Pence (and the Reps) are toast.

 

But a lame duck (relatively) competently managing the levers of government isn't a terrible thing, even if he does so under the language of right wing religion.

 

My biggest concern about Trump is still that his Administration's incompetence is going to get many people unnecessarily killed, either in the US or especially around the world. That concern would be greatly reduced by literally any other Republican of note.

[PseudoSABR]

Potentially big story:  Blackwater founder (and brother to Sec. Ed. Devos) evidently went to a remote Island in the Indian ocean to set up a Trump-Putin back channel in January. 

[nicksaviking]

I don't like it and no one should, but since that happened after election and while Trump was already president-elect, I don't know that this is any huge smoking gun.

 

"Though the full agenda remains unclear, the UAE agreed to broker the meeting in part to explore whether Russia could be persuaded to curtail its relationship with Iran, including in Syria, a Trump administration objective that would be likely to require major concessions to Moscow on U.S. sanctions."

 

Obviously the full agenda would make or break any kind of judgment on the meeting, but from this description, exploring solutions to Syria and Iran sound like the kind of meeting the President or Secretary of State should be having. The cloak and dagger aspects are troubling, but frankly, both sides are probably more amenable to concessions if they think the media won't get wind of the conversations.

[D. Hocking]

This is just so classless, even if he does feel the previous administration handled things badly, this was not the time or place to instantly politicize it.

 

WASHINGTON, April 4 (Reuters) - The White House on Tuesday blamed a deadly chemical weapons attack in Syria's Idlib province on the government of President Bashar al-Assad and said the incident was "reprehensible and cannot be ignored by the civilized world."

 

"These heinous actions by the Bashar al-Assad regime are a consequence of the last administration's weakness and irresolution," White House spokesman Sean Spicer told a briefing. "President Obama said in 2012 that he would establish a 'red line' against the use of chemical weapons and then did nothing."

Images of the attack in Syria

[nicksaviking]

http://www.thedailybeast.com/cheats/2017/04/04/isis-calls-donald-trump-an-idiot.html?via=desktop&source=copyurl

 

Great, so if ISIS is calling Trump " an idiot who does not know what Syria or Iraq or Islam is" I guess that makes ISIS...right?

 

Awesome, thanks prez for making the terrorists appear to be the intelligent side.

[Badsmerf]

http://www.thedailybeast.com/cheats/2017/04/04/isis-calls-donald-trump-an-idiot.html?via=desktop&source=copyurl

 

Great, so if ISIS is calling Trump " an idiot who does not know what Syria or Iraq or Islam is" I guess that makes ISIS...right?

 

Awesome, thanks prez for making the terrorists appear to be the intelligent side.

@realDonaldTrump

ISIS are broke and taking stabs at richest nation in the world! Stupid! Your days are numbers. #whostheidiotnow

[D. Hocking]

 

@realDonaldTrump
ISIS are broke and taking stabs at richest nation in the world! Stupid! Your days are numbers. #whostheidiotnow

 

Sadly - I thought this was real.  Even more sad, is that it is not inconceivable that he would tweet this.  I did notice he retweeted Drudge.  For someone who tweets about fake news so much, he does not seem to have a problem citing "news" that is biased towards him.  I wonder if his hard core supporters ever sit and ponder that.

[Mike Sixel]

 

Sadly - I thought this was real.  Even more sad, is that it is not inconceivable that he would tweet this.  I did notice he retweeted Drudge.  For someone who tweets about fake news so much, he does not seem to have a problem citing "news" that is biased towards him.  I wonder if his hard core supporters ever sit and ponder that.

 

too busy pointing out memes about bill clinton and jimmy carter...

[kydoty]

Trump's ratings have lowered to an astounding 34%.

[twinsnorth49]

 

Sadly - I thought this was real.  Even more sad, is that it is not inconceivable that he would tweet this.  I did notice he retweeted Drudge.  For someone who tweets about fake news so much, he does not seem to have a problem citing "news" that is biased towards him.  I wonder if his hard core supporters ever sit and ponder that.

Well pondering requires at least some form of thinking, so I'll go with no, they don't.

[D. Hocking]

On the latest N. Korea launching.  I am not sure we have the best team in place to deal with this.  A bit scary.

 

Department of State‏Verified account @StateDept  1h1 hour ago

Secretary Tillerson: The United States has spoken enough about North Korea. We have no further comment. https://go.usa.gov/xXnXN

[diehardtwinsfan]

 

Unreal, again though, a lot of the most "strict" end up having the most skeletons in the closet.

Also I think it's very disturbing that we have a POTUS (can't have a drink) and a VP (can't be alone with a woman or have a drink if his wife isn't around) who clearly have major issues with self control.

 

There's so much out there to bag on these guys, but this?

 

I do believe this is called self-restraint, or better yet, not putting yourself in a situation that could potentially go bad.  Nothing wrong with some one recognizing their weaknesses and putting appropriate boundaries in place or simply putting controls in place so as to never be in a "he said/she said" situation. 

 

For all the politicians being caught in bed with someone other than their spouse or accused of harassment, I think it's somewhat refreshing that Pence will do this. If anything, it's one less possible distraction.

[Brock Beauchamp]

I don't really care whether Pence will be alone with a woman that isn't his wife but it's a pretty damning indictment of his value system: that women aren't people and are something to be avoided to keep one's self "pure".

 

And that value decision is in lock-step with his public policy so it's not some weird character flaw: it's fully ingrained into his person.

 

With that said, Pence is so actively a giant douchemonster about so many things that I don't really care about this much at all, it's just another check in the column of "****ty belief structures".

[diehardtwinsfan]

 

I don't really care whether Pence will be alone with a woman that isn't his wife but it's a pretty damning indictment of his value system: that women aren't people and are something to be avoided to keep one's self "pure".

 

And that value decision is in lock-step with his public policy so it's not some weird character flaw: it's fully ingrained into his person.

 

With that said, Pence is so actively a giant douchemonster about so many things that I don't really care about this much at all, it's just another check in the column of "****ty belief structures".

 

I think that's a poor generalization of what his value system is. We talk to athletes all the time about not putting themselves in bad situations. Pence takes that to an extreme, I agree, but with all the crap that happens in those types of situations, it's hardly unreasonable to take precautions.  Just look at Bill Clinton. That's the other extreme.

 

Oh, and it has nothing at all to do with the idea that women aren't people.  Talk about a mis-characterization.

 

Pence is hardly an angel, but seriously, this is not his problem.  Not even close.