Author Topic: The Trump Presidency  (Read 399344 times)

Offline LunarOrbit

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Re: The Trump Presidency
« Reply #420 on: May 08, 2018, 04:50:07 PM »
It's starting to look like a good time to stop letting the US "lead" the way for the rest of the world, at least until they elect a leader with a functional brain.

The fact that he thinks he deserves the Nobel Peace Prize is ridiculous. For what? If he has had any beneficial effect on North Korea it is by pure luck. He could have just as easily started a nuclear war.
« Last Edit: May 08, 2018, 05:35:09 PM by LunarOrbit »
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Offline LunarOrbit

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Re: The Trump Presidency
« Reply #421 on: May 08, 2018, 05:00:37 PM »
Christiane Amanpour on CNN makes a good point.

Trump is making the same mistake as George W. Bush by taking advice from Benjamin Netanyahu. He was the one who said it would have a beneficial effect on the region to remove Saddam Hussein. And we are still cleaning up that mess 15 years later.

It suddenly struck me that that tiny pea, pretty and blue, was the Earth.
I put up my thumb and shut one eye, and my thumb blotted out the planet Earth.
I didn't feel like a giant. I felt very, very small.
- Neil Armstrong (1930-2012)

Offline Luke Pemberton

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Re: The Trump Presidency
« Reply #422 on: May 08, 2018, 07:04:53 PM »
My only hope is that Europe, Russia, China etc. can persuade Iran that it's still worth continuing the deal.  That however would leave the US very isolated, potentially leading to other problems.

That was my thought tonight. The UK, France and Germany have already declared commitment to the deal. It could of course have the effect of increasing the rhetoric between Iran and Trump, and given his fragile ego and complete lack of diplomacy, increase the tensions further.
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Offline nweber

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Re: The Trump Presidency
« Reply #423 on: May 09, 2018, 12:25:40 AM »
It's starting to look like a good time to stop letting the US "lead" the way for the rest of the world

It's been a good time for many years.

The fact that he thinks he deserves the Nobel Peace Prize is ridiculous.

That prize was completely discredited, if it hadn't been already, when it was given to Barack Obama, who had done nothing to earn it at the time (his own words), and subsequently became quite expert at extrajudicial assassination.

The espionage indictment from the United States Department of Justice is a more prestigious award for service to humanity, although the prize that comes with the Nobel is better.
« Last Edit: May 09, 2018, 12:31:39 AM by nweber »

Offline LunarOrbit

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Re: The Trump Presidency
« Reply #424 on: June 16, 2018, 11:50:57 AM »
I expected corruption. I expected sanctions to be lifted from Russia. I expected the EPA to be dismantled.

I did not expect children to be separated from their parents and thrown into internment camps. Disgusting.

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It suddenly struck me that that tiny pea, pretty and blue, was the Earth.
I put up my thumb and shut one eye, and my thumb blotted out the planet Earth.
I didn't feel like a giant. I felt very, very small.
- Neil Armstrong (1930-2012)

Offline molesworth

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Re: The Trump Presidency
« Reply #425 on: June 16, 2018, 05:50:00 PM »
I expected corruption. I expected sanctions to be lifted from Russia. I expected the EPA to be dismantled.

I did not expect children to be separated from their parents and thrown into internment camps. Disgusting.

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It's absolutely appalling, and hasn't escaped notice in the rest of the world.  I cannot understand how anyone can either sanction or carry out these "orders" with a clear conscience.  The conditions the children are being held in are terrible, and now they're planning on using tents to accommodate even more!

The fact that he's blaming the Democrats for the policy, and is refusing to sign a bill to stop it* makes the whole situation even worse.  (I'm not going to get into the "religious justification for it" issue, which is also appalling, at least not on a public forum.)


[ * or at least according to reports I've read - it's hard to tell truth from fiction in the media these days ]
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Offline LionKing

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Re: The Trump Presidency
« Reply #426 on: June 22, 2018, 07:02:24 AM »
https://www.facebook.com/100002127357968/posts/1725908540823374/

This is too much. .he is a crazed monster and should be made to resign
“When you go through a hard period,
When everything seems to oppose you,
... When you feel you cannot even bear one more minute,
NEVER GIVE UP!
Because it is the time and place that the course will divert!”
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Offline raven

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Re: The Trump Presidency
« Reply #427 on: June 22, 2018, 11:48:11 AM »
https://www.facebook.com/100002127357968/posts/1725908540823374/

This is too much. .he is a crazed monster and should be made to resign
Link does not work.

Offline gillianren

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Re: The Trump Presidency
« Reply #428 on: June 22, 2018, 01:19:09 PM »
The college roommate of a friend is asking why people are protesting children who've been separated from their parents when they arrive at LaGuardia instead of just taking those children in and feeding and sheltering them and so forth.  The article she commented on was talking about how protestors were there arguing about the policy, not least because the federal government was preventing the state government of New York from providing the children in question with medical care.  When I told her that the federal government literally wouldn't let people do anything for these children, she started going off about Oskar Schindler, because of course that's a directly comparable situation.
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Offline jfb

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Re: The Trump Presidency
« Reply #429 on: June 22, 2018, 03:31:46 PM »
https://www.facebook.com/100002127357968/posts/1725908540823374/

This is too much. .he is a crazed monster and should be made to resign

I've said it before, Trump isn't the problem, he's a symptom of the problem.

There is a significant fraction of American voters who like what he is doing and want him to do more of it, either because of like-minded cruelty, gob-smacking ignorance and stupidity, or just plain nihilism. Honest-to-God white nationalists and Nazis are gaining power in Congress and state houses for the same reason.  If the Democrats fail to flip either the House or the Senate this fall (which is likely, because Democrats don't vote in the midterms), hang on to your socks.  We may be seeing reruns of 1968-level domestic violence. 

Of course, this is all Newt Gingrich's fault.  He's the one who started the whole toxic partisanship shitball rolling.  In another 100 years his name will be in the history books as one of the chief architects of America's collapse. 

15 years ago I blasted anyone who thought of giving up their US citizenship and moving to another country - running away wasn't going to fix anything.  Now, I'm halfway seriously considering it myself, because I don't think things can be fixed anymore. 

Offline raven

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Re: The Trump Presidency
« Reply #430 on: June 22, 2018, 03:53:56 PM »

15 years ago I blasted anyone who thought of giving up their US citizenship and moving to another country - running away wasn't going to fix anything.  Now, I'm halfway seriously considering it myself, because I don't think things can be fixed anymore.
Of course, that's become much more difficult for those of low income levels, because the State Department greatly increased the cost of renouncing US citizenship shortly after Trump's election. Funny that.

Offline gillianren

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Re: The Trump Presidency
« Reply #431 on: June 22, 2018, 04:59:15 PM »
Not that I can afford to pack up and leave the country anyway, not that any country would take a middle-aged disabled woman with two kids and no extraordinary skills.
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Offline Glom

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Re: The Trump Presidency
« Reply #432 on: June 22, 2018, 05:53:09 PM »
Yes yes. We're all planning on deserting our respective sinking ships. I've started French tuition for just that purpose.

Offline molesworth

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Re: The Trump Presidency
« Reply #433 on: June 22, 2018, 07:39:13 PM »
Well, if any of you are thinking of moving to the UK, that may not be a great choice, as we're heading in pretty much the same direction (perhaps just not as rapidly).

In fact the rise of nationalism, attacks on immigration, and general dislike or distrust of anything "different" seems to be happening in just about every country at the moment.  I sometimes despair at humanity, having moved so far towards something approaching worldwide fairness, acceptance and inclusion, we're now turning back and throwing it all away  >:(
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Offline Peter B

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Re: The Trump Presidency
« Reply #434 on: June 23, 2018, 11:57:47 AM »
Heh, spare a thought for us in Australia...

I'm currently reading "Silent Invasion" by Clive Hamilton. It's about how China has been systematically infiltrating Australia's political and social structures for two decades, with the aim of splitting Australia from its American alliance (and who knows what else after that). In the meantime, the Australian government has been passing beefed up legislation relating to the espionage threat the Chinese pose, and splashing out some extra aid money among Pacific island nations in the hope of slowing the spread of Chinese influence in the region. *

And as I read the book, I'm coming to the conclusion that China is a bigger threat to the USA than the Soviet Union ever was: the Soviet era Russians were hamstrung by their ideology; by contrast the Chinese are ruthless, pragmatic and, above all, patient. David Wingrove's novels may turn out to be close to the mark.

Of course, on top of that, the USA is facing an increasing threat from a Russia whose leader looks to be out for revenge for defeat in the Cold War. I've just been watching parts of an Australian ABC report about Russian meddling in the USA: look for Trump/Russia at http://www.abc.net.au/4corners/ and if you can't watch the videos for whatever reason, the web pages for each of the shows include transcripts.

Grim reading...

* Back in 2000 I attended an Australian Skeptics conference in Sydney, which doubled as an international Skeptics conference. One of the speakers (with an interpreter) was Chinese skeptic Sima Nan. He described his efforts in trying to stamp out superstitious beliefs in China and the dangers he'd faced from outraged charlatans and their hired thugs. He also spoke about the wacky beliefs of followers of Falun Gong (which at the time was gaining popularity in Australia), and the absurd claims of its leader, Li Hongzhi. After the talk I was able to get his autograph (which I still have somewhere among my Skeptics papers), for which I was able to thank him with about the only Chinese I know.

These days, however, I see that Sima Nan is now a loyal advocate for the Chinese government and noisy critic of everything Western or Liberal or American (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sima_Nan). I have to say it's a strange feeling to dislike a fellow atheist skeptic because he in turn dislikes the intellectual tradition which gave birth to Western liberalism and skepticism.