Trump, the rise of the inadequate, work of Congress

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Fan of Science
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Joined: May 26th, 2017, 1:39 pm

Re: Trump, the rise of the inadequate, work of Congress

Post by Fan of Science »

Keep in mind that most Americans do not like Trump and are upset about his conflicts of interest. In fact, no one even knows the extent of his conflicts, because he has refused to disclose his tax returns. We do know his daughter's "charity" received $100 million from the Saudis after the recent arms deal with them went through. That sure as hell looks like a bribe. Especially when Trump stated on the campaign trail he would not accept donations from the Saudis, like Hillary Clinton had. Like you stated --- nothing really changes.

Trump will increase inequality if he does anything in the arena of economics. The one thing he seems to be consistent on is his support for the upper-classes against everyone else.

The real reason Trump's fan base is unconcerned about Trump's economic policies is because Trump supports their position on racism. They'll overlook a lot as long as Trump keeps dropping the occasional racist phrase here and there. The GOP in the USA has been for years the party of white people who identify as white people ---- but the GOP tried to keep that hidden. Now, with Trump, it's all out in the open. It's a real shame that the USA took a giant step backward in electing Trump. The man is rude, ignorant, crazy, racist, sexist, and nuts.
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Razblo
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Joined: July 11th, 2017, 8:52 am

Re: Trump, the rise of the inadequate, work of Congress

Post by Razblo »

Fan of Science wrote:During the eight years Obama was in office, in poll after poll, roughly 15%-25% of those answering thought Obama was the anti-Christ. That's insane. We now have a situation where the president of the USA not only makes racist remarks routinely, but he lies as a matter of course, and also promotes conspiracy theories from the White House. This is not a good state of affairs. More people are being rude and openly expressing racism and anti-Semitism as well as hatred against Muslims. More and more the conspiracy-theorists think that their delusional beliefs are now mainstream. They are not; they are still a minority, and a disliked one at that, but the problem is that the current president is one of them. Trump gives a "validation" to the insane camp, and this makes Trump dangerous.

Also, Trump is attacking freedom of speech, seeking to undue the defamation laws, making flag-burning a crime, he aggressively targets private individual citizens for speaking out, as well as engaging in an ongoing war against the press and mainstream media. Not to mention that the truth does not matter to Trump and his hard-core supporters, and if one can no longer speak truth to power, then freedom of speech does little to protect us from tyranny.

For the first time in my life, I no longer feel at home in America. I don't even consider it safe here any longer. Trump is a danger. He is a symbol of validation for the crazies among us.
That was full of conspiracy theory. Trump routinely spouts racist rhetoric? Examples please?
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Razblo
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Re: Trump, the rise of the inadequate, work of Congress

Post by Razblo »

Greta wrote:Watching from afar in Australia, I have to say the election and retention of Trump boggles my mind.

.
The retention of Trump as president boggles your mind? Are you not aware of presidential terms?
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ZoneOfNonBeing
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Re: Trump, the rise of the inadequate, work of Congress

Post by ZoneOfNonBeing »

-1- wrote:Right now we have a POTUS who is at best inadequate, at worst an imbecile, and at medium a narcissistic boor.

But that's not bad, even if he does not do any work, or if he blotches up his job. Because the president's MAJOR decision making power is to veto the work and the decision of the Congress and/or Senate.
I understand the general line of reasoning. But for me, I think we should take a step back and focus less on the individual competencies of the president and focus more on the structural functioning of the institutions themselves. We need to come to grips with the fact that this country does not exist for the benefit of the masses. This country was created by rich white men for the benefit of rich white men. The government exists to maintain their power and privilege - using the police and military (threats of prison and/or death) to maintain a sense of "law and order".
The United States is the richest country on the planet, but at the same time, the homeless population continues to grow, and the wealth gap between rich and poor continues to grow. These are not mistakes or symptoms of an "inadequate" POTUS - this is the consequence of a system that threw us overboard centuries ago. It is not simply that the POTUS is "inadequate" it is that the current structure of capitalism is inadequate in meeting the needs of the people: the minimum wage is too low to secure rent, pay for health insurance, food, child care, etc. Trump, Congress, and the Courts are only fulfilling their roles as disconnected, arrogant, imperialist leaders in a tradition of arrogant imperialist leaders.
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Steve3007
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Joined: June 15th, 2011, 5:53 pm

Re: Trump, the rise of the inadequate, work of Congress

Post by Steve3007 »

If yesterday's sell-off in US stock markets continues when the New York markets open today, I predict a tweet from Trump blaming it on the Fed for raising rates. Markets go up = a measure of the president's brilliance. Markets go down = someone else's fault.
Steve3007
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Re: Trump, the rise of the inadequate, work of Congress

Post by Steve3007 »

For reference, here's one of the tweets that equates Dow Jones valuations with presidential success:

"The Stock Market just reached an All-Time High during my Administration for the 102nd Time, a presidential record, by far, for less than two years. So much potential as Trade and Military Deals are completed."

But, I've just read, he's already beaten me to it and stated his displeasure at the Federal Reserve for starting to take interest rates back up to more historically normal levels and possibly damp down the sugar rush, spoiling its utility as a campaigning tool.
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