• In total there are 3 users online :: 1 registered, 0 hidden and 2 guests (based on users active over the past 60 minutes)
    Most users ever online was 616 on Thu Jan 18, 2024 7:47 pm

Trump is not a joke

A forum dedicated to friendly and civil conversations about domestic and global politics, history, and present-day events.
Forum rules
Do not promote books in this forum. Instead, promote your books in either Authors: Tell us about your FICTION book! or Authors: Tell us about your NON-FICTION book!.

All other Community Rules apply in this and all other forums.
User avatar
DWill

1H - GOLD CONTRIBUTOR
BookTalk.org Hall of Fame
Posts: 6966
Joined: Thu Jan 31, 2008 8:05 am
16
Location: Luray, Virginia
Has thanked: 2262 times
Been thanked: 2470 times

Re: Trump is not a joke

Unread post

I've stopped trying to predict "peak Trump." The most glaring fact in this campaign is the extraordinary unattractiveness of Hillary Clinton to the voters. Her negatives have to be the only reason that a reckless and clueless oligarch like Trump can still be running neck and neck with her in polling.
User avatar
DB Roy
Beyond Awesome
Posts: 1011
Joined: Fri Mar 06, 2015 10:37 am
9
Has thanked: 43 times
Been thanked: 602 times

Re: Trump is not a joke

Unread post

Polls are worthless. If they were worth anything, Romney would have been president in 2012. It wasn't even close and I feel the same thing will happen here. The Trump campaign is clearly in big trouble with funding. for somebody who is supposed to be so popular. While Clinton certainly has her own faults and I'm not crazy about her myself, I think a lot of the criticisms of her is a bunch of sexist bullshit. Really, is she any worse then any male candidates in this race or any male politicians in any race? She's getting criticized a lot more for doing the same shit that male candidates rarely get media scrutiny for. The same thing happened to Obama and we KNOW why that happened.
User avatar
LanDroid

2A - MOD & BRONZE
Comandante Literario Supreme
Posts: 2800
Joined: Sat Jul 27, 2002 9:51 am
21
Location: Cincinnati, OH
Has thanked: 195 times
Been thanked: 1166 times
United States of America

Re: Trump is not a joke

Unread post

DB Roy wrote:Polls are worthless. If they were worth anything, Romney would have been president in 2012. It wasn't even close...
No. The polls had Obama winning. But Fox News and others were convinced the polls were wrong. The polls were claiming young voters would come out as strongly as they did in 2008. Fox News and others did not believe that was physically possible so they discounted the numbers. They woke up on election day firmly believing Romney would win. But young voters did show up in large numbers as the polls stated and the result was shocking to them, but not most people - or at least not to followers of fivethirtyeight.com.
User avatar
DWill

1H - GOLD CONTRIBUTOR
BookTalk.org Hall of Fame
Posts: 6966
Joined: Thu Jan 31, 2008 8:05 am
16
Location: Luray, Virginia
Has thanked: 2262 times
Been thanked: 2470 times

Re: Trump is not a joke

Unread post

DB Roy wrote:Polls are worthless. If they were worth anything, Romney would have been president in 2012. It wasn't even close and I feel the same thing will happen here. The Trump campaign is clearly in big trouble with funding. for somebody who is supposed to be so popular. While Clinton certainly has her own faults and I'm not crazy about her myself, I think a lot of the criticisms of her is a bunch of sexist bullshit. Really, is she any worse then any male candidates in this race or any male politicians in any race? She's getting criticized a lot more for doing the same shit that male candidates rarely get media scrutiny for. The same thing happened to Obama and we KNOW why that happened.
That's an exaggeration about polls being worthless. Polls closest to the election showed Obama with the win; Romney's camp believed the polls were skewed. If polls in October show that HRC and DT are running close, we'll probably have a close election, at least in terms of the popular vote. Electoral margins can be wide even when the popular vote is close. Correct me if I'm wrong, but weren't you saying, as I think I was, that DT would not be able to get the nomination? It's not a done deal, but just about. If DT continues to rewrite the rules, will it matter so much that Hillary has all the money? I wasn't giving my own opinion of Clinton, just observing that a candidate with any standing would have to have an easy time against Trump. But she unfortunately is about as "inside" as a candidate could be, is not by any stretch a skillful politician, and has a long public record which makes it easy to attack her.
User avatar
DB Roy
Beyond Awesome
Posts: 1011
Joined: Fri Mar 06, 2015 10:37 am
9
Has thanked: 43 times
Been thanked: 602 times

Re: Trump is not a joke

Unread post

We're quite a ways from that yet. When it comes time for people to pull that lever, most of the people saying they'll vote for Trump right now will think the better of it and go for the candidate who is least likely to cause a disaster. I know a guy right now who lost all his retirement 401 money and is pissed about it and saying he'll vote for Trump but I know he won't in the end. He's mad and he wants change which is not likely to happen under Clinton but do we really want the kind of change Trump may bring ? And the worst part is the not knowing. He hasn't shown us any real plan about anything other than he's going to build a wall and create a Muslim database. This is the kind of stuff voters start to think about when they enter the voting booth. The electoral vote will be hugely in favor of Clinton.

If Trump can rewrite the rules to the point where no money is needed to run for president,--well, just forget it--ain't gonna happen.
Correct me if I'm wrong, but weren't you saying, as I think I was, that DT would not be able to get the nomination? It's not a done deal, but just about.
Yes, that was me and I still do not fully believe he'll get it. The dissent within the party may still force a contested convention. The rich fatcats who own the GOP have been strangely silent but are certainly not tearing open their purses for Trump. I wouldn't be surprised if they are up to something. The only faith I have left in the GOP is that they are still the same sneaky, underhanded, back-stabbing assholes that they've always been and I don't expect them to take this sitting down. Trump knows it which is why he has promised riots if he doesn't get the nomination. So we'll just have to see but I don't see this ending quietly. They know he's going to lose. And the only thing that could be worse is that he wins. I think the Trump University scandal is enough to take the nomination away. You can't have a guy running for president who charged with racketeering.
User avatar
DWill

1H - GOLD CONTRIBUTOR
BookTalk.org Hall of Fame
Posts: 6966
Joined: Thu Jan 31, 2008 8:05 am
16
Location: Luray, Virginia
Has thanked: 2262 times
Been thanked: 2470 times

Re: Trump is not a joke

Unread post

With each candidate having such high negatives, their choice of running mates may have an outsize difference in the election. Unfortunately for Trump, Hugh Hefner is too old.

I think you're right about sexism and Clinton. She bends over backward to be personable and likable--just look at her on the campaign trail--yet her image is still that of the pushy broad. The take-charge thing that's admired in men is still off-limits for women. But it's amazing how in the past 28 years two families, the Bushes and Clintons, have dominated politics.
User avatar
DB Roy
Beyond Awesome
Posts: 1011
Joined: Fri Mar 06, 2015 10:37 am
9
Has thanked: 43 times
Been thanked: 602 times

Re: Trump is not a joke

Unread post

There's talk of Elizabeth Warren running with Clinton. That's viable. She's about the only other woman in politics of any renown right now that could be president. There are others, I'm sure, but they don't have the name. In the GOP, there are no women I would consider ever voting for. They're an embarrassment. I mean Sarah Palin? Seriously? This is what they offer as the model of a conservative woman?? Hillary may carry a lot of negative baggage and some of it well deserved but she's clearly a smart woman. She understands the issues and she has clear ideas of how to deal with them. Palin has none of this, as Katie Couric accidentally proved some years ago. And Clinton has clout within the govt. You can bet nobody in the govt talks down to her. She's well-connected in what is otherwise a good ol' boys network. You know from the day her husband got elected, she was already planning her own run.

Trump I don't know about. Who will be his running mate? I've heard talk of a female running mate but that comes across as so politically expedient that it's pathetic. You know Trump doesn't respect women enough for that. It would look too much like he's trying to come across as not quite so misogynistic and she would be trying to use her status to move onto her own run. It wouldn't look like either's heart was really in it but were just using each other to fill in their own agendas. It might be true of most running mates but it shouldn't be so damned obvious that neither one can stand the other. There's also talk of Ben Carson who looks like he believe it himself. Well, good luck with that. It won't make Trump look any less racist and it won't get the black or minority vote.

The danger for Trump at this point is that he's going to have a very difficult time maintaining his maverick outsider image from here on out which has been his bread and butter. He has to start coming across as more presidential without alienating himself from his basic constituency who hate that kind of stuff. I suppose if anyone can do it, though, it will be him. He's a con man and can talk himself in or out of just about anything. So we'll see what happens.
User avatar
DWill

1H - GOLD CONTRIBUTOR
BookTalk.org Hall of Fame
Posts: 6966
Joined: Thu Jan 31, 2008 8:05 am
16
Location: Luray, Virginia
Has thanked: 2262 times
Been thanked: 2470 times

Re: Trump is not a joke

Unread post

I just finished reading a psychological portrait of Trump by Dan McAdams in The Atlantic. Seems to distill Trump to the essence starting from a base of the" Big Five" recognized personality traits. Trump rates exceptionally high on extroversion and exceptionally low on agreeableness, which McAdams says is a somewhat unusual combination. What it produces is a person who constantly needs social rewards while also relying on anger as his primary motivational force. Hard to get what you want by treating people this way, but if you don't care how many hate you after dealing with you, and if you create a band of admirers despite your unpleasantness, it can be done. McAdams gives us Andrew Jackson as a close parallel to Trump among our past presidents, but in the end McAdams doubts that Trump has any vision at all for the country, unlike Jackson, whose populism did strengthen our democracy. McAdams also cites the common judgment of psychologists that Trump is narcissistic, and he doesn't dissent from that. However, several presidents rated as high on narcissism are often included among the "greats," such as T. Roosevelt, Johnson, and Jackson.

http://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/arc ... mp/480771/
User avatar
DB Roy
Beyond Awesome
Posts: 1011
Joined: Fri Mar 06, 2015 10:37 am
9
Has thanked: 43 times
Been thanked: 602 times

Re: Trump is not a joke

Unread post

There are now lawsuits against Trump for sexual misconduct with underage girls. These may or may not go anywhere but they need to be investigated fully. Some of the allegations made sound like they may be true. Trump's history of talking shit about women and openly mocking the looks of any he doesn't like certainly do nothing to dispel these allegations. One woman who was 13 when she said Trump raped her said he threatened her life and her family if she told anyone and she believed him. Why should we dismiss this when Trump wants to go after the families of terrorists and kill them?

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/lisa-bloo ... 19944.html

His association with convicted sex offender, Jeff Epstein, could be overlooked since Epstein was very rich and associated with a lot powerful figures including Bill Clinton except for this strange statement that Trump made:

“I’ve known Jeff for 15 years. Terrific guy. He’s a lot of fun to be with. It is even said that he likes beautiful women as much as I do, and many of them are on the younger side. No doubt about it, Jeffrey enjoys his social life.”

Here is Snopes' synopsis the affair:

http://www.snopes.com/2016/06/23/donald ... e-lawsuit/

We also know that Trump's ex-wife, Ivana, accused him of rape but then after the settlement walked back the serious of her accusations. But her story claims very differently. Hard to walk back a story that serious.

Now Trump may be innocent but, if so, then let's put it to the test and find out. Although he stands, by the latest estimates, a 19% of getting into the White House, do we want to put him there and THEN find out he really did this stuff?

So couple the racketeering charges with the sex allegations and the gOP has every reason at the convention not to give him the nomination. If they do, shame on them.
User avatar
DB Roy
Beyond Awesome
Posts: 1011
Joined: Fri Mar 06, 2015 10:37 am
9
Has thanked: 43 times
Been thanked: 602 times

Re: Trump is not a joke

Unread post

http://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2016/ ... l_facebook

This article should be required reading for anyone intending to cast a vote this November.
Post Reply

Return to “Current Events & History”