Trump Thread

[Peter_J]

I think it goes beyond that.

Well maybe. You must have seen

Oh, it doesn’t take proof to me to prove how nasty the anti-Trump people are. It is evident.

 

[FollowChrist34]

I must admit a lot of the Cruz platform terrifies me too. And I support him. I just think all platforms are 75% fluff, 25% fact, if that. Most of it never sees the light of day.

 

[Ridgerunner]

I completely agree with you about Cruz wanting a flat-tax (that was also an objection I had to
Ben Carson) but I find your reasoning for supporting Teflon Don to be pretty disturbing. Just saying.

You find it disturbing that he has succeeded in a very competitive world? Perhaps you could explain this.

 

[Path_Finder]

Excellent speech by Trump at AIPAC, seems a bit more structured than his usual speeches. Maybe the transcript will be made available somewhere, currently going on.

Bringing the house down.

I heard in one place, there were many protesters outside.

 

[Abynissa]

Does it really matter who gets into office?

Let’s just face the facts. Politicians just need the people to get elected into office by making promises they have no intention on keeping. They preach what people want to hear arousing thier emotions and prejudices. Once in office, those promises are for the most part discarded.

It’s the power brokers, the special interests groups that control the government. They spend hundreds of millions of dollars to get a candidate elected. Being good capitalists as they are, do you expect they are donating out of the benevolence of their hearts? They want a return on their investment(ROI). They are the ones that have access to the inner sanctum of the oval and congressional offices not you. After the election, tens of thousands of lawyers and lobbyists will descend on Washington to promote and pass legislation beneficial to their clients by creating loopholes in existing laws or by creating new legislation favorable to their clients at the expese of the taxpayers.

The U.S. has already moved to a corpocracy, oligarchy style govt caled a plutocracy - rule by the wealthy or power provided by wealth and could be autocratic in the next election. The 'little people’ -voters have no access or power to that ‘inner sanctum’ after the election. This is why nothing changes in Washington, it only gets worse.

US Bank sent out to their “Elite” customers stating the only thing standing in their way of a complete “plutocracy” is the American people’s right to vote.

An undercover film shows how lawyers could ease flow of ‘grey money’ into US. Mark Koplik, managing partner of Henderson & Koplik, was recorded by an undercover investigator from anti-corruption charity Global Witness boasted that US authorities “don’t send lawyers to jail because we run the country”

Look it up.

 

[sallybutler]

Obama’s previous political experience was equivalent to being on Junior High Student Council, though we are talking about the corrupt IL political system.

Obama had zero political achievements by the time he started running for President.
His only qualification was he looked good on a podium (with a TelePrompter to feed him words)

That teleprompter statement is pure silliness as an insult. They all, with the possible exception of Trump (who does use notes) uses teleprompter when giving prepared and/or paid speeches. This would include Gov. Palin, President Reagan, and every other speech giver. And it doesn’t matter if they wrote their own speeches or someone else wrote them. Rarely do they memorize the speeches.

 

[Peter_J]

You find it disturbing that he has succeeded in a very competitive world?

Hold on, my computer must have done an “auto-correct” on me. Let me go back and see what my post says …

 

[Peter_J]

Nah, I’m just kidding. But seriously, wow, that was such a shameless twisting of what I said.

Blessings,
Peter Jericho.

 

[mary_bobo]

Excellent speech by Trump at AIPAC, seems a bit more structured than his usual speeches. Maybe the transcript will be made available somewhere, currently going on.

Bringing the house down.

I heard in one place, there were many protesters outside.

Good speech. Kasich had a good speech also.

 

[Path_Finder]

Good speech. Kasich had a good speech also.

I’d like to hear from all of them.

 

[Seamus_L]

Trump Ahead of AIPAC Speech: Israel Should Repay U.S. for Aid
read more: haaretz.com/israel-news/1.710180
I just keep liking this guy more and more :thumbsup:

 

[Path_Finder]

I liked how he said Israel was our top ally in the world and we would recognize the capital of Israel as Jerusalem, no daylight between our two countries!

And how dangerous Iran is, with all of its proxy wars, Lebanon, Yemen and so on.

 

[Ridgerunner]

Nah, I’m just kidding. But seriously, wow, that was such a shameless twisting of what I said.

Blessings,
Peter Jericho.

Perhaps you didn’t say what you intended to say. If you read what I said, and which you called “disturbing” I said that Trump is likely to be a person who can get things done because he has a record of doing it in a highly competitive environment.

I didn’t see why that was “disturbing”, and I still don’t. Nor do I see why questioning that assessment is “shameless”

For good or for ill, I do see Trump (not my first choice, by the way, or my second) as “pure function”. I do not see him as an ideologue for anything in particular except in “getting things done”. If I could vote for Ronald Reagan again, I would, but he’s not running. Among the things Trump claims he will do is secure the border. Congress actually allocated money for a wall, but it was never spent. But he’s hardly alone in that expression; though perhaps alone in really meaning it.

He talks about ending the deficit spending. Maybe he can do that and maybe he can’t. But he’s not unique in saying he wants to do it. Now, among the politicians today who say the same thing, who can we believe? Maybe Trump is as unlikely to try it as anyone, but maybe he will try it, and maybe he really does have the skill to get it done.

He talks about the “bad deals” made in foreign trade. People defend those, notwithstanding they have indisputably caused job loss here, and notwithstanding that virtually every country on earth guards its economy far more than we do. Can he make “better deals”? Don’t know, but nobody else has, and if he can make “better deals” for himself, why should we assume he can’t do it for the country?

And if he’s determined, he will probably make some inroads in some of those issues
And if he really is a good negotiator, he will probably do some successfully.

What is a successful negotiation? It’s figuring out, accurately, what’s the most important thing to your counterparty, and giving it in a way (partially or in full) that does not harm you or deprive you of you own most important goal. It’s similar to Napoleon’s deciphering what was the “center” of an opposing army, the thing he can’t do without, or of Clausewitz’ emphasis on discerning the “schwerpunkt” of the enemy (same thing). What’s the “core”? It’s as important in negotiation as it is in war.

Now, we know Hillary Clinton has sold influence. She okays a deal for American uranium to go to a Russian company that is now selling uranium to Iran. And, when it gets done, Bill Clinton gets more from a single speech from the seller than star quarterbacks get for an important game. Trump, at least, didn’t get his money selling out his country to its foreign enemies.

Yes, Trump gives people what they want, even if it’s overpriced from the standpoint of most people. I, for one, would never buy a membership at Mar a Lago or whatever that place is called. But at least it’s their money they’re spending, and they get what they pay for. For Hillary Clinton to sell influence, this country has to pay 1,000 times what Bill Clinton gets in speaking fees. It would be much cheaper to simply hand her checks in similar amounts from the treasury than to elect her the chief executive of the country. Corruption is terribly expensive, because it costs so much more than the corrupt person actually gets.

So, having previously favored Christie, then Kasich, I now favor Trump over Cruz and certainly over Hillary Clinton.

 

[FollowChrist34]

Donald Trump tries to prove his Israel bona fides
Washington (CNN)Donald Trump sought to put himself squarely on Israel’s side Monday despite earlier pledges to be “neutral” in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict as president.

In a speech before one of the country’s largest pro-Israel lobbying groups, Trump proclaimed that, “the days of treating Israel like a second-class citizen will end on day one” of his presidency.

He told the American Israel Public Affairs Committee that “there is no moral equivalency” between Israel and the Palestinians, and he slammed Palestinians for fostering a society that glorifies terrorists as “heroes” and “martyrs.”

Trump had previously said he would be “a neutral guy” in seeking a peace settlement in the decades-old conflict, drawing the ire of pro-Israel supporters in both parties.

And as GOP rival Sen. Ted Cruz was quick to point out as he took the stage after Trump, the Republican front-runner’s attempts to appeal to the pro-Israel crowd hit an awkward snag when he repeatedly referred to the Palestinian Authority as “Palestine.”

“Perhaps to the surprise of the previous speaker, Palestine has not existed since 1948,” Cruz said to some 18,000 pro-Israel advocates.

cnn.com/2016/03/21/politics/hillary-clinton-aipac-speech-donald-trump/index.html

Leave it to Cruz…

 

[Path_Finder]

“I speak to you today as a lifelong supporter and true friend of Israel,” Mr. Trump said.

Drawing several rounds of standing ovations, Mr. Trump thundered against the Iran nuclear deal and made clear that he was not, in fact, on the fence when it came to brokering a deal with Israel and the Palestinians.

“The Palestinians must come to the table, knowing that the bond between the United States and Israel is absolutely and totally unbreakable,” Mr. Trump said. “They must come to the table willing and able to stop the terror being committed on a daily basis against Israel.”

“Hillary Clinton, who is a total disaster by the way, she and President Obama have treated Israel very, very badly,” Mr. Trump said.

The Manhattan businessman made sure to note that he would happily meet with Israel’s prime minister and demonstrated deep ties to Jewish people by recalling his participation as grand marshal in the 2004 Salute to Israel Parade and by mentioning his daughter’s Jewish faith.

“I love the people in this room, I love Israel,” Mr. Trump said. “My daughter Ivanka is about to have a beautiful Jewish baby.”

nytimes.com/politics/first-draft/2016/03/21/donald-trump-calls-himself-lifelong-supporter-of-israel/

 

[FollowChrist34]

nytimes.com/politics/first-draft/2016/03/21/donald-trump-calls-himself-lifelong-supporter-of-israel/

Updated, 11:57 a.m. | Hillary Clinton pledged on Monday that she would stand unyieldingly with Israel and warned that her potential Republican rival, Donald J. Trump, would be an unreliable partner for one of America’s closest allies.

In a rock-ribbed speech in Washington that previewed how she might confront Mr. Trump on foreign policy in a general-election campaign, Mrs. Clinton said, “We need steady hands, not a president who says he’s neutral on Monday, pro-Israel on Tuesday, and who-knows-what on Wednesday.”

“America can’t ever be neutral when it comes to Israel’s security and survival,” Mrs. Clinton said, speaking to the annual policy meeting of the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, or Aipac, the nation’s most influential pro-Israel lobbying group. “My friends, Israel’s security is nonnegotiable.”

Mr. Trump has said in recent weeks that he would be “neutral” when it came to negotiating a peace accord between Israelis and Palestinians. The remark, in substance, did not stray far from traditional American policy. But his blunt language rattled some Israelis, who worry that it might mean a less supportive United States.

Mrs. Clinton wasted no time in seizing on those fears. Her speech was a thunderous affirmation of American solidarity with Israel, with promises to buttress Israel’s military, combat anti-Semitism, police Iran on its nuclear program, crack down on Iranian proxies like Hezbollah, and thwart efforts to boycott Israeli products.

“We must repudiate all efforts to malign, isolate and impugn Israel and the Jewish people,” she said.

nytimes.com/politics/first-draft/2016/03/21/donald-trump-calls-himself-lifelong-supporter-of-israel/ (same link)

 

[gracepoole]

I’m no worshipper of the rich, but neither do I hate them or want to see them despoiled. If he’s funding his own campaign, that shows a certain degree of dedication to the country for its sake rather than his own.

Except he’s really not. He’s loaning his campaign $ that he can (and I assume will) collect on. And he’s accepting donations – that’s what the large “Donate” buttons are for on his campaign’s web site.

 

[Ridgerunner]

Except he’s really not. He’s loaning his campaign $ that he can (and I assume will) collect on. And he’s accepting donations – that’s what the large “Donate” buttons are for on his campaign’s web site.

And if he loses the primary, do you really think his campaign can repay the loans? Many are the candidates who could never recoup their own money.

I have never been to his campaign’s web site. Perhaps I should look. And if people can donate to his campaign, what of it?

 

[Peter_J]

Originally Posted by Peter J
To be fair, somebody probably told them “If you don’t line up behind the frontrunner, you’re not a loyal party member.”

Always saddens me when someone gets left out.

If it helps I can lend you something from the Republican side: here’s Eric Bolling’s eight-minute segment on the idea that Republicans should not be spending money advertising against Trump.

Or if you don’t have eight minutes, here’s his (slightly shorter ) assessment of conservatives saying that they couldn’t or wouldn’t vote for Trump: “It’s crazy.”

Seriously.

 

[FollowChrist34]

Young Republicans discuss Trump’s electability, moderate social stances
By Rebecca Downs | March 21, 2016 | Comments
(AP Photo/Charlie Neibergall)

With Donald Trump struggling among millennial voters, NPR reached out to young Republicans to discuss the primary campaign.

Polls show Trump losing to Hillary Clinton among key demographics in the general election. NPR pointed out that “Trump has not been able to move the needle so much when it comes to attracting minority voters.”

Among his supporters, though, skepticism abounds.

**Eugene Spektor, a 27-year-old New Yorker, doesn’t “know if those numbers are accurate.” When it comes to beating Hillary, Spektor believes Trump “has the best chance because he has cross-party positions that appeal to Republicans, Democrats, and independents.” He doesn’t think “someone like Ted Cruz…has any legitimate shot at actually winning.”

On Trump’s conservative record (or lack thereof), Spektor said that “that’s a representation of why he has crossover appeal.” It includes independents, Democrats, and “people who agree with him on his economic positions are no longer isolated by policies that don’t reflect their social beliefs.”

On Trump’s lack of detailed policies, Spektor spoke specifically of Planned Parenthood:

From the social issues perspective, he’s the only Republican that says he supports funding Planned Parenthood and sees the benefit that it has for women’s issues. That doesn’t necessarily mean that he supports abortion, but he doesn’t believe that his ideology needs to be the ideology for everyone.    …

So I see opportunity for him to bring compromise on these issues that most Republicans that are really conservative don’t want to budge on.

**
Fellow New Yorker Margaret Hoover echoed Spektor’s point:

…I hear you loud and clear on the social issues. What Trump has done — and I agree with you, this is sort of the silver lining of Trump — is that he’s blown the door off of this notion that you have to have this socially conservative litmus, pass this socially conservative litmus test. This straitjacket of conservative issues in order to win the Republican nomination.

redalertpolitics.com/2016/03/21/young-republicans-discuss-trumps-electability-moderate-social-stances/

Trump does appeal to more moderate GOP young voters because of flexibility on social issues.