Trump Dump: Internal Policy (Thread I)

[The Romulan Republic]

Hell, they'll probably do it, some of them, if he leaves after eight years, instead of becoming dictator Dear Leader for life.

[Napoleon the Clown]

That all the people hoping for a heart attack to get us out of this mess still have a hope?

I don't want the conspiracy bullshit that would follow Trump dying of a heart attack. Especially when some of the people believing it are armed.

If you believe him being booted from office would turn out any better, I've got a bridge to sell you. Trump croaking in office of natural causes is the least likely way of causing civil upheaval among his devotees. Some will think he was assassinated, but of those only a few would possibly act on this delusion. It wouldn't solve the problem of Pence being fucking horrible and taking Trump's place, but it would minimize the number of people who think Glorious Leader was unlawfully displaced, that an illegitimate government was in place, that there was a coup.

I sincerely believe that Trump having a stroke or heart attack would be the least... disruptive way to have him out of office. Investigations into Russian meddling would probably continue and possibly nail Pence, too. I don't know that with certainty, of course.

[Vendetta]

Depends how many devotees he can keep.

Because the person who speaks the loudest to them is Bannon and Trump has started feuding with him as well now.

[The Romulan Republic]

Let the mad dogs tear each other apart. Hopefully, the rest of us will be able to pick up the pieces.

[EnterpriseSovereign]

It wouldn't surprise me if Trump or one of his allies sought to repeal/alter the 22nd amendment...

[The Romulan Republic]

I am... highly skeptical that that would pass.

Or that there would not be an attempt at a revolution if it did.

[EnterpriseSovereign]

I am... highly skeptical that that would pass.

Or that there would not be an attempt at a revolution if it did.

I didn't say it would actually happen, just that someone might be crazy enough to try it

[Broomstick]

It usually takes a lot of time to pass/change a constitutional amendment. Years.

[The Romulan Republic]

So, worst comes to worst, stall until Trump runs out the clock?

Edit: Yeah, I don't really think we'll have anything resembling democracy anyway, if he's in office that long.

[Elheru Aran]

The main reason for the 22nd was Franklin Roosevelt. For all the good he did (lifting the country out of the Great Depression and leading it through most of WWII), four terms was just a tad too much. I'm pretty certain even the Republicans won't want to repeal the 22nd for fear of another FDR; they had massive enough shit-fits about Clinton and Obama having two terms each that they aren't going to take the chance of another Democratic President in charge of the country for the better part of two decades.

[The Romulan Republic]

I mean, in principle, I'm opposed to the 22nd. Amendment- I generally believe in democracy (with protections to ensure that the majority cannot take actions, like broad censorship or the abolition of free elections or due process or legal equality) that would undermine the continued functioning/existence of democracy. I prefer to trust to the judgment of the people, and if the people like the job the President is doing enough to give him four terms, so be it (there are no such term limits, for example, for Canadian Prime Ministers, and we do fine with it).

I won't deny that the thought of four terms of Trump makes me feel ill, but the flip side of that is that if we didn't have the 22nd. Amendment, Obama could have run again, and I think that in all likelihood, he'd have wiped the floor with the Donald. And, ultimately, it is a question, like anything so large in scope and difficult to pass as a constitutional amendment, that should be decided on larger principles and a long-term vision of the country, not on short-term partisan gain.

I do think that, to avoid a conflict of interest, any hypothetical repeal of the 22nd. Amendment should probably stipulate that it will not take effect until the current President has left office.

[The Romulan Republic]

Apparently it is too much to ask for, at least until Congress flips.

In related news, Trump today refuted allegations that he is... well, a sociopathic nut job, by claiming that he is a "very stable genius."

Dan Rather's response, from Facebook:

Dear Mr. President,
A good rule of thumb is that when you've got it, you don't have to say it. People know. That holds true for wealth, compassion, faith, and yes, being a "very stable genius."

This administration keeps making me think of Game of Thrones references (probably a bad sign). This time, it was a rare bit of wisdom from Tywin Lannister:

"Any man who must say "I am the king" is no true king."

Edit: Seriously, someone needs to write a GoT/Trump parody, with Trump as Joffrey and Putin as Tywin.

Pu-tywin: "Any man who must say "I am the king" is no true king. I'll make sure you understand that when I've won your Presidency for you."

[The Romulan Republic]

Oops, meant that to be in the foreign policy thread (first line was a reply to a post there). Apologies.

[Thanas]

https://twitter.com/KaivanShroff/status ... 9358977024


Fucking hilarious. Pretty sure he has got memory losss.

Also:

[Simon_Jester]

Er, are you getting that from the brief close-up between about 1:20 and 1:22 on the video, or something else?

[Thanas]

Er, are you getting that from the brief close-up between about 1:20 and 1:22 on the video, or something else?

I am getting that from the link I posted.

[Simon_Jester]

Ah. And here I assumed the relevant content was immediately apparent in the video itself. At the time, I was on a computer that does not play well with Twitter but likes Youtube well enough.

[TheFeniX]

Was there a thread for the Tax Plan bullshit? I swear there was. It seems the GOP is possibly going to be eating the backlash for the Tax Plan while Trump revels in his victory. While the plan was designed to punitively punish "Blue States," there's more than a few GOP House representatives in said states like NY, Cali, and NJ put there by Middle and Upper Middle class whites who now see their deductions eviscerated because they can only deduct so much in State incoming and Property Tax.

This lead to a depressingly comical interaction with my mom: "Mom, you know California and New York have a significant number of Republicans in the House, right? Not as many as Democrats, but like half as many. They were put there by people about to get hammered by taxes this year. And those people have money and they vote."
"No, they're all Democrats out there. They should pay more, they take more."
"I'm... pretty sure NY already pays more in taxes than they get from the feds. Texas does not. We're a welfare state."
She gave me "the eyes," so we moved on to talking about other things and she offered me a grilled cheese. Even if I was 90, I would never turn down a free grilled cheese.

I will say though that there's most likely going to be blowback in the 2018 elections as these Trump supporters are about to get hit hard and this will likely still be on their minds come November. What I'm mad about is I can't find any of the articles I found more recently. Google is only showing stuff from Nov 2017 and is just people talking general shit about the plan.

[His Divine Shadow]

I looked at videos of trump in the 80s and then now, there's a marked difference, he sounded pretty eloquent in commenting on the election of Bush Sr. and now he sounds like he needs a diaper.

[Simon_Jester]

Man, FeniX, I'm sorry about your mom.

Though it's at least a great illustration of why I keep telling people to seriously consider how many Republican voters are living in this alt-fact bubble where basic information is either not known or not perceived as relevant.

A person who by all appearances believes that it's a discussion-winning comment to say "they're all Democrats in California, they take more, they should pay more," when the first two of those statements aren't true and the third is already happening and casual inspection of the tax receipts and voting results form the states in question will prove it...

... Yeah, you honestly can't make many predictions about how they'd behave if they were in possession of the facts, because they've been methodically robbed and deprived of those facts. And by appearances, no longer even know where to start looking for them anymore.

[TheFeniX]

It's not all that bad. She forgets about it by the next time I see her. Then she'll mention something else about how shitty Democrats are and we'll repeat the whole arguement. That said it IS nice because, for some reason I will never understand, I'm actually terrible at finding fake news that isn't the truely vile stuff (so exceptionally easy to call out for bullshit within 5 seconds). Since I don't bother with Facebook, she's become a great source of that stuff you find that seems plausible because it's moderately well-written, but then breaks down half-way through when they really start shoveling shit.

I have her e-mail me links to my private e-mail. And a whole fuckload of it boils down to "millenials are ruining everything." So, it's a rather large part of why I never miss a chance to bash on Boomers.

Plus, I usually get a free lunch out of the deal because it's one of her ways to get me to shut up as she crumbles quickly when I start in because, as I am want to say, "I just know things. You're a tourist on the Internet, I live there." She's an incredibly intelligent and educated woman, but years of self-imposed social-exile has really dulled her ability to engage with people. I can't knock her too much here as I'm mostly the same way. I can be very sociable and people generally enjoy having me around, but I'd much rather be in front of a computer with a glass of whiskey in hand. You know, because fuck leaving the house.

On an unrelated note, the amount of "Subscribe NOW" and "disable your adblocker > queue LOUD and autoplaying adds" is getting tiresome just to read some bullshit tripe with no decent information.

[K. A. Pital]

Now the great Decider Mk II said "The Wall is the Wall, it has never changed or evolved from the first day I conceived of it." Despite his aides trying to come up with a "bipartisan" deal on immigrants (not that it woudl've been something good, by the looks of it).

So bizarre... Like a slow-motion car crash video.

[The Romulan Republic]

Now the great Decider Mk II said "The Wall is the Wall, it has never changed or evolved from the first day I conceived of it." Despite his aides trying to come up with a "bipartisan" deal on immigrants (not that it woudl've been something good, by the looks of it).

So bizarre... Like a slow-motion car crash video.

I am disgusted that anyone still thinks they can negotiate and make deals with Donald.

He has no consistent principles, and no consistent policies, other than self-interest, and abuse of anyone he feels threatens his self-interest. Make a deal, or try to, and he'll break it, and make a fool of you in the process. Trying to work with him is simply validating him, and letting yourself be used as part of his political theatre.

Edit: I mean, how many times must Democrats (and semi-sane Republicans) learn this lesson? It really is, as some have said before, like a domestic abuse victim, who keeps going back because "his time he'll be different."

He won't. Ever.

[Thanas]

Russsians used the NRA to fund Trump. Link.

There is no bottom to this hole.

[The Romulan Republic]

The NRA isn't a "gun rights" group.

Its the militant wing of the Trump-Republican Party.

No surprises here.