Trump 11: Worse than Expected

[sawasdee]

I had a strange evening. Went to dinner with my only anti Trump friend, who had invited colleagues from his days in Saudi Arabia working for Aramco.

One was truly obnoxious. 'Why should my children pay for deadbeats on Obamacare? NHS in the UK doesn't work! Canadians come to America for real treatment! If lifetime care of 1 million runs out, then it is their fault for not having a better job/insurance'

I was told that as a non US citizen I wasn't allowed to have an opinion.

Then, another acquaintance stepped in. Not someone I've liked, a bit of a pain usually. But he argued so cogently, and so well, he knocked Mr Right Wing on the ropes. Then I stepped in, with quotes from all the wonderful links that FJers have posted - I knew a lot more about Iowa, Oklahoma, and Indiana than he did. Got him on referring to women as 'hosts'  - we ended up with him agreeing I would forward some articles 'that he might find interesting'.

Can anyone remember the article by a son of an evangelical minister that detailed how, in the late 80s/early90s they decided to make abortion a central right wing issue? I'd love him to read it.

End of evening - he agreed that I, a Brit, actually knew more than he did about current US politics. Thank you, FJ - and all the superb links you provide!

[Howl]

@47of74 posted this from ABC affiliate KCRG:

Quote

Priebus says there's a chance reporters are making up the news entirely or that there are some "bad actors" or "holdovers" in the intelligence community spreading false claims.

Seriously, Reince?  Or maybe it's actually this: 

Quote

And that brings us to the most important part of this whole drama. The things that are being leaked are specific facts that are highly newsworthy and highly disturbing. They're not stories of sexual peccadillos or things that are politically damaging but not fundamentally relevant to the work of government. They're not vague subjective judgments about 'the military' or 'the intelligence community' not believing the president is up to the job or loyal. They're also specific. They are things which clearly should be investigated and which the public should know about. Indeed, the leaks seem to be driven by the leakers' belief that these issues should be investigated and mainly are not.

Extremely Dangerous Ground, full text here

 

[laPapessaGiovanna]

2 hours ago, 47of74 said:

I remember when I was over in Italy I couldn't find anyone who would admit to supporting the horrible and disgusting Silvio Berlusconi. 

You got lucky. I know several who did and aren't ashamed at all, as long ago as yesterday evening I was treated to the usual narrative of how better off we would be if Berlusconi were still PM and if the whole EU hadn't plotted to remove him. To be honest though, SB is waaay cleverer and better spoken than the orange one, on a world class scale of shittyness I'd rank him between GW Bush and Reagan, minus the fucking the whole world potential. He had some truly Trumpian moments though, like the infamous comment on Angela Merkel, but he knew he was playing safe since Merkel doesn't have many fans south of the Alps and many Italians actually like (or at least don't mind) sexist jokes. Sad, I know. 

[JMarie]

8 hours ago, Cartmann99 said:

Trump's doing a survey again about the mean ol' media:

https://action.trump2016.com/trump-mms-survey/

Why are all the questions numbered 1?  Is it to confuse the survey taker as to how many questions there are?

 

1 hour ago, danvillebelle said:

There is a person on a board where I read elsewhere who is thrilled about Trump.  She thinks he is doing a fantastic job.  She loves him.  I quote - "he can do no wrong in my eyes."

This person also believes every batshit crazy conspiracy theory that comes down the pike - project blue beam, people are worshipping Baal in Times Square, Lady Gaga is Illuminati, the Clintons are running a child sex ring, Ebola was going to kill a million people in the US, Obama was going to cancel the election and declare martial law, the world was going to end when Pope Francis came to the US, on and on and on.  Oh, and she's going to be raptured away from it all any second now (she's been saying that for years).

 

I think that's a pretty good picture of the type of person who supports him.

The world was supposed to end when Pope Francis came to the US?  I must have missed that one.

[RoseWilder]

5 hours ago, formergothardite said:

I know we have Trump fans who are members here and sometimes I wish they would come and explain how they can overlook all the terrible things he is doing. I just can't wrap my brain around people ignoring all this and finding a way to justify the things he is doing. 

Every Trump supporter I know is just like him; arrogant, stupid but convinced they are the smartest one in the room, dishonest, petty, obsessed with money and appearances, racist and sexist, lacking in critical thinking skills, a giant bully. They are loving watching this man behave as badly as they wish they could. My brother, a huge Trump supporter, is always complaining about how wrong it is that it's no longer socially acceptable to be racist. He loves knowing that someone was a huge racist and got rewarded for it. He also believes Sandy Hook and the U.S. landing a man on the moon were both fake, so that tells you the kind of logic and critical thinking skills we're dealing with here. 

[danvillebelle]

<<Every Trump supporter I know is just like him; arrogant, stupid but convinced they are the smartest one in the room, dishonest, petty, obsessed with money and appearances, racist and sexist, lacking in critical thinking skills, a giant bully. >>

 

EXACTLY.  The person I mentioned is just like this...if you don't believe all her batshit crazy theories, YOU are the stupid one, because DUH, it's so obvious.  I am so thankful I don't actually know someone that stupid in real life.  

[Childless]

9 minutes ago, RoseWilder said:

Every Trump supporter I know is just like him; arrogant, stupid but convinced they are the smartest one in the room, dishonest, petty, obsessed with money and appearances, racist and sexist, lacking in critical thinking skills, a giant bully. They are loving watching this man behave as badly as they wish they could. My brother, a huge Trump supporter, is always complaining about how wrong it is that it's no longer socially acceptable to be racist. He loves knowing that someone was a huge racist and got rewarded for it. He also believes Sandy Hook and the U.S. landing a man on the moon were both fake, so that tells you the kind of logic and critical thinking skills we're dealing with here. 

Didn't you say your brother was a teacher?!?!?  That's scary!

[CTRLZero]

3 hours ago, singsingsing said:

Well, all I can say is it's a very good thing that democracy in America has such a solid foundation, because right now we're all being treated to a fairly transparent and illuminating look at how a dictatorship comes to power.

This is a history lesson I wish we weren't enduring, but I try to point this out to people as I go through my day.  However, the people I know are fairly like-minded, and the message needs to trickle down to the Trump supporters.

How can we influence a change of outlook in Trump supporters.  Hmmm.  One idea would be to frame it as "if you had a chance to prevent Hitler from seizing power, would you be brave enough to do so?"  This is rather dramatic, but I think Trump supporters might eventually accept themselves in the role of anti-dictator superheroes. 

I'm still pondering how to get ourselves out of this horrible mess we've gotten ourselves into.  Who knew  I'd be morphing into the optimistic propagandist in my retirement...

[RoseWilder]

14 minutes ago, Childless said:

Didn't you say your brother was a teacher?!?!?  That's scary!

Yes, it is terrifying. And also baffling that he could vote for Republicans when he's a teacher in Indiana. They've screwed the teachers over so badly, and yet he keeps voting for them. 

He's a gym teacher though, so he's not in charge of molding minds. He had 2 kids though. I'm doing my best to teach them to be better, smarter people than he is. 

[church_of_dog]

43 minutes ago, JMarie said:

Why are all the questions numbered 1?  Is it to confuse the survey taker as to how many questions there are?

They have numbers for me -- but all of them after #8 aren't phrased as questions. 

[samurai_sarah]

1 hour ago, JMarie said:

(snip)

The world was supposed to end when Pope Francis came to the US?  I must have missed that one.

Well, it is a bit hard to keep up with all the times the world was supposed to end. But I, for one, am willing to base my latest conspiracy theory on that one. The world DID end, and we're all living in an alternative universe (Matrix-style) now. It would neatly explain Trump and other disasters. Plus, there's the added hope of waking up.

[47of74]

1 hour ago, laPapessaGiovanna said:

You got lucky. I know several who did and aren't ashamed at all, as long ago as yesterday evening I was treated to the usual narrative of how better off we would be if Berlusconi were still PM and if the whole EU hadn't plotted to remove him. To be honest though, SB is waaay cleverer and better spoken than the orange one, on a world class scale of shittyness I'd rank him between GW Bush and Reagan, minus the fucking the whole world potential. He had some truly Trumpian moments though, like the infamous comment on Angela Merkel, but he knew he was playing safe since Merkel doesn't have many fans south of the Alps and many Italians actually like (or at least don't mind) sexist jokes. Sad, I know. 

Yeah I'd rather have SB than the Orange Fornicate Face.  I seem to recall SB was kind of pervy too about young women.  I think SB spent more on plastic surgery than the orange one and got clothes that properly fit him.

44 minutes ago, danvillebelle said:

<<Every Trump supporter I know is just like him; arrogant, stupid but convinced they are the smartest one in the room, dishonest, petty, obsessed with money and appearances, racist and sexist, lacking in critical thinking skills, a giant bully. >>

 

EXACTLY.  The person I mentioned is just like this...if you don't believe all her batshit crazy theories, YOU are the stupid one, because DUH, it's so obvious.  I am so thankful I don't actually know someone that stupid in real life.  

I used to have to work with someone who was a big time teabagger who didn't understand that politics and batshit crazy conspiracy theories needed to be left at home.  I used to dread going in to work when he was there.  It was so much nicer when he finally decided to leave. 

 

[Cartmann99]

7 hours ago, Childless said:

I think that might be an old survey.  It seems to be talking about the campaign, not about his presidency.  Of course, it's hard to tell what with him still whining about HRC and the election 4 freaking months later.

It is the same survey he sent out last August, his people sent it out again yesterday after his awful press conference. I forgot to add the link below when I posted  last night. Sorry about that!

http://www.recode.net/2017/2/16/14641332/trump-media-accountability

[samurai_sarah]

20 minutes ago, 47of74 said:

Yeah I'd rather have SB than the Orange Fornicate Face.  I seem to recall SB was kind of pervy too about young women.  I think SB spent more on plastic surgery than the orange one and got clothes that properly fit him.

He also didn't have nuclear missiles.

[ghost]

19 hours ago, JMarie said:

Quote of the day (year?):

"This administration is running like a fine-tuned machine," Trump said. "Despite the fact that I can't get my Cabinet approved, and they are outstanding people."

This administration is running like a bad case of diarrhea...loose, fast, and chapping my ass.

[47of74]

I'm going with it running more like fine-turded machine.

[GreyhoundFan]

"How could things get worse for Trump?". My favorite parts:

Quote

President Trump is flailing like a man who fears he’s about to go under, and he hasn’t even been in office a full month. His instinct is to flee to the warmth and comfort of his political base — but he will learn that while presidents can run, they can’t hide.

Trump’s administration faces two acute, interlocking crises: serious questions about his campaign’s contacts with official and unofficial representatives of the Russian government, which U.S. intelligence agencies believe made concerted efforts to help Trump win the election; and appalling levels of dysfunction in the White House that make self-inflicted wounds the rule rather than the exception.

The president’s response has been to rant on Twitter and schedule a campaign-style rally Saturday in Florida — both of which may boost Trump’s morale but will do nothing to make his problems go away.

It is unclear whether Trump is trying to fool the nation or fool himself. Witness one of the angry tweets he sent out Thursday morning: “The Democrats had to come up with a story as to why they lost the election, and so badly (306), so they made up a story — RUSSIA. Fake news!”

Quote

Trump said Thursday that his administration was running like “a fine-tuned machine.” A crash-test simulator, perhaps?

I guess things could be worse. Don’t ask me how.

Poor widdle orange toddler has to play on Twitter and have a pep rally to make himself feel better. Good grief.

[Ali]

2 hours ago, CTRLZero said:

This is a history lesson I wish we weren't enduring, but I try to point this out to people as I go through my day.  However, the people I know are fairly like-minded, and the message needs to trickle down to the Trump supporters.

How can we influence a change of outlook in Trump supporters.  Hmmm.  One idea would be to frame it as "if you had a chance to prevent Hitler from seizing power, would you be brave enough to do so?"  This is rather dramatic, but I think Trump supporters might eventually accept themselves in the role of anti-dictator superheroes. 

I'm still pondering how to get ourselves out of this horrible mess we've gotten ourselves into.  Who knew  I'd be morphing into the optimistic propagandist in my retirement...

 

I don't know that anything will get through to these people. I heard some of them think Obama and Hillary were like Hitler because of gun control and socialism.  Trying to bring up what is wrong with Trump makes you hateful and divisive. You present facts contrary to their viewpoints and they can't actually hear you. For example, a Trump supporter once told me that my daughter's school schedule is now anti Christian because spring break does not always coincide with Easter. I tried telling her multiple times that she has Good Friday off. The lady could not process that information and continued to push the rhetoric that it is anti Christian.

 

[onekidanddone]

22 minutes ago, GreyhoundFan said:

"How could things get worse for Trump?". My favorite parts:

Poor widdle orange toddler has to play on Twitter and have a pep rally to make himself feel better. Good grief.

Were the Boeing employees required to attend?  He will just use the to boost the illusion delusion he is loved.  

[Dark Matters]

9 hours ago, Childless said:

I think that might be an old survey.  It seems to be talking about the campaign, not about his presidency.  Of course, it's hard to tell what with him still whining about HRC and the election 4 freaking months later.

Plus, it's so poorly written, almost like Orange Chump composed it himself.

[Cartmann99]

5 hours ago, 47of74 said:

I think before too long a lot of people won't be admitting to voting for the Orange Toxic Megacolon.  Of course here there will always be that crowd that is proud that they voted for the orange fornicate head

I know you've talked about how your local paper gives Trump tongue baths. I too, live amongst those who dearly love their Lord and Savior, Donald J. Trump. The Letters to the Editor section of my local paper is a complete dumpster fire with most of the letters from Trump fans.

4 hours ago, danvillebelle said:

There is a person on a board where I read elsewhere who is thrilled about Trump.  She thinks he is doing a fantastic job.  She loves him.  I quote - "he can do no wrong in my eyes."

This person also believes every batshit crazy conspiracy theory that comes down the pike - project blue beam, people are worshipping Baal in Times Square, Lady Gaga is Illuminati, the Clintons are running a child sex ring, Ebola was going to kill a million people in the US, Obama was going to cancel the election and declare martial law, the world was going to end when Pope Francis came to the US, on and on and on.  Oh, and she's going to be raptured away from it all any second now (she's been saying that for years

Her twin sister enjoys writing in to my local paper. I usually describe her letters as putting extremely conservative Christian beliefs, Fox News, Breitbart, and various assorted conspiracy theories in a blender, and putting it on the highest setting.

3 hours ago, sawasdee said:

Can anyone remember the article by a son of an evangelical minister that detailed how, in the late 80s/early90s they decided to make abortion a central right wing issue? I'd love him to read it.

I believe you are thinking of Frank Schaeffer. I'm not sure if this is the article you read, but this one helps explain how abortion became such a huge issue for the religious right:

http://www.patheos.com/blogs/frankschaeffer/2014/07/the-actual-pro-life-conspiracy-that-handed-america-to-the-tea-party-far-religious-right-an-insiders-perspective/

[Childless]

2 minutes ago, Cartmann99 said:

I know you've talked about how your local paper gives Trump tongue baths. I too, live amongst those who dearly love their Lord and Savior, Donald J. Trump. The Letters to the Editor section of my local paper is a complete dumpster fire with most of the letters from Trump fans.

Her twin sister enjoys writing in to my local paper. I usually describe her letters as putting extremely conservative Christian beliefs, Fox News, Breitbart, and various assorted conspiracy theories in a blender, and putting it on the highest setting.

I believe you are thinking of Frank Schaeffer. I'm not sure if this is the article you read, but this one helps explain how abortion became such a huge issue for the religious right:

http://www.patheos.com/blogs/frankschaeffer/2014/07/the-actual-pro-life-conspiracy-that-handed-america-to-the-tea-party-far-religious-right-an-insiders-perspective/

My mom actually thought Obama would suspend the election and declare himself dictator.  You can't make this shit up.  My constructive criticism was: "Quit acting like a moron.  I know you're brighter than that ridiculous statement.". Seriously, my parents watch way to much Fox News.

 

[GreyhoundFan]

1 hour ago, onekidanddone said:

Were the Boeing employees required to attend?  He will just use the to boost the illusion delusion he is loved.  

Probably. Nothing like a little forced pep rally for the dictator.

 

45 minutes ago, Dark Matters said:

Plus, it's so poorly written, almost like Orange Chump composed it himself.

He couldn't count that high. Betsy DeVos probably wrote it.

 

I can't believe it's only been a month since he was sworn in. Of course, ever since then, we've been doing the bulk of the swearing...

[Mecca]

1 hour ago, ghost said:

This administration is running like a bad case of diarrhea...loose, fast, and chapping my ass.

And don't forget their leader is full of shit...

[Cartmann99]

56 minutes ago, GreyhoundFan said:

I can't believe it's only been a month since he was sworn in. Of course, ever since then, we've been doing the bulk of the swearing...

* laughs, cries a little, sighs heavily*