US Politics Thread |OT| SAD TRUMP

[VomKriege]

There's been some concerns Trump is not properly briefed by diplomats on those calls, his rather loose style of conversation or that the lines he uses are unsecured.

The Duterte thing I can see, in a way. He's not the first and last questionable head of state that will be invited by "respectable" nations. The Taiwanese call however... unless Trump want to turn the tables and be the one to test China's resolve ? But the evidence piling up is not encouraging. Syph pointed out that the disclosing of the rough content of the call to Pakistan was a breach of protocol, but it begs the question of why the Pakistani government did so (since it is doubtful they're just doing it for the kicks of embarassing Trump). A former ambassador has this explanation to offer :

In particular, they zeroed in on Mr. Trump’s offer to Mr. Sharif “to play any role you want me to play to address and find solutions to the country’s problems.” That was interpreted by some in India as an offer by the United States to mediate Pakistan’s border dispute with India in Kashmir, something that the Pakistanis have long sought and that India has long resisted.

(...)

Husain Haqqani, a former Pakistani ambassador to Washington, said his government’s decision to release a rough transcript of Mr. Trump’s remarks was a breach of protocol that demonstrated how easily Pakistani leaders misread signals from their American counterparts.

http://www.nytimes.com/2016/12/01/us/politics/trumps-off-the-cuff-remarks-to-world-leaders-leave-diplomats-aghast.html

[Steve Contra]

Duterte is also popular in conservative media for insulting Obama.

[Mandark]

I expect Trump to do more of this shit in the future. Off-the-cuff remarks which trample on carefully maintained norms is basically his brand.  Whether he keeps pushing those issues or backs off and lies about ever having said it probably depends on who has his ear.

As much as I want to clown Mitt Romney for being a huge hypocrite, I'd actually feel a lot better with an adult as Secretary of State.

[Steve Contra]

I expect Trump to do more of this shit in the future. Off-the-cuff remarks which trample on carefully maintained norms is basically his brand.  Whether he keeps pushing those issues or backs off and lies about ever having said it probably depends on who has his ear.

As much as I want to clown Mitt Romney for being a huge hypocrite, I'd actually feel a lot better with an adult as Secretary of State.

Trump is basically always in Gob Bluth's fourth day working for Sitwell mode

[Great Rumbler]

So much for Obama's "Don't do stupid things" foreign policy.

[chronovore]

https://twitter.com/michikokakutani/status/804831068511735808

[Phoenix Dark]

Can't help but think the Taiwan call is a deliberate signal that Trump plans on dismantling Obama's attempt to "pivot" to Asia and strengthen relations in the region. Say what you will about TPP but overall the strategy seemed pretty sound, if you want to open up Asian markets and weaken Chinese influence

Or maybe it's just Trump being a dumbass.

[PlayDat]

The idea that accepting a phone call could rustle international jimmies seems really petty, but I guess that's diplomacy.

[seagrams hotsauce]

As much as I want to clown Mitt Romney for being a huge hypocrite, I'd actually feel a lot better with an adult as Secretary of State.

I really hate that we live in such a bizzaro world that clownshoes fuckfaces like Romney and Lindsay Graham are being paraded as the voices of reason in the GOP. I miss the days of Bill Kristol being the dumbest motherfucker on earth

[Mandark]

I used to get annoyed that David Frum kept getting props from Democrats for being the "reasonable" conservative who'd criticize the GOP.

But now we've got Ben fucking Shapiro in that role. Lawdy.

[Great Rumbler]

The idea that accepting a phone call could rustle international jimmies seems really petty, but I guess that's diplomacy.

Diplomacy is often in the little things, since the big things generally just go straight to full-on war.

[etiolate]

I used to get annoyed that David Frum kept getting props from Democrats for being the "reasonable" conservative who'd criticize the GOP.

But now we've got Ben fucking Shapiro in that role. Lawdy.

oh

so you're saying post ben shapiro thug life videos ok



gotcha fam

[Great Rumbler]

No.

[Nola]

I used to get annoyed that David Frum kept getting props from Democrats for being the "reasonable" conservative who'd criticize the GOP.

But now we've got Ben fucking Shapiro in that role. Lawdy.

I think the respect for Frum says more about Republicans then it does about Democrats.

[Himu]

the news about trump meeting with taiwan is half hilarious half worrying

not sure which more but then I remembered he met with the leader of the phillipines.

i have a feeling donald trump isn't familiar with the current global politics scene.

[Syph]

As much as I want to clown Mitt Romney for being a huge hypocrite, I'd actually feel a lot better with an adult as Secretary of State.

I really hate that we live in such a bizzaro world that clownshoes fuckfaces like Romney and Lindsay Graham are being paraded as the voices of reason in the GOP. I miss the days of Bill Kristol being the dumbest motherfucker on earth

woah woah woah lindsday graham we haven't gone thaaat far

[VomKriege]

The idea that accepting a phone call could rustle international jimmies seems really petty, but I guess that's diplomacy.

People keep saying that and I'm a bit baffled by it to be honest. P(E)OTUS ain't exactly getting random casual calls like most of us. And it's not just that he spoke with Taiwanese authorities, but that it is publicized (on his twitter now, even) instead of speaking through confidential back-channels. All of this is incredibly deliberate and they are policy signals. President-elect Trump is waving a red flag under the nose of the People's Republic of China and he knows it.

Now I guess it's a intellectually defensible position to be more antagonistic of the PRC or that the support to Taiwan be more outspoken. Trump is being incredibly rash and reckless in how he does all this, however.

Can't help but think the Taiwan call is a deliberate signal that Trump plans on dismantling Obama's attempt to "pivot" to Asia and strengthen relations in the region. Say what you will about TPP but overall the strategy seemed pretty sound, if you want to open up Asian markets and weaken Chinese influence

Meh. He didn't have anything else to do for that than to let TPP die (which he will, it seems). Otherwise he's not, so far, going against the grain of the broad strokes of US foreign policy on the military / defense side : Trying to win back the Filipinos, met with Japan's PM, eased the fear of South Korea and pledged to defend them, being supportive of Taiwan, considering Pakistan as an ally, containing China. He's just much more aggressive in doing so.

EDIT : I suspect Trump is playing a maximalist hand to bluff and extract as much out of international relations as he can, at least in Asia. In Europe so far the moves seems to point to seeking closer pragmatic with Russia while propping up far right populists -as Moscow does-. Trump never cared for NATO and probably for the EU and I would not be surprised he thought it is most profitable for the US to have more European partners attached each though bilateral agreements.

[Mandark]

Trump seems to dislike multilateralism, so if there is any strategy, it probably won't be done through multi-nation agreements or coalitions.

More generally, constructing a theory of the mind for Trump is just exhausting.

[zepblackstar]

Any moves from China beyond just a complaint that will do harm to countries in that region will just make it officially China vs everyone else including India.

[Madrun Badrun]

https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/804863098138005504

  WTF did you guys elect. 

[VomKriege]

Any moves from China beyond just a complaint that will do harm to countries in that region will just make it officially China vs everyone else including India.

Might be true today, maybe not down the road, depending on what exactly Trump "strategic vision" turns out to be. Especially if he takes the responsibility in firing the first shot in a trade war. Nevertheless they'll take this as a provocation and a bad omen of things to come when he'll be in office.

[Phoenix Dark]

https://twitter.com/stephenfhayes/status/804902816779210753
 

[Trent Dole]

Can't recall if it's been posted here already, but here's why the Taiwan thing happened.
http://shanghaiist.com/2016/11/18/trump_taiwan_expand.php
Iiiiiiiiiit's cause he wants to expand his business stuffs there! Everything he's done so far has been in his own self interest. Follow the fucking money, bitches.

[Great Rumbler]

Everyone's shocked, I'm sure.

[VomKriege]

https://twitter.com/tedcruz/status/805031895427846145

 

spoiler (click to show/hide)

https://twitter.com/KellyannePolls/status/805228990730502144

[close]

[VomKriege]

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2016/dec/04/trump-foreign-policy-faces-scrutiny-as-team-defends-taiwan-phone-call

Stephanopoulos also grilled Pence over Trump’s evidence-free claim that “millions of people voted illegally”, denying him victory in the popular vote in the presidential election, in which Clinton leads by more than 2.5m ballots.

The host made 10 different attempts, through questions or interventions, to make Pence admit the claim was groundless.

Stephanopoulos asked: “It’s his right to make false statements?”

Pence replied: “Well, it’s his right to express his opinion as president-elect of the United States. I think one of the things that’s refreshing about our president-elect and one of the reasons why I think he made such an incredible connection with people all across this country is because he tells you what’s on his mind.”

Stephanopoulos shot back: “But why is it refreshing to make false statements?”

Maintaining his cool, Pence said: “Look, I don’t know that that is a false statement, George, and neither do you. The simple fact is that ...”

Stephanopoulos interrupted: “I know there’s no evidence for it.”

At the end of the exchange, Pence insisted: “He’s going to say what he believes to be true and I know that he’s always going to speak in that way as president.”

EDIT : Trump is doubling down on antagonistic statements to China on his Twitter.
Someone really needs to take it away from him : "post truth" all you want, everyone will have a field day if he keeps giving everyone ammo like this.

[Syph]

https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/805538149157969924

https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/805539770864693253

[Mupepe]

Telling it like it is. MAGA

[helios]

America is diseased. Rotten to the core. There's no saving it...we need to pull it out by the roots. Wipe the slate clean. BURN IT DOWN! And from the ashes, a new America will be born. Evolved, but untamed! The weak will be purged, and the strongest will thrive...free to live as they see fit; they'll make America great again!

-Donald Trump

spoiler (click to show/hide)

[close]

[VomKriege]

Meme-omachines, son !

Afghanistan will be the first major crisis of the next administration :
http://warontherocks.com/2016/12/afghanistan-will-be-the-trump-administrations-first-foreign-policy-crisis/

A rather grim assessment of the situation in Afghanistan, that you can complement with this piece.

[VomKriege]

Decent piece on the current position of Taiwan :
http://thediplomat.com/2016/12/after-the-call-does-taiwan-have-a-plan-for-the-trump-years/

[Great Rumbler]

Ben Carson officially picked for HUD secretary. 

[Brehvolution]

Pat 'Bathroom Bill' McCory finally concedes.

[agrajag]

http://www.politico.com/story/2016/12/evan-mcmullin-nytimes-op-ed-trump-232185?cmpid=sf

Revoke my citizenship if old.

[I'm a Puppy!]

Ben Carson officially picked for HUD secretary. 

Is that the only black guy in the admin leadership?

[james]

Ben Carson officially picked for HUD secretary. 

Is that the only black guy in the admin leadership?

Theres only one urban department

[Trent Dole]

Carson actually took a cabinet position? I figured he was running away cause he figured out they're all klansman!

[Syph]

https://twitter.com/GovMikeHuckabee/status/805863626921902081?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw

 

[Great Rumbler]

The grifting well is gonna be pretty dry for a while, so I guess he figures he should take what he can get. Also:

Much of Carson's personal wealth, estimated to be at least $8 million, is tied up in a handful of real estate deals. These deals were engineered with the assistance of a close friend named Alfonso Costa. Costa was once a successful Pittsburgh dentist, but he went into the real estate game full time after pleading guilty to a conspiracy to commit health insurance fraud. Now Costa runs a successful commercial and high-end luxury real estate empire with properties in Pennsylvania, Florida, New York, Italy, and elsewhere. Costa also heads the Pittsburgh office of Carson's charity, and he appears to have managed Carson's real estate investments.

An investigation by Mother Jones last fall showed that Carson's investments included ownership of a commercial office building in suburban Pittsburgh that netted Carson and his wife between $200,000 and $2 million in 2015. The holding companies used to buy this building were registered at Costa's home, and Costa managed the buildings on behalf of Carson.

[Steve Contra]

https://twitter.com/GovMikeHuckabee/status/805863626921902081?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw

 

Making the harvard educated head of john hopkins neurosurgery the secretary of HUD because he lived in the projects while a white guy gets health and human services is sort of the ne plus ultra of Republican thoughts on race relations.

[Nola]

https://twitter.com/GovMikeHuckabee/status/805863626921902081?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw

 

Interesting. Didn't know Mike Huckabee had become a guerrilla marketer for Holliday Inn.

[benjipwns]

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/soloish/wp/2016/12/05/trumps-election-stole-my-desire-to-look-for-a-partner/

In August, I went on six dates in one week. I had decided that I was ready to look for a partner. Enough of this dating unavailable men a half-decade younger than me. They’d never seriously consider a relationship with me, my two children and our needy dog. No. I wanted to find an equal. A man who wouldn’t feel the need to step in and rescue me. I didn’t need rescuing.

But I knew deep down that was only partially true. I often felt the sort of loneliness that settled in my stomach, starting from a chaotic afternoon with my children, lasting well into the night when I pulled covers tight around my chin.

I’ve been on my own with my kids for most of the past decade. I have no idea what a supportive partner would even look like in my house. I imagined it as some sort of potluck: We’d both bring the things we have to offer and place them on the table. My ability to multitask and keep everyone’s schedules on track would sit next to his ability to fix cars, cook or read books in silly voices. Then we’d feast.

Of the six first dates I had in August, two men seemed promising. One of them met me at a brewery. We chatted happily through two beers. Finally I was out of a job interview mode I’d fallen into while sitting across from strangers. I relaxed. I laughed. And it wasn’t the laugh I did just because. It was real.

But two weeks later, the election happened. Once it was clear that Donald Trump would be president instead of Hillary Clinton, I felt sick to my stomach. I wanted to gather my children in bed with me and cling to them like we would if thunder and lightning were raging outside, with winds high enough that they power might go out. The world felt that precarious to me.

My oldest came out of her room the next morning to show me the money the Tooth Fairy had left her. She’d unexpectedly had to have a tooth pulled, and so bravely went through it that I said, “Just think: You’ll always remember the day you got a tooth pulled with the day we elected our first female president.”

When I told her Trump had won, she protested: “But Mom. You said Hillary was going to win.”

Twenty minutes later, at a stoplight on the way to drop off my 2-year-old daughter at day care, steam started creeping out from under the hood of my car. Fortunately my mechanic’s shop was nearby.

My radiator was cracked in two places, right at the top. “I really wouldn’t feel comfortable with you driving it,” one of the mechanics said. Luckily a new radiator could easily be obtained and installed that day. I thanked them.

I didn’t start crying until I had crossed the street to walk home. We had a few miles to go, so I carried my daughter. I didn’t mind carrying her; I still had that urge to cling to her and keep her close. It was cold that morning, but the sun started to warm us enough to remove our hats. Halfway home, my tears stopped, and my despair grew to appreciation.

I have the means to fix our car. I, on my own, can support my family. I not only have the strength to keep it together mentally and emotionally but I also have the strength to carry my daughter home. I have the strength to carry all of us.

That urge to cling to my family while keeping our foundation strong didn’t mesh well with continuing to date the man I’d been seeing. He also has a daughter. He, too, had been feeling a lot of the same emotions I was experiencing: hopelessness; fear; uncertainty about the future; panic over having to talk to my 9-year-old about anything that might come up at school, or what to do in the instance of sexual assault. But I couldn’t reach out to him anymore. He was too new, too unfamiliar.

My focus had to be on my community of friends that are my family. I need to fiercely love the people close to me instead of learning to love someone new. To reach out to others could weaken the bonds that hold my family together.

“I can’t,” I told him. “I just can’t.”

I’ve lost the desire to attempt the courtship phase. The future is uncertain. I am not the optimistic person I was on the morning of Nov. 8, wearing a T-shirt with “Nasty Woman” written inside a red heart. It makes me want to cry thinking of that. Of seeing my oldest in the shirt I bought her in Washington, D.C., that says “Future President.”

There is no room for dating in this place of grief. Dating means hope. I’ve lost that hope in seeing the words “President-elect Trump.”

[I'm a Puppy!]

Probably a good thing that she's taking herself out of the dating pool for a while.

[Syph]

reading WaPo after this story
 

[Madrun Badrun]

http://thediplomat.com/2016/11/the-pivot-gets-trumped-the-asia-pacific-under-president-trump/

Interesting point about American competitors testing Trump to see if the status quo still holds. 

[Mandark]

gonna just repost that until we give a shit huh syph

[Syph]

gonna just repost that until we give a shit huh syph

you better believe it baby
pretty fucked story if u actually read it breh

[brawndolicious]

http://thediplomat.com/2016/11/the-pivot-gets-trumped-the-asia-pacific-under-president-trump/

Interesting point about American competitors testing Trump to see if the status quo still holds.

There are good points in there about how Trump thinks of this in a business sense, but of course none of that short-term-asset-turn-around-for-maximum-profit shit works with politicians who are lifers and concerned with the type of legacy they're going to leave behind.

I think Obama was more concerned with convincing other leaders to give him a chance than the American public. Maybe avoid WW3 for a few more years.

[seagrams hotsauce]

gonna just repost that until we give a shit huh syph

you better believe it baby
pretty fucked story if u actually read it breh

Guess we better stick to paragons of journalistic integrity like "the daily wire" huh

[etiolate]

This isn't going to get any easier for you schmucks.

[Syph]

gonna just repost that until we give a shit huh syph

you better believe it baby
pretty fucked story if u actually read it breh

Guess we better stick to paragons of journalistic integrity like "the daily wire" huh

must be a tough world where someone posting a single daily wire article has such a lasting impact eh
not to mention how that doesn't discount my point at all

[VomKriege]

Wow that opening segment of the 538 podcast is a bit cringe with the corporatist reflex "Polls are free speech !"

[benjipwns]

And we're sure this isn't an Onion article?

The Onion doesn't post fake news.

[james]

Probably a good thing that she's taking herself out of the dating pool for a while.

Her Linkedin indicates she got her BA in 2014, which puts her at 23-24.

Enough of this dating unavailable men a half-decade younger than me.

 

[Raist]

I personally tend to use "a twentieth of a century".

[Madrun Badrun]

same but I write it 1/20C B.C.E. since time was counted different before Jesus. 

[VomKriege]

https://mobile.twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/806134244384899072?p=

He's not gonna do press conferences, is he ?
People at Boeing must be livid.

[Madrun Badrun]

does he understand airforce one isn't just a regular plane?

[nudemacusers]

Just wait until he sees my program's budget

[brawndolicious]

does he understand airforce one isn't just a regular plane?

Adjusting for inflation, the last two planes (because one is a backup I guess) cost $1.5 billion in today's money. And they lasted 30 years so they probably aren't as spry as they used to be.