To get you started, I'll just copy some dialogue I indulged in in the comments to an earlier post this morning:
David Begley said:
Trump has accomplished more POSITIVE things in less than 100 days than Obama did in 8 long years.I reacted to that:
I like the way Trump has accomplished NEGATIVE things.David Begley said:
Less doing. More nothing. That's what I want.
I give him credit for what he has NOT done. Where are the big bungles? He DIDN'T get that health thing done. That was good, no? Nothing military has happened. No foreign affairs blowups. Etc.
Item one: Trump has begun to tear down the CAGW scam. That single positive thing will save billions.I Althouse reacted to that:
Notice how that is SUBTRACTIVE and further supports my argument that his accomplishments are NEGATIVE.
Posts
187 comments:
His task is not to Do but to Undo.
Hmmm.
Positives:
Rolled back a lot of BO EO's
Signing multiple bills rolling back regulations
SCOTUS pick Gorsuch
Approved Keystone and Dakota access
Cabinet picks are starting to implement his agenda
Negatives:
*Blew it on healthcare.
*Stepped on his you know what with the Wire tapping tweet (even though it appears there is substance the overall surveillance claim).
I'll give him a solid B
Muslim Ban - FAIL. With the Courts.
Trumpcare - FAIL. Did not deliver on promise to repeal and replace on first day in office with healthcare that was better and less costly. Trumpcare is DOA and Trump will get killed for it going forward. Trump has been defined as a FAILURE because of Trumpcare.
Jobs, jobs, jobs - Corporations are moving to Mexico faster than you can say Tex Mex.
The Wall - fat chance.
Infrastructure - no chance.
Drain the Swamp - Yeah, right. Trump has created a bigger swamp mainly for his family and billionaire friends. Both his daughter and son-in-law work in the Trump House ... oops, White House.
One area where Trump will be successful will be tax cuts for the rich. Now there's a thing.
http://nymag.com/daily/intelligencer/2017/03/every-terrifying-thing-that-donald-trump-has-done.html
Majority of Trump's Executive Orders (EO's) are press releases. Undoing regulations requires passage through Congress. Good luck with that.
@ WisRich
Why do you lay Paul Ryan's failure at Trump's feet? The Establisment Ryan-O is not exactly a world beater. That's a given.
"One area where Trump will be successful will be tax cuts for the rich. Now there's a thing."
Folks in the blue counties get dough = MAGA.
Ha ha.
@ Unknown14
Do you mean we are free to ignore the Obama EOs because they are just press releases?
Birkel said...
@ WisRich
Why do you lay Paul Ryan's failure at Trump's feet? The Establisment Ryan-O is not exactly a world beater. That's a given.
4/1/17, 10:27 AM
---
I get it but the buck has to stop somewhere, right? Although Ryan carries a lot of blame, Trump has his share as well. Trump pushed Ryan to put the bill to a vote and it was to early. I even think Ryan probably told Trump it wasn't ready for a vote but Trump forced him to do it. Ryan wasn't strong enough to push back and say no.
(Unknown is giving us the score at the top of the first inning, and trying to convince us it is the whole game.)
Trumps greatest accomplishment is to cause the mere power seekers and party-above-all politicians to self identify. He has struck fear and terror into the cozy power and wealth cabal between Hollywood, New York, and Washington DC.
That alone will forever change our nation. They'll never get the average public tranquilized and docile again, and their post-election behavior signals that they know it.
Scott Adams explained that DJT first had to defuse the Hillary Bomb that Trump is Hitler. Now he is merely incompetent. And next, that he is not Joseph Stalin either.
So he now has 30 days to finally break the Koch Brother's and the Bushite's inside GOP guerilla war teams ordered to destroy him. We will see that soon. The Bushites and Conservative ideologues are getting real nervous. The Great Persuader is about to cut off their heads.
The lefties are out early, I see. Trump has done a lot of good with his EOs and the Congressional Review Act will roll back insane regulation.
The Democrats' panic and insanity seems to be continuing undiminished.
Trump needs to clean house and get all Obama holdovers out before they destroy his agenda. Even if that leaves thousands of empty offices in DC.
The Russian insanity is pretty well explained here, even though McCarthy's Trump antipathy leaks through.
Think of chuck who actually knows something important.
It's been a good 100 days in spite of the left's meltdown.
"Notice how that is SUBTRACTIVE and further supports my argument that his accomplishments are NEGATIVE."
Yes, I have noticed. Every negabrick he spends negadollars on causes the wall to get 10 FEET HIGHER!
I even think Ryan probably told Trump it wasn't ready for a vote but Trump forced him to do it.
I don't know about this. Trump probably had a higher opinion of Ryan's ability than it merited He has spent his life dealing with people who knew what they were doing, even if some (like NYC union leaders) were crooks. He got snookered by Atlantic City politicians but that was years ago.
This time, he discovered that Republican Congress people are mostly bullshitters.
Harry Reid was competent like a Mafia don is competent. I haven't decided about McConnell but Ryan, I think, is more image than substance.
Trump needs to spend more time with Rand Paul. I think they may be more alike than they realize.
He kept that unspeakable highbinder Hillary Clinton and her gang out of the White House. That alone should get him a spot on Mt. Rushmore.
I think he let Paul Ryan prove that he is a lightweight so that he can push him aside. Rand Paul does seem to be a principled man with some good ideas.
Number one -- He has accomplished not being Hillary.
Two -- He started well, but made a huge mistake in surrounding himself with Establishment types, as well as a couple of pipsqueak blowhards. The consequence of the former is (1) that he has been dragged down by business-as-usual Republican inaction/incompetence, like that of the fraud Paul Ryan, as well as intentional accomplices with the Democrats, especially the POS John McCain who was immensely successful in sabotaging Bush's presidential agenda, and (2) these Establishment types have been able to turn Trump, to some extent at least, against their enemies, the conservatives and the everyday citizens who want to "drain the swamp," and should be Trump's natural constituency.
The CEOs of our major corporations are optimistic about the free market and the opportunity for growing the economy.
Every nonreport that doesn't come out refuting Obama did in fact wiretap Trump, and, presto, Hillary comes out dressed like Russian mafiosa. How does he do/not do it?
Best president ever! History will tell the tale.
Awful, nothing accomplished. Bush and Obama were moral obscenities whose foreign policies created a humanitarian crisis and displaced tens of millions of people in the Middle East. Bush and Obama's kleptocrat friends on Wall Street almost plunged us into a depression. And nobody went to jail! But you can't say that these two guys didn't get stuff done. They did! Not Trump. One idiot misstep after another. Maybe that's for the best though...
Negatives as a positive are going on all over, as things suddenly seem different after Trump is factored in.
We have a special election in the 6th District because Trump snatched away Dr. Tom Price. That is a GOP collar county which was Newt's old District. But it was snobby about being Bushites and never-Trump er for a long time.
Now many old pols who acted never Trumper a year ago our running soley on the grounds they are MORE pro Trump than the eleven others.
Today we have new ads cut to expose other candidates for being never-Trumpers compared to the real Trump lovers. They are all lying.
Trump has over turned the chess board in Atlanta.
Inga said...
"Best president ever! History will tell the tale."
I think you might be a little exuberant there. Since Coolidge or Lincoln anyways.
"Best president ever! History will tell the tale."
No, I would rank a few higher. None since Eisenhower, though. Maybe Reagan.
As Chou en Lai said of the French Revolution. "It is too soon to tell."
Well, here's hoping that Trump can continue to accomplish a great many more NEGATIVE things: not build a border wall; not impose a 35% tariff on foreign auto parts or foreign-assembled vehicles to start a trade war; not impose "a total and complete shutdown of Muslims entering the United States"; not "cover everybody" with health insurance for which "the government's going to pay"; not enact federal "term limits"(?!); not "appoint a special prosecutor" (lulz) to go after Hillary Clinton; not "open up libel laws; not "bring back waterboarding"; not provide federal government funding for a nationalized "six-week maternity leave"; not sue (for libel and slander) the women who have accused him of sexual misconduct...
So many things, to not get done. But in not doing them, he'll Make America Great Again!
If he is able to reduce mass low-skilled immigration and the import of goods made in a low-wage country like China, would that be considered a negative or positive accomplishment? I would say positive. Undoing many of the policies put in place since the end of the Cold War (along with their attendant worldview) is at the very heart of his agenda. It's the only reason I and a lot of other people were willing to take a chance on this otherwise rather dubious personality. Can he pull it off is the big question now. It won't be quick and easy, that much is for sure.
Going into the election, there was a general thought if Trump won and kept Hillary from making up to three SCOTUS picks, his Presidency would be a success. Any other accomplishments would be "gravy".
I agree with this sentiment.
Abraham Lincoln/George Washington and Ronald Reagan, notice that FDR isn't in my top three greatest presidents. Eisenhower will never be rank correctly because of the liberal historians.
I'm curiuos: what's the love of letting in a bazillion Muslims? Chuck, you support, no doubt, the US government's persecution of the Mormons in the 1800's. Mormons back then were certainly more American and held more American values than Islamic types.
After all, most of the American Southwest is American because the Mormons, while being thrown out of the US, sacrificed enough to send the Mormon Battalion into the US-Mexican war; and the Mormon Battalion's march defined what we took from Mexico: Utah, Nevada, Arizona and New Mexico, as well as the southern border of California.
Yet the leftists and you "Lifelong conservatives" view Mormons as worse than Muslims. Why do you want millions of Muslims?
--Vance
Best President Ever? Hmmm? Jefferson Davis?
"Why do you want millions of Muslims?"
We have let more Muslims into our country after 9/11 than all the Muslims that came before.
Dreams:
Economic growth at 3-4% would solve lots of problems. Obama was never above 2%.
But is he doing a better job if nothing than Hillary would have done?
The negative accomplishments figure 'bigly' in my home decorating, too. Getting rid of the superfluous and redundant is more satisfying than adding things.
He's already succeeded way beyond expectations. He ended the Bush and Clinton dynasties. All people should be grateful.
I'm hoping he is remembered as the great undoer in chief.
Dr K, 10:57:
"As Chou en Lai said of the French Revolution. 'It is too soon to tell.'"
I've read that this was a misunderstanding: That he wasn't taking a remarkably long view, but just thought they were asking him about the French unrest of 1968.
http://tinyurl.com/gld94h7
(For all I know this debunking is itself an urban legend, but submitted for your consideration.)
Oh yes, he'll be remembered as the Great Undoer...of his own Presidency.
Conservatism is negative. That is a good thing, as unlike technology, human nature is static. Optimal stable plateaus have been figured out through experience and consensus long ago.
Imposed innovation in human systems (social arrangements) is rarely net-positive as no true experts exist. They have no way of identifying all possible unintended consequences, or their scale or costs, as the systems they are messing with are far too complex to understand.
Unknown Vance;
Where did I ever suggest "letting in a bazillion Muslims"? No; my position is so much more moderate. I like stiffer immigration enforcement. More careful issuance of visas; much more aggressive enforcement of visas. I'd like to do something seriously about granting citizenship to children born in the USA, to illegal parents.
No, Vance; I am simply not stupid enough to say, or tolerate someone so stupid as to say, "a complete shutdown of Muslims entering the United States..." Because if you say something like that, it is going to be held against you, even in court, for a very long time.
As for my views on Mormons; I voted for Mitt Romney and enthusiastically supported him. You ought to talk to some of the other commenters here -- and perhaps even our hostess -- about that.
Conservatism is negative. That is a good thing, as unlike technology, human nature is static. Optimal stable plateaus have been figured out through experience and consensus long ago.
Imposed innovation in human systems (social arrangements) is rarely net-positive as no true experts exist. They have no way of identifying all possible unintended consequences, or their scale or costs, as the systems they are messing with are far too complex to understand.
Excellent analysis, buwaya!
The best money we could spend would be on compensating our representatives on the number of laws they succeeded in removing from the books. Say, one million to the sponsor and one hundred thousand for every member who voted to have the law rescinded. In no time at all we would have so much underbrush and bullshit out of our way.
Plus, the congress should meet every other year in a place that is at least a three hour drive to a Palm Restaurant, i.e., the real world.
" Undoing regulations requires passage through Congress."
Laughable.
Most laws are vague in the extreme, allowing the Secretary of fill-in-the-blank to establish regulations implementing said laws.
There is a ton of room to change the way the laws are implemented. Heck, to us common folk it can appear the regs can even make substantial changes to the direction of the law.
I witnessed, over 30+ year, the creeping expansion of the jurisdiction of the original Clean Water Act. And all by administrative fiat or by modifying regulation.
Every single day he's been in office, Hillary has not. You can't get more positively subtractive than that.
I still find myself laughing aloud in wonder that the Democrats gave HRC the nomination. This swilling, absurdly, blatantly corrupt piece of shit was the best the Democrats could do?
Oh yeah:
Less is more.
Progressive is often not.
The Mormons are an interesting story. They were no doubt persecuted unfairly but the isolation might have resulted in some real advantages to them as a group. Certainly, the Mormons as a group have been highly successful in our society. Lots of CEOs and lots of very successful people.
Some of that may be the survival skills theme plus tithing. There is a big LDS temple being finished at the end of my street in Tucson. A neighbor told me that home values were expected to rise sharply once the temple is open and functioning. Some people have bought houses in this neighborhood on speculation expecting significant appreciation. That had never occurred to me. We were just lucky buying here.
My college roommate's father was a multimillionaire real estate developer who would employ only Mormons as his lawyer, accountant and doctor. That was 60 years ago.
"Every single day he's been in office, Hillary has not. You can't get more positively subtractive than that."
Yes. Every single morning, I wake up, think "Hillary Clinton is not the president" and I smile. Every day begins on a happy and positive note.
"I've read that this was a misunderstanding: "
I've heard that, too. I think the version I like is him thinking 200 years is not enough time.
Frankly, I think the world is still reverberating to the French Revolution and its consequences. I have been something of a student of the FR. I have even seen the arrest warrant that Robespierre was writing out for the other leaders of the Paris Commune when they burst in upon him and shot him in the jaw. It has his blood on it. It used to be on display in the Musee Carnavalet, but was not there the last time I visited.
Paris in the Terror, is an excellent history of that period.
I just finished listening to an audio version of The Great Courses on The French Revolution and Napoleon.
I listen to it while commuting to Phoenix a couple of days a week.
We are still living in the reverberations of it.
"Undoing regulations requires passage through Congress."
Really? So the entire Code of Federal Regulations is untouchable except by act of Congress? Administrative Law must undergone some sea change since I was in law school. "Unknown" fits you admirably.
I judge his success by how much the left hates what he does.
Why would anyone care what happens in the "first 100 days" of any presidency -- because it was a thing in 1933?
Sat out this election, but disliked HC much more than Trump and admit on election night it was a lot of fun. I think the weird thing about DT's presidency is how many tiny things - most of them dumb tweets or easily avoidable misspeaks -- seem to make up 80-90% of the freakout. If he would just keep his goddamn mouth shut except when saying nice things about people he would be fairly popular now.
I also wanted to see Trump elected because of something Fortune or Forbes wrote last year - electing Trump is like the nation having a stroke. It won't kill us but it may just wake everyone up about how horrible the political class has become and lead to some changes.
I agree, the French Revolution created modern politics, and the whole world is now living within the structures it created.
Every last thing, including ethnic nationalism, comes from the FR.
And it also created the ideas behind modern conservatism, as the reaction to the FR was required to make explicit the implicit.
Which is not a good thing, this making explicit, as humans work better in a bath of the implicit. Making political theory explicit, even conservatism, makes it more likely for people to think they understand what they really don't.
I'll wait until New Year's Day before judging. I only know now that sausage making is messy.
By being not Hillary he has created trillions in new wealth and optimism not seen in a decade. Does that fit the NEGATIVE narrative? I suppose it does.
This is where ARM would like to point out all the panic in financial markets Trump has caused.
I used to watch the Real Clear Politics Obama job approval charts continuously. More than once here, I noted that he would trend upward whenever he was gone on vacation or overseas. Would be interesting if someone could overlay those periods of less visibility on the political scene with the job approval line to see if there is some kind of correlation. Perhaps the less we see of a President, the happier we are because we don't see the President wreaking havoc and we really want to be left alone.
I've always been interested in--and appalled by--the French Revolution and my favorite history is still The French Revolution, by Thomas Carlyle. Tough sledding until you get swept into his narrative and then you are hooked. Brilliant. Really brilliant.
But I bookmarked Michael K's recommendation, too. One can never read enough about the FR.
I basically agree with Ann: Trump's a subtractor, not an adder. (Schumer, on the other hand, is an adder but more of a serpentine type, *elbow to the ribs*)
If Trump does nothing but subtract for four years, he'll add four more to his tenure. Ironic, eh?
Trump's first 100 days have been great. In the OT, Nehemiah and others went back to rebuild the temple with a trowel in one hand, a weapon in the other. Trump is having to do his work in a similar way, fighting off enemies while he works. But he only needs one tool: a hammer. With it he can subtract the false temple 60 years of liberalism has built and also smash a few adder's heads along the way. Another irony: the sound his hammer makes is a tweet.
I give him an A++. Seriously.
Well, I did my first "silent return" for a tax client who did not bother to get insurance last year. A lot of these young guys just do not give a shit. So now we can just not answer the healthcare question and still efile..on paper he gets a nice refund but who knows what'll happen. The penalty still applies but how the IRS collects it is anyone's guess. If not from this year's refund then from next year's.
So, there's that.
Trump will be difficult to evaluate. He campaigned on the promise to up-end the tables and restructure federal government and is pursuing those promises as President. Unsurprisingly, the people who are behind those tables are not interested in being up-ended and restructured. That includes the Democratic Party, national media, bureaucracy (three groups who are interchangeable) and establishment Republicans. For the same reasons, Trump was hard to evaluate during the campaign, when he was routinely dismissed by the same groups. Until he beat them, and they were left to ask "how the heck did that happen?" (they still don't know).
mockturtle said...
I've always been interested in--and appalled by--the French Revolution and my favorite history is still The French Revolution, by Thomas Carlyle. Tough sledding until you get swept into his narrative and then you are hooked. Brilliant. Really brilliant.
But I bookmarked Michael K's recommendation, too. One can never read enough about the FR."
Yes, and I agree that it changed the course of human history and that we are still living in the reverberations of it.
Another fine popular history is "The Great Upheaval: America and the Birth of the Modern World 1788-1800" by Jay Winik, which looks at what was going in America and Russia at the same time, and how the leaders of those countries responded to and were influenced by the FR. Winik notes that the world was much more interconnected then than many today suppose, and the FR had a massive global impact, not only on future generations but at the time. It's a good read.
The performance of the stock market is probably an effective testament to Trump's powers of subtraction (or addition by subtraction): 4-8 years of paralysis in the growth of the administrative state (with some rollback in environmental regs) plus prospects of lower tax rates equals trillions of marginal net revenue growth that gets discounted into stock prices.
Hippolyte Taine, his first volume, France under the Old Regime (L'Ancien Regime) some English editions are titled "Ancient Regime", especially. He went much further than any I know of to dig into the nature of the French Monarchy and its social system, in great detail, a sort of failure analysis.
His tale of the Revolution is extremely anecdotal, much like Carlyle's, though not quite as over-the-top.
Taine's analysis was the inspiration for Richard Pipes' "Russia Under the Old Regime", a Cold War classic.
Schama's "Citizens" is often criticised, but I like it. A very good introduction to the period as a whole really, for the modern reader, as the assumptions of 19th century writers are alien to this modern world, to those unfamiliar with it.
Thanks for the recommendation, buwaya.
So, Thursday I took a call from a lady whose friend was doing her taxes and told her she owed $1700 ACA penalty. She couldn't believe it because she got an exemption last year. Thick accent: why I not get an exemption again??
She's low income so I said it's because the state (in its wisdom) expanded Medicaid for 2016 so no more exemption in states for non-expansion of Medicaid.
But she hadn't even signed her three kids up for CHIPs health insurance, which I think is free. But that's Medicaid! she says. Yes! and you qualify! Went around and around with her. Tell your friend to do a silent return, or come in and I'll do one for you. No go.
Funny that socialism is designed for people like this but they still won't take it.
But I bookmarked Michael K's recommendation, too. One can never read enough about the FR.
The course is very expensive to buy on DVD, I have a subscription to Audible and the course was a small price without the video.
I drive 1 1/2 hours to work and 2 hours home and the books are a good companion. I couldn't do this 5 days a week but 2 is tolerable and 3 this week was barely tolerable.
"Schama's "Citizens" is often criticised, but I like it. "
Yes, I liked it, too. I tried to get into Peasants into Frenchmen, by Weber but finally left it in a Normandy B&B for someone else to try to read.
Easily the best gauge of performance - for me anyway - is that all the right people are the ones most pissed off.
Plus there are the "where were you insightful evaluation skills in 2009" group that can't see how that first 100 days turned out. Stimulus Summer stuff.
In Schama's book, there is a chilling cartoon: Robespierre, having guillotined "all of France," guillotines the executioner. He is standing in front of a forest of guillotines.
http://www.lookandlearn.com/history-images/M186471/Robespierre-guillotining-the-executioner-French-Revolution?img=7&search=Jacobin&bool=phrase
Of course, Robespierre's own head ended up in the basket. But that cartoon is a foreshadowing of every single leftist revolution that came after the French one. That's how they always end up and always will end up.
The Mormons are good people and have good longevity too because of their good habits.
I like that the media/left think he will go away after 100 also. What about the last 24 months much less the last 40 years would make you think he would stop or even slow down?
If anything I would anticipate him picking up momentum as he goes along.
On the whole, I am cautiously optimistic. Most of the things he has done or undone have been needing to be done or undone for a long time. He has people around him that I believe will help him do what he promised. My number one reason for voting for him was for his ability to encourage jobs in the US. Early yet but the business optimism is palpable.
Couple things -- I do not quite get this data collection business though - that worries me - why and why now. I also question his callout of the freedom caucus. That does not make sense to me, given the promises he needs to keep.
I agree on the left media freakout part though - the more they emote and writhe in public, the better....especially over things that they themselves made up! Wish we could just watch and not respond to them at all. People typically will stop doing things that they get no benefit from doing.
Just as the French Revolution is to blame for many of the ills of modernism and modern politics, Rousseau is to blame for the French Revolution. Satan's servant was he.
But who is to blame for Rousseau?
Michael K wrote: "The course is very expensive to buy on DVD, I have a subscription to Audible and the course was a small price without the video."
They have frequent sales, some at 80% off. I snag a Robert Greenberg music DVD whenever they go on sale. I absolutely love that man.
(I apologize to Althouse for taking this thread too far afield.)
The French Revolution opened the door to a great leader who could consolidate the power of free men and defeat his many enemies. The Army loved him, and he destroyed all Resistance to his Rule.
Couldn't take Schama. Found him unreadable, riseable even. Maybe because I don't like reading about the French Revolution, at least not in length and detail. The subject just doesn't interest me. I know this is a character flaw.
stever said...
all the right people are the ones most pissed off.
That apparently includes a majority of the great American polity.
"Well, I did my first "silent return" for a tax client who did not bother to get insurance last year. A lot of these young guys just do not give a shit."
I don't blame them, we expect young healthy guys to pay for old sick people.
Surely it is not too soon to formulate a preliminary judgment about the Trump Presidency. With the curtain coming down (and only 46 months left in his term) we can see that he has failed to meet his promises to end illegal immigration, to repeal and replace Obamacare, to create a rebirth in the manufacturing sector, and to improve the rate of economic growth. We (as journalists) are writing the first draft of history; but there can be no doubt that this is a draft that require very little in the way of editorial revisions.
The hysteria is a force of its own, even if it is manufactured. The hysteria of the French Revolution was mostly deliberately manufactured by a gang of cynical characters, which is a point that Schama in particular makes very well. This can escape the control of the manufacturers, which may be happening today, going in unanticipated self-reinforcing directions.
Everything at all in modern history was anticipated in the FR.
Althouse, you're not arguing so much for positive or negative accomplishments. You're arguing more for null accomplishments that are worthwhile.
Mormons. I grew up pretty close to Palmyra, NY - home of the Hill Cumorah pageant and all around holy site. My dad's brother converted to LDS (from Catholicism) so I have been around the culture. AND - at the current moment, work for an attorney who is not only Mormon, but some big Poobah in the LDS hierarchy. I gotta say, he's one of the most caring professionals I've worked for - when he asks me "how was your weekend" - he sincerely wants to know. On the other hand, I can tell the combination of Big Law and Big LDS responsibility runs him ragged. I feel like giving him one of those "Women Who Can't Say "No"" self help books. We were 2 minutes away from a big conference call when he gets a personal call from someone in his church he's trying to help - utterly hysterical and weeping about something. This was not an unusual experience - constant stream of LDS related business all day long. I cannot imagine letting my personal life interfere with my professional duties to that extent, but I guess LDS easily puts God over Mammon.
I'm also optimistic about Trump. The battle has scarcely been joined. The left is fighting back with ferocity and has scored some successes. In some instances the left has rocked the administration and the GOP back on its heels. Like the Japanese at Tarawa on the first day of the landings by the 2nd Marine Division. The Marines came in overwhelming force but were held up at the seawall and took enormous casualties for the better part of 30 hours. But by the end of the third day of the operation almost all the 5,000 Japanese defending the island were dead. I'm betting the Democrats and the left will meet with catastrophe, eventually. Can't happen too soon for me.
RE: the LDS lawyer - they really push the "be sweet" kinda thing for women - serving their men and all that. My wise-ass, New York Italian persona, not taking any shit from anyone and letting them know it - really rubs him the wrong way sometimes. It cracks me up. One day I said to him: "You went to school in NYC for pete's sake - we wisecracking NY Italians are all over the place - aren't you used to it?"
The fact he didn't have an answer tells me he probably stuck pretty damn close to his LDS friends and avoided us!
I don't blame them, we expect young healthy guys to pay for old sick people.
4/1/17, 1:08 PM
And many of those young healthy guys (and women) vote for Democrats, despite the massive bill the Dems are sticking them with.
Turkeys voting for Thanksgiving.
@ Molly
There is no reason to undersell your own narrative. You had it written in March 2016. And again in July. And again in November.
Why would we expect a different narrative now or ever?
Meanwhile that great success, Obama, never managed 3% GDP growth. Best not to revise the plaudits for him, right?
"Economic growth at 3-4% would solve lots of problems. Obama was never above 2%."
Bingo. Growth solves a lot of problems. Also, why he's rolling back onerous regs and building pipelines.
People need to work. Would it be great to ultimately move away from coal-fired plants? Sure. But you can't do it overnight and you can't put 46-year-olds with 4 kids who have never done any other job in their lives out of work and expect everything to be peachy-keen.
I just grabbed the last copy of "Paris In the Terror" for sale on Amazon.
Thank you for the recommendation, Dr. K.
Health care reform begins with education reform and restoration of a capitalist markets that will control price inflation and promote medical services availability.
Social justice adventurism (e.g. elective regime changes, extrajudicial trials, [class] diversity) is a first-order forcing of catastrophic anthropogenic immigration reform, which is mitigated through the former accepting responsibility for their principles and behaviors.
Emigration reform will require confronting minority anti-native factions, including those that exist for purposes of labor arbitrage, cover-ups of collateral damage from social justice adventurism, protection of left-wing regimes, and Democratic leverage.
Closing the abortion chambers or depriving the abortionists of financing will begin to address the unprecedented violation of human rights and corruption of science caused under Pro-Choice establishment. Reversing the normalization of selective-child policy will be positive progress.
Hopefully, Trump will not progress Obama's global wars, and retreat from the coups and violence targeting Russia and her regional allies (e.g. Syria) and neighbors (e.g. Ukraine).
However, before revitalization, rehabilitation, and reconciliation, he will have to survive the entrenched special and peculiar interests of the left, right, and center.
but I guess LDS easily puts God over Mammon.
Maybe so but most Mormons I know are very fond of Mammon.
I don't blame them, we expect young healthy guys to pay for old sick people.
Accidents don't just happen to old sick people.
I just grabbed the last copy of "Paris In the Terror" for sale on Amazon.
Exiled, was it new or used? I want to order it and don't mind if it's used.
Good Golly Miss Molly!
"Surely it is not too soon to formulate a preliminary judgment about the Trump Presidency. With the curtain coming down (and only 46 months left in his term) we can see that he has failed to meet his promises to end illegal immigration, to repeal and replace Obamacare, to create a rebirth in the manufacturing sector, and to improve the rate of economic growth. We (as journalists) are writing the first draft of history; but there can be no doubt that this is a draft that require very little in the way of editorial revisions."
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kZ6h0kyqSRk
Inga:"Oh yes, he'll be remembered as the Great Undoer...of his own Presidency"
That would be the Presidency you claimed was impossible for Trump to achieve.
So I think we'll file this latest missive next to all the others in the "Lefty Missives Graveyard".
Which is quite full by the way.
"Accidents don't just happen to old sick people."
Yeah, but they don't turn away accident victims from the hospital emergency room. It's just not cost effective for young healthy people to buy insurance, especially young males who don't get pregnant.
"Exiled, was it new or used? I want to order it and don't mind if it's used."
You can get used for$6.95.
Molly, 1:10:
And here I thought subtlety was a dying art. Very nicely done.
You tip your hand just a bit with "With the curtain coming down (and only 46 months left in his term)," but without that I might have thought you were being serious. And I have to applaud this:
"there can be no doubt that this is a draft that require very little in the way of editorial revisions."
constant stream of LDS related business all day long. I cannot imagine letting my personal life interfere with my professional duties to that extent, but I guess LDS easily puts God over Mammon.
That may be the reason my neighbors expect a local real estate boom. Interesting. I might go visit the family history library, which I was always going to do in California. This time I can walk.
"Paris in the Terror" has been out of print for years. I've had my copy since it came out and have read it five or six times. Watch Amazon and another will come up.
Trump lost on the two biggest fronts; Obamacare and Muslim/terrorist immigration. And "lost" is strictly relative regarding Obamacare, because the replacement bill was an insult to Trump voters.
On immigration, Trump allowed a precedent-setting, extra-legal court to define a huge swath of foreign policy. He hasn't pushed back, much less ignored the order(s), and the result is that Muslims of all terrorist stripes now enjoy a most favored immigration status.
Aided by the President's timidity and/or acquiescence, the safety and well-being of all Americans has been seriously and permanently undermined.
I just ordered it. :-)
PS: Amazon told me it was the 'last copy', too. ;-)
On where Rousseau came from, this might be of some help.
Rousseau was building on the work of two of the most important philosophers in the Western canon. Thomas Hobbes gave us the term “leviathan” in the book conveniently title Leviathan, which established social contract theory, that has served as the foundation for most later Western political philosophy. To a modern reader, it is a tough slog, but worth it in the end. It’s also important to note that Marx largely rejected social contract theory in favor of utilitarianism.
Similarly, John Locke is a major influence, even to this day. Locke gave us republicanism, the theory of the mind, the concept of the individual, self-derived identity and the big one, the blank slate. Locke maintained that we are born without innate ideas, and that knowledge is instead determined only by experience. This is now known as empiricism, but it should be easy to see where this eventually led. That’s right, John Locke is responsible for trannies in the bathroom and female Marines.
Locke is a big deal so you have to read a few of his works to appreciate his contributions. Fortunately, Locke was also brief, so his works tended to be more like pamphlets. A Letter Concerning Toleration, Two Treatises of Government and An Essay Concerning Human Understanding are required reading. Luckily, you can get these free on Kindle or for a few bucks as paperbacks. It’s ironic that the most important works in Western history are usually available for less than the price of a trip to Starbucks.
I am a bit more ambivalent about Mormonism. To some extent, like Judaism- they seem to prefer dealing with each other similarly, which makes "gentiles" (same term used by both faiths) feel left out. Very cliquey. It is apparently very hard to attend a majority LDS high school as a gentile - all the popularity contests, student govt elections, etc are automatically won by Mormons. Still today, you should probably have a Mormon at the counsel table if you litigate in Las Vegas, and, no doubt, SLC is worse. When I was working in NV, we had a decent Mormon contingent in the firm. Ditto, in SLC.
One place Mormons are a bit weird, esp in Utah, concerns alcohol. When I was in a firm there, two guys made partner. Everyone from the mailroom up to the sr partners crowded into the conference room (same one in which I watched the Twin Towers collapse on 9/11). Then, to celebrate, trays were passed around - champagne for us gentiles, and fruit juice for the Mormons. Everyone staked out their allegiances. That firm had a couple Mormon partners, but was mostly run by non-Mormons, who made sure to have top shelf liquor at all functions. Another story. An atty, licensed in two other states already, applied to sit for the UT bar. His application was rejected under "character". He had been arrested one time for DWAI (BAC of .08%) in another state. Charges dropped sui sponge by city atty, due to lack of probable cause. The reason given for the rejection? They claimed he was an alcoholic (UT is apparently dropping DWAI to .05%). The rejection had to be appealed, which meant $5k in additional expenses and another six months before he could sit for the UT bar, for a charge that never made it to a preliminary hearing in another state.
There is a lot to respect with Mormons. But, for me, they will always be a bit different. Mention was made awhile back that there isnt a lot of welfare in UT, thanks to the LDS church. And that is true, and they do a good job of it. By now though, I have lived in, or spent a lot of time in a half dozen mountain west states, ranging from AZ to MT, and CO to NV. One of those was UT. The rest of the west was(and still is in many places) filled with classic westerners, who are self-reliant, maybe to an extreme. A lot of loners. Mormons though are much more communal, esp in the SLC valley in UT. It always amazes me that we are on the same page as to politics, guns, etc, while differing so much in this fundamental area.
@ mockturtle:
You can get a used copy for less that 4 bucks at abebooks.com. They've got plenty.
"Trump allowed a precedent-setting, extra-legal court to define a huge swath of foreign policy."
He's waiting for Gorsuch.
Michael K:
Thanks for the info/link re Rousseau.
Michael K:
Oops, link not working.
How do I think he's doing?
It's too early to tell. The staff work needs to improve. Ultimately that's his responsibility.
A lot is going to depend on the North Koreans and how Trump deals with the mess Bush and Obama left him with there. Lots of possible scenarios, most of them very unattractive for everyone involved.
mockturtle said...
PS: Amazon told me it was the 'last copy', too. ;-)
LOL! Let's hope they don't split the last copy between us!
Exiled @ 11:55
Yeah. My thoughts too. Plus the fact that it drives the lefties nuts. Inga is still hoping someone kills him.
David Baker: "On immigration, Trump allowed a precedent-setting, extra-legal court to define a huge swath of foreign policy. He hasn't pushed back, much less ignored the order(s), and the result is that Muslims of all terrorist stripes now enjoy a most favored immigration status."
I see Michael K has already responded with the obvious answer for which no one else seems confused: Without Gorsuch there is a strong possibility the lefties on the SC will happily cast aside all pretense and simply side with the "Can't do it because Trump" lower courts.
With Gorsuch all appeals will be pressed all the way to the SC. Since it appears that Gorsuch will be confirmed one way or the other on Friday of this coming week let's give them a bit of time on that.
As for the rest of your breathless post it's also clear that the visa process has been significantly tightened by Tillerson/Kelly.
You can tell by the screeching of the lefties that the Trump admin is doing by internal memo's/orders/process what they were "stopped" from doing via EO.
https://knpr.org/npr/2017-03/state-department-instructs-embassies-beef-screening-visa-applicants
David Baker said...
On immigration, Trump allowed a precedent-setting, extra-legal court to define a huge swath of foreign policy. He hasn't pushed back, much less ignored the order(s), and the result is that Muslims of all terrorist stripes now enjoy a most favored immigration status.
Rule of Law, David. Part of the rule of law is that bad court decisions do not always get reversed immediately. There is a process, and the situation would have to be extreme for the executive to ignore the process. This situation is dangerous but not extreme.
I think the administration will win in the Supreme Court, and by better than a 5-4 vote assuming Gorsuch confirmed. But if I am wrong, it's still better than ignoring the judiciary.
As the animals left the Ark, two by two, Noah said to them "Go forth and multiply". The snakes said "We can't, we're adders".
Remember that Christ was not crucified because he taught love and tolerance. He was crucified because he cast the money changers from the Temple.
Bruce: well, we Mormons are "A Peculiar People" and we take that seriously. We don't want to be normal; we aren't supposed to be normal, and we shouldn't be normal. We are called to be better and to be an example.
Now, as far as the "cliquey" part goes: it's likely true. But then, outside of the Amish I think Mormons mix their faith and the rest of their life more than any other group. And there is a very distinct cultural aspect to being LDS: dating norms; the level of service expected; the culture of leadership--it's all quite different.
And these differences are only going to increase: Mormons expect their members to live the teachings of Jesus. The world is rapidly going the other way. Consider the Mike Pence bit; where he has been raked over the coals for being faithful to his wife. This is standard procedure for LDS people; and explicit procedure for church responsibilities (which are divvied out to the members, not concentrated in a paid clergy position).
I expect you'll find us far more "abnormal" in a few years. At least, compared to what the left and the Hollywood types proclaim is normal.
--Vance
Trump did not do NCAA brackets.
Blogger Unknown said...
Majority of Trump's Executive Orders (EO's) are press releases. Undoing regulations requires passage through Congress. Good luck with that.
--
"I have a pen.."
Trump seems to have survived Piss-Gate.
try this one.
If nothing else, he's exposed the true insanity of the left and their media enablers.
The more he does that? The more regular and apolitical people will realize one half of the country hates their guts.
This is a good thing.
Most regulations have a bite through the interpretations, litigation, and compliance procedures implemented by their respective agencies.
"all the right people are the ones most pissed off.
That apparently includes a majority of the great American polity."
Apparently disagree with is the new "pissed off".
Or so the left seems to believe. And they act pissed off a lot.
Or would the phrase "all the right people have been acting batshit crazy" have been clearer?
Michael K said...
"Trump allowed a precedent-setting, extra-legal court to define a huge swath of foreign policy."
He's waiting for Gorsuch.
Q: "Judge Gorsuch; President Trump said during the campaign that he proposed 'a complete and total shutdown of Muslims entering the United States' for an indeterminate period of time. What is your reaction to a statement like that, from the chief executive of the federal government?"
Gorsuch: "It's demoralizing, and disheartening."
More relevant is what Gorsuch thinks about what was actually put forward re: delays/restrictions re previously labeled countries of concern.
Doing well, obviously. And better than any of the other candidates would be doing.
@ Chuck, so called
Why would you support Gorsuch if you believe he is so easily demoralized and disheartened? Do you understand nothing of the politics of the nomination process?
Why you have been wrong repeatedly is easy to discern.
Mike K, it's true that philosophy or ideas play a big part in any revolution. But the FR was also an economic collapse. Louis XIII and Cardinal Richelieu began a huge infrastructure project to bring France out of the Middle Ages. That program went for more than 100 years. Coupled with the constant wars, France was pretty well exhausted by 1790. The peasants were impoverished and the aristocracy was living very well. Philosophy goes a long way but an empty stomach and no work is the spark.
On his first day in office, Obama promised to shut down Gitmo. How'd that go?
walter said...
Trump seems to have survived Piss-Gate.
Because it was made up out of whole cloth by the 4Chan jokers. And they had the written record. They were trolling a NeverTrumper with having the "goods" on Trump and kept making it more outrageous. That former MI-6 spy joker turned the 4Chan spoof into a dossier that he offered to sell to chumps like John McCain.
Didn't stop at least a few posters here predicting Trump's imminent demise.
Birkel, I don't think that Judge Gorsuch was in any way debilitated by Trump's judge Tweets. I think Gorsuch's comments were code for, "Senator Blumenthal, we both know that the comments were stupid."
As we both know, the important part of that story was that Trump claimed that Blumenthal "mischaracterized" Gorsuch. And when Gorsuch repeated the words under oath, the whole world knew that once again Trump had been full of shit. The fact that Trump, in the course of his own fabrication chose to personally attack Blumenthal just made it all the more Trump.
"86 percent of Trump counties make less in a year than 27 Trump staffers are worth"
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/politics/wp/2017/04/01/86-percent-of-trump-counties-make-less-in-a-year-than-27-trump-staffers-are-worth/?hpid=hp_hp-top-table-main_trumpcounties-1213pm%3Ahomepage%2Fstory&utm_term=.c9ae2e48f3e6
Not a bad start.
Let's MAGA and try to get that north of 95%!
Carry on.
@ Chuck, so called
So the important part is your interpretation of Gorsuch, reading subtext into plain English? Pardon me whilst I conclude you are peddling your own brand of bull shit.
Good grief, Jelly.
What a meaningless article.
Get it into a pie chart for more gravitas.
"Let's MAGA and try to get that north of 95%!"
Peddling some more Piss-Gate worthy info which isn't relevant. How about an economy growing at 3 or 4%, yeah that' ll MAGA, not liberal bull.
Meanwhile we have Bernie, of only guv teat sucking accomplishment, with 3 houses, right? Shame! Shame! Shame!
The one thing Trump has totally failed at is getting the Mexicans to pay for his fucking wall. There is no fucking way the American tax pay should have to pay for this. It is a ridiculously useless edifice that any fool and a ladder can defeat.
Wasn't a wall fairly effective in Israel?
ARM, we have already decided that tax-deductible donations will pay for the wall. :-)
It is a ridiculously useless edifice that any fool and a ladder can defeat.
If you have a ladder, you're good to go! ;-)
TPP was subtracted right into File 13 as promised. The interesting thing is how little attention that action received. The treaty and its fast-tracking was an everyday story for weeks if not months. Althouse even wrote about it.
mockturtle said...
ARM, we have already decided that tax-deductible donations will pay for the wall.
Good then there should not be any budget request from the White House to build the thing. Yet, there is. And, hell no, we won't pay.
"It is a ridiculously useless edifice that any fool and a ladder can defeat."
But which a genius drug trafficker with five hundred kilos of cocaine in his truck who used to just drive back and forth every week might have to take a moment to think about.
Kinda takes a major fool not to think of that.
Qwinn said...
But which a genius drug trafficker with five hundred kilos of cocaine in his truck
I don't give a shit how drugs get here. If there is sufficient demand they will get here. Demand is the problem not supply.
@ AReasonableMan
Increasing price by making them illegal, restricting supply, is what makes drugs an attractive market.
Bootleggers and Baptists.
ARM, as usual, does not understand human nature.
Rats will forego food if given enough stimulation that causes pleasure. Drugs will always obey the law of supply and demand.
Price is what controls that.
Of course morals and culture ended the cocaine problem in the 1920s but we do not have morals or culture anymore, thanks to you lefties.
After the Harrison Narcotic Act of 1914, many patent medicines and even some "tonics" that contained opium or cocaine, were suddenly unavailable. Lots of people, especially women who took tonics, went into withdrawal, never having know they were addicted. The social opprobrium that narcotics attracted helped end the epidemic in the early 1920s.
It did not reappear until the early 1970s. I had patients in 1973 and 74 ask me if there was anything wrong with using cocaine for recreation. Before that it was almost unknown in the US. They were, of course, Baby Boomers and that was the drug culture emerging from the Hippie culture into the Middle Class.
Michael K said...
ARM, as usual, does not understand human nature.
I think I have a good understanding, having now read your posts for several years.
"Of course morals and culture ended the cocaine problem in the 1920s but we do not have morals or culture anymore, thanks to you lefties."
Don't worry about that. We just need to unleash the job creators some more so that they can Reason and Objectivism us all to nirvana.
Ya see, morals are for chumps. It's the Job Creators and rational self-interest that will make everything work, they just need fewer taxes and regulations.
Duh.
Carry on.
Michael K: Even if that leaves thousands of empty offices in DC.
Thank you. That is the most pleasant mental image I have had all day.
@ OBJ
You cannot like those Job Creators. Let us call them Wreckers and Destroyers instead. It has a nice ring to it, eh Comrade?
I think I have a good understanding, having now read your posts for several years.
I'm flattered but doubtful if you think the demand problem is ever going to be solved. It was once but that was before Antonio Gramsci changed the western world.
The bourgeoisie in Gramsci's view develops a hegemonic culture using ideology rather than violence, economic force, or coercion. Hegemonic culture propagates its own values and norms so that they become the "common sense" values of all and thus maintain the status quo. Hegemonic power is therefore used to maintain consent to the capitalist order, rather than coercive power using force to maintain order.
He fixed that.
I see no major problem with the direction Trump is taking.
I could do without all the Twittering. Tweets are an infantile means of communication, but so is 95% of "news" on TV and media print. If the media left off haranguing and taunting Trump, he would likely back off with the Tweets.
Legislating is supposed to be done by the Legislature, not the Executive. A bad health care law was proposed, and was not voted on.
Better than silly laws like that proposed by then Sen Joe Biden and signed by GW Bush making it a federal crime to possess a firearm within 0.189393939393939393939393939393939393939393939393939394 statue miles of a school. Really. Why not simply .15 statute mile? or 0.2 statute mile?
@Drago
@David
The Gorsuch argument doesn't hold up, simply because the precedent has already been set by the lower court; ban a single terrorist (ie Muslim), and we'll raise holy hell - especially now that this President has proved himself to be a paper tiger.
Remember, we've gone from halting ALL Muslim immigration, to: Please, Your Honor, can't we ban one little terrorist? Pretty please?
There are times when the courts must be challenged, and this is certainly one of those times. But by rolling over in divine deference, Trump has ceded the lawful authority of the Executive.
And Gorsuch is just waiting to add insult to injury.
Awesome.
ARM wrote:
It is a ridiculously useless edifice that any fool and a ladder can defeat.
Penn Jillette says the same thing.
He even did a video where he paid some Mexicans to demonstrate their fence-climbing abilities.
Yuk Yuk Yuk!
You know what Penn Jillette has around his Las Vegas home?
A big f'n fence.
I can break into almost any home in America with a two dollar screw driver. Why do the fools lock their doors at night?
David Baker: "The Gorsuch argument doesn't hold up, simply because the precedent has already been set by the lower court; ban a single terrorist (ie Muslim), and we'll raise holy hell - especially now that this President has proved himself to be a paper tiger."
Of course the Gorsuch argument holds up.
David Baker: "There are times when the courts must be challenged, and this is certainly one of those times. But by rolling over in divine deference, Trump has ceded the lawful authority of the Executive."
Now your emotions have overtaken all logic. Assuming there was a bit of logic in there to begin with.
PB: "Don't worry about that. We just need to unleash the job creators some more so that they can Reason and Objectivism us all to nirvana.
Ya see, morals are for chumps. It's the Job Creators and rational self-interest that will make everything work, they just need fewer taxes and regulations"
Shorter PB: why oh why can't we be more like Venezuela?!
"lifelong republican" Chuck: "As we both know, the important part of that story was that Trump claimed that Blumenthal "mischaracterized" Gorsuch."
No Chuckie, the important part of the story was Trump calling out Blumenthal for his Stolen Valor lies about Vietnam combat service.
Naturally, you being you, you immediately rose to downplay Blumenthal's obvious and repeated Stolen Valor lies. No surprises there. You do that for all the dems.
This article probably upset you to no end: http://www.washingtonexaminer.com/an-open-letter-from-14-medal-of-honor-recipients-to-sen.-blumenthal-over-his-hypocrisy-on-gorsuch/article/2615090
You'll be attacking these MOH winners no doubt as that is what will be necessary to salvage your pal Blumenthals reputation.
Not to worry. I'm sure you're up to it.
Jelly,
Pokin' fun w/o a remotely salient alternative w/traction. Screw effin' private sector job creators, right?
Carry on..
PB&J has lately been obsessed with this term "job creators." Not sure what he means by the expression.
Carry on . . .
@Drago
Not sure how you can deny the obvious. The courts are corrupted by personal politics. They no longer command broad legitimacy. They've become the ultimate special interest group, wielding immense, and ever-increasing power.
Enter the supplicant, Donald Trump.
But wait, there's a savior in the wings, his name be Gorsuch. Immaculately conceived, he will wash away all their sins.
All sins except one: The scourge of Islam remains supreme.
So when Trump complained that anything that didn’t go his way meant the system was “rigged” against him, they nodded in agreement and said, “Yep, it’s rigged against me, too.” And of course, the horror of the establishment (both Democratic and Republican) at Trump only reinforced the belief that once he was elected he’d change everything.
Now to be clear, the fact that in some ways — hiring lobbyists, cutting taxes for the wealthy, gutting regulations — Trump is going to be little different from any other Republican president doesn’t mean that he isn’t uniquely dangerous. He’s reckless, impulsive, vindictive, hateful, and authoritarian, and his presidency is going to be somewhere between disastrous and cataclysmic, likely in ways we can’t even imagine yet.
But one thing it will not be is a threat to the establishment, or the system, or whatever you want to call it. The wealthy and powerful will have more wealth and power when he’s done, not less. There’s a lot that Trump will upend, but if you’re a little guy who thinks Trump was going to upend things on your behalf or in order to serve your interests, guess what: you got suckered.
Washington Post November 11, 2016
HT believes the WaPo is a reliable source Re: Trump.
The WaPo openly declared war on Trump long ago.
And Althouse is a cheerleader. Stop using ad hominen arguments.
"Not sure what he means by the expression."
Pro-Job Creator policies are the the opposite of D Job Killer taxes and regulations.
Ya see, the Ds raise taxes and regulate such that jobs creation is limited. But, the liberty and freedom associated w/ R policies will unleash the Job Creators and all Americans will benefit because a rising sea lifts all boats.
Pretty simple, don't ya think?
I give him credit for what he has NOT done. Where are the big bungles? He DIDN'T get that health thing done. That was good, no?
It was good for America. It's revealing even the left media universally considers it a failure. It shows they see everything in political terms rather than the impact on the governed. This is similar to how they cheered Obamacare because it was a successful use of power - not because it improved the framework of healthcare in this country.
"Ya see, morals are for chumps. It's the Job Creators and rational self-interest that will make everything work, they just need fewer taxes and regulations.
Duh."
You are laboring under the misaprehension that job creation isn't a moral good.
Duh. Indeed.
ARM wrote:
"It is a ridiculously useless edifice that any fool and a ladder can defeat."
hence the need for boarder control agents.
You're not going to stop a certain amount of determined people. You are going to stop the majority of people who will not make the extra effort to defeat our defenses.
Like the man said. Otherwise why lock your doors?
"If he would just keep his goddamn mouth shut except when saying nice things about people he would be fairly popular now."
Why not start practicing what you preach Trump ought to do, if he wants more from life than just being a billionaire patriarch and president of the United States that is?
Thanks for enjoying his election you did nothing to usher in though, that shows you are very honorable and wise. I appreciate the thoughts of those too good to participate in our democracy via constitutional republic, they are so relevant going forward. If we didn't have these brave supersouls telling us all is not well, and America isn't Utopia, I would certainly be under those illusions. Godspeed Virgil.
@ Rusty: "...boarder control agents."
This is covered by the Third Amendment.
(Excellent typo!)
HT wrote:
"Blogger HT said...
And Althouse is a cheerleader. Stop using ad hominen arguments."
Good lord. the long anti-Trump WaPo piece you posted was all ad hominem.
That is why I responded "The WaPo openly declared war on Trump long ago."
You need to realize, HT, that just because you agree with something you have read in the WaPo, that does not mean that what you have read is rational or sensible.
Illegal immigration is down 40% so evidently Trump has already succeeded in building part of the wall at no cost to American tax payers.
Muslims from the seven non-secure nations are being vetted though it took several tries to achieve the goal as Democrats wanted them admitted without any check so that regs had to be used. "Sanctuary cities" are now claiming that they DO turn criminal illegals over to ICE when they talk to the DOJ; at rallies Dem voters bliss out at hearing "sanctuary" city mayors claim they don't turn anyone over to ICE.
Nominated a conservative Supreme Court justice
Great Cabinet picks.
Put oil back where it belongs as central and important to the economy
Allowed the two pipelines - thousands of jobs plus
Repealed and/or defunded useless, economy-damaging climate change regs
Appointed Scott Pruit to the EPA
Repealed regs intended to destroy coal mining
Supports fracking
Appointed as Secretary of State an oil company executive who can lead an effort to rebalance the world oil trade
Persuaded executives everywhere that bringing manufacturing jobs to US is essential to good relations with his administration - hundreds of thousands of jobs promised. Killed TPP; renegotiating NAFTA
Japan and NATO have agreed to take on more of the burden of their own defence
Restored Mexico City policy; took family planning out of all foreign aid programs. Since the world-wide birth crash means that most of the world is facing economic disaster and social chaos in the near future, it was a good idea to remove the US as the cause of the problem.
Brought a bill forward to change Obamacare. It failed. Bringing another one forward
Overall - Trump up by many negapoints. Hated, loathed, detested by the swamp creatures in DC - how sweet it is.
And The Dems - shrill-shrieking that Republicans don't care - still haven't explained how the Dems will bring back jobs especially to the black workers in the inner cities. But have assured everyone that they, the Dems, will punish and punish business and punch the American workers in the face, pepper spray them, shout them them down, and show the fascist f#$%$ that ^%%#%**%### because reason and science $$%$##^%$## white depravity #$%##@@@@ kill all the men.
wildswan wrote:
And The Dems - shrill-shrieking that Republicans don't care - still haven't explained how the Dems will bring back jobs especially to the black workers in the inner cities.
Maybe PB&J can point them to these "job creators" he's always going on a bout
"despite the massive bill the Dems are sticking them with."
Sure, Dems passed Obamacare but do you believe that the GOP is the party of limited government that really, really wants to lower spending to less than revenues but just by golly can't so hey let's raise the debt ceiling and propose reducing the deficit over a decade while piling on more debt every year and saying Dems are worse, Dems are worse (because they are)?
$20,000,000,000,000 and climbing but since Dems alone in power might have made it $26,000,000,000,000 we should be grateful we are only at $20,000,000,000,000 in debt is a common lesser of two evils argument I have believed and used in the past and the result isn't satisfactory.
Mike Rosin laughed at me on-air when I argued no matter who controls what levers of D.C. government our debt always goes up and up, and if the GOP were a limited government party instead of lying bullshitters they would reduce actual spending and pay off the debt not add to it. That idea was and is laughable to a decades old pundit who worked for the Feds as an accountant.
Kasich walked around claiming he created a $5,000,000,000,000 surplus 12 years after those projections were disproved by what happened, yet the projections are somehow still valid to people and my idea to actually cut spending is laughed at as being totally unrealistic by GOP Chucks and bigwigs.
Years ago I remarked at the Belmont Club blog on PJ Media America is exceptional because of all the reasons, good reasons, why we should have failed that were superseded by events allowing for our sacrifices to lead to success. Our debt is a time-bomb I hope will be superseded by amazing, yuge yuge growth and praying for this helps. Ignoring the GOP's actions (by focusing exclusively on how bad the Dems are) because sometimes their small-government platitudes aren't vomit-worthy seems to me to not be helpful.
Guild, sometimes I actually understand what you are talking about. This is one of those times. Well said.
Blogger David Begley said...
Dreams:
Economic growth at 3-4% would solve lots of problems. Obama was never above 2%.
4/1/17, 11:15 AM
Last week the Commerce Department released its third revision for fourth-quarter 2016 gross domestic product. The number came in at a paltry 2.1 percent, meaning that growth during President Obama’s final year in office — the end of an “Error of Hope” — landed with a big thud at just 1.6 percent.
That low-water mark puts the Obama presidency in last place among all the post-World War II presidents when it comes to economic growth.
"I can break into almost any home in America with a two dollar screw driver. Why do the fools lock their doors at night?"
To discourage the housebreakers who prefer to exert less effort to enter houses unwanted. If you find a house unlocked or with an open window, you can slip on in, quietly and quickly. If you have to break in, the extra time and effort it takes permits greater risk the home owner or neighbors will discover you're there, giving them more opportunity to repel you by force or to call the police.
"He started well, but made a huge mistake in surrounding himself with Establishment types, as well as a couple of pipsqueak blowhards."
Well, why not? Like wants like.
Honestly, in my book he's running slightly ahead of expectations.
The big negative is Obamacare, but I was expecting a major political misstep someplace just because that is not his area of expertise. The question then will be can he learn from his mistakes and move forward in dealing with Congress.
In terms of positives, Gorsuch was an inspired USSC pick, and is having the effect of putting Senate Democrats in a Morton's Fork. Either filibuster a very qualified judge that they appointed to a Circuit Court with minimal political cover, or let Gorsuch through and turn the low-level political cold war in the Democratic party very hot between the leadership and base/activists. This is also pointing out the extreme political weakness of the Democrats currently, and doing it on a USSC seat which is not nearly as important as the next opening on the bench (since it would probably be either Kennedy or Breyer/Ginsburg going off age).
One other thing that was key for Trump was not going full Andrew Jackson initially in the fight over his executive order. Letting the process play out int he courts is probably the right move to start restoring faith in some of our key institutions.
The cabinet picks have overall been reasonably smooth for Trump, his EOs have been a net positive, and from a management standpoint, he's doing reasonably well.
From the standpoint of immigration, net positive, and no major missteps to date.
Looking ahead, the big questions internationally look to be the collapse of Venenzuela, North Korea's actions, and China and Iran. Those four subjects (and to a lesser degree Russia) will be key tests for him and his foreign policy team.
Likewise domestically, the big issue for him will be taming the federal bureaucracy, since the submitted budget is a strong indication that he plans to try to push for actual cuts in some departments. That push is a good chunk of what is driving the revolt of the 'deep state' and will have to be addressed at some point. As well, he will need to work with Congress on a fair number of actions, and that is yet to be seen as to how he can push legislation through.
"The one thing Trump has totally failed at is getting the Mexicans to pay for his fucking wall."
Why should they have to? If we want to keep them out, it is our responsibility to pay for whatever means is found to do so. There is much more that the money can be productively spent on, but if Trump's Yahoos applaud his wall, this squandering of the public treasure is on them.
"I can break into almost any home in America with a two dollar screw driver. Why do the fools lock their doors at night?"
Security measures only defer the less competent and lazy crooks.
"HT believes the WaPo is a reliable source Re: Trump.
"The WaPo openly declared war on Trump long ago."
For good reason. Anyone not bereft of sight or sense can see Trump is a disaster for this country. The rich will benefit, and they can flee anytime the country appears it's finally going down the dumper, so the nation's fate is none of their concern.
Hillary would have been a disaster, as well. We were screwed before the polls opened on election day.
@ Robert Cook
Would you prefer a disaster of the kind Leftist Collectivists always cause, e.g. Venezuela?
"Would you prefer a disaster of the kind Leftist Collectivists always cause, e.g. Venezuela?"
Given we've never had any leftist collectivists in power in Washington, it's a moot question. (Moreover, much of the difficulties faced by Venezuela--as with Cuba--though not all, has to do with American interference.)
Hillary would have served the same interest as Trump: the corporate and financial interests and the oligarchs.
@ Robert Cook
When you meet the One True Leftist Collectivist Scotsman, please let me know. True believers are tiresome.
(Moreover, much of the difficulties faced by Venezuela--as with Cuba--though not all, has to do with American interference.)
This is how Cook and others maintain their belief in discredited systems. It's always America's fault. This is why mass immigration is a bad idea. The first generation remembers the circumstances and knows anti-Americanism is rooted in ideology rather than fact. But a generation or two on and they become even more susceptible to the left's anti-Americanism since it grants those of their heritage victim status and thus power.
If anyone is still interested in the discussion about the French Revolution, there is a very good series of podcasts available on itunes, called "Revolutions". Mike Duncan goes into great depth but keeps it interesting.
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