Althouse: "I don't think he's, intellectually, a powerhouse but he is basically a very, very smart man. No matter what the subject..."

October 12, 2019

"I don't think he's, intellectually, a powerhouse but he is basically a very, very smart man. No matter what the subject..."

"... any argument he involves himself in, it's on his terms. You're always arguing against him. He never, never, is willing to debate an issue on terms that aren't his."

Said Harry Reid, quoted in "Harry Reid warns Democrats: Trump is a 'very, very smart man' who won't be easily beaten in 2020" (CNN).

118 comments:

Ken B said...: This is funny in so many ways.

So, let's review
1 Literally Hitler
2 Russian agent
3 Idiot

What's next, he's an incel?; 10/12/19, 11:07 AM
Earnest Prole said...: I think Victor Davis Hanson nailed it when he said Trump has “animal cunning.”; 10/12/19, 11:10 AM
Achilles said...: They cannot admit this.

If they do they have a harder time calling Trump supporters dumb.

If they can’t just say we are dumb they have to address our positions.

They cannot do that. The open borders endless wars baby harvesting corruption party cannot discuss issues.; 10/12/19, 11:11 AM
Skeptical Voter said...: Well Dingy Harry was better as a backroom boy counting votes and assessing prospects. There's a role for such people as number two in an organization. And here he's assessing a potential opponent.

Harry might have been a great number two, but when he became Majority Leader his essential viciousness was on full display.

I'll accept his assessment of Trump as correct, without accepting Harry Reid. In the video of his interview with David Axelrod, Harry looks old and tired. But even an old tired rattlesnake can kill you.; 10/12/19, 11:11 AM
Bleach Drinkers Curing Coronavirus Together said...: So now can we finally operate under the assumption that he's evil - given that conservatives believe intelligence to be the root of all evil?; 10/12/19, 11:17 AM
daskol said...: Trump's terms: he's got a great big beautiful brain. Perfect brain.; 10/12/19, 11:19 AM
tim in vermont said...: He couldn’t beat Hillary, she told us so just this week.; 10/12/19, 11:31 AM
Mr Wibble said...: The left has always insisted that Republicans are stupid. It's an ego thing: if we aren't stupid then maybe they aren't as smart as they think they are.; 10/12/19, 11:35 AM
Narayanan said...: Have Intellectual Powerhouse make good President?; 10/12/19, 11:38 AM
Narayanan said...: What is track record on this?; 10/12/19, 11:39 AM
Char Char Binks, Esq. said...: Trump has a second-rate intellect, which, according to Machiavelli, is good enough to make him an ideal prince, if he has other compensatory qualities.; 10/12/19, 11:40 AM
Char Char Binks, Esq. said...: Very stable genius is a plus, but not a requirement.; 10/12/19, 11:41 AM
wild chicken said...: Trump does sound very lucid whenever I hear him in a straight interview, where the reporter isn't trying to play games with him. He sounds like he lives in the same country I do and Notices Things I have noticed.

Whereas the media seem to strike some ossified rebellion pose from the sixties.; 10/12/19, 11:42 AM
Char Char Binks, Esq. said...: Great and unmatched wisdom is optional,; 10/12/19, 11:43 AM
Beloved Commenter AReasonableMan said...: The problem for Trump is that most of the real world does not accept Trump's terms. Solipsism is not a reliable defense against reality. He lives in a fantasy world that is sustained by bullying and bluster. It is now starting to fall apart.; 10/12/19, 11:51 AM
whitney said...: Wow. It took four years for one of them to admit the truth. The Democrats downfall in regards to Trump from day one has been they kept thinking he was stupid despite all evidence to the contrary. Know your enemy.
And it's why I don't think the Democrats are misguided. I think they're malevolent; 10/12/19, 11:52 AM
tim in vermont said...: “In the land of the blind, the one-eyed man is king.” - Desiderius Erasmus

Very little that the Democrats stand for is actually popular with the voters, and the “big lie” strategy of "disciplined messaging” is easily countered by just surfacing the obvious truths that his opponents don’t want you to see. It’s not that hard, it just takes courage.

But I also think that that is too simple, he definitely has an uncommon talent for game theory as it applies to politics and the American electorate. He’s quick on his feet because he is authentic and so can trust his instincts, mostly. He doesn’t have to run each thought through some kind or rules engine that examines it in light of a long list of unrealistic and contradictory positions of his party, the way Democrats do.; 10/12/19, 11:57 AM
Bill Harshaw said...: That seems fair. Also the picture of a bully.; 10/12/19, 12:00 PM
bagoh20 said...: Nobody can say anything positive about Trump without a qualifier. Otherwise you are dismissed. Imagine saying you got a thrill up your leg from his speech, could see his great potential from the crispness of his pants crease. Imagine just saying "I think he's great." Few people can say that despite what is probably the best Presidential performance data in the history of a first term. I'm not saying I like him or he's a good President though, and he probably leaves the toilet seat up.; 10/12/19, 12:00 PM
JAORE said...: Wow,CNN what an article - Reid is a "savvy political operator whose moves to reshape Senate procedures, like his elimination of filibusters for most nominations by presidents, were criticized by Republicans during his time in Congress -- "

Nice puff for Reid. The statement is true. BUT: No mention that this brilliant move greatly aided the Trump effort to confirm a record number of Federal judges.; 10/12/19, 12:03 PM
bagoh20 said...: Reid is correct, but you never know if he really means it, becuase Reid is the previous version of Schiff. He will say anything, any lie, any claim, and break any rule necessary for the immediate political fight.; 10/12/19, 12:03 PM
Gospace said...: Duh...

I've seen numerous supporters of his say this for years. Who were on board the Trump train well before I boarded.

Best way to win is to win before you start. I do believe that's one of Sun Tzu's lessons.; 10/12/19, 12:11 PM
Birches said...: Harry Reid understands that the Dems usually get that kind of advantage from the media.; 10/12/19, 12:13 PM
rcocean said...: I have no idea what "intellect powerhouse" means. But then I've always been amazed how Liberal/Leftist always imagine they are smart and anyone who disagrees with them is Stupid. Ike was dumb, Reagan was dumb, Bush II was dumb. Bush I was a goofy aristocrat, and Trump is also dumb.

I suppose what Reid means, is that Trump doesn't speak like a lawyer or a professor and that makes him NOT "Intellectual". Trump just talks in straight-forward, persuasive manner. The ability to be entertaining, to make your point, and have everyone understand it, is a unique gift.

If you ask him about Syria, Trump doesn't give you a little 250 word analytical word essay about the Situation in Syria, with all the pros and cons laid out, and then the reasons he came to a decision. That's what Obama or Clinton would do. OTOH, Trump just gives you his opinion of Syria in a few short sentences. He cuts out the "nuance" so beloved by intellectuals. He also likes to oversimplify and exaggerate, its a salesman in him. But to the "Intellectuals" this is horrible, you're supposed to be "Complex" and speak with footnotes and endless qualifications. Blah, blah, blah.; 10/12/19, 12:14 PM
NorthOfTheOneOhOne said...: Trump is street smart, very street smart. Saul Alinsky was street smart, in fact that's what Rules for Radicals sort of is; a primer on street smarts. But like most truly street smart people Alinsky didn't tell everything, he left a lot unsaid for the reader to figure out. That's how you become street smart, figuring that stuff out on your own.

Sheltered, middle-brow Intellectual Powerhouses, like Hillary! and Liz Warren, read Rules for Radicals and decide they are now not only street smart...they're experts at street smart! I mean why not?! They're damn near experts at everything they've read a book about, why not this!. Truth is; they ain't got a clue because they've relied on books and teachers to lay it all out for them all their lives and never worked anything out on their own.

Which is why Trump is going to run roughshod over their asses in 2020.; 10/12/19, 12:23 PM
rcocean said...: Of course, who ever thought Harry Reid was a Genius? His only "Genius" was in getting The D Senators to vote for him as leader, and being a completely amoral, win-at-all-costs Pol. Nobody remembers what a Harry Reid quote, except for his lies about Romney.

The R President sure is dumb has been played by the Liberals ever since Coolidge. The only ones who escaped the label were Hoover and Nixon, who were both too smart and therefore labeled as evil. IMO, Hoover was probably the smartest man, just on IQ, ever to be President, which shows you how important IQ is. But looking back, the "R Stupid, D Smart" meme has reached absurd levels. For example I've listened to some speeches by "Intellectual" Stevenson and why anyone thought he was smarter than Ike is beyond me. The same is true of Nuclear Engineer Carter - who never struck me as any smarter than Reagan. Or John Kerry - who came off as Dumbo to me - and Bush II.

OTOH, Ford was the dumbest President of the 20th Century, and Goldwater was on the lower tier of Presidential Candidate smartness. I think it was Mel Brooks who said about Goldwater, "when you find a Jew who's dumb, he's really, really dumb"; 10/12/19, 12:25 PM
doctrev said...: I'm not surprised. Harry Reid may have all the honor of a feral dog, but he's never been a complete retard like Chuck Schumer. It's a different kind of intelligence: the ability to size up a crowd, get them pumped up, and directing them against your enemies. It requires a style of thinking that standard intellectuals can rarely comprehend, much less duplicate.

A frequent criticism of Trump is that he promises easy answers to long-term problems. Well, as China can see, their worldwide regard is collapsing and that prevents them from simply putting down Hong Kong with force. The NBA quislings are universally reviled to the point where Congressional opposition to them is bipartisan (!). China concluded, correctly, that publically betting against Trump was deeply foolish. I think they'll go back on their deal the second it's safe, but honestly? They have too much to lose if things keep escalating. They should have done what was smart two years ago, when it was less expensive to do, and just cut a deal with Trump.; 10/12/19, 12:27 PM
tcrosse said...: For once Harry speaks the truth, and nobody believes him.; 10/12/19, 12:30 PM
Unknown said...: Even a broken clock is right twice a day...; 10/12/19, 12:39 PM
Tommy Duncan said...: Trump's genius is that he is unafraid. He grabs the 3rd rail with glee. He doesn't care what the Democrats think or say. Political correctness means nothing to him.

Trump displays the personal independence that built America. He has also become a much better retail politician and knows how to work a crowd. Best of all, he plays the media like a drum.

2020 won't even be close...; 10/12/19, 12:44 PM
traditionalguy said...: Reid is stating the obvious about DJT. Trump is a seasoned warrior with an instinct to locate the enemy and attack him/her first. He gets there first with the most.This is because he literally cannot be conned. That is a trait that makes con men fear and hate him just for walking into the same room.; 10/12/19, 12:48 PM
derek said...: I'm always amazed at how incurious people are about how Trump made a living. If you aren't smart you don't survive. I'm watching how he does things and they all come from what he learned and practiced for years.

A large commercial development only works because of a MAD structure; you only survive if you can survive destroying the project, because then everyone respects you. Otherwise you will be consumed. So when attacked Trump will make you understand that he is willing to take you down with him.

You never get into a situation where you can't control the outcome. The risks are extreme. If you can be destroyed, you will be, so you make sure you can't.

You will get 1000 no's before getting one yes which will be very profitable. The only way to survive as a person in that situation is to develop a thick skin. No's are very different from attacks, where thin skin is vital.

These projects don't die from someone smart pointing out the problems. They die from sabotage, where underhanded people take advantage of the complexity to slow things down.

It takes how long for a large project from conception to completion? 5 years? 10 years? Every day there is a setback that will challenge the project. Most days there isn't progress, and it can look impossible until it is done. Force of character and a constant pressure in the desired direction is how it is completed.

My impression of that industry is that it is amazing that it works at all, but it does.

So he has tied the success of the Republican Party to his fortunes, making them committed to the project. People like Romney and the never trumpers are simply out because they will get the jitters when things go sideways, they aren't committed.

His three goals; getting out of the middle east wars, controlling the border with Mexico, and a different trade arrangement with China are progressing in the direction he wants. He has knackered the media in a way that is something to behold.

And his skill at driving his opponents to expose who they are. He has exposed a class divide in the US that is very ugly. Every opponent he has right now has expressed bitter contempt towards people who don't think right, live right or are not born right. The Deplorables, now Warren. The never trumpers are exposing themselves as the inheritors of the British nobility.

If there is an opponent that can beat him I'd watch for someone very competent, very experienced in the real world. Someone who came from humble origins and built something impressive. A career politician won't do the trick. No one can out Trump Trump; the debris on the road to the Republican nomination for 2016 is testament.

Except that his opponents would never let someone like that rise to the top, because someone like that would be even more of a threat to their world and self view. So Trump wins, bigly.; 10/12/19, 1:01 PM
Big Mike said...: He's smart but he's not intelligent? Is that what Reid just said? I guess we could equally look at Warren's take on people opposed to same sex marriage and say that she's intelligent, but not smart.; 10/12/19, 1:04 PM
Beloved Commenter AReasonableMan said...: Trump's problem is not that he doesn't discern problems correctly. He does quite a good job at this because he is good at reading a crowd. The problems he identifies are genuinely the problems of the people. Permawar, the rise of China, the loss of manufacturing infrastructure, these are all core problems where Trump chose the right side of the argument. Trump's problem is that he lacks the necessities to produce any significant change on these or any other significant problem. Ann Coulter, bless her heart, is exactly right on this.

Trump's random late night tweet, to everyone and to no one, that we were abandoning our Kurdish allies in Syria was typical. It was selfish - he didn't want to lose face in the face of Erdogan's bullying - and it was the product of addled short-term thinking - we sent 2,000 troops to Saudi Arabia the next day, immediately exposing his claim to be 'trying to end the endless wars' as nonsense.

At his age nothing can be done to fix this. He is a complete failure, on his own terms. His future is one of defeat and ignominy. All the sales skills in the world can't change reality. This failure illustrates why the sales department should never have any say in how the plane should fly.; 10/12/19, 1:31 PM
Beloved Commenter AReasonableMan said...: Peggy Noonan said ...
The Syria decision contributes to the hardened impression that in foreign policy he’s all impulse, blithely operating out of his depth. It adds to the hardening suspicion that in negotiations he’s not actually tough; he’ll say yes to a lot of things, and some very bad things, to get the deal, the photo-op, the triumphant handshake.

Foreign-policy decisions in this administration look like the ball in a pinball machine in some garish arcade with flashing lights and some frantic guy pushing the levers ping ping ping and thinking he’s winning.; 10/12/19, 1:37 PM
Beasts of England said...: ’It is now starting to fall apart.’

Obviously. 🙄; 10/12/19, 1:47 PM
Drago said...: Peggy Noonan!!!

LOL

All is lost!

What does Jonah Goldberg think? Where is George Will?

Too funny.

ARM, you're problem is that you are just simply not asserting laughably and demonstrably false nonsense LOUD enough.

Try all caps.; 10/12/19, 1:56 PM
rcocean said...: ARM's response to this thread is the reason I don't engage with Lefties and find them boring as fuck.

Every conversation, every topic, is a chance for them to parrot the party line, to sell everyone an left-wing Amway product. I don't think they even have independent minds or beliefs. They just just get their marching orders and go out and try to sell everyone the party line. ABC = Always be closing.

What do you think about Trump's mind? Gets Lefty to thinking: "How to skip to today's DNC talking point?" says Lefty. "Oh, i know, blah, blah, detour to Syria and "Orange man Bad". Make a convert for Left-wing Jesus."

Fucking boring. Its like reading/talking to a parrot.; 10/12/19, 1:57 PM
Ray - SoCal said...: On Syria Trump is getting out of the Briar Patch.

Interesting who want the us to stay in it.; 10/12/19, 2:04 PM
tim in vermont said...: What will I do this Saturday? I think I will cut and paste never Trumpers in support of endless war.; 10/12/19, 2:08 PM
Bilwick said...: Pretty much anyone's got to be smarter than "liberals." I mean, only the hopelessly ignorant or mentally impaired could really believe that mélange of bonehead economics and retrogressive State-cultism.; 10/12/19, 2:12 PM
tim in vermont said...: Trump’s genius is to have enemies who think that it’s perfectly fine to get your family rich selling access to their elected power. Who think it’s “perfectly fine” to show up on Air Force 2 with dad, and walk a way with piles of personal money.

Trump’s genius is to be accused by Democrats time and time again of exactly what the Democrats are guilty of with exhaustive evidence, and for which there is no evidence that Trump is guilty. His genius was to be born in a country were many are fair minded.; 10/12/19, 2:13 PM
stever said...: I really don't care how "smart" Trump is. That's a subjective evaluation so all we got are opinions. He fights back where his Republican predecessors did not. Plain and simple.; 10/12/19, 2:15 PM
Francisco D said...: The problem for Trump is that most of the real world does not accept Trump's terms.

LOL!

ARM thinks he has a handle on the real world and Trump does not. You are remarkably arrogant in your ignorance.

If I were a betting man, I would put all my money on Trump's understanding of the real world over that of hive mind leftists like ARM.; 10/12/19, 2:15 PM
Paul said...: "I don't think he's, intellectually, a powerhouse but he is basically a very, very smart man. No matter what the subject.... any argument he involves himself in, it's on his terms. You're always arguing against him. He never, never, is willing to debate an issue on terms that aren't his."

And that is the way it is. He didn't get to be a billionaire by being stupid, he didn't get to be President by being stupid. Democrats like to say he is stupid, but they are just deluding themselves.

Trump is an astute smart man who, like Col. John 'Hannibal' Smith, always has a plan.; 10/12/19, 2:19 PM
Rusty said...: Beloved Commenter AReasonableMan said...
"The problem for Trump is that most of the real world does not accept Trump's terms."
The problem for you is most of the rest of the world has.
Are we still at war with Saudi Arabia, ARM?; 10/12/19, 2:20 PM
Bay Area Guy said...: Always disliked Harry Reid - what a scumbag. He's basically right about Trump, though. The Left and their media flunkies promote an endless caricature of Trump that misses much of his determination.; 10/12/19, 2:20 PM
daskol said...: Direct, vulgar, sincere and unabashed: characteristics of Trump and his communication style that are totally out of fashion among the self-proclaimed and self-imagined intelligentsia. Apparently you can be underestimated and masquerade among them as a rube simply by exhibiting these qualities, no matter what else you do, no matter how much you accomplish.; 10/12/19, 2:21 PM
Limited blogger said...: Well, thank you, Harry. Now go away again.; 10/12/19, 2:22 PM
cf said...: ARM and Noonan are dopes or duplicitous. Trump's difficult "Adult Choice" on the Kurds was tough, timely and the best thing to do.

It avoids America being "Mired" between the ruins of Obama's bloodied Syria and our now NATO ally Turkey.

It comes at a point where something NEW needed to happen, and our President would have had to step into a role with Turkey and the area that would be dangerous and difficult. But he can't actually develop that next level without >> a reasonably prudent Congress to work with.<<

(Narciso had a helpful link that first day, thanks Narciso
https://libertyunyielding.com/2019/10/07/quicklook-trumps-statement-on-turkey-and-the-kurdish-safe-zone-in-syria/)

That is obviously not possible, but staying in limbo-land meant dead Americans and we know how Nancy and @NPR would howl at that.

I hate all of it (especially actually commenting on anything from ARM! ugh usually i just pass him by).

I trust the wily fox, the smart-ass genius of reality, the @realDonaldTrump.

Cheers.; 10/12/19, 2:25 PM
NorthOfTheOneOhOne said...: derek said...

If there is an opponent that can beat him I'd watch for someone very competent, very experienced in the real world. Someone who came from humble origins and built something impressive. A career politician won't do the trick. No one can out Trump Trump; the debris on the road to the Republican nomination for 2016 is testament.

Except that his opponents would never let someone like that rise to the top, because someone like that would be even more of a threat to their world and self view. So Trump wins, bigly

@derek - Brilliant!; 10/12/19, 2:29 PM
BUMBLE BEE said...: Wharton is a piece of cake, no shit, you can bluff your way through that school. You can swim in the cesspool of the building industry and walkout in one piece, anywhere in the world. Alexander the Great went through these schools, how'd that work out. Oh, and Harry... he had that "exercise equipment" figgered out pretty good, didn't he? Whatta intellect. Trump moves around these politicos like he's Bruce Lee. The dems haven't been able to get to him by cheating, and they're 10 Dan Masters at cheat.; 10/12/19, 2:30 PM
Drago said...: A couple of recent signs of the sheer desperation gripping these corrupt dem is Snopes announcement just yesterday that they ("factcheckers" LOL) are no longer going to rely on you know, actual facts and stuff, for their "factchecks" but will instead go with feelings and emotions and personal stories which rebut those quantifiable facts!!!

LOLOLOL

This is because Snopes, like ARM, realizes that the facts do not really have a "liberal bias" and in fact stand athwart the pathway to Venezuela status that the lefties crave.

Of course, Snopes has always been a leftist narrative machine posing as "fact checkers", so it's nice to see them finally come out and just openly admit it.

The other sign is the now Total Blackout policy at CNN/NBC/CBS etc of any discussion involving Hunter Biden and Sleepy Joe regarding their obvious and substantiated and admitted Ukraine/China corruption!

Democracy Thrives In Darkness!!

Meanwhile, the NBA goes full ChiCom LOVE!!

It doesn't take a political genius to simply point at all this and say: See?

BTW, it appears islamic supremacist democrat congresswoman and sibling-spouse fanatic Ilhan Omar and her latest Main Squeeze were in the midst of the fascist attacks against Trump supporters in the streets of Minneapolis 2 nights ago.

Minneapolis, the largest city in the state of Minnesota which will turn red in November of 2020.; 10/12/19, 2:42 PM
M Jordan said...: Trump’s greatest strength is in his intuition, not his mind. He definitely Intuits the world. Like all such people, he is sometimes wrong in the moment but usually right in the essence. I know one person only who has Trump’s level of intuition, an 83-year-old Chinese preacher, and when he’s on, he’s scary on. He gets details wrong a lot but his ability to cut through the fog is phenomenal.; 10/12/19, 2:43 PM
hstad said...: God save us from the "Intellectuals" of our society. I attended a college that mostly trained teachers in the 1960s. At that time there was a prolonged strike by the garbage collectors in New York City. Garbage piled up in the streets and rats were everywhere. My economics professor suggested that after starting to work, whenever we began to feel superior and important(Intellectual), we should think about what happened in NYC when the garbage collectors went on strike to what would happen if we went on strike. The idea was humbling.; 10/12/19, 2:44 PM
bagoh20 said...: Like me, Noonan supported all the failed efforts that cost so many American lives to accomplish nothing lasting. Trump disagreed with us both for years, but he wasn't anti-war for the usual oikophobic reasons or out of it being fashionable like some. He truely thought it was wasteful of lives and treasure. Like me, he loves America and it's strength and ability to do good, but he was always more America first than either me or Noonan. He was right, and we were wrong, but unlike Noonan, I see that now.; 10/12/19, 2:44 PM
bagoh20 said...: We cannot save the Kurds by just hanging around forever and giving jihadist a case against us. The Kurds deserve our help, but unless we are willing to do a lot of damage and forcefully make them a nation from scratch, we are only wasting lives and money. At some point a people need to defend themselves completely or move to where they can. A nation totally dependent on another thousands of miles away is not a nation. Even if we wanted to save them, the left would never let us, unless they were doing it, which they never would.; 10/12/19, 2:50 PM
bagoh20 said...: What is Peggy Noonan's plan for success in Syria?

I thought so.; 10/12/19, 2:52 PM
Char Char Binks, Esq. said...: I don’t know why Reid’s remarks bother any conservatives or Trump-backers. It sounds like praise to me. Not an intellectual powerhouse? That’s pretty much anyone who isn’t a Nobel laureate, and a few who are.

Trump is knowledgeable enough to do his job, to hire knowledgeable advisors, and to fire them when they don’t work out. He’s sharp enough to persuade, negotiate, and win. That is enough.; 10/12/19, 2:55 PM
Xmas said...: Every president since George H W Bush has abandoned the Kurds. To say Trump is doing something different is simply ignoring history. Nevermind the fact that these Kurds are directly tied to PKK, a group our ally with whom we have a mutual defense treaty considers a terrorist organization. Without the excuse of fighting ISIS, we are effectively violating the NATO treaty at the same time we are hammering other countries for failing to live up to the treaty.; 10/12/19, 3:02 PM
Bleach Drinkers Curing Coronavirus Together said...: rcocean defends his/Trump's intelligence by making the typical right-wing mistake of confusing knowledge with entertainment. Facts don't care if you find them boring, they're still facts.

And yet, right-wingers make this error all the time. Talk about predictable.

We're glad that your drama queen president makes you feel so alive. He makes your nipples hard. Wonderful. Now stop inflicting this need on the rest of the country, capisce?

It's funny how conservatives never make the connection between how boring their mindset is and why their reps are so boring as to cause this need in them for a drama queen of a president. Yawn.; 10/12/19, 3:04 PM
rhhardin said...: Reid always underestimated the intelligence of the voters, I thought. But he was including women and I wasn't.; 10/12/19, 3:05 PM
Michael K said...: ARM has Trump's number.

It is now starting to fall apart.

Unfortunately, that number has been disconnected. Try again, loser.; 10/12/19, 3:15 PM
Anonymous said...: It was ever thus. The problem with the Left is that too many of them, especially at the top end, earn their living with nothing more than well chosen words. When they hear a glib public speaker, they automatically assume he has an intellect to match, in the same way that provincial Americans assume that anyone with a plummy British accent is smart and anyone with a broad Southern accent or who speaks haltingly in public is dumb. Not so. Convincing oratory and IQ are independent variables. And political instincts, courage, persistence, etc., are in yet another category altogether.

Trump is probably around the 75th percentile of presidents for IQ, 50th percentile for oratory, and 98th percentile for the intangible qualities like stubborn courage, outspokenness, and native political instinct. A pretty powerful combination.; 10/12/19, 3:17 PM
Shouting Thomas said...: Ain't it great!

I, for one, get a kick out of Trump.

He's funny. A devastatingly clever strategist. And, he loves America.

He seems determined to take down the Dem/Intel bribery and extortion rackets, too. God bless him, I hope he wins.; 10/12/19, 3:29 PM
Anonymous said...: Thank god for ARM’s neocon perspective. After all, someone might have gotten the impression that the omniscient Peggy Noonan was wrong to promote the war in Iraq.; 10/12/19, 3:34 PM
madAsHell said...: I don't think he's, intellectually, a powerhouse but he is basically a very, very smart man.

....and yet, here we are!! You under-estimate the man again!!; 10/12/19, 3:35 PM
Jim at said...: So now can we finally operate under the assumption that he's evil - given that conservatives believe intelligence to be the root of all evil? - Ritmo

I usually scroll past your crap, but this one stands out.

Damn, you're lazy.; 10/12/19, 3:44 PM
tcrosse said...: There are many kinds of Smart, but there's only one kind of Stupid.; 10/12/19, 4:07 PM
n.n said...: And the people who stand, not kneel, with him, are not impulsive, and not swayed by more than 12 trimesters of witch hunts, warlock trials, and mob collusion and violence.; 10/12/19, 4:19 PM
Mr Wibble said...: Trump is probably around the 75th percentile of presidents for IQ, 50th percentile for oratory, and 98th percentile for the intangible qualities like stubborn courage, outspokenness, and native political instinct. A pretty powerful combination.

Disagree with the oratory. His speaking abilities are getting a lot better as he gets more comfortable with the large crowds. The last few speeches I've heard have been great. He knows how to play with the crowd and doesn't sound like he's reading from a telepromptor or that his speech is written to be cut up into sound bites.; 10/12/19, 4:23 PM
cf said...: oh my goodness! had a big aha in the shower just now about this.

this is the joke that Scott Adams has been using lately: "the Cat's on the roof" where the cat's died, but the brother watching the house takes 3 days to say to break the news. the reality. this is day 1.

So,now they've gotten the nasty master of Senate -- the meanie genius 'R' of the POR Administration -- to let the Dems down slooooowwly. hah.

they can see it coming.

<< don't get cocky >>; 10/12/19, 4:25 PM
FullMoon said...: Street corner philosopher and med school drop-out gonna tell us how it really is.

Priceless!; 10/12/19, 4:26 PM
tim in vermont said...: Chickenhawk Pee Pee Tapes is going to explain everything people!; 10/12/19, 4:36 PM
Roy Lofquist said...: Anybody remember Scott Adams talking about Trump's "talent stack"? I thought that was the best take on him.

Discussing the suis generis in terms understood by and applicable to the hoi polloi makes for an interesting diversion on a lazy Saturday but is ultimately meaningless. History will judge, and then only at a distance.

Having said that, there is something very, very special about Donald Trump.; 10/12/19, 4:38 PM
narciso said...: now mind you, reid has inveigled mittens into an bipartisan alliance against trump, the man who fragrantly defamed him as a tax cheat and worse,; 10/12/19, 4:43 PM
Drago said...: HoaxPPT: "Facts don't care if you find them boring, they're still facts."

LOLOLOL

Moron HoaxPPT thought today would be a good day to post that....directly on the heels of Snopes and the rest of the lefty media landscape proclaiming for all the world to hear that actual facts were no longer relevant and thus, going forward, would be sidelined in favor of individual personal feelings and emotions!!

Well played HoaxPPT. Your timing, as always, is impeccable....impeccably poor that is!

Of course, HoaxPPT and the entire left had already handed over their Facts Cards to a 16 year old lunatic swedish kid whom they also literally proclaimed a messiah.

Literally.; 10/12/19, 4:44 PM
tim in vermont said...: You know what I like? That Nancy Pelosi’s son Paul helped found a. company, he was president at its. founding, that was set up as a straw corporation for a couple of con men that had been banned from running a company themselves by the SEC.

So remember, this was the conditon at the founding of the company.

Then Pelosi left, and the company was busted for being founded as a front for these two con men who were banned by the SEC. Guess who gets off. scot free? The guy who helped to found the company! Paul Pelosi!

“It always pays to be a Pelosi” is the family motto! You don’t suppose that Paul got a steer to leave the company before the shit hit the fan? “Paul Pelosi Clean!” That’s the headline!

That’s powerful intelligence.; 10/12/19, 4:45 PM
tim in vermont said...: "He makes your nipples hard. Wonderful.”

Psychiatrists often say that when somebody comes up with an imaginative image like that, they are expressing repressed emotions. So it might be true that Trump makes some people’s nipples hard, the ones who wake up every day obsessed with him. They have to be getting some payback from their derangement about Trump, some reward for their obsessive thoughts, maybe it’s sexual excitement?; 10/12/19, 4:59 PM
gilbar said...: Skylark pointed out ...
He couldn’t beat Hillary, she told us so just this week.

From our Beloved Professor's Favorite News Source...
"After much deliberation, consultation, and prayer to Moloch, I have decided that I will seek a second term," she said to a crowd gathered at a local Wendy's restaurant. "I feel I haven't accomplished everything I wanted to in my first term, and I really need a full eight years to implement my final solution to all of America's problems."; 10/12/19, 5:05 PM
traditionalguy said...: The only real question about President Trump's communication ways is how he can keep them going and going, using perfect pitch and tone and facial gestures, speaking personably to 8 or 10 high stress crowds a day, and not rest. Is he a bionic speaker?; 10/12/19, 5:09 PM
Michael K said...: Ritmo and ARM are running a tag team match today.

Both are out.; 10/12/19, 5:58 PM
FullMoon said...: From Alhouse thread in 2015 runup to Dem nomination

"Jon S. said...

Ann, sadly you are wrong. By the time Republicans focus on her they will have a nominee. There is one thing the media hates more than lying, deceitful, corrupt, greedy politicians: any Republican with a pulse. The media will cover for her because no matter how awful she is, the prospect of, say, President Walker is more than they can take. So the politically motivated investigations against Walker will be top story while the Clinton scandals will be "old news" from the "right-wing media."
5/8/15, 11:37 AM"; 10/12/19, 6:03 PM
Gunner said...: Where were all the Never Trump Rinos when Reid was blatantly lying about Mitt Romney being a tax cheat on the Senate Floor? I dont remember too many Jennifer Rubin or Max Boot whiny editorials about that.; 10/12/19, 6:08 PM
Bruce Hayden said...: “You know what I like? That Nancy Pelosi’s son Paul helped found a. company, he was president at its. founding, that was set up as a straw corporation for a couple of con men that had been banned from running a company themselves by the SEC.”

They are all in on it. My partner remembers when Harry Reid, raised dirt poor, in Searclight NV, was a struggling young attorney with five kids to feed. They are, of course, now all multimillionaires. Back when I was in NV, we had one of the boys in the firm, and we would joke about both of us going into the family business as lawyers. All four boys and the son in law were all lawyers, and the oldest four were in the four biggest firms in the state (and all started in the biggest firm in the state, where the oldest, Rory, is still a partner). And their practices were amazingly similar - lobbying and regulatory. If you wanted a liquor or gaming license in the state, one of the best ways was to hire a Reid. But that isn’t where they really made their money. Much of that was by buying land, and then Reid, Sr, sitting in DC, forcing a freeway to run by there, etc.; 10/12/19, 6:18 PM
Bleach Drinkers Curing Coronavirus Together said...: Hey, whatever floats your boat, Skylark. Between you and whatever you get out of that Trump guy you wake up loving so hard every morning, what else is there to say?

Deranged people being praised for not much more than spreading their derangement. That's a hell of a qualification to seek in a leader. I'm glad that his penchant for being annoying is what makes you and the other Republicans feel less like the bunch of nobodies that they must really be. Negative attention - the ploy of three-year olds everywhere! Surely this is the way forward for America. Tantrums and whines and boasts and brags. Regression at its finest.

We know what drives Trump: Everyone that meets him wants to vomit soon afterward, and this hatred that he incites in everyone towards him he doesn't understand and feels made insignificant by. Why won't Hollywood like him? Why can't other businesspeople realize how awesome he is for inheriting his dad's money and growing it at a loss relative to GDP growth?

Waaah! Losers across America see in him a kindred spirit, but one who take it further into social pyromania and political decay. They love that he's as much of a loser as they are, but one who drags others down with him. If only they could have the courage to unleash their inner punks, too, and deal with the kind of hatred that Trump thrives off of.; 10/12/19, 6:37 PM
Michael K said...: Ritmo is proving once again that the left is nuts,; 10/12/19, 7:15 PM
Narayanan said...: Trump refuses to give his enemies (in Ayn Rand words) : *The Sanction of the Victim*; 10/12/19, 7:32 PM
James K said...: he didn't want to lose face in the face of Erdogan's bullying - and it was the product of addled short-term thinking

Caroline Glick, who's a lot smarter than ARM, disagrees.

"The Kurds in Iraq are far more capable of defending themselves than the Kurds of Syria. Taking on the defense of Syria’s Kurds would commit the US to an open-ended presence in Syria and justify Turkish antagonism. America’s interests would not be advanced. They would be harmed, particularly in light of the YPG’s selling trait for Obama – its warm ties to Assad and Iran’s Revolutionary Guard Corps.

The hard truth is that the 50 US soldiers along the Syrian-Turkish border were a fake tripwire. Neither Trump nor the US military had any intention of sacrificing US forces to either block a Turkish invasion of Syria or foment deeper US involvement in the event of a Turkish invasion."; 10/12/19, 7:36 PM
Narayanan said...: Who notice that Harry Reid was giving himself Pat on back : I beat Republicans on my terms :: But Trump isn't letting Democrats set up the terms.

I find it sad that commenters on both sides have not grasp that they need to find their own terms to argue with.; 10/12/19, 7:48 PM
Drago said...: I'm still waiting for a democrat with enough courage to say that biological men cannot get pregnant.

However, with the #LeftiesLove"Science" crew, I don't believe that is in our future.; 10/12/19, 7:58 PM
daskol said...: Trump is a loser who makes non-losers want to vomit. Also he’s stupid. If respectable people like Althouse would just stop posting his tweets, Trump would fade back into loser oblivion. It’s the fault of people like Althouse that polite society need even acknowledge Trump, let alone his supporters.

This is why the heterodox, no matter how they may have supported the revolution or have close friends among the important cadre, are the first ones up against the wall.; 10/12/19, 8:48 PM
Ingachuck'stoothlessARM said...: who didnt have the smarts to campaign in WI, PA, & MI ?; 10/12/19, 9:04 PM
CWJ said...: Alcibiades warning the Athenians before Aigospotamoi.; 10/12/19, 9:08 PM
Molly said...: (Eaglebeak)

Peggy Noonan? Peggy NOONAN? Aw, come on.This ditz voted for Obama, for Pete's sake, because he was such a gentleman, and I'm supposed to be interested in her world-strategic theories?; 10/12/19, 9:10 PM
Bleach Drinkers Curing Coronavirus Together said...: I'm still waiting for a democrat with enough courage to say that biological men cannot get pregnant.

This is how you spend your time? You must be a lonely guy.

Another GOP envelope-stuffer with priorities. Talking down to trannies! That's what America needs right now!; 10/12/19, 9:29 PM
Beloved Commenter AReasonableMan said...: Molly said...
Peggy ... voted for Obama

As did considerably more than half the voting population, in marked contrast to Trump.; 10/12/19, 9:46 PM
Drago said...: ARM: "As did considerably more than half the voting population, in marked contrast to Trump."

And Bill Clinton.

Twice.; 10/12/19, 9:56 PM
Drago said...: HoaxPPT: "Another GOP envelope-stuffer with priorities. Talking down to trannies! "

Lefties: Men can become women!!

Normal Person: Uh, no they can't.

Lefties: OMG You are talking down to trannies!!

LOLOL; 10/12/19, 9:57 PM
Nichevo said...: Chief Executive Lawbreaker - Whiny Weasel Trumpkins said...
So now can we finally operate under the assumption that he's evil - given that conservatives believe intelligence to be the root of all evil?

Ritmo, are you waiting to be told what to do? Cuz I got a list.

I'm sure Reid's opinion stings. Because, contrapositive to your assertion, my friend of the Left, as you know, the Left only prizes being "smart." Far more important than being good. Your world cleaves pretty cleanly into the smart and the dumb, and the latter are the former's lawful prey.

I much regret this. ISTM to give intelligence a bad name, much as you project on conservatives now. Not intelligence in itself,but the fetishization of it, much as it is not money, but the love of money, which is said to be the root of all evil.

BTW not that you care, but I much prefer your former attempts at handles with flava. Brasileiro and so forth. Your more recent dealy of "my name is I HATE TRUMP SOOOOOO MUCH!!!" is a bringdown.; 10/12/19, 10:06 PM
mockturtle said...: Daskol asserts: Trump is a loser

IIRC, Trump was the winner. Hildebeest was the loser.; 10/12/19, 10:47 PM
Josephbleau said...: A higher percentage voted for George Washington than did for Obama, does that mean anything ARM? No it does not, it means that Trump is the legally elected president at this point in time.; 10/12/19, 10:52 PM
n.n said...: We have several options. One, the South African solution, where we back the strongest Kurd faction, which will lynch dissenting Kurds, while we open abortion fields for the native Turks. Two, the Libyan solution, where Erodogan, and the American ambassador, are sodomized and aborted, and the Turkish children are waterboarded in the Mediterranean. Three, the Syrian solution, where we force the Turks onto the trail, and encourage immigration reform in Europe. Four, the Kiev solution, where we deny, deny, deny the refugees, and wait for another super power to back them. Five, flood the borders with migrants, and shame the Turks into submission. And, six, the Serbian solution, carve Turkey and establish Kurdovo.; 10/12/19, 11:12 PM
walter said...: To do otherwise, ARM, would have been RAAAAACCIST!
He had that going for him.; 10/13/19, 12:02 AM
sunsong said...: donald's IQ is not what concerns those of us who want him out ASAP! It is his corruption, his cruelty, his self-centeredness, his greed, his anti-americanism etc; 10/13/19, 3:52 AM
tim in vermont said...: "It is his corruption”

Funny that you put that first when the only evidence of corruption is on the side of the Democrats right now, Biden oviously, Kerry, Pelosi, ROMNEY.

As for the rest, it’s obvious nonsense. Did the troll factory decide that ARM’s cut and past shtick was counterproductive, so thay have you here posting nonsense?

Here is something for you to chew on if your outrage about corruption is genuine

"Joe Biden met with Hunter’s Chinese partners days before they established a new investment firm.”

https://nypost.com/2019/10/10/6-facts-about-hunter-bidens-business-dealings-in-china/

"Exceeding their initial fundraising goal, the partners at BHR raised their target to $1.5 billion for the new fund. The company’s website now brags that it manages “over RMB 15 billion” in assets — the equivalent of about $2.1 billion in today’s dollars.

Under the terms of the deal, BHR, in which Hunter’s firm held an equity stake, would be a lead investor in the fund. Other investors include China Development Bank and China’s social security fund”

"In December 2014, BHR became an “anchor investor” in the IPO of China General Nuclear Power Company (CGN), a state-owned nuclear company involved in the development of nuclear reactors. Not only is CGN a strategically important company in China, it was also facing legal scrutiny in the United States. In 2016, CGN was charged with espionage by the Justice Department for stealing US nuclear secrets.”; 10/13/19, 5:56 AM
Tank said...: sunsong said...

donald's IQ is not what concerns those of us who want him out ASAP! It is his corruption, his cruelty, his self-centeredness, his greed, his anti-americanism etc

Projection. It's always projection with the left.; 10/13/19, 6:41 AM
Bleach Drinkers Curing Coronavirus Together said...: You go, Drago. Defend "biological gender" from the attack and assault that it must feel like it's under to you and the other envelope stuffers. The left is going to make you all transition soon enough. These fears you harbor are pretty hilarious. They must get votes though, right?; 10/13/19, 7:21 AM
Bleach Drinkers Curing Coronavirus Together said...: Not intelligence in itself,but the fetishization of it, much as it is not money, but the love of money, which is said to be the root of all evil.

Ahh, there you go - not intelligence but its "fetishization." Hey, some people like making money, some people like learning things.

As Jon Stewart pointed out, the least informed audience is FOX. If going to war against all the atmospheric science that NASA and NOAA can find or all the economics that kept us from having another depression after WWII - if all that is too much for Murdoch, Koch, Trump and the RNC then I suppose something must be worth all that. Something, as in Donald Trump and every other Republican pol not doing a thing for anyone but their richest donors - and themselves.

Hey. Legislating and regulating against the poor must be profitable - at least to some. The important people. The people who "matter."; 10/13/19, 7:25 AM
tim in vermont said...: "some people like learning things.”

And some people like parroting propaganda...; 10/13/19, 7:45 AM
Drago said...: HoaxPPT: "You go, Drago. Defend "biological gender" from the attack and assault that it must feel like it's under to you and the other envelope stuffers."

Teachers are being fired and students expelled for speaking simple biological truth.

Your reaction demonstrates why.

Its fairly easy to see why you couldnt cut it in medical school.; 10/13/19, 8:18 AM
Narayanan said...: Example how sets his terms openly.

https://amgreatness.com/2019/10/12/trumps-latest-move-against-the-press-get-to-da-choppa/; 10/13/19, 9:23 AM
Michael K said...: Its fairly easy to see why you couldnt cut it in medical school.

Drago, there are now lots of second rate medical schools. It's tough to fail. I doubt he got close. The admissions committees are screening for nuts.

The black medical student who took the place of Bakke at UC Davis, was eventually convicted of second degree murder for a botched surgery. Those are the ones being screened out.; 10/13/19, 9:30 AM
Rusty said...: "sunsong said...

donald's IQ is not what concerns those of us who want him out ASAP! It is his corruption, his cruelty, his self-centeredness, his greed, his anti-americanism etc"

You say these things as if they are accepted wisdom but never give specific examples. I have not seen any examples of what you accuse him of. * have seen plenty of anti-Americanism from the left but not from Trump. Indeed. He seems to be following the constitution pretty closely.; 10/13/19, 10:04 AM
Michael K said...: You say these things as if they are accepted wisdom but never give specific examples

sunsong is another lefty troll that has appeared like a robin in spring. Once the impeachment ploy implodes, he will fade away like the other mysterious trolls that turn up and vanish.; 10/13/19, 11:26 AM
Gospace said...: Drago said...
ARM: "As did considerably more than half the voting population, in marked contrast to Trump."

And Bill Clinton.

Twice.

Bill Clinton holds the record as being the ONLY president to be elected and reelected without a majority of the popular vote.

43% for the first election. 48.2% for the second. 68% and 74% of the electoral vote.; 10/13/19, 11:55 AM
Nichevo said...: Ritmo, have you ever read JFK's Profiles in Courage?; 10/14/19, 12:48 AM
Bleach Drinkers Curing Coronavirus Together said...: Ha ha. Medical school.

Like Michael K. I had no will of my own and wanted to please my parents so much that I dreamt about a life of sickened half-corpses coughing in my face and attending to their wrinkled, droopy ballsacks. But then they told me that Michael K would be playing my patient and that the prostate of his needing examination was swollen to Kingdom Come. I said "no" immediately.

;-)

It's hilarious to see a lowly envelope stuffer and a guy old enough to remember when physicians weren't paid squat (before creating their managed care cartels) huddle together to project their status and prestige issues onto me. Hey, some people don't want to do rectal exams, just like some people don't feel like climbing oil derricks for a living. Hard to imagine, but that's life. This isn't the 1980s any longer. Or the 1920s.

And we're not doing cocaine, which we can't say for your president and his Brylcreemed comb-over.

Occupations as a form of status... Is that even a thing any more? Why are neither of you i-bankers, then? We i-bankers own all of you.

Just accept the fact that your jobs might actually suck and that lots of people don't want to do them and then you'll understand. Assuming your narcissism can permit that. For a guy who sticks his fingers in people's assholes Michael K. has a hell of an ego.

It's ok, Michael K. If I hated my life and work as much as you clearly hate yours, I'd tell everyone that they must be jealous of me, too. Hell, I might even tell myself that!; 10/14/19, 5:53 PM