The Inauguration, & U.S. President Donald Trump's First 100 Days in Office

Topic: The Inauguration, & U.S. President Donald Trump's First 100 Days in Office (Read 54156 times)

Re: The Inauguration, & U.S. President Donald Trump's First 100 Days in Office

Reply #50 – 2017-01-27, 03:03:20

Quote from: ersi on 2017-01-26, 17:04:07

You are saying it was like Trump's reception now?

Nope. The reasons are somewhat different… But the impulse is the same: Trump, too, is a transformational figure. That is, he isn't one of the liberal elite or a go-along-to-get-along "conservatives". He said what he was going to do during the campaign, and now he's doing it.

Quote from: ersi on 2017-01-26, 17:04:07

And you are under the impression that he [Ronald Reagan] was viewed as a Great President after a while? What gave you that impression? The bubble you live in?

I lived in Massachusetts, Colorado and California during the Reagan administration, and traveled through much of the country; my impressions are the result of actual experience — while yours are the result of "news media" (…and, of course, propaganda!

).
I know that revisionist history is still all the rage on the Continent. But chances are pretty good that, without Reagan, you'd still be a Soviet citizen, and your country still a satrap…

Mind you: I think it was a bad idea to expand NATO to Russia's borders. (Not that I have anything against the Baltic states; certainly not against Estonia.) But as anyone with a grain of sense should have known, Russia would see such as a provocation; which it was… But note who did it.)

Your "like has nothing to do with it" comments are like the "I was just following orders…" comments at some little town in Germany many decades ago.
Again, I ask you -assuming you will act as a rational person- to see what President Trump does. But if you'd prefer to read tweets and watch comedians, sobeit! You know what that says about you…
——————————————————————————————
Just heard on the radio that the chief of the Border Patrol has "resigned"… That's Demo-speak for "was fired!"

Re: The Inauguration, & U.S. President Donald Trump's First 100 Days in Office

Reply #51 – 2017-01-27, 10:25:05

Quote from: OakdaleFTL on 2017-01-27, 03:03:20

He said what he was going to do during the campaign, and now he's doing it.

Re: The Inauguration, & U.S. President Donald Trump's First 100 Days in Office

Reply #52 – 2017-01-27, 10:47:54

Quote from: OakdaleFTL on 2017-01-27, 03:03:20

That is, he isn't one of the liberal elite or a go-along-to-get-along "conservatives". He said what he was going to do during the campaign, and now he's doing it.

Such as jail Hillary? Such as build the wall and make Mexico pay for it? Ah, I get it: Everything he said during the campaign was off the cuff. So what's left for him to do? Something random and totally unrelated to his campaign, but in perfect harmony with his character, I'd say.

Re: The Inauguration, & U.S. President Donald Trump's First 100 Days in Office

Reply #53 – 2017-01-27, 11:23:33

Quote from: OakdaleFTL on 2017-01-27, 03:03:20

Mind you: I think it was a bad idea to expand NATO to Russia's borders. (Not that I have anything against the Baltic states; certainly not against Estonia.) But as anyone with a grain of sense should have known, Russia would see such as a provocation; which it was… But note who did it.)

Who did it, according to you?

Quote from: OakdaleFTL on 2017-01-27, 03:03:20

Again, I ask you -assuming you will act as a rational person- to see what President Trump does. But if you'd prefer to read tweets...

Well, it so happens that Trump does tweets. Are you saying he has done nothing yet? The 70 yo dude has no history?

If you haven't noticed, Trump is as anti-Reagan as can be. Reagan was whole-heartedly pro-NATO, in favour of arms races and such, while Trump has already announced that he is dropping all international commitments - he said so first about military commitments of NATO. Nah, of course you never noticed or, if you did, you don't see any contradiction.

Re: The Inauguration, & U.S. President Donald Trump's First 100 Days in Office

Reply #54 – 2017-01-27, 11:33:43

Like the rest of the world I didn't watch the inauguration. Then again I didn't watch Obama's inauguration either, or any previous president. There are some things you have to be American to care about. Obviously there will be a point where the old government (or administration as it is called over there) will be replaced by a new, and there will be a ceremony. Sure, there will also be dismay and gnashing of teeth, but that would be for coming days when the new government uses or abuses their newfound power.

That was until the president of the United States had a protracted breakdown over the inadequacies of his adulating crowd.

Being so beaten by the Women's March must have galled the new president. The scale and extent was impressive (even one here in Stockholm, and a cross-country skiing march at the resort town at Åre, exercise with a cause...), but marches on their own don't do much except in this case hurt fragile egos. It was tried in Russia, didn't work, and doesn't change the face of power. Voting would have been a more cost-effective approach.

I find it interesting as a warm-up to a scientists' march, and while they won't have the numbers, the intriguing question is if scientists should be more active in society and in battling pseudo-science (or more practically, if they actually will).

Re: The Inauguration, & U.S. President Donald Trump's First 100 Days in Office

Reply #55 – 2017-01-27, 12:20:04

Quote from: OakdaleFTL on 2017-01-27, 03:03:20

I think it was a bad idea to expand NATO to Russia's borders.

Hear, hear, that's something new from you.

At least something I can agree with.

Quote from: OakdaleFTL on 2017-01-27, 03:03:20

Not that I have anything against the Baltic states

It wasn't the merit of NATO that those Baltic states became independent in the first place.
Through the expansion of NATO to Russia's borders, the USA pursues only a geostrategic advantage in case of a military showdown or even in case of a first srike against Russia.
However in such a scenario those states would be at risk to be wiped out first and forever...
That would be the price they'd pay for the 'generous protection'.

Quote from: OakdaleFTL on 2017-01-27, 03:03:20

But as anyone with a grain of sense should have known, Russia would see such as a provocation

"Provocation" is an understatement. It's a latent threat for Russia which could turn into an existential one.
Imagine how the USA would feel about Russian or Chinese military bases around its borders. Wonder if you can?

Re: The Inauguration, & U.S. President Donald Trump's First 100 Days in Office

Reply #56 – 2017-01-27, 12:22:39

Quote from: jax on 2017-01-27, 11:33:43

It was tried in Russia, didn't work, and doesn't change the face of power. Voting would have been a more cost-effective approach.

Cost-effective? Maybe effective in the sense as involving no cost, but not effective in any other sense. Voting in Russia has less effect than in USA.

How did the USSR collapse? By voting or did the people marching on the streets have a role?

Quote from: krake on 2017-01-27, 12:20:04

Imagine how the USA would feel about Russian or Chinese military bases around his borders. Wonder if you can?

American imagination gets easily excited. They have felt threatened by the fall of Vietnam, by weapons of mass destruction in Iraq and Iran, by a landing strip in Grenada... Oh, and North Korea is the axis of evil.

Re: The Inauguration, & U.S. President Donald Trump's First 100 Days in Office

Reply #57 – 2017-01-27, 12:37:49

Quote from: jax on 2017-01-27, 11:33:43

Being so beaten by the Women's March must have galled the new president. The scale and extent was impressive (even one here in Stockholm, and a cross-country skiing march at the resort town at Åre, exercise with a cause...), but marches on their own don't do much except in this case hurt fragile egos. It was tried in Russia,...

Wonder if the main actors behind the scenes weren't the same?

Walls

Reply #58 – 2017-01-27, 13:01:44

Quote from: krake on 2017-01-27, 12:20:04

Imagine how the USA would feel about [...] around its borders. Wonder if you can?

That's what walls are for.

Re: The Inauguration, & U.S. President Donald Trump's First 100 Days in Office

Reply #59 – 2017-01-27, 13:23:11

Quote from: ersi on 2017-01-27, 12:22:39

Cost-effective? Maybe effective in the sense as involving no cost, but not effective in any other sense. Voting in Russia has less effect than in USA.

How did the USSR collapse? By voting or did the people marching on the streets have a role?

I meant in the context of the US election. In the case of Russia, there has never been a democratic regime change, so that would probably be harder.

The USSR collapsed from within. The coup attempt was amateurish, though it might have had greater chance of success without the people's mobilisation in Moscow. The same goes for the recent coup in Turkey. Soldiers don't like to shoot on their own people. But demonstrations on their own rarely achieve much. The demonstrations at Tiananmen square, though they only mobilised one million people, led to disappearances and a more hard-line regime, otherwise not much. The Iranian protests in 2009 had a similar story. The Arab Spring was a sequence of similar stories. The only regime permanently changed was the "nicest" one, in Tunis.

The more benevolent function of political demonstrations, to make politicians change their minds, is rarely achieved as well. Unless the opposition is unusually fierce, and pose a greater risk to re-election, politicians would only change their minds if they wanted to do so in the first place. Now, this display of women's power was unexpectedly huge, and the greatest I can think of in the West in modern times, but it was not in a position where it would be likely to make an impact on state or federal level.

Re: The Inauguration, & U.S. President Donald Trump's First 100 Days in Office

Reply #60 – 2017-01-27, 13:35:04

Quote from: krake on 2017-01-27, 12:20:04

It wasn't the merit of NATO that those Baltic states became independent in the first place.
Through the expansion of NATO to Russia's borders, the USA pursues only a geostrategic advantage in case of a military showdown or even in case of a first srike against Russia.
However in such a scenario those states would be at risk to be wiped out first and forever...
That would be the price they'd pay for the 'generous protection'.

No, but it is EU/NATO which is their security guarantee. That allows the countries to develop in relative safety and with relatively little outside interference (of course they are now a part of Team EU with all that this entails), without it they would have to continuously prove to Russia that they are of use to them, as any Russian government would have the capacity for gross interference up to and including invasion, as they have done with the other former USSR republics.

Re: The Inauguration, & U.S. President Donald Trump's First 100 Days in Office

Reply #61 – 2017-01-27, 14:43:40

Quote from: jax on 2017-01-27, 11:33:43

Like the rest of the world I didn't watch the inauguration. Then again I didn't watch Obama's inauguration either, or any previous president.

I think "watch the inauguration" pretty much just means "on in the background" anyway, except at the beginning. I did watch Obama's inauguration for a little while, not so much because he was Obama (as in policy or personality-wise) but because I was focused on improving my English as well as my knowledge of American culture, and I perceived him as one of the great American orators.

Re: The Inauguration, & U.S. President Donald Trump's First 100 Days in Office

Reply #62 – 2017-01-27, 15:07:15

Quote from: Frenzie on 2017-01-27, 14:43:40

I think "watch the inauguration" pretty much just means "on in the background" anyway, except at the beginning.

Often one hears so much commentary on it (I do due to work) that the content of it is known even without having watched it. This time the impressions were so confused that I was regretfully forced to verify the content directly.

Re: The Inauguration, & U.S. President Donald Trump's First 100 Days in Office

Reply #63 – 2017-01-27, 16:57:20

Quote from: jax on 2017-01-27, 13:35:04

any Russian government would have the capacity for gross interference up to and including invasion, as they have done with the other former USSR republics.

Poland - US tank in awaiting of the Soviet invasion.

Let's hope that the thing doesn't rust quickly.
However we might have already paid for it so it doesn't really matter.

Re: The Inauguration, & U.S. President Donald Trump's First 100 Days in Office

Reply #64 – 2017-01-27, 22:58:11

Quote from: krake on 2017-01-27, 04:20:04

"Provocation" is an understatement. It's a latent threat for Russia which could turn into an existential one.
Imagine how the USA would feel about Russian […] military bases around its borders. Wonder if you can?

I remember the Cuban Missile Crisis… (In fact, years later I was a member of the only Air Force Reserve unit to be activated then.) What a lot of people my age or younger don't know is that the Soviet basing of nuclear missiles in Cuba followed the U.S. basing of nuclear missiles in Turkey… The naval blockade of Cuba (…a blockade is always an act of war) didn't cause the Soviets to dismantle their installations there; our agreement to dismantle our installations in Turkey did. The Cold War was a very dangerous game.
Of course, the Soviets always felt that defense against them was an offensive act! Hence Reagan's withdrawal from the ABM treaty helped push them to their ultimate dissolution. An arms race is expensive…

Re: The Inauguration, & U.S. President Donald Trump's First 100 Days in Office

Reply #65 – 2017-01-28, 00:13:45

Americans are going to pay 20% more for what they import from Mexico... America always first...

Ooops, it seems it was just "an idea"....

This American clown will make the entire world to laugh day after day...

Meanwhile the White House speaker idiotic robot swallows 35 chewuing gums everyday, so he says...

Re: The Inauguration, & U.S. President Donald Trump's First 100 Days in Office

Reply #66 – 2017-01-28, 01:59:15

Quote from: OakdaleFTL on 2017-01-27, 22:58:11

What a lot of people my age or younger don't know is that the Soviet basing of nuclear missiles in Cuba followed the U.S. basing of nuclear missiles in Turkey… The naval blockade of Cuba (…a blockade is always an act of war) didn't cause the Soviets to dismantle their installations there; our agreement to dismantle our installations in Turkey did.

Dismantling my ass. Whatever your agreement was, the USA still operates nuclear weapons in Turkey.
Because of worsening relations since the failed military coup, the USA is considering now moving them to Romania.
So those nukes 'will protect now Romania instead'....

Re: The Inauguration, & U.S. President Donald Trump's First 100 Days in Office

Reply #67 – 2017-01-28, 02:22:05

Quote from: Belfrager on 2017-01-28, 00:13:45

Americans are going to pay 20% more for what they import from Mexico... America always first...

It's not that funny from this side of the Atlantic, though. Create inflation in the economy to pay for the wall. That's right, this is to make "Mexico" pay for the wall. No, it's making the American consumer pay for it. By saying that, he seems to have forgotten that he already said he was add a 35% tax on Mexican imports. That is unless he plans on adding the two ideas together for a total of 55%.

Re: The Inauguration, & U.S. President Donald Trump's First 100 Days in Office

Reply #68 – 2017-01-28, 05:41:45

You'all can calm down: Tariffs and taxes are Congress' purview.

The president can only propose…

Re: The Inauguration, & U.S. President Donald Trump's First 100 Days in Office

Reply #69 – 2017-01-28, 07:44:21

Quote from: OakdaleFTL on 2017-01-28, 05:41:45

You'all can calm down: Tariffs and taxes are Congress' purview. The president can only propose…

False

This is really happening: "It is the policy of the executive branch to: (a) secure the southern border of the United States through the immediate construction of a physical wall on the southern border, monitored and supported by adequate personnel..."

"Definitions... "Wall" shall mean a contiguous, physical wall or other similarly secure, contiguous, and impassable physical barrier."

https://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/2017/01/25/executive-order-border-security-and-immigration-enforcement-improvements

The guy knows how to mess up relations, break treaties, and prevent anything economic taking place. The good thing - he is not excusing himself being "off the cuff" the way Oakdale excuses him.

The bad thing - White House website is now intolerable in graphical browsers. There are splashes with Trump on it all over the place. And they ask your email. Anyway, turning off Javascript should work. Executive orders will hopefully appear here https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/presidential-actions/executive-orders The guy will evidently rule by decree (i.e. like a dictator, as predicted), bypassing even the favourable Congress he has right now.

Re: The Inauguration, & U.S. President Donald Trump's First 100 Days in Office

Reply #70 – 2017-01-28, 11:04:22

Quote from: ersi on 2017-01-28, 07:44:21

White House website is now intolerable in graphical browsers. There are splashes ...

It depends on which browser you are using.
Different browsers may give you different results
No transition splash using Firefox with scripting enabled.
However I get the transition splash (and a local storage entry) using Opera Presto with scripting enabled.

Re: The Inauguration, & U.S. President Donald Trump's First 100 Days in Office

Reply #71 – 2017-01-28, 15:58:25

Quote from: OakdaleFTL on 2017-01-28, 05:41:45

You'all can calm down: Tariffs and taxes are Congress' purview.

The fiscal conservatives might combine with liberals to shoot this down. The problem is Trump himself. It's like he doesn't even know what he said previously. Of course, if he does manage to get either of his tariffs pushed through (or the nightmarish combination of both of them), and gets the tariffs on Chinese good pushed through on top of that, we're looking at double digit inflation. In short, his policies would be ruinous to the very people to claims to be trying to help.

Re: The Inauguration, & U.S. President Donald Trump's First 100 Days in Office

Reply #72 – 2017-01-28, 19:43:51

Shouldn't you be quoting Krugman?

Re: The Inauguration, & U.S. President Donald Trump's First 100 Days in Office

Reply #73 – 2017-01-29, 02:55:19

Awww, can't answer the basic economic arguments can you?

But you wanted a quote? Okay, how about the liberal media source Foxnews , instead.

Quote

WASHINGTON – American consumers and businesses would pay — literally — if President-elect Donald Trump followed through on his campaign pledge to slap big taxes on imports from China and Mexico.

Trump said during the campaign that he'd impose tariffs of 35 percent on Mexican imports and 45 percent on Chinese imports to protect American jobs from unfair foreign competition. Companies that import those goods would pay the tax at the border.

Many of those firms would likely try to heap as much of the cost as possible on their customers. The result is that American consumers could end up paying more for foreign-made clothing, tablet computers and other electronics.

A 45 percent tariff on Chinese-made goods could drive up U.S. retail prices on those goods by an average of about 10 percent, Capital Economics has calculated. Consumers would find it hard to escape the price squeeze.

"There are few alternative sources for the main products the U.S. buys from China," says Mark Williams, Capital Economics' chief Asia economist. He notes, for example, that China supplies about 70 percent of the world's network equipment, cellphones, laptops and tablet computer

The article doesn't address foods that simply can't be grown in the US year around. Do you still not get it? This isn't even a liberal vs conservative issue anymore. This is about 45's "policies", if enacted, have great potential to trash the American economy. That is to the extent that he even knows what his own policies even are, because he still acts like he doesn't :p

Re: The Inauguration, & U.S. President Donald Trump's First 100 Days in Office

Reply #74 – 2017-01-29, 07:56:57

Trump as president is constrained by Congress and the constitution. But he'll likely continue to tweet, to the twits.
I understand why you and your fellow Democrats consider POTUS a king. Guess what, Sang, that's gone…
Trump's not a half-black man; so, he gets no "special" privileges!
Has he done anything yet that really gets your panties in a twist? I mean, other than being Trump?

His cabinet will soon be fully in place. And the Democrats still have the shallowest bench in generations… Remember: Trump beat 16 other Republicans for the nomination; that's mostly Hillary's fault. But they're all still viable candidates.

Elizabeth "Fauxcohontis" Warren is the most visible. But when people look at her they see her…

When Trump talks about what he'd like to do you think that's how government works: the King proposes and the aristocracy implements, the plebes just follow along. Again, let me remind you: It isn't.(You won't believe me; you won't understand. But it's your own damned fault for not voting more often for Hillary!

) He "spit-balls" stuff… Get used to it, boy-o!
The technique is new, given the internet; the purpose and implementation are age-old. (Trial balloons…)

Are you, Sang, still hoping to "elect" Hillary Clinton in 2016?