The Trump Presidency - an analysis

[old man emu]

One could say that a "protest vote" is real democracy in action. As Jerry says:

9 hours ago, Jerry_Atrick said:

the heart of democracy.. you are given a chance and at the end of it, you don't live up to it, the people can say, "you're fired!

The maintenance of the status quo by an elite group is what has lead to revolts in just about every country where that maintenance has occurred. Even England, if you leave out the Civil War, has had to deal with many rebellions on its own soil. Rebellion against the status quo can range from simply voting for the other side in an election to all out warfare, depending on the natural demeanour of the people. 

[Old Koreelah]

On 22/11/2020 at 7:43 AM, old man emu said:

...Rebellion against the status quo can range from simply voting for the other side in an election to all out warfare, depending on the natural demeanour of the people. 

One of the secrets of Britain’s endurance has been allowing the pressure cooker of dissatisfaction to vent. 

Across the Channel, the French are currently in their 5th Republic and the pressure is rising...

[spacesailor]

BUT !.

The French cannot go back to a Monarchy, as England did, when the English hung their little dictator.

Which means if Australia goes to a Republic it will Never have any referendum return to a happier type of government.

spacesailor

[old man emu]

The only Boss Cocky the English ever executed was Charles the First. The only "dictator" they ever had was Oliver Cromwell, and he died in bed.

[old man emu]

Trump will surely go down in History as the US President most savagely lampooned while still in office. Even George Dubya looks statesman-like in comparison. Trump is lucky that his opposition is the non-violent side of US politics, otherwise he might have ended up like Louis XVI with a collar length trim.

 

It has been amazing to see the explosion in memes and video compilations hitting the Internet since the expected results of the election became known. Unlike all other leaders who have been deposed by the people, it has not been Trump's political policies that have raised the ire of the population, but the petulant behaviour of the man. We are accustomed to politicians at all levels doing self-serving little deals to take advantage of their position, but Trump has taken the art to celestial levels. His abuse of the Presidential pardon is probably the present icing on the cake, but I'm sure that before 20th January 2021 there will be cherries and Flakes to come.

 

I have actually done a great disservice to George Dubya. He is, in fact, a well-educated man who actually has a passion for reading. He is a graduate of the Harvard Business School and earned an MBA. Much is made of his verbal slip ups, but when you are under pressure from the knowledge that every word you say is being disected for hidden meanings, your brain is apt to pop the wrong word into your mouth. At least Bush is man enough to laugh at himself as shown in this after dinner speech:

 

[octave]

Something unattractive about Trump (amongst many things) is his lack of a sense humor and especially when it comes to being self deprecating.   I do think it says a lot about your character whether  you can poke fun at yourself or not.    I did spend some time watching concession speeches of previous presidents and all of them were magnanimous and full of humility (Dem or Rep).     I suspect Trump will not be treated kindly by history.

[old man emu]

2 hours ago, octave said:

I suspect Trump will not be treated kindly by history.

He certainly isn't being treated kindly by current affairs! 😁

[Yenn]

I still cannot understand why the Republican Party stands by him, surely it would be in their interest to get him declared unfit to be President and let Pence finish the term. I can see Trump causing the USA a vast amount of trouble in his last month of office. He appears to be wanting to cause a war with China, or at the very least put the USA into a position where they have no negotiating room. Sadly our government is still pro Trump.

Edited December 7, 2020 by Yenn
Spelling

[Old Koreelah]

7 hours ago, octave said:

Something unattractive about Trump (amongst many things) is his lack of a sense humor and especially when it comes to being self deprecating.   I do think it says a lot about your character whether  you can poke fun at yourself or not.    I did spend some time watching concession speeches of previous presidents and all of them were magnanimous and full of humility (Dem or Rep).     I suspect Trump will not be treated kindly by history.

An impressive tradition is for the outgoing President to leave behind a nice letter for the incoming POTUS.

Hard to imagine Jo finding one.

https://www.theatlantic.com/culture/archive/2020/11/letters-presidents-their-successors/617089/

[Marty_d]

I find myself wondering if he's ever done anything worthwhile.

 

Before you say "President of the United States", I don't consider that he's actually done that job.  There's been an awful lot of "executive time" on his calendar which I believe means playing golf, watching Fox and tweeting.  So by that standard any village idiot could do the job of POTUS.

 

What I mean is, has he ever done the washing up, vacuumed the floor, changed a tyre, hung out the washing, made a meal, or created anything at all?

[old man emu]

3 hours ago, Marty_d said:

 

What I mean is, has he ever done the washing up, vacuumed the floor, changed a tyre, hung out the washing, made a meal, or created anything at all?

I was thinking about what rich people miss out on because they can employ others to do the mundane for them. I think of Prince William and his kids. Has he ever gone out to his garage and cobbled together a toy for George?  When he talks about the weather, does it concern him that rain and heat mean that the lawns will have to be mowed twice a week? Has he ever put a red shirt in the washing with the whites? At least we know the Her Majesty can change a truck tyre and clean and set the plugs. 

 

We can be pretty sure that no politician has ever been sent to a supermarket with a shopping list by his wife. Or waited for two hours listening the Muszak to try and sort out an electricity bill.

 

As they say, Power corrupts.

[nomadpete]

You will get a better perspective of trump supporters if you watch a little of Sky News. Tonight they are still presenting straight faced panelists discussing such topics as 2024 trump election campaigns, the dreadful commie corrupt Dems, the shameful way mainstream media and lawyers treat their man, etc, etc. And treating it as plain truth.

 

I suspect that the devotion to trump has mostly become religious. As such, the converts shun any facts that might shake their belief.

And these people (almost half of the voters in USA) were easy to convert when the political scene has been displaying a self serving corrupt culture that basically treats the voters as a 'dumb' resource to be exploited for their own ends.

 

That level of distrust and disenchantment exists here, too. And that culture will continue allowing idiots to get elected to be in charge of us until the political industry develops a more responsible culture.

It's a worry.

[Yenn]

To really see what trump followers are like I suggest you look at Brietbark news. Just google it. Read a news item then look at the responses from readers.

I warn you, you will not believe the stupidity and vindictiveness of those remarks.

[nomadpete]

All media has some degree of bias. Some more than others.  I wonder if many others bother to take the occasional look at the broad spectrum of sources in an effort to filter their knowledge? Or bother to trawl the various 'fact check' sites to avoid getting railroaded.

Over time the sources that tend to be unscrupulous mouthpieces for a particular agenda start to become obvious, if one spends a little time checking.

 

They tend to use snippets of fact to give credibility to falsehoods. And so they promote damaging political divisions and damaging conspiracies.

I'm just annoyed that blatant manipulation seems to go unchecked. And there is no simple way to control it - censorship only opens the door to manipulation by the censors.

(This really belong in the gripes thread)

[old man emu]

Perhaps the worm has turned in Australia. Dismiss your opinions of Kevin Rudd himself and see what he, and in fact, Malcolm Turnbull, are saying about the undue influence of the Murdoch Press on Australian politics.

 

https://thenewdaily.com.au/news/politics/australian-politics/2020/11/14/kevin-rudd-media-diversity-murdoch/

[Old Koreelah]

2 hours ago, nomadpete said:

All media has some degree of bias. Some more than others.  I wonder if many others bother to take the occasional look at the broad spectrum of sources in an effort to filter their knowledge?

Probably not many of us.

 

I subscribe to quite a range of news sources and commentaries, from blatant Right Wing (where Donny is the misunderstood Messiah and anyone who doesn’t idolize him is a Commie) to Left Wing (where the world is teetering on the apocalypse).

 

It takes time, costs money and worst of all, requires a bit of mental effort to trawl thru what is often quite offensive “flannel” (to quote Malcom Turnbull).

 

 

 

[nomadpete]

Kev and Mal are getting a bit of flack from the Murdoch empire, for having the audacity to state the obvious. Shades of Donny's methods. He's still planning his self congratulatiory winners party. And Sleepy Joe isn't going to be invited. It was (not) so reassuring to hear Don telling the world that although the treacherous media are reporting an average of 2200 US deaths PER DAY, that 'we' have significantly reduced the covid lately.

 

I believe somebody infamous once said "If you're going to tell a lie, make it big, tell it often, and eventually they'll believe you"

 

Edited December 9, 2020 by nomadpete
(clarified my bias)

[willedoo]

11 hours ago, nomadpete said:

They tend to use snippets of fact to give credibility to falsehoods.

It's a new word for me; only learned recently - paltering.

[Yenn]

You end up getting paltered. Not the same as getting plastered, from which you recover by lunch time.

[Bruce Tuncks]

It has been said that democracy can only exist until the public find out that they can vote themselves largesse from the public purse. What I think has happened is that the pollies have found this out and have put it into practice for themselves.

When I was a student, the backbencher's pay was about the same as a senior lecturer. Gosh they get far more these days. The pollies got less than senior airline pilots in those days too.

I wish I could think of a way to fight the trend...  but all I can do is to say how I understand the cynicism that we see.

 

[nomadpete]

I'm going through withdrawal.

 

For the last four years the first thing I've done when I wake up each morning is look up the latest trump tweets. It always gave me a chuckle. But now, nothing! Silence. No amazing news.

Have they confiscated his phone? Maybe sedated him?  Or finally lured him into a private padded cell?

[onetrack]

I'm enjoying the fact I never hear anything about him, any more. It's quite amazing how rapidly the scenario has changed.

I'm waiting to see the Presidential swearing in, I reckon His Royal Petulance will probably ignore it and not front up, and engineer another slew of "stolen election" claims, to try and divert attention to himself again.

Edited December 19, 2020 by onetrack

[old man emu]

The rumour is that he will hold a rally in Florida at Noon on 20 January and during the rally will announce his candidacy for 2024. The only way he could run is to stand as an independent as no established party would touch him.

[Marty_d]

Really?  It was my understanding that the Republicans were split on the issue but a majority still adhered to the church of Trumpism.

[facthunter]

If HE managed to get back in I doubt the rest of the world would recognise any legitimacy of that outcome. Like many of his ilk It's ONLY  about HIM.  He will be about 79years old by then and have a toupee. He's not exactly a food and fitness fanatic either.  Murdoch will DIE one day. None of them will live forever, Thankfully. Nev