The Next President of the United States

[nirvana]

I think its fake diplomacy

Achieved nothing much yet had the temerity to previously cancel the Obama/Iran deal which extracted significant concessions from the Iranians

Robert Kelly, an expert on inter-Korean relations at Pusan National University, described the summit as “even thinner than most sceptics anticipated”. Kelly was the man whose child famously interrupted his TV interview, by the by.

on the one hand, the bilateral agreement contains little but vague promises and aspirations. Most importantly, we are no further forward in terms of the key issue of denuclearisation.

on the other, to be fair, we can look at where we are now in comparison to where we were a year ago, when Trump was calling Kim Jong-un “little rocket man” and threatening to rain “fire and fury” down on him. Today the fear of nuclear war that existed at that point has largely dissipated. so that's good.

As for one of my points in the post above "my people" the arrogance of the man, dictatorial language that was like fingernails on a blackboard for me personally

Haha temerity. He's the presidente man

[Marky147]

Click to see full-size image.

[Marky147]

This is an interesting listen.

Not a great deal on politics, but there is around 1/2 an hour early on.

[Marky147]

Sam Harris talks about how bad the left are, regarding Trump.

He dislikes him immensely, but says it's just ridiculous when the NYT go after him with disingenous articles.

[TightEnd]

TRUMP on Kim Jong Un (note the final two sentences):

"He's the head of a country, and I mean he's the strong head. Don't let anyone think anything different. He speaks and his people sit up at attention. I want my people to do the same."

 

if they don't pay attention mate, they get fire-bombed or tortured!

my people!!

How would you approach negotiations with Kim mate? Here Trump says nothing that isn't true and achieves a little something in return.

He reassures, flatters with recognition of strength. That's gotta be 2-3 Kimmy points right there.

Yet Kim is indeed the strong head of his country and when strong head's speak their people do indeed pay attention. Teeing him up to hopefully deliver a series of good news and positive words to the delight of the masses. I imagine Trump also hopes to be considered a strong leader, who delivers good news and positive words to his American people and they pay attention. It's really just something and nothing.

The only negative really is the insinuation. Yet he is driving a scenario that appears to be moving away from the bombing and torturing. So let's simply support him in those efforts. Seems like a more holistic mindset for people than scoring points, negative angles and spitting image style jokes. I'm willing Trump on here and find it perplexing that many relish every bump in the road instead.

I don't relish his deportations, his blanket travel bans on whole ethnic groups, his opting out of the Paris agreement, his systematic destruction of everything Obama, his treatment of women....

I don't relish these things, but I do cite them as reasons for not liking him.

Just out of curiosity, why do you think it is that he is such an object of derision? 

He doesn't fit the brief & offers up ample ammo for his oppos to spin negative rhetoric. That bias feels like a campaign to tell me how to feel about politics and world affairs. 

It's well unfortunate about travel bans, Obamacare and suchlike but this is progress with nuclear threats and human rights. With matters of this nature I'm prepared to put my like & dislike aside. Progress means people leaving personal preference at the door and getting down to business instead. He's said some dumb stuff but does seem to successfully capture the mood of 'his' people.

In this exact situation I think he has big strengths. Very volatile world packed with strong crazy leaders, you don't want a John Major shrinking violet type. You want a crazy on your side in a knife fight. Again I don't care for expert opinion because I saw Kim on the telly shaking hands with Trump and saying time for a new chapter. I didn't see that with a US president before.

Someone asked what Trump did? Not many of us live day in day out under the threat of war but I figure that would be a drag. Then next day you wake up and pay attention cos your leader is saying no more bombs, new chapter, better future. Every life in the country is immediately brighter. I can't fathom how that is insignificant or why Bob Kelly doesn't think it's +1.

It most certainly is fake diplomacy, Trump wants that Nobel, what a coup. Yet every life was brighter even still.

I think this is just pie in the sky

how do you defend this?

US to withdraw from UN human rights council: report http://hill.cm/RJkxyYM

[Woodsey]

Maybe they just have a big problem with what they are doing.......

Might just be a threat

“When the council passes more than 70 resolutions against Israel, a country with a strong human rights record, and just seven resolutions against Iran, a country with an abysmal human rights record, you know something is seriously wrong,”

[TightEnd]

Challenging numbers from the US via YouGov

"Support temporary ban on Muslims from other countries entering US"

All Americans 40%
2016 Trump voters 81% (Clinton voters 8%)
Republicans 74% (Democrats 13%)
Whites 44% (African Americans 17%)

"Increase surveillance of mosques/places where Muslims congregate"

All Americans 49%
2016 Trump voters 80% (Clinton 19%)
Republicans 80% (Democrats 25%
Whites 52% (African Americans 38%, Hispanic 53%)

Source: http://bit.ly/2tarIic

[doubleup]

Maybe they just have a big problem with what they are doing.......

Might just be a threat

“When the council passes more than 70 resolutions against Israel, a country with a strong human rights record, and just seven resolutions against Iran, a country with an abysmal human rights record, you know something is seriously wrong,”

trump: kim is a great leader and a wonderful man whom i can truly call my friend.

fox news: but he's a killer. he murders his own people.

trump: look, lots of countries do things, ok?

[Doobs]

Maybe they just have a big problem with what they are doing.......

Might just be a threat

“When the council passes more than 70 resolutions against Israel, a country with a strong human rights record, and just seven resolutions against Iran, a country with an abysmal human rights record, you know something is seriously wrong,”

Quoting one of Trump's lackeys is probably a mistake. You can say that there may be bias, but Israel hasn't got a strong human rights record.   Surely North Korea would be a better counter example, but that doesn't fit with the program?

[TightEnd]

Breaking from washington post: Roger Stone says in May 2016 he met with a Russian man who offered damaging information about Hillary Clinton in exchange for $2 million, which Stone says he rejected:

https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/trump-associate-roger-stone-reveals-new-contact-with-russian-national-during-2016-campaign/2018/06/17/4a8123c8-6fd0-11e8-bd50-b80389a4e569_story.html?utm_term=.afb05e9c529e

[Doobs]

Nobody has come on here congratulating Trump on ending the Democrats hateful family separation policy; biassed wankers.

Accidentally caught Laura Ingraham's show on Fox whilst looking for the football the other night.   She puts Trump and Katie Hopkins in the shade.  Astonishing the lengths that some people go to get a paid gig. 

[Woodsey]

Nobody has come on here congratulating Trump on ending the Democrats hateful family separation policy; biassed wankers.

Accidentally caught Laura Ingraham's show on Fox whilst looking for the football the other night.   She puts Trump and Katie Hopkins in the shade.  Astonishing the lengths that some people go to get a paid gig. 

True, it’s only the Trump haters that have something to say......

[kukushkin88]

Nobody has come on here congratulating Trump on ending the Democrats hateful family separation policy; biassed wankers.

Accidentally caught Laura Ingraham's show on Fox whilst looking for the football the other night.   She puts Trump and Katie Hopkins in the shade.  Astonishing the lengths that some people go to get a paid gig. 

True, it’s only the Trump haters that have something to say......

:-) If only Admiral Ackbar had been here to issue a warning. It does highlight the problem perfectly though. Lots of people will agree with absolutely anything, even an obvious wind up, if it fits their narrative.

[Woodsey]

Nobody has come on here congratulating Trump on ending the Democrats hateful family separation policy; biassed wankers.

Accidentally caught Laura Ingraham's show on Fox whilst looking for the football the other night.   She puts Trump and Katie Hopkins in the shade.  Astonishing the lengths that some people go to get a paid gig. 

True, it’s only the Trump haters that have something to say......

Don’t even remember writing that, Mid week Stella time! 

[MANTIS01]

Thought 'Inside the American Embassy' was an interesting watch, following US ambassador Woody Johnson's first six months in office. Strikingly the US rhetoric regarding Brexit is vastly different to our own with much positivity and a sense of optimism. It's quite profound that for the first time in a generation we have the opportunity and the control to completely redefine our 'special relationship'. The US are one of our closest friends and they also happen to be the most powerful country in the world, Trump is half British, he wants to do business. What an opportunity! This is certainly a real advantage of Brexit because we know Trump finds the EU difficult to deal with but loves the UK. Think it would benefit our country to put focus and energy behind this kind of positive rather than spend our time lamenting the negatives.

They looked at Trump's first year in government and pointed to the 3% growth in GDP, that's trillions of dollars. The record levels of employment, the cutting of red tape. It's difficult not to say there have been major successes here. Even down to the historic meeting with N Korea which appears to be the start of something monumental. Whilst commentators point at the complimentary language he used towards Kim as a negative I couldn't disagree more. Before the US always approached these problems angling for regime change which has often been a disastrous strategy. I mean Kim pursuits nuclear capabilities in the first place to defend against regime change. Now Trump goes with reassurance but angling for policy change instead and the world is a brighter place. Sure thing his rhetoric regarding immigration was shabby but even then he does have his finger on the pulse of public sentiment which backs stronger border control.

One thing I'd say about Woody Johnson is he's a terrible listener, fucking terrible. Always find this to be the case with business whales. Every conversation he was interrupting with his own thoughts.

However, aside from the ambassador's rather rudimentary social etiquette skills I'm very optimistic about the new, potentially lucrative opportunity with our good friends, world power and global economic powerhouse. There you go, good news about Brexit to start the day, how refreshing.