We are a superpower run by a simpleton

[Redneck]

Very interesting article in my opinion!

By Michael Gerson
Columnist
September 6 at 5:47 PM

One of the major problems with President Trump’s impulsivity is its utter predictability.

A recent op-ed in the New York Times by an anonymous administration official accused the president of impetuous, reckless rants, and Trump responded with impetuous, reckless rants (“TREASON?”). Bob Woodward’s new book “Fear” recounts a private “nervous breakdown” in the administration and Trump responded with a public nervous breakdown — accusing Woodward of being a “Dem operative” and raising a possible change in the libel laws. Amid this crisis, North Korean leader Kim Jong Un expressed his “unwavering faith in President Trump,” and the president reacted just as the North Korean leader surely knew he would — touting the positive opinion of a homicidal despot on Twitter as a character reference.

If you prick him, does he not explode? If you stroke him, does he not purr?

The president’s form of deception is qualitatively different from the deviousness of Richard M. Nixon or the smoothness of Bill Clinton. Trump pursues no deep or subtle strategies. He does not even consistently seek his own interests. He responds like a child or a narcissist — but I repeat myself — to positive or negative stimulation. It is the reason a discussion on “Fox & Friends” can so often set the agenda of the president. It is the reason that Trump’s lawyers, in the end, can’t allow him to be interviewed by special counsel Robert S. Mueller III. It would be like a 9-year-old defending a PhD dissertation. Or maybe a rabbit jumping into a buzz saw.

This lesson can’t be lost on foreign intelligence services, which can pre-order a comprehensive account of the president’s psychological and political vulnerabilities for $18 online. (Note: Woodward now owes me.) Here is the increasingly evident reality of the Trump era: We are a superpower run by a simpleton. From a foreign policy perspective, this is far worse than being run by a skilled liar. It is an invitation to manipulation and contempt.

Pointing to the polls is the main response of Trump and his supporters. Whatever the president is doing, most Republicans want more of it. As one apologist argues, “His personality is a feature, not a bug. Many Americans are comfortable with that.” Put another way, a motivated group of Americans — which largely controls the GOP nomination process — enjoys Trump’s reality-television version of presidential politics. And you can’t argue with the ratings.

I can and do. What we are finding from books, from insider leaks and from investigative journalism is that the rational actors who are closest to the president are frightened by his chaotic leadership style. They describe a total lack of intellectual curiosity, mental discipline and impulse control. Should the views of these establishment insiders really carry more weight than those of Uncle Clem in Scranton, Pa.? Why yes, in this case, they should. We should listen to the voices of American populism in determining public needs and in setting policy agendas — but not in determining political reality.

We should pay attention to the economic trends that have marginalized whole sections of the country. We should be alert to the failures and indifference of American elites. But we also need to understand that these trends — which might have produced a responsible populism — have, through a cruel trick of history, elevated a dangerous, prejudiced fool. Trump cannot claim the legitimacy of the genuine anxiety that helped produce him. The political and social wave is real, but it is ridden by an unworthy leader. The right reasons have produced the wrong man.

The testimony of the tell-alls is remarkably consistent. Some around Trump are completely corrupted by the access to power. But others — who might have served in any Republican administration — spend much of their time preventing the president from doing stupid and dangerous things. Woodward’s book recounts one story in which then-economic adviser Gary Cohn heads off U.S. withdrawal from the North American Free Trade Agreement by removing documents from Trump’s Oval Office desk. Think on that a moment. A massive change in economic policy was avoided — not by some brilliant stratagem — but by swiping a piece of paper and trusting in Trump’s minuscule attention span.

This turns out to be the best argument for the author of the Times op-ed — and others like him or her — to stay right where they are. The manipulation of the president in a good cause works. And those who engage in this task boldly and consistently are both losing their reputations and serving their country.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions ... b4655d520c

[sprintcyclist]

Trump has done more already for the US than all of the precious 3 presidents combined.

[Black Orchid]

Sure Trump is a megalomaniac who shows little impulse control with his tweeting. Tweeting is for twits! But is there a method to his 'madness'?

He is getting things done for America and those he represents and its all good. Whilst Europe is collapsing in on itself in its haste to flood out its culture and values Trump is doing for Americans that which previous Presidents have not. Looking after Americans first!

Instead of the weak and selfish politicians Australia propagates we should well be wishing we had our own Trump.

[sprintcyclist]

Sure Trump is a megalomaniac who shows little impulse control with his tweeting. Tweeting is for twits! But is there a method to his 'madness'?

He is getting things done for America and those he represents and its all good. Whilst Europe is collapsing in on itself in its haste to flood out its culture and values Trump is doing for Americans that which previous Presidents have not. Looking after Americans first!

Instead of the weak and selfish politicians Australia propagates we should well be wishing we had our own Trump.

Yes

[brian ross]

Sure Trump is a megalomaniac who shows little impulse control with his tweeting. Tweeting is for twits! But is there a method to his 'madness'?

He is getting things done for America and those he represents and its all good. Whilst Europe is collapsing in on itself in its haste to flood out its culture and values Trump is doing for Americans that which previous Presidents have not. Looking after Americans first!

Instead of the weak and selfish politicians Australia propagates we should well be wishing we had our own Trump.

I would suggest we do not need a Trump. What we need is a new Gough or Keating - someone who is both smart, well controlled and has the gift of language to explain his policies fully. Both were hugely successful as PMs. Trump is, as the article suggests, a simpleton. He cannot explain his policies and when he attempts to, lapses into simplistic comments like, "I am the greatest!" or "I am really, really good!" Trump is a conman, pure and simple. He has conned the American public into voting for him and has failed to make American "great" again. He has simply made it more arrogant than it used to be, mistaking arrogance for greatness. He failed to win the popular election 2016. He sits in the Oval Office because of the bizarre voting system in the US with the Electoral College determining the winner of the election process, not the vote of the people. He won it by throwing insults and creating hatred. What has he occomplished since? Not overly much. He has pissed of a lot of US Allies. He has created a trade war with China and Europe. We're laughing. A lot of people are crying though. Tut, tut.

[Black Orchid]

Trump's accomplishments

Here are a few other things that Mr. Trump has done:

• Appointed Supreme Court Justice Neil Gorsuch and more than 75 other constitutionally sound federal judges, 30 of which are serving.

• Reinstated an expanded Mexico City Policy blocking foreign aid from being used for abortions.

• Cracked down on illegal immigration and “sanctuary cities.” As Attorney General Jeff Sessions put it: “The lawlessness, the abdication of the duty to enforce our laws, and the catch and release policies of the past are over.”

• Issued an order killing two federal regulations for every new one. In actuality, 16 were cut for every new one in his first year, saving billions.

• Engineered a historic tax cut that will save money for more than 80 percent of American households.

• Withdrew the U.S. from the Paris Climate Agreement, ending the threat of U.S. governance by international bureaucrats.

• Reversed onerous Obama environmental rules that gave the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) ham-handed authority to destroy the coal industry and abrogate landowners’ rights.

• Kick-started America’s energy sector by curtailing regulations, facilitating the Keystone XL Pipeline and opening up vast federal areas to oil and gas exploration.

• Presided over an economic and stock market boom, lowered unemployment and brought manufacturing jobs back to America from overseas.

• Rebuilt the nation’s military, destroyed ISIS and faced down North Korea’s “Rocket Man.”

• Issued an order enforcing First Amendment protections for religious liberty.

• Restored the freedom of military chaplains to espouse biblical morality, and essentially reversing Mr. Obama’s transgender military policy.

• Revoked the Education Department’s order that public schools allow gender-confused males access to girls’ restrooms and locker rooms.

• Cracked down on sex trafficking. President Trump signed a law allowing states to move against sex-ad Internet sites, and the Justice Department on April 6 seized and shut down Backpage.com, which carried ads for prostitution, including trafficked children.

• Overhauled the mismanaged Veterans Administration and giving veterans more health care choices.

• Replaced Obamacare incrementally, beginning with a repeal of the individual mandate.

• Imposed sanctions on Venezuela’s socialist dictatorship and revising Mr. Obama’s deals with communist Cuba.

• Recognized Jerusalem as Israel’s capital and repairing damage that Mr. Obama did to the U.S.-Israel relationship.

• Worked with Central American nations to crack down on MS-13 gangs.

OK, let’s stop here, though it only scratches the surface.

A question for Mr. Trump’s conservative critics, including some well-meaning evangelicals who rightly express concern over character: Would you really prefer to have a “more presidential” chief executive who promotes socialism, open bordeers, abortion, sexual anarchy and the criminalization of Christianity?

Here are just a few likely outcomes had Mrs. Clinton won:

• An explosion in government funding for abortion.

• The LGBT political agenda on steroids, with the Justice Department attacking Christian business people who won’t bow to Baal.

• Tax increases — not a tax cut — to fund a vast expansion of nanny government.

• Obamacare morphing into a single-payer, socialist government monopoly.

• Federal agencies like the EPA and the IRS re-weaponized against political opponents.

• More radical judges like Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Elena Kagan and Sonia Sotomayor. Maybe even Chai Feldblum on the Supreme Court.

• Hordes of new federal bureaucrats drawn from the ranks of MoveOn.org, NARAL, the ACLU, the Human Rights Campaign and the Women’s March.

• “Pink hat day” throughout the federal government on Planned Parenthood founder Margaret Sanger’s birthday. (No reported plan; it just makes sense.)

• Massive illegal immigration, along with the Justice Department attacking states that have strong voter ID laws.

• A shutdown of all inquiries into Clinton corruption, such as missing emails, Russian money flowing into the Clinton Foundation or the Clinton-Russian connection in the 2016 election.

• A naive foreign policy that would have emboldened Russia, China, North Korea and Iran to test American resolve.

https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/20 ... their-due/

[brian ross]

Most of those issues are still ongoing. If you read about "sanctuary cities" in the US, the Federal Government has made efforts to crack down on them but in reality, they still exist and will continue to exist, BO. Most of the others are similar. The Federal Government in the US has one sledgehammer - financial - with which to crack a very tough nut - local law enforcement issues and it is failing dismally to do that very successfully.

Trump likes to make big announcements but rarely follows through on them, just as the US Federal Government fails to follow through on them. The result is a mix-mash of differing laws and how the existing laws should be observed in differing states and cities.

Trump is a simpleton. Simple as that. He is a smart simpleton - he knows how to tap into the insecurities of the American people but his responses are simplistic and stupid. He has alienated more people than he has gained in the US electorate. His presidency is one of the most unpopular in US History - 60% look upon Trump's presidency unfavourably. I suspect he will lose the mid-term election, badly.

[BigP]

""He is a smart simpleton - ""

One or the other Brian, You cant have it both ways,, you are starting to sound a little simple yourself

[sprintcyclist]

..............Here are just a few likely outcomes had Mrs. Clinton won:

• An explosion in government funding for abortion.

• The LGBT political agenda on steroids, with the Justice Department attacking Christian business people who won’t bow to Baal.

• Tax increases — not a tax cut — to fund a vast expansion of nanny government.

• Obamacare morphing into a single-payer, socialist government monopoly.

• Federal agencies like the EPA and the IRS re-weaponized against political opponents.

• More radical judges like Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Elena Kagan and Sonia Sotomayor. Maybe even Chai Feldblum on the Supreme Court.

• Hordes of new federal bureaucrats drawn from the ranks of MoveOn.org, NARAL, the ACLU, the Human Rights Campaign and the Women’s March.

• “Pink hat day” throughout the federal government on Planned Parenthood founder Margaret Sanger’s birthday. (No reported plan; it just makes sense.)

• Massive illegal immigration, along with the Justice Department attacking states that have strong voter ID laws.

• A shutdown of all inquiries into Clinton corruption, such as missing emails, Russian money flowing into the Clinton Foundation or the Clinton-Russian connection in the 2016 election.

• A naive foreign policy that would have emboldened Russia, China, North Korea and Iran to test American resolve...................

yep, that is straight out of the aust labor party here

[BigP]

As a person I dont have a lot of time for him, But he gets things done and I would give him my vote