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I voted for him, yes, and given the same choices I’d do so again, but he’s making an ass of himself. Maybe that’s not entirely true because he’s behaving much the same way he did through the primaries, so I guess he already was an ass and he’s just reinforcing that general perception. When he actually governs I like what he does, but his personality blocks his agenda.
Cruz was my choice, but Trump won the nomination. During the primaries and general election campaign I wrote columns critical of Donald Trump and my conservative readership reacted. Some agreed. Others said Trump was the only candidate strong enough to kick butt in Washington — both Democrat and Republican butts — as necessary. I agreed that was indeed necessary, and Trump seemed fearless — unaffected and unintimidated by whatever criticism media directed to him. He’d throw it right back and that’s why he won. But is he really as fearless as he seemed?
A truly tough leader would stick to his battle plan, would expect criticism, and wouldn't let it knock him off track. But maybe voters overestimated Trump’s strength. We’re still in the early rounds of this long fight, but the left and the media — which are one and the same — are getting to him. They haven’t landed any solid punches because there’s no evidence of collusion with the Russians, but they’re playing a head game with Trump and it’s working. He’s not sticking to his fight plan. The criticism is affecting him, bigly. The Hillary campaign focused entirely on Trump’s temperament, but she lost because of her own flaws. It’s ironic now that she was right about his temperament. It’s tripping him up.
Senior advisor Steve Bannon said last February at CPAC that: “[C]orporatist, globalist media… are adamantly opposed -- adamantly opposed to an economic nationalist agenda like Donald Trump has… If you think they're going to give you your country back without a fight, you are sadly mistaken. Every day -- every day, it is going to be a fight.”
Bannon was absolutely right. He said then that he believed Trump would stick to his agenda through it all, but I wonder what he’s thinking now. Are the rumors of Bannon’s reduced influence true? I have no inside information, but I don’t think Trump has been acting on Bannon’s advice during the past couple of months. I’ll bet Bannon is trying to channel Will Rogers, whose sage advice was: “Never miss a good chance to shut up.” Most of us who voted for him wish Trump would just shut up — and put his phone away too. Don’t tweet until you first consult with advisors.
Is Trump really as tough as he pretends to be? Perhaps, but with many braggarts there’s a deep-seated, inferiority complex under a brusque persona. He can’t point to positive opinion polls the way he did in the primaries, and from which he drew energy. Media onslaught against him since his inauguration has been unprecedented and relentless — and he’s not handling it well at all. A recently-released study on Trump’s first 100 days from Harvard Kennedy School’s Shorenstein Center on Media, Politics and Public Policy claims he got three times more media coverage than previous presidents — and 80% of it has been negative.
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| Harvard's Kennedy School of Government study |
Fox News was the most balanced, but even their coverage was slightly more negative than positive. O’Reilly and Hannity were unequivocally with Trump, but the rest were either lukewarm or against him. It’s not too late to get back on track. The foreign trip is helping and Trump is sticking to script, mostly. Let’s hope that continues.
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| Harvard's Kennedy School of Government study |
When he was negotiating real estate deals, Trump dealt with people who wanted to do business with him. If he expressed annoyance they would be inclined to compromise, but it’s not like that in politics. Political enemies on the left are not moved by petulance. They’re persuaded only by massive public support of the kind Ronald Reagan had. They’re not seeing that behind Trump so they’re obstructing him wherever they can. They rely on their media army to portray the November election as illegitimate. They’ve relentlessly charged that Trump won only because the Russians helped him. That there is no evidence to support this after almost a year of investigation — zip, zero, nada — doesn’t deter them in the least.
I don’t know this but I’d guess that Trump hasn’t played much poker. The left is bluffing. It has nothing, but as Cool Hand Luke said in the famous movie by that name: “Sometimes nothing can be a real cool hand.”
Especially if you’re playing against the fragile ego of Donald J. Trump.
24 comments:
Tom seems to believe that it is the duty of the media to balance out the negatives with the positives when dealing with politicians. What is this, little league soccer where you don't keep score but everybody "wins"? We have to treat everybody "fair", with a good story for every bad story, no matter what the actions of the politician? So Nixon, during Watergate, should have had as many positive stories as negative? That is wacky thinking. If a politician makes a ton of bone-headed moves and statements (and tweets), then they are going to get a ton of negative press. Are you really arguing that Trump has not done this? And of course he is getting way more press coverage than others, the guy an attention-craving, media whore. His words and actions demand press coverage. Do you deny this too? Whining about bad press with Trump is just dopey. Will anything come of the investigation? We will see.
As for your statement "They’ve relentlessly charged that Trump won only because the Russians helped him." Tat is just a stupid thing to say. I listen to a LOT of media, many of which you would classify as "liberal". I have NEVER hear anyone claim that he only won because of Russia's help. (although I did hear many say it ma have helped). Big difference to people who believe in honesty. But I guess like Trump, his followers have alternate facts.
You post this drivel as "anonymous"? Very brave of you. Tom has not exactly painted Trump as his hero here. I still think that even with his uncontrolled, impetuous mouth, he is a far superior American and man than Barack Hussein Islamobama.
The media shouldn’t be blamed for reporting on all the self-inflicted wounds Trump and his White House team have caused, because news coverage doesn’t exist in a vacuum. News coverage revolves around ... news.
Trump’s presidency is, without qualification, a chaotic mess, so his press coverage ought to reflect that.
By wrapping his agenda in radical initiatives, lashing out wildly at his enemies, and generally conducting himself like an adolescent, Trump has provided pundits with scant opportunities to praise him, or to portray him as presidential. The fawning, low-bar coverage of his speech to Congress proved that if given a chance to swoon over Trump, journalists will gladly do so.
Some complain that President Barack Obama received much less negative coverage than Trump has received at the start of their respective presidencies.
But here’s the thing. During his first weeks in office, Obama did not issue an unconstitutional travel ban, fire the acting attorney general, assail a department store chain after it stopped selling his daughter’s products, insist millions of illegal votes were cast in the general election, obsess over the size of his inauguration crowd, conduct foreign policy via tweets, give a political operative a full seat on the National Security Council, accuse his Oval Office predecessor of wiretapping him, fire his national security adviser after he lied about contacts with Russian officials, fire the FBI director in charge of investigating him, invite Russians into a meeting with no US reporters allowed and spill some secrets, and spend most of his weekends at a Florida resort.
https://www.mediamatters.org/blog/2017/03/07/theres-obvious-reason-why-trump-has-gotten-some-negative-coverage/215578
And I have seen positive media reports concerning his distancing himself from that nasty schlub Bannon.
1. Trump is an extremely flawed personality. A narcissist with a sensitive ego, shallow understanding of most issues, and prone to change his mind very easily.
2. Trump is used to being a business executive where he can boss people around. This works in the business world but it does not work in politics, where an ability to negotiate, compromise, and form winning coalitions is far more important.
3. Bannon is still around but he has been marginalized. Trump listens to Kushner more these days.
4. Russia-gate has been hyped up by Democrats and the liberal press since November 8th as a way to explain their loss. Evidence of the hacking is still suspect, although the intelligence agencies have come down that Russia was involved. No proof that it affected the outcome of the election. And even less proof that their was collusion between the Russians and Trump's campaign.
5. The Democrats and liberal press are clearly out to get him. The coverage has been extremely biased. Of course, Trump gives them plenty of ammunition, tweeting or saying something stupid on a regular basis.
6. Russia-gate splits on partisan lines. The Democrats currently do not have any power to do anything. There will be no impeachment unless enough Republicans change side. Not going to happen at this point.
7. Trump's core supporters still support him.
8. It is far too early to judge his presidency at 100 days. 2 years will be a better indicator.
He'll never make it two years without imploding completely.
The last president to have such an adversary relationship with the press was Nixon. Conincidence? Trump is not alone about not being happy with how the press "unfairly" treat him. Others who I'm sure were not pleased were Larry Craig, Spitzer, and Weiner. That darned mean, unfair press! They should have also published stories about how Weiner, along with his sexting, also was nice to his cat.
God it must be so hard to be a good little partisan minion and stand by this corrupt, ineffective, dishonest, petulant little brat of a man. It is hilarious for free-thinkers to witness!
So every President should get "balanced" coverage from the media? Half positive, half negative? So all Presidents are the same, half good, half bad? What kind of thinking is that? Should the Red Sox always get balanced coverage as well? 10 game win streak, 10 game losing streaking, win the World Series, ball under Buckner's leg, whatever. Half positive stories, half negative. If not we should whine about "unfair" coverage.
Funny how Media ratings and sales of papers like the NY Times and the Washington Post have skyrocketed since Trump's assault on them, and his assault on the truth.
And when even Faux News feels compelled to report on Trump's endless negatives, then you know just how unbelievably, laughable, terrible, mockery of a job he is doing. The media loves a train wreck because they know such things fascinate people.
From one of the classiest Presidents in history to the absolutely least classy, from that that cares about the country to one that only cares about himself - the difference could not be more stark.
I wonder which one it is that has Trump so rattled about the Russia investigation that he is trying to stop it....is it the zip, is it the zero, or is it the nada? The poker analogy falls flat - you can't bluff somebody who knows they have done no wrong. He is panicked for a reason, and we'll have to wait and see if it gets revealed.
The Saudis love him, Israel loves him, Liberty University loves him, the military loves him, labor unions love him, and many blacks love him, and as far as his meeting with the Pope goes, Trump is by far a better politician than the latter who is always trying to find favor with the liberals.
What's more to like about Trump? His budget defunds Planned Parenthood, illegal immigration is way down with MS-13 is running for cover, we have more jobs, and the stock market hasn't tanked - it's doing fine so far, but money makes the world go round, and Wall Street isn't on best terms with Main Street. Defense spending is up. And you know that the Russian hoax is going to blow up in the face of the libtards.
The swamp is deep.
My two centavos. ;=)
Yes, the swamp is deep and getting deeper. Despite that, everybody loves Trump. Everybody. Just ask him, he'll tell you. And Trump NEVER lies. Ever.
There must be no evidence concerning Russia, or Tom would have been notified as he is in the loop.
There is a reason that Trump's approval rating is as low as the ground that Bannon slithers on. Lots of reasons.
A company has released a GPS with President Trump's voice as a navigator. It doesn't guide you anywhere. It just keeps reminding you that he won the Electoral College.
"There must be evidence," "There is a reason..." and other baseless platitudes. You libturds belong to the party of "what ifs," "There must be a reason," "and I have no evidence, but it must be true because Trump is such a jerk." Everything is just pure theory for you perverts.
Sometimes nothing is a real cool hand?
Well, to a certain audience...yes.
Mr. Poe, and Mr.Hitchcock, were masters at it.
I hear about Mr. Trump posting something on the (social media)Hello Kitty of the internet, "provoking" loud,expert, interpretive commentary from "sources" that are meaningless (to me anyway)
I call it the Mars Attacks ploy. Simply playing "Indian Love Call" makes their heads explode inside their personal environmental bubble, for ALL to see.
(Admittedly, keeps the mess down)
It's good to keep my hand in counting up the logical fallacies, projected APA mental disorders, "borderline" psychopathy.
Good thing you have experience with teenage, student, logic in the class room, only to repeat the same process with each successive lesson.
I guess any opportunity for misplacing surrogate outrage really does sell.
Kinda' pitiful when it's in a "free" blog, or "Letter to the Editor".
Keep hammerin' Mr. M.
CaptDMO
How could the dim-witted Anon above have a problem with the statement that there is a reason for Trump's dismal approval rating? The obvious reason is that he is doing a crappy job, but of course there are reasons. And I don't know where he got the "there must be evidence" statement. Everything is just theory? Kind of like the money wasting, failed investigations into Benghazi and Whitewater. I'd be willing to be more will come out these Russia investigations than in those other investigations. Or how about those dopey "lock her up" chants? Someone may get locked up, but it sure won't be Hillary.
Interesting that all the traits Trump supporters thought he had turn out to be weaknesses.
Tough? Far from it. An ego as fragile as Trump's is a sign of absolute weakness. Blustering, whining and name calling are not signs of strength, but the same weak traits that adolescents have.
Smart? He has shown no signs of this at all since taking office, but has continued to say and tweet and do incredibly stupid things. He seems to have no common sense.
A deal maker? Laughable. He needs to go back and read "his" book that was ghost written for him. And then have somebody explain it in simple, simple terms. Forbes has a column on Trump's deal-making shortcomings. https://www.forbes.com/sites/maggiemcgrath/2017/04/06/the-master-negotiator-a-look-at-trumps-dealmaking-history/#1ba9b2ca1ba9
He "tells it like it is". By far the most laughable of all. Just start with the "biggest electoral win", the crowd size, "no administration has accomplished more in 90 days", "all pipelines now have to be American steel", "Bernie was cut-off from using the term fake news", "the murder rate is highest in 47 years", "only 109 people were effected" by his bumbling travel order, "Americans don't care about my taxes", "the NY Times apologized for it's bad treatment of me", .....I could go on and on and on and on.
It really is harder to find something Trump said that is true then finding a lie. Amazing.
Trump's horrendous approval ratings would be absolutely minuscule if it were not for the lies and brainwashing coming out of the far right media machine (Fox News, the Drudge Report, Breitbart, The Blaze, Rush, Hannity, etc)
But alternate facts can only get you so far. The truth always wins out in the end. If you think Trump is squirming now, it has only just begun.
Former CIA Director John Brennan testified today that there was contact between President Trump’s campaign and Russian officials.
However, still no contact between Donald and Melania.
Trump, last Fall warned us about an investigation, and a special prosecutor, and trials, and that we might become "a banana republic controlled by large donors and foreign governments.”
These turned out to be about the only campaign promise he’s actually kept.
It’s almost like Donald Trump was a time traveler sent to warn us about himself.
(Courtesy of Seth Meyers)
So nice to see so many Trump fans rushing to his defense here!
At this point, I'm not as worried about Trump's views as I am his mental stability. If you listen to recordings of Trump from 20 years ago and Trump talking off the cuff now, there is a very large difference. 20 years ago, Trump could speak clearly and concisely without having anything written out in advance. If you listen to Trump speak off the cuff recently, he repeats himself constantly, he goes off topic 2 or 3 times per paragraph, and he uses a much, much smaller vocabulary than he did 20 years ago. In short, his talk is frequently rambling and makes no sense.
He is unable to hold a train of thought for more than 30 seconds when he is not in a controlled environment. According to people around him, he changes mood at the drop of a hat. He has an extremely short attention span. His spoken vocabulary is much smaller than it used to be. He uses vague general nouns rather than more specific nouns regularly. He has shown an inability to recognize people that he knew well.
Donald Trump is showing some signs of Alzheimer's Disease. His father died of the disease and President Trump is in his 70's, when Alzheimer's is most likely to strike.
He may or may not have Alzheimer's Disease but his behavior is showing that it is very possible that he does have it. This is a major problem because his base will support him no matter how erratic his behavior becomes. He could strip naked during a press conference and his people will still support him. This means that the Republican members in congress's hands are tied if they want to get reelected.
Within a year or two we could have a man whose cognitive functions are rapidly declining with his finger on the nuclear button and congress unable to do anything about it.
Scenario
Hmm. That's an interesting post. I will check out some old stuff on youtube. I assume I can find it there.
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