Curb Your Authoritarianism? The 2016 Conventional Wisdom Thread (Elections, Part 6)

They have to fill the air somehow, Lord Alfred.

http://edition.cnn.com/2013/01/22/business/opinion-donald-trump-europe/

Donald Trump singing the "false song of globalism" in 2013:

I've long been a believer in the "look at the solution, not the problem" theory. In this case, the solution is clear. We will have to leave borders behind and go for global unity when it comes to financial stability.

Is this possible? Is this a new frontier? Yes and no. There is the fait accompli strategy -- stay under the radar -- and the passive aggressive strategy, acts of terror used to paralyze and so on -- so the bottom line must be balance. Rationality must rule. There are philosophical approaches to economics. However, at this point, we don't so much need philosophy as we need action. Which way to proceed is the question.

You ask about Europe in crisis as an opportunity for investment. I see the world in crisis at the moment. I'm a firm believer that there are always opportunities whether the markets or up or down, but it requires insight and sometimes creativity to see those opportunities. I have no doubt that the balance we need will be achieved, but it won't happen overnight.

Europe is a tapestry that is dense, colorful and deserving of continued longevity and prosperity. There are many pieces that must be carefully fitted together in order to thrive.

Our challenge is to acknowledge those pieces and to see how they can form a whole that works together well without losing any cultural flavor in the process. It's a combination of preservation along with forward thinking.

Europe is a terrific place for investment. I am proud to have built a great golf course in Scotland after searching throughout Europe for five years for the right location. I've seen many beautiful places.

The future of Europe, as well as the United States, depends on a cohesive global economy. All of us must work toward together toward that very significant common goal.

whoa, busted

This Op-Ed is bizarre because I've seen footage of him strongly arguing for protectionist policies and tariffs as far back as the 80s. He was definitely not saying America's economic destiny was bound to the rest of the world then and he certainly isn't saying it now. So did he just flirt with the idea of mutually beneficial trade deals a few years ago? (Now he seems to imply that in every trade partnership one side "beats" the other.) Or did he just have nothing to do with this op-ed but had someone write something that he hoped would encourage European investment?

what on earth makes you think he cares about consistency

Idk i guess he doesn't. But the idea that the US is hemmorhaging money by investing overseas and getting nothing in return has been his main political talking point for like 30 years. That pov seems incommensurable with this "we're in it together" schtick, even if he pays lip service to the eurosceptic concern of countries losing their "cultural flavor."

We are now closer to having an economic community in the best sense of the term -- we work with each other for the benefit of all.
I think we've all become aware of the fact that our cultures and economics are intertwined. It's a complex mosaic that cannot be approached with a simple formula for the correct pattern to emerge. In many ways, we are in unchartered waters.
The good news, in one respect, is that what is done affects us all. There won't be any winners or losers as this is not a competition. It's a time for working together for the best of all involved. Never before has the phrase "we're all in this together" had more resonance or relevance.

wtf

yeah that's the least trump-esque thing i've ever read!

Though I gotta assume some part of his 30% of diehards won't vote, either, because American Ninja Warrior or something is on.

american ninja warrior is a highly entertaining program

That doesn't even sound like him xp

It's cute my nephews call it super hero training

doesn't end every paragraph with "sad!"

there is no fucking way he wrote that op ed

Wow. Jill Stein is an idiot.

Ninja Warrior just started in France and I am stoked. special pit full of rabid foxes added for British contestants yesterday

there is no fucking way he wrote that op ed

― thrusted pelvis-first back (ulysses), Saturday, June 25, 2016 12:14 AM (7 hours ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

I doubt he even read that op ed. Who at CNN was even credulous enough to accept and publish that as a legitimate op ed?

american ninja warrior is a highly entertaining program

T. Rex >>>> Michael Dudikoff

the depravity and cynicism of the religious right in their quest for power never ceases to astound

http://www.politico.com/story/2016/06/donald-trump-james-dobson-evangelicals-224799?cmpid=sf#ixzz4Cbvju38d

related to that note, about Hillary's participation with United Methodist's women's groups:

-Leap year means 29 days in February and also a steady stream of articles fretting that Democrats need to do more explicit “religious outreach.” In the case of a long-time mainline Protestant like Hillary Clinton, that may seem odd until you remember that for cable news, mainline Protestants don’t count. (Their denominations are shrinking, after all, and have been for decades — so much so that these days they barely outnumber white evangelicals.) “Religious outreach” also doesn’t include Jews, Muslims, “nones,” Sikhs, atheists, or any other religious minorities. What it means, apparently, is obsequious gestures specifically intended to mollify white evangelical Christians.

If people believe that because Brexit won, therefore Trump will win, I offer the following:

http://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2016/02/03/2016-electorate-will-be-the-most-diverse-in-u-s-history/

meanwhile the UK electorate is approx 87% white

extinction is coming for the T-rex!
we are disproving evolution!!!

jill stein: "The vote in Britain to exit the European Union (EU) is a victory for those who believe in the right of self-determination and who reject the pro-corporate, austerity policies of the political elites in EU. The vote says no to the EU’s vision of a world run by and for big business."

ha good one dr stein *votes for clinton now*

um, jill?

Pathetic: http://www.commondreams.org/news/2016/06/25/betraying-progressives-dnc-platform-backs-fracking-tpp-and-israel-occupation

ah yes, a victory for the anti-corporate UKIP.

xpost

'That's how I roll'

guys george will has left the republican party ;_;

wasn't expecting him to be more principled than james dobson tbh

Back in May:

Conservative Washington Post columnist George Will is a “major loser,” Donald Trump said Wednesday.
Trump’s response follows Will’s April 29 column in the Post, headlined “If Trump is nominated, the GOP must keep him out of the White House.” Should Trump win the nomination, Will argued, conservatives should help him lose every state in the general election.
“Well, George is a major loser,” Trump told MSNBC’s “Morning Joe” following a victory in Indiana that knocked out Ted Cruz, clearing the way for Trump to win the Republican nomination. “You know, he’s a dour guy. Nobody watches him. Very few people listen to him. It’s over for him, and I never want his support.”
Trump said Will has been writing anti-Trump columns since he announced his campaign last summer and suggested the political commentator is sour over his decision not to attend a speech he gave a decade ago in Mar-a-Lago, Trump's palatial Florida estate.
“You know, I had a run-in with him when I was in civilian life,” Trump said. “I didn’t wanna go to one of his speeches at Mar-a-Lago. He made a speech at Mar-a-Lago, and I find him to be a very boring person. You know, he’s boring and dull, and I didn’t go to the speech.”
Trump insisted he didn’t go because he had no reason to, adding that he wasn’t a politician at the time and didn’t think he’d become one.
“I said I just don’t wanna go, and he wanted me to go. And I just, you know, it was one of those things. I had something else to do,” Trump said. “He never forgot it, and he’s a nasty guy. He’s a very nasty guy. But I have to tell you this: Nobody reads him, he has no influence."
If Will had influence, Trump continued, he wouldn’t be phoning into “Morning Joe” right now as the leading Republican presidential candidate.
“Look, let’s face it, I mean, the guy writes a bad column every time he writes a column. I don’t know how often he writes them. I don’t really know.”

lol @ jill stein, wow
rly plsd we slipped out of the grip of austerity by squeezing out of the eu

You know...um...Trump..... otm?

until David Brooks came along George Will was the Smart Conservative that liberals adduced to show conservatism's intellectualism, so I'm glad both are being set on fire.

I am so shocked by the Dobson thing, I mean...I did not think james dobson did not actually believe in Christ, I just thought he has a very different sense of Christ than I do, which is fine. you know, it's a hard needle to thread sometimes but one you have to accept. I disagree very very strongly w/him on practically everything but I'd never have said "oh, he's just a charlatan bilking people for money and wanting political power, he has no actual beliefs." but for an ostensible religious leader to buy into trump's naked cynicism about being a Christian when he clearly, like glaringly obviously, does not believe, is just...mystifying and rage-inducing for me

political movement that got its start backing reagan over carter in lack of allegiance to christian principles shocker

Asked if he had been consulting with his foreign policy advisers over the British result, Mr. Trump seemed to dismiss advisers as a general class: “Honestly, most of them are no good,” he said. “Let’s go to the 14th!”

I thought he was going to put some great people on it, the best people.

JCLC otm. how anyone with a shred of self-respect can buy into this bald-faced horseshit will remain one of life's greatest mysteries to me. yeah i know i know tribalism and all that. but it has to be insulting to anyone with an IQ over room temp.

and no, it is NOT the same as HRC pretending to be more (or less) progressive than she actually is.

isn't it that, in some sense, the extremity of their evangelicism requires them to take converts at their word and try to help them along? plus all the cynicism and moronicism etc.

There's also a flavor of Envangelicalism that prioritizes the conversion experience, the repentance, so much that for the power of Jesus' name to win over a terrible sinner is more valued than an average person. Really a terrible loophole for just asking con men to come along and get saved. And yes, the community has to throw their doors open to such a person because to do anything else would mean doubting Jesus' power to redeem souls.

Ah sorry much what j said.

i can appreciate that (grew up Southern Baptist), but i'd love to see the response from these camps if Clinton were to claim "born again" status

Dobson types don't consider Methodism or other forms of Protestantism true Christianity or true capitalism.

just asking con men to come along and get saved

being "saved" is itself a con, so you know, like meets like...

really blowin minds there amateurist

Two polls:

http://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/in-new-poll-support-for-trump-plunges-giving-clinton-a-double-digit-lead/2016/06/25/0565bef6-3a31-11e6-a254-2b336e293a3c_story.html

http://www.wsj.com/articles/donald-trump-weathers-stormy-month-loses-only-2-points-versus-hillary-clinton-1466946000

The first comports with what many people think will happen, but it's early.

Latest Ipsos-Reuters poll has it 46.6 Clinton, 33.3 Trump, 20.1 neither.

can't read either due to article limits, good job old media

If past is prologue, then each candidate should improve their numbers after their respective conventions.

If Trump lags similarly badly by mid-September, not only will it indicate a big loss coming, but could easily create a reverse bandwagon with voters jumping off the Trump wagon so as not to be associated with a big loser. They may not jump onto HRC's wagon, but it wouldn't matter. One can hope this comes to pass. It could. He's awful in ways we've never seen in awful candidates before.

The poll, conducted in the immediate aftermath of a massacre in Orlando that was perpetrated by a man who pledged allegiance to the Islamic State, showed Obama’s approval rating at 56 percent — its highest level in Post polling since May 2011, after the killing of Osama bin Laden.

Obama is more popular now than Republicans George W. Bush and George H.W. Bush in the waning months of their presidencies. Although Obama’s approval rating has not reached the level of former Democratic president Bill Clinton’s in 2000, his standing suggests that he could be a relatively effective surrogate for Hillary Clinton on the campaign trail.