Trump, June 2017: From [Covfefe] with Love

he took no questions

yea i'm not going to watch this

Looks like the UK picked the wrong time to hitch its wagon to the Poor Old USA.

the mean attention span is about a tenth of what it was then

it is probably easy to believe that one can accurately estimate an entire population's average attention span when one only pays attention to three things

bold prediction
scott pruitt will become a U.S. senator and he will be even more hatable than ted cruz

savin' that for ilx first mentions but it seems so likely

guys the FP button under Violet Jynx's posts is in the same place as everybody else's posts

please stop confusing being mildly annoying with being hateful, etc.

I can't believe I'm posting this

lol @ Musk throwing a temper tantrum and leaving his "economic councils" as if that counts for shit

I'm glad he's bankrolling Solarcity and Tesla and battery storage projects and space exploration but god he is such a tool

xp I tried that already, it didn't work

one can accurately estimate an entire population's average attention span when one only pays attention to mobile-electronics-obsessed zombies

Don't misrepresent me — I've never said or thought VJ was hateful. I just wish he'd vanish.

^^^

Josh, your basis for argument seems to be that if it's not good enough to get this administration thrown out now, it's not worth bothering with.

I don't know, the GOP congress under Obama was capable enough to hold/fuck things up just for the hell of it, and Trump can with a single fart undo or at least fuck up any sign of progress ... if it's that easy to do a bad job, or just destroy for destruction's sake, then maybe none of it is worth bothering with. Like, to what end? As long as there are people stupid enough to nihilistically turn the clock back, what is the point if it's relatively easy for them to do so? Because even if the congress and White House went blue, they can't just undo the shit Trump is undoing. What's taking him months to destroy was often the product of years of effort. And even if all the investigations take him down, his replacements are just as bad for all the same reasons. And if all of these investigations don't take him down, then ... seriously, why bother? We're doomed.

Trump getting elected period remains just so innately disheartening.

i'm just gonna cast aside any degree of investment in my health and any specific plans for the future. maybe i'll start smoking cigarettes or something. why not?

Because even if the congress and White House went blue, they can't just undo the shit Trump is undoing

be specific, because in many cases they can actually undo the shit he is doing

and let's be really clear here - repealing the ACA, pushing through an insane tax cut, building a wall on the Mexican border, etc. - these are all things with horrible, horrible consequences and it is a good thing that they are being stopped.

Are they being stopped or just seriously slowed? You can't stop something that hasn't happened yet, and I can't tell if they've been stopped or merely stymied by the gross incompetence of this administration.

Oh, and you want specific? OK. How about ... the Paris Climate Accord? Can we just rejoin? Or if some ACA replacement passes in some shape or form in the next few years ... can that just be changed? How about tax cuts, if they ever happen? Good luck getting enough momentum getting tax hikes passed, even if it's just to bring things up to old levels.

Paris Climate Accord? Can we just rejoin?

probably

that's what I'm wondering. US can't actually withdraw until 2020, so if a Dem/non-idiot president wins, can't they just rejoin?

The fuse is a little longer than most, but this is basically a genocidal act. Made out of willful ignorance and spite, by a reality show star.

How widespread was voter revulsion towards Nixon and understanding of what Watergate meant when it went down? Because I only really know from Perlstein tomes, but I get a sense that maybe a lot of people didn't get/care what he'd been doing wrong? Like Trump's apologists now? The only difference is they got Twitter (and he hasn't gone down yet)

Why would the world wait for us to do so? Like Brexit, I assume damage is done.

We can but who would take our word? President Pruitt can withdraw again in 2024.

Or if some ACA replacement passes in some shape or form in the next few years ... can that just be changed?

yes, if the votes in congress are there. ditto taxes (remember the battle over letting Bush's ridiculous tax cuts expire?)

xp

Also what does You can't stop something that hasn't happened yet mean because as a koan its kind of imparsable.

Why would the world wait for us to do so? Like Brexit, I assume damage is done.

they're not going to wait. the other signatories are going to move forward.

How widespread was voter revulsion towards Nixon and understanding of what Watergate meant when it went down? Because I only really know from Perlstein tomes, but I get a sense that maybe a lot of people didn't get/care what he'd been doing wrong? Like Trump's apologists now? The only difference is they got Twitter (and he hasn't gone down yet)

― Who's puttin' sponge in the zings I once zung (stevie), T

A Democratic Congress made a difference. So did two congressional committees and an independent prosecutor quietly accumulating such damning evidence that GOP resistance crumbled. Remember: it was Barry Goldwater who marched into the Oval Office to tell Nixon he had no support in Congress.

xpost Meaning the ACA tax cuts et al. are still on the table. They can still happen. So they haven't been stopped, as such, the way the travel ban has literally been stopped.

Also I'm pretty sure if UK got woke and repealed Brexit the EU would welcome us back like the undeserving shitheel prodigal sons we are

I get that, Alfred - I'm talking in terms of the electorate themselves.

as far as ACA and taxes, the GOP in congress really only has until the end of this summer to make that work, and it doesn't look very likely to happen. The GOP caucuses in the Senate and the House don't agree, they're stymied by the reconciliation rules, and the Dem opposition is totally united. Historically, this is not a recipe for success for massive legislative overhauls, esp w an erratic, incompetent and unpopular President on the sidelines.

by the time next year rolls around, it's going to be mid-terms and GOP numbers are gonna be in the toilet.

A devil's advocate would argue ACA repeal is a prologue to Medicare for all. Terrible for those who get injured/sick from '19 to '22, but ultimately good.

Rejecting the Paris Accords may mean an international consensus with teeth. Universal carbon tariffs on nations who aren't meeting goals set by outside authorities. A better path, going forward.

At present, what's really at danger is American leadership of the free world. America didn't lead through fear, but shared values, and in 2016 it clearly demonstrated its internal political games trump values. That admirational/aspirational acceptance of one nation's leadership didn't come cheaply, and American voters threw it away with little thought, so some could have a tantrum.

the way the travel ban has literally been stopped.

it's not in the SC yet, where it will be upheld 5-4 IMO

re: Russia scandal - tbf the opinions of the electorate don't really matter, it's the opinions of people in Congress and the courts that matter

xp

Sanpaku otm

it's not in the SC yet, where it will be upheld 5-4 IMO

idk about this, we will see

by the time they rule the thing will have expired anyway

That admirational/aspirational acceptance of one nation's leadership didn't come cheaply, and American voters threw it away with little thought, so some could have a tantrum.

I wouldn't get too carried away with that admirational/aspirational thing.

No, or you could equally make the argument that if it could survive Iraq, Afghanistan and Kyoto, it can survive Paris.

America didn't lead through fear, but shared values

Yeah, this is way off.

I'm cool with some other country leading the free world tbh, America is a shitshow

I just got an email suggesting that if the US is withdrawing from Paris Accord others may follow. Would be the big worry right now, wouldn't it?

idk if other countries wanna follow the US's example right now

not gonna happen

Been thinking that America under trump has a lot of nerve thinking it's in any position to police the world.

So hope the idea that nobody wants to follow its lead is prevalent.

the biggest economies - China, India, Europe, etc. - are gonna stay in, they smell money.

Also I'm pretty sure if UK got woke and repealed Brexit the EU would welcome us back like the undeserving shitheel prodigal sons we are

― Who's puttin' sponge in the zings I once zung (stevie), Thursday, June 1, 2017 8:29 PM (one minute ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

Without a shadow of a doubt. But admitting a mistake or u-turning on something is seen as the biggest crime a politician can make. So: so not gonna happen.

I wouldn't get too carried away with that admirational/aspirational thing.

I realize "beacon on the hill" is self-serving rhetoric, but I'm pretty sure the world would be a darker place had the Axis or USSR won. Elites around the world wanted to live in liberal democracies, because they were educated in the US (or UK). Globally, things got better, and global trade flourished, but the pace of change was perhaps too fast for the industrial and agricultural belts in the US. More should have been done to moderate the pace, provide safety nets, and ensure that all the benefits didn't flow to those directing capital flows.

I just got an email suggesting that if the US is withdrawing from Paris Accord others may follow. Would be the big worry right now, wouldn't it?

― Stevolende, Thursday, June 1, 2017 8:39 PM (two minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

Find that hard to believe. Trump basically gave China a golden opportunity, on a silver platter, to join the 'sensible' nations and say: 'we aren't following this nation in decline with an idiot for prez but instead are joining the ranks of nations who want to do good'. And they would be otm.