The Inevitability Of Impeachment

[Nickdfresh]

The Inevitability Of Impeachment
After just one week.
01/29/2017 08:57 pm ET | Updated 7 hours ago
11k

Robert Kuttner
Co-founder and co-editor, ‘The American Prospect’

CARLOS BARRIA / REUTERS
Trump has been trying to govern by impulse, on whim, for personal retribution, for profit, by decree ― as if he had been elected dictator. It doesn’t work, and the wheels are coming off the bus. After a week!

Impeachment is gaining ground because it is the only way to get him out, and because Republicans are already deserting this president in droves, and because the man is psychiatrically incapable of checking whether something is legal before he does it.

Impeachment is gaining ground because it’s so horribly clear that Trump is unfit for office. The grownups around Trump, even the most slavishly loyal ones, spend half their time trying to rein him in, but it can’t be done.

They spend the other half fielding frantic calls from Republican chieftains, business elites and foreign leaders. Trump did what? Poor Reince Priebus has finally attained the pinnacle of power, and it can’t be fun.

It is one thing to live in your own reality when you are a candidate and it’s just words. You can fool enough of the people enough of the time maybe even to get elected. But when you try to govern that way, there is a reality to reality—and reality pushes back.

One by one, Trump has decreed impulsive orders, un-vetted by legal, policy, or political staff, much less by serious planning. Almost immediately he is forced to walk them back by a combination of political and legal pressure—and by reality.

Unlike in the various dictatorships Trump admires, the complex skein of constitutional legal and political checks on tyranny in the United States are holding—just barely at times, but they are holding. And the more reckless Trump’s behavior, the stronger become the checks.

Only with his lunatic effort to selectively ban refugees (but not from terrorist-sending countries like Saudi Arabia and Egypt where Trump has business interests) has Trump discovered that the American system has courts. It has courts. Imagine that.

The more unhinged he becomes, the less will conservative judges be the toadies to ordinary Republican policies that they too often have been. Anybody want to wager that the Supreme Court will be Trump’s whore?

In the past week, Republicans from Mitch McConnell on down have tripped over each other rejecting his view of Putin. They have ridiculed his screwball claim of massive voter fraud.

They are running for cover on how to kill ObamaCare without killing patients or Republican re-election hopes. This is actually complicated, and nuance is not Trump’s strong suit. Rep Tom McClintock of California spoke for many when he warned:

“We’d better be sure that we’re prepared to live with the market we’ve created” with repeal, said Rep. Tom McClintock. (R-Calif.)

“That’s going to be called Trumpcare. Republicans will own that lock, stock and barrel, and we’ll be judged in the election less than two years away.”

Sen. Lindsey Graham, mocking Trump’s own nutty tweeting habits, sent out a tweet calling a trade war with Mexico “mucho sad.”

Trump’s own senior staff has had to pull him back from his ludicrous crusade against Mexico and Mexicans, where Trump forces the Mexican president to cancel an official visit one day, and spends an hour on the phone kissing up the next day.

Trump proposed to reinstate torture, but key Republican leaders killed that idea. Sen. John Thune (S.D.), the Senate’s third ranking Republican said Wednesday that the ban on torture was settled law and the Republicans in Congress would oppose any reinstatement. Trump’s own defense secretary holds the same view. After blustering out his new torture policy, Trump meekly agreed to defer to his defense advisers.

All this in just a week! Now capped by federal judges starting to rein him in.

Two weeks ago, in this space, just based on what we witnessed during the transition, I wrote a piece calling for a citizens impeachment panel, as a shadow House Judiciary Committee, to assemble a dossier for a Trump impeachment, and a citizens’ campaign to create a public impeachment movement.

In the two weeks since then, Free Speech for People has launched a citizens’ campaign to impeach Trump. About 400,000 people have already signed the impeachment petition.

The bipartisan group Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, (CREW) has been conducting a detailed investigation. Senior legal scholars associated with CREW have filed a detailed legal brief in their lawsuit, documenting the several ways Trump is in violation of the Emoluments Clause, which prohibits a president from profiting from the actions of foreign governments.

There are already plenty of other grounds for impeachment, including Trump’s putting his own business interests ahead of the country’s and his weird and opportunistic alliance with Vladimir Putin bordering on treason. A lesser-known law that goes beyond the Emoluments Clause is the STOCK Act of 2012, which explicitly prohibits the president and other officials from profiting from non-public knowledge.

Impeachment, of course, is a political as well as a legal process. The Founders designed it that way deliberately. But after just a week in office, not only has Trump been deserting the Constitution; his partisan allies are deserting him.

Despite his creepy weirdness, Republicans at first thought they could use Trump for Republican ends. But from his embrace of Putin to his sponsorship of a general trade war, this is no Republican. One can only imagine the alarm and horror being expressed by Republicans privately.

In 1984, the psychiatrist Otto Kernberg described a sickness known as Malignant Narcissism. Unlike ordinary narcissism, malignant narcissism was a severe pathology.

It was characterized by an absence of conscience, a pathological grandiosity and quest for power, and a sadistic joy in cruelty.

Given the sheer danger to the Republic as well as to the Republicans, Trump’s impeachment will happen. The only question is how grave a catastrophe America faces first.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/the-inevitability-of-impeachment_us_588e8d52e4b0b065cbbcd09f

[Va Beach VH Fan]

Basically a waste of a column....

No way on The Invisible Man's green earth that a Republican-ruled Congress would even consider impeachment proceedings....

I don't even think they would do that if (when?) evidence is discovered directly linking Trump to the Russians....

[twonabomber]

The Dems couldn't get W impeached.

The Repubs couldn't get Obama impeached.

This isn't going to happen.

[Von Halen]

Come on guys, quit raining on NickDickless' parade.

It's just too comical to watch the mentally ill call Trump mentally ill.

[FORD]

ImOrangeMent™

[Nickdfresh]

Basically a waste of a column....

No way on The Invisible Man's green earth that a Republican-ruled Congress would even consider impeachment proceedings....

I don't even think they would do that if (when?) evidence is discovered directly linking Trump to the Russians....

Republicans did impeach Nixon, knowing they had Ford to take over and knowing if they didn't they would look like a joke...

[Nitro Express]

Come on guys, quit raining on NickDickless' parade.

It's just too comical to watch the mentally ill call Trump mentally ill.

The Democrats lost 1000 seats this last election. Just a bunch of crybabies making a lot of noise because they lost a lot of elections. It's all partisan crying too. Nobody on the left cried fowl when Obama pulled the rug out on Cuban refuges. So go ahead and cry and even riot. We don't give a shit.

[Nitro Express]

The Dems couldn't get W impeached.

The Repubs couldn't get Obama impeached.

This isn't going to happen.

Bill got impeached and it didn't mean a thing. He still stayed in office and finished his term.

[Nitro Express]

Come on guys, quit raining on NickDickless' parade.

It's just too comical to watch the mentally ill call Trump mentally ill.

The Democrat Party alienated it's traditional base and it's only strategy is to double down and do more of what made them lose. In short it's full of delusional people and is now in the early stages of self-destructing and it's crying loudly past the graveyard.

[FORD]

The Democrats lost 1000 seats this last election.

No, they didn't. They lost 1,000 seats (in a total of local, state, and national races) between 2010 and 2016, thanks to the incompetence of Debbie Scatterbrained Lush as DNC party chair. (And Tim Kaine before her wasn't much better)

[Nitro Express]

http://www.motherjones.com/kevin-drum/2014/03/if-democrats-want-appeal-working-class-they-really-need-some-policies-benefit-wor

Appealing to the fringe isn't going to cut it. People want a job and they want opportunities to grow. When you are in the iron workers union and your party is paying more attention to transvestite rights you kind of go, they have lost their minds and start looking elsewhere. Bill Clinton once said "It's about Jobs". Bill was right. People who go to work is still the base of the voting population. Most people aren't going to be ultra driven but they want a comfortable place to live, something reliable to drive, and the beer of their choice in their hand. Most people also want to the freedom to do whatever the hell they want if it isn't a menace to others. Sorry. People don't like a lot of regulations and they hate political correctness. The fringe is into these things. Usually control freaks. Middle America doesn't give a damn.

[Seshmeister]

Is Mike Pence not on the fringe then?

[Nitro Express]

Is Mike Pence not on the fringe then?

He might be considered so in San Francisco or Seattle but not so much in the fly over counties and that's where Trump won. A pro life Christian is considered less extreme than someone who wants a transvestite to be able to use the ladies restroom. In fact Trump picked Pence because he's more conservative than Trump. Trump would be more of a libertarian. He's not so much into social issues and that was alienating him from the base he needed votes from so you find a guy like Pence. You have to do the song and dance for the audience you are playing for. I don't think Trump would have gotten the votes he needed without Mike Pence. He needed some religion to make up for his pussy grabbing self.

[FORD]

Mike Pence is the Catholic version of Ted Cruz - a dominionist Christian sharia law Theocratic fascist.

Presumably making up for his previous life as half of the first gay couple on TV......

http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-cxxJ4xvaRg4/UxFMDVxqa1I/AAAAAAAAByU/2fTe7wI_iBc/s1600/5Bfig.png

[Nitro Express]

Mike Pence is the Catholic version of Ted Cruz - a dominionist Christian sharia law Theocratic fascist.

Presumably making up for his previous life as half of the first gay couple on TV......

http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-cxxJ4xvaRg4/UxFMDVxqa1I/AAAAAAAAByU/2fTe7wI_iBc/s1600/5Bfig.png

You mean we have Race Bannon for VP? Holy shit! How cool is that? So I guess Trump will be rolling out them hover craft things from Area 51 soon.

[Von Halen]

A pro life Christian is considered less extreme than someone who wants a transvestite to be able to use the ladies restroom.

Exactly!

[cadaverdog]

Republicans did impeach Nixon, knowing they had Ford to take over and knowing if they didn't they would look like a joke...
Nixon was impeached after he resigned.

[Va Beach VH Fan]

Republicans did impeach Nixon, knowing they had Ford to take over and knowing if they didn't they would look like a joke...


You can't seriously compare the Republican Party of 1972-1974 to today's Republican Party....

[cadaverdog]

A pro life Christian is considered less extreme than someone who wants a transvestite to be able to use the ladies restroom.
Not if you're a liberal.

[WARF]

Huffington Post is FAKE news organization consisting of an all white female staff between the ages of 25-40.

Trump will have 8 years to fix the mess the Obama administration made.

http://prntly.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/FB_IMG_1463846545589.jpg

[cadaverdog]

You can't seriously compare the Republican Party of 1972-1974 to today's Republican Party....
As I said in the previous post Nixon was impeached after he resigned and they probably knew Ford was gonna pardon him anyway. Made them look bipartisan without actually doing anything bipartisan.

[Terry]

The Democrat Party alienated it's traditional base and it's only strategy is to double down and do more of what made them lose. In short it's full of delusional people and is now in the early stages of self-destructing and it's crying loudly past the graveyard.

Those same claims were made in 1968, 1972, 1980, 1984, 1994 and 2002.

And the same claims were made about the Republican Party as recently as 2006 and 2008.

[Terry]

The Dems couldn't get W impeached.

The Repubs couldn't get Obama impeached.

This isn't going to happen.

Trump has a lot of latitude to do what he sees fit considering we are still in a seemingly never ending "War On Terror!!!"

Who knows what still lies in wait regarding Trump's business holdings and dealings? Or the Russian hacking and what other dossiers have as yet to come to light?

I'd tend to think the Republicans in Congress will try to get as much mileage in the form of legislation out of Trump (unless he plans to rule solely via Executive Order) before they would even consider impeaching him. And even then, nothing Trump has done thus far would rise to the level of impeachment. Will he eventually (if not sooner) overreach? Absolutely.

Ryan and McConnell would be just as happy - and probably happier - to see Pence installed as President as they would be to keep Trump.

In three years, if the economy is still chugging along at 1-2% growth, unemployment hasn't spiked in a substantial way, gas is under $3 a gallon and no personal scandals or foreign blunders come to pass, Trump will probably win a 2nd term. He's going to have to fuck up in a far more substantial way than some think he has thus far to get removed. And if it came down to that, it wouldn't shock me if Trump was willing to do what Nixon wouldn't, which is use the United States Armed Forces as a barrier to physical removal under his command.

[Kristy]

Basically a waste of a column....

No way on The Invisible Man's green earth that a Republican-ruled Congress would even consider impeachment proceedings....

I don't even think they would do that if (when?) evidence is discovered directly linking Trump to the Russians....
You need to stop sucking on the flaccid orange dick that mocks the freedoms you stand for. You seriously believe that everyone in the corrupt GOP likes Trump? That can't wait to laugh their cocks off when he fails.

And he will.

[Von Halen]

You need to stop sucking on the flaccid orange dick that mocks the freedoms you stand for. You seriously believe that everyone in the corrupt GOP likes Trump? That can't wait to laugh their cocks off when he fails.

And he will.

No he won't. You'd love him too, to justify your own failed drug addicted existence, you feeble minded fool.

[Kristy]

So what exaclty are you trying to say here, Vonny?

That you and the 'faggerslob have both come out of the closet?



FINALLY.

[Nitro Express]

Not if you're a liberal.

That's what I'm getting at. What has polarized the country is those kind of issues. My dad's side of the family was Democrat because they all belonged to unions and my mom's side of the family were Republican because they were very independent minded farmers and ranchers. To be honest I really didn't see much difference in them. They all went to church in Sunday and were religious. They all had a killer work ethic. They all hated communism and were patriots. They just differed on who they voted for on the ballot because of how they made their livings. Voting your pocket book if you will. Nowadays social issues tend to be the dividing point. Each side are pretty extreme from the other. Hell if you went up to your average Jimmy Carter Democrat in the 70's and said I think gays should get married they would think you were nuts and if you said I think a man should have the right to become a woman if he chooses to they might be locking you up in a padded cell or at least suggesting some serious couch time. Democrats became progressives and to many it's a real freak show. My friends in Hong Kong think they are certifiably nuts. They come to San Francisco and they go to London and think the west has lost it's mind.

[Nitro Express]

You need to stop sucking on the flaccid orange dick that mocks the freedoms you stand for. You seriously believe that everyone in the corrupt GOP likes Trump? That can't wait to laugh their cocks off when he fails.

And he will.

Hell almost everyone who has held the office in my lifetime has failed. My whole life I've just watched the federal government get bigger, more incompetent as our national debt grows and more Get Out of Jail Free cards for the insider crooks.

[Nitro Express]

Huffington Post is FAKE news organization consisting of an all white female staff between the ages of 25-40.

Trump will have 8 years to fix the mess the Obama administration made.

http://prntly.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/FB_IMG_1463846545589.jpg

They all probably own a big black dildo.

[Nitro Express]

Trump has a lot of latitude to do what he sees fit considering we are still in a seemingly never ending "War On Terror!!!"

Who knows what still lies in wait regarding Trump's business holdings and dealings? Or the Russian hacking and what other dossiers have as yet to come to light?

I'd tend to think the Republicans in Congress will try to get as much mileage in the form of legislation out of Trump (unless he plans to rule solely via Executive Order) before they would even consider impeaching him. And even then, nothing Trump has done thus far would rise to the level of impeachment. Will he eventually (if not sooner) overreach? Absolutely.

Ryan and McConnell would be just as happy - and probably happier - to see Pence installed as President as they would be to keep Trump.

In three years, if the economy is still chugging along at 1-2% growth, unemployment hasn't spiked in a substantial way, gas is under $3 a gallon and no personal scandals or foreign blunders come to pass, Trump will probably win a 2nd term. He's going to have to fuck up in a far more substantial way than some think he has thus far to get removed. And if it came down to that, it wouldn't shock me if Trump was willing to do what Nixon wouldn't, which is use the United States Armed Forces as a barrier to physical removal under his command.

Too soon to tell. The man has only been in office a week. The guy is an outsider. That's what the insiders on both sides of the isle fear the most. Most these politicians believe in nothing. They have no ideology. If they were true public servants they wouldn't get rich while serving in office and stay there for 30 plus years. They don't know what to think about Trump. The guy had a pretty nice lifestyle without all the flack he gets now. Sure he's president but he seems to be there to to change Washington and he seems to have ran because he was frustrated the politicians were going to finally make us a socialist country smothered with regulations while we sink as an economic super power. Trump wants a pro-business America. Not one filled with government gatekeepers and red tape. He's the anti-socialist small government guy. The establishment politicians on the left and right have many reasons to hate this guy. Trump is going to be very disruptive. It will be four to eight years of non-stop crying and finger pointing. Will he be so gung ho as to get himself in trouble like Nixon did? Who knows. All I know is the guy seems like a very hard worker. Seems to be a strategic thinker who thinks outside the box. Seems to be absolutely fearless. One thing for sure. Trump is not business as usual and that scares people more than anything.

[cadaverdog]

.
He's going to have to fuck up in a far more substantial way than some think he has thus far to get removed. And if it came down to that, it wouldn't shock me if Trump was willing to do what Nixon wouldn't, which is use the United States Armed Forces as a barrier to physical removal under his command.
Nixon resigned. He left office voluntarily. Do you have any proof he even considered using the military to stay in office or is that more liberal propaganda?

[Nickdfresh]

Nixon resigned. He left office voluntarily. Do you have any proof he even considered using the military to stay in office or is that more liberal propaganda?

Um, at some point the military was ready to drop kick him, too....

[cadaverdog]

Um, at some point the military was ready to drop kick him, too....
His biggest crime was cheating in the election and trying to cover it up.

15745

[Nitro Express]

Nixon didn't enrich himself while in office. He kept his hand out of the cookie jar. He also was a geopolitical genius. Nixon's patriotism drove him to act like a dictator and break rules and he got in trouble as a result. Nixon is an interesting study.

[Nickdfresh]

His biggest crime was cheating in the election and trying to cover it up.

15745

Maybe, but at least some generals thought he was a Byzantine, double-dealing cunt for his ruthless calculating at the end of Vietnam...

[cadaverdog]

Maybe, but at least some generals thought he was a Byzantine, double-dealing cunt for his ruthless calculating at the end of Vietnam...
I was kind of shocked when I heard he thought about using nukes several times while he was in office.

[Nitro Express]

I was kind of shocked when I heard he thought about using nukes several times while he was in office.

I never heard that one. I heard Kissinger had to take over because Nixon was mentally and physically incapable of running the presidency and they hid it from the pubic.

I ran into G Gordon Liddy while in Scottsdale, Arizona. A family friend was an old Hoover era FBI agent so I got to shoot the shit with G Gordon about the old Hoover FBI. I never brought up Watergate.

[Nickdfresh]

He was becoming more and more unhinged...

[Nitro Express]

People who worked for Nixon said the man had a photographic memory. He remembered your birthday and remembered the name of your wife and sometimes your kids. If you were sick and didn't make it to a staff meeting Nixon often would call you to see how you were doing. He liked his silver bullet martinis as well and could play something like nine instruments. The guy was pretty amazing but then very flawed. Seems to have had an inferiority complex in a way. One of his former staff said he got paranoid. Maybe the stress got to him and he cracked.

[FORD]

His biggest crime was cheating in the election and trying to cover it up.

15745

Not even remotely close.....

http://24.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_lpskxdgRXz1qjih96o1_500.jpg
POPPY: Dick, I just want to thank you again, for all the things you did for my daddy...

http://www.jfkmurdersolved.com/images/prescott-nixon.jpg
PRESCOTT: Dick you're one of us now. You are officially BCE! Hey Jack, don't the hat look great on him??

Jack?? Who's the "Jack" in between Nixon & Prescott there, you might ask??

Well here's a clue.......

http://threeshotswerefired.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/03/ruby-and-nixon.jpg

He would later relocate to Dallas.... where he would eventually be known for hanging around the local police department at the damndest times......

[Terry]

Too soon to tell. The man has only been in office a week. The guy is an outsider. That's what the insiders on both sides of the isle fear the most. Most these politicians believe in nothing. They have no ideology. If they were true public servants they wouldn't get rich while serving in office and stay there for 30 plus years. They don't know what to think about Trump. The guy had a pretty nice lifestyle without all the flack he gets now. Sure he's president but he seems to be there to to change Washington and he seems to have ran because he was frustrated the politicians were going to finally make us a socialist country smothered with regulations while we sink as an economic super power. Trump wants a pro-business America. Not one filled with government gatekeepers and red tape. He's the anti-socialist small government guy. The establishment politicians on the left and right have many reasons to hate this guy. Trump is going to be very disruptive. It will be four to eight years of non-stop crying and finger pointing. Will he be so gung ho as to get himself in trouble like Nixon did? Who knows. All I know is the guy seems like a very hard worker. Seems to be a strategic thinker who thinks outside the box. Seems to be absolutely fearless. One thing for sure. Trump is not business as usual and that scares people more than anything.

Trump is definitely not business as usual.

He's certainly not there to give the government back to the people like he claimed: if you live in a democracy, as a citizen you have control of the government via your participation and the ballot box. It's much the same as the concept of freedom: nobody can give you your freedom. You either have it or you don't. If you don't, the only way you get it is to take it back yourself.

Trump's basic, core belief is economic Darwinism. In that people are free to succeed or fail, and via privatization of various human services (education, medical care) coupled with tax breaks for corporations and deregulation, the deck is going to be even more stacked against the majority of the population. Trump divides people into 2 categories: winners and losers. If you're a winner, the ends (even if illegal or unethical) always justify the means you took to get there. If you're a loser, it's 100% your own fault and you shouldn't expect any help from anybody because you are totally to blame for your lot in life even if the capitalist system is by and large rigged against those who aren't already wealthy.

He's a huckster and a con man. Like any huckster or con man, he saw an opening and was able to ride a wave of anger so many in this country justifiably feel because they realize the country isn't being run with their interests in mind. It's being run almost entirely to serve the whims of those at the apex. It always has been, and the only time that has changed is under threat of force from the citizenry, at which point a few more scraps are thrown down from the table than otherwise would be freely given. Sadly, a lot of these understandably frustrated people include foreigners and foreign labor as a cause for their lot in life, rather than being angry at corporations who have outsourced the manufacturing jobs.

Trump was a human Molotov cocktail thrown into the works of government. That's fine as far as it goes, but now Trump has to actually govern. I don't doubt that Trump would prefer not to get himself into trouble as Nixon did. However, Trump is impulsive by nature and has a Reagan-like ability to believe things are so because he thinks they are so. It's kind of like how Trump has stacked his Cabinet with this particular group of anti-regulatory, anti-union, pro-privatization millionaires and billionaires: I'm sure low-income Trump voters will somehow convince themselves these people actually care the slightest about (or could even imagine, much less relate to) their daily concerns or their lives, even though there is no reason for them to believe this is true.

What scares me more about Trump than the fact that he isn't particularly beholden to either of the political parties are his personality traits which, unlike Nixon's, have been unabashedly out front for everybody to see. Just as scary would be the amount of people who voted for him in spite of those traits being in clear view, inasmuch as it speaks to their level of frustration with what has happened to America over the last 35 or so years and the desperate measures they will resort to in responding. Trump is a primal scream.

He has only been in office a week, but look at the rollout of his travel ban. Even putting the legality/morality of it to one side: you roll it out without properly notifying in advance the agencies that will actually have to physically implement the policy? Smacks of impulsive amateurishness just in the mechanics of it, never mind the ideology behind it. If one can't get the small things right, what does that portend for the bigger things? Sure, nobody bats a thousand and nobody is perfect, but the manner in which this was carried out speaks well neither of the President nor those who function as his advisors.

[FORD]

Things are not looking good for Herr Cheetofuhrer.....

http://i1173.photobucket.com/albums/r589/duadmin/170130-trump-smashes-disapproval-record_zps9i5wyc2b.jpg

[Von Halen]

Good. There's been too many years of "yes" men running things. Too many years of ignorant morons that cared more about their approval rating, than actually doing what's best for this Country. That's all changing now. The motherfuckers that are going to get called to the carpet, don't approve. Imagine that. It's like asking the guy walking to the gallows, if he approves of his execution. Trump is going to execute (unfortunately, not literally) the scumbags that fucked this Country up. They know it, they don't like it. They're scared their free ride and reign is over, and it is.

You dumbasses that are crying so loud, will have a long 8 years of crying. Read it and continue weeping.

[FORD]

Geezus.... name ONE thing that Orange Motherfucking Nazi has done in the last 8 days that is "best for this country".

And don't say "pulled out of SHAFTA", because that was already done before Thanksgiving.

[Nitro Express]

Trump is definitely not business as usual.

He's certainly not there to give the government back to the people like he claimed: if you live in a democracy, as a citizen you have control of the government via your participation and the ballot box. It's much the same as the concept of freedom: nobody can give you your freedom. You either have it or you don't. If you don't, the only way you get it is to take it back yourself.

Trump's basic, core belief is economic Darwinism. In that people are free to succeed or fail, and via privatization of various human services (education, medical care) coupled with tax breaks for corporations and deregulation, the deck is going to be even more stacked against the majority of the population. Trump divides people into 2 categories: winners and losers. If you're a winner, the ends (even if illegal or unethical) always justify the means you took to get there. If you're a loser, it's 100% your own fault and you shouldn't expect any help from anybody because you are totally to blame for your lot in life even if the capitalist system is by and large rigged against those who aren't already wealthy.

He's a huckster and a con man. Like any huckster or con man, he saw an opening and was able to ride a wave of anger so many in this country justifiably feel because they realize the country isn't being run with their interests in mind. It's being run almost entirely to serve the whims of those at the apex. It always has been, and the only time that has changed is under threat of force from the citizenry, at which point a few more scraps are thrown down from the table than otherwise would be freely given. Sadly, a lot of these understandably frustrated people include foreigners and foreign labor as a cause for their lot in life, rather than being angry at corporations who have outsourced the manufacturing jobs.

Trump was a human Molotov cocktail thrown into the works of government. That's fine as far as it goes, but now Trump has to actually govern. I don't doubt that Trump would prefer not to get himself into trouble as Nixon did. However, Trump is impulsive by nature and has a Reagan-like ability to believe things are so because he thinks they are so. It's kind of like how Trump has stacked his Cabinet with this particular group of anti-regulatory, anti-union, pro-privatization millionaires and billionaires: I'm sure low-income Trump voters will somehow convince themselves these people actually care the slightest about (or could even imagine, much less relate to) their daily concerns or their lives, even though there is no reason for them to believe this is true.

What scares me more about Trump than the fact that he isn't particularly beholden to either of the political parties are his personality traits which, unlike Nixon's, have been unabashedly out front for everybody to see. Just as scary would be the amount of people who voted for him in spite of those traits being in clear view, inasmuch as it speaks to their level of frustration with what has happened to America over the last 35 or so years and the desperate measures they will resort to in responding. Trump is a primal scream.

He has only been in office a week, but look at the rollout of his travel ban. Even putting the legality/morality of it to one side: you roll it out without properly notifying in advance the agencies that will actually have to physically implement the policy? Smacks of impulsive amateurishness just in the mechanics of it, never mind the ideology behind it. If one can't get the small things right, what does that portend for the bigger things? Sure, nobody bats a thousand and nobody is perfect, but the manner in which this was carried out speaks well neither of the President nor those who function as his advisors.

If Washington DC is a cat. Trump is the kid who stuck the M-80 firecracker up it's ass. Trump is like putting a fire out with explosives. Ha! ha! He did say he made the temporary ban with no warning because if he gave warning the people they are trying to keep out of the country would have come through before they issued the ban. Makes sense. Trump is a capitalist. Yeah he believes you compete in the open arena and you earn what you get. The US has pretty much always been that way but we have crony capitalism and that's not good. It's a cycle. You have free market and then monopolies form and then market crashes and government regulation makes thing more fair. You are never going to have a Utopia. I think the best thing a country can provide from a socialist standpoint is good public schools. I lived in Hong Kong for three years and there was no public school system. It was all private school and if your parents couldn't afford it you didn't go to school and you ended up being a laborer. After seeing that I appreciated the public school system in the US. If a person has a good education and a work ethic, they aren't going to be poor.

[Von Halen]

He's just getting started. Like you said, it's been 8 days. However, in 8 days he's done more, and more good, than Odumbass did in 8 years.

He's got the ball rolling on most of the agenda he campaigned on. He's 8 days into "Making America great again"! Get used to it. You're gonna have 8 years of it! Maybe you'll prosper, and have a better attitude!

[Nitro Express]

Geezus.... name ONE thing that Orange Motherfucking Nazi has done in the last 8 days that is "best for this country".

And don't say "pulled out of SHAFTA", because that was already done before Thanksgiving.

Nazi? You mean he's going to gas Ivanka and her husband and his two son's wives who all are Jews? I get you don't like the guy but Nazi?

[Nitro Express]

He's just getting started. Like you said, it's been 8 days. However, in 8 days he's done more, and more good, than Odumbass did in 8 years.

He's got the ball rolling on most of the agenda he campaigned on. He's 8 days into "Making America great again"! Get used to it. You're gonna have 8 years of it! Maybe you'll prosper, and have a better attitude!

They say he's been working 18-20 hour days. The man puts the hours in.

[Von Halen]

Nazi? You mean he's going to gas Ivanka and her husband and his two son's wives who all are Jews? I get you don't like the guy but Nazi?

It's what they say when they don't have any real negatives to say. It's their crutch. They are like the boy who cried wolf, only dumber.

[Terry]

They say he's been working 18-20 hour days. The man puts the hours in.

Maybe his lack of REM sleep is partly responsible for all of his...er, "tremendous" decisions...

[cadaverdog]

It's what they say when they don't have any real negatives to say. It's their crutch. They are like the boy who cried wolf, only dumber.

More like Chicken Little. Every time President Trump draws another breath they think the sky is falling.

[Nickdfresh]

Maybe his lack of REM sleep is partly responsible for all of his...er, "tremendous" decisions...

Possibly, combined with being a whiny, thin skinned, ignorant, puerile-cunt that's had everything handed to him...

[cadaverdog]

Possibly, combined with being a whiny, thin skinned, ignorant, puerile-cunt that's had everything handed to him...
Jealous?

[Nickdfresh]

Jealous?

Pretty much...

[cadaverdog]

Pretty much...
At least you admit it. I would have like to inherit millions of dollars myself but any rich relatives I have are distant relatives.

[Terry]

Possibly, combined with being a whiny, thin skinned, ignorant, puerile-cunt that's had everything handed to him...

Well, yeah, maybe those things too...;)

[Seshmeister]

At least you admit it. I would have like to inherit millions of dollars myself but any rich relatives I have are distant relatives.

Who knows maybe the close ones will leave you a bunch of bananas. :)

[cadaverdog]

Who knows maybe the close ones will leave you a bunch of bananas. :)

That pretty racist shit right there. Are you insinuating my African American cousins are sub human primates? I don't go around insinuating all Scottish men are skirt wearing cross dressers. They are but I don't go around insinuating that. It wouldn't be PC.

[Seshmeister]

That pretty racist shit right there. Are you insinuating my African American cousins are sub human primates? I don't go around insinuating all Scottish men are skirt wearing cross dressers. They are but I don't go around insinuating that. It wouldn't be PC.

Fuck sake you need to sit down and think about that post, seriously.

I make a joke about you being an ape or not fully evolved and you jump to African Americans??? WTF?

Who mentioned African Americans? You see how deep seated that is in your culture? You think that there is some hierachy of whitey you, African Americans and then apes?

Please think about that and try and move to a better place.

[cadaverdog]

I make a joke about you being an ape or not fully evolved and you jump to African Americans??? WTF?

I'm an ape because I'm not as white as you and the other Caspar the Ghost looking mo fo's that come from 96% white Scotland? I thought you made the bananas remark because I'm a coon ass. It doesn't mean what you think it means honkey.

[vandeleur]

All kinds of wow :)