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EvC Forum Side Orders Coffee House The Trump Presidency

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Author Topic:   The Trump Presidency
Chiroptera
Inactive Member


Message 3278 of 4573 (862073)
08-31-2019 10:20 AM


Krugman: Trump supporters and their own best interests
Yesterday's column by Paul Krugman:
The Frauding of America’s Farmers
I've never bought the notion that so many red state nihilists vote Republican and support Trump because the Democrats have ignored the needs of rural white America.
US conservatives basically want a return to traditional hierarchy (including the traditional racial and gender roles) and the traditional heroic narrative that describes traditional America. The economic problems are more an excuse to allow the racism to be more explicit; the fact that they claim to believe even the most absurd of Republican claims strikes me as a desperate attempt to deny to themselves they're voting for racism and misogyny.
Krugman doesn't quite say all of that, but his line of thinking is in the same direction.
So what were farmers thinking? My guess is that they let the will to believe override their judgment. Trump seemed like their kind of guy. He certainly seemed to share their dislike for urban elites who, they imagined, looked down on people like them. So they convinced themselves that he knew what he was doing, that he would win his trade war and that they would be among the victors sharing the spoils.
Edited by Chiroptera, : Handwriting recognition keeps spelling krugman with lower case k. <- See?

Hard as it is to fathom, Mr President, just because you’re the leader of the free world doesn’t entitle you to a free pass. Unfortunately, just a free press. -- Neil Cavuto

  
Chiroptera
Inactive Member


(1)
Message 3288 of 4573 (862590)
09-07-2019 10:30 AM


Trump: Good for business... if you're a grifter
From the New York Times:
Justice Dept. Investigates California Emissions Pact That Embarrassed Trump
The Trump Administration is opening an anti-trust investigation into the four auto makers that signed a deal with California to continue to follow that state's auto emissions standards, which are stricter than the Trump Administration's Climate Catastrophe Clusterfuck. The intent is obviously to pressure business to follow Trump's lead. It seems to be partly working:
The investigation appears to have already had an effect. Another auto company, Mercedes-Benz, had been poised to join the California agreement. But after the German government learned of the federal investigation into the other companies that had signed on, it warned Mercedes not to join, according to a person familiar with the matter who spoke anonymously about it because of the sensitivity of the negotiations.
Paul Krugman's column yesterday has something to say about Trump's anti-business policies:
Trumpism Is Bad for Business
His take is that Trump's inconsistency and unpredictability makes it hard for real business to plan.
The big complaint business has about Trump’s trade war isn’t just that tariffs raise costs and prices, while foreign retaliation is cutting off access to important markets. It is that businesses can’t make plans when policy zigzags in response to the president’s whims. They don’t want to invest in anything that relies on a global supply chain, because that supply chain might unravel with Trump’s next tweet. But they can’t invest on the assumption that Trump’s tariffs will be permanent, either; you never know when or whether he’ll declare victory and surrender.
Environmental policy, it turns out, is similar. Business leaders aren’t do-gooders, but they are realists. Most of them understand that climate change is happening, that it’s dangerous, and that we’ll eventually have to transition to a low-emissions economy. They want to spend now to secure their place in that future economy; they know that investments that worsen climate change are bound to be long-run losers. But they’ll hold off on investing in our energy future as long as conspiracy theorists who consider global warming a gigantic hoax and/or vindictive politicians determined to erase Obama’s achievements keep rewriting the rules.
The types of businesses that do well with Trump economic "policies" are those
predatory companies with short term plans to mine vulenable communities:
To be fair, however, some kinds of business do thrive under Trumpism namely, businesses that aren’t in it for the long run, operations whose strategy is to take the money and run. These are good times for mining companies that rush in to extract whatever they can, leaving a poisoned landscape behind; for real estate speculators sponsoring dubious ventures that take advantage of newly created tax loopholes; for for-profit colleges that leave their students with worthless degrees and crippling debt.
In other words, under Trump it’s springtime for grifters.

Hard as it is to fathom, Mr President, just because you’re the leader of the free world doesn’t entitle you to a free pass. Unfortunately, just a free press. -- Neil Cavuto

  
Chiroptera
Inactive Member


Message 3338 of 4573 (863558)
09-27-2019 10:54 AM
Reply to: Message 3335 by 1.61803
09-26-2019 4:16 PM


Re: The whistleblower's complaint
I'm wondering whether people aren't going to want to chance the 2O2O election and so will try to talk Trump into resigning so Pres. Pence can pardon him.

Hard as it is to fathom, Mr President, just because you’re the leader of the free world doesn’t entitle you to a free pass. Unfortunately, just a free press. -- Neil Cavuto

This message is a reply to:
 Message 3335 by 1.61803, posted 09-26-2019 4:16 PM 1.61803 has not replied

Replies to this message:
 Message 3339 by Theodoric, posted 09-27-2019 11:01 AM Chiroptera has not replied

  
Chiroptera
Inactive Member


(1)
Message 3515 of 4573 (864837)
10-17-2019 2:47 PM
Reply to: Message 3508 by vimesey
10-16-2019 2:36 PM


Re: Abiy Ahmed Wins Nobel Peace Prize
The literal interpretation of specific words is not the only way to convey meaning, intent and message. Certainly that is one way, but it is not the only way. You do understand that, don't you ?
It's rather odd the rightwing wasn't this concerned about literal meaning when, say, they were screaming about Ilhan Omar's anti-Semitism.

Hard as it is to fathom, Mr President, just because you’re the leader of the free world doesn’t entitle you to a free pass. Unfortunately, just a free press. -- Neil Cavuto

This message is a reply to:
 Message 3508 by vimesey, posted 10-16-2019 2:36 PM vimesey has not replied

  
Chiroptera
Inactive Member


(2)
Message 3636 of 4573 (867899)
12-04-2019 4:47 PM


I already got tired of conservatives offering advice to Democrats, oh, twenty years ago.

For this generation of far-right nationalists, religion is not a question of ethical conduct; it is purely about identity and peoplehood. -- Jan-Werner Müller

  
Chiroptera
Inactive Member


Message 3649 of 4573 (867973)
12-05-2019 1:16 PM
Reply to: Message 3648 by Taq
12-05-2019 1:06 PM


Re: Democrats Should Accept Advice of Republican Witness
How is this not settled law?
Because some peoples' views on "executive privilege" *cough* Kavanaugh *cough* seem to change depending on who's the President.

For this generation of far-right nationalists, religion is not a question of ethical conduct; it is purely about identity and peoplehood. -- Jan-Werner Müller

This message is a reply to:
 Message 3648 by Taq, posted 12-05-2019 1:06 PM Taq has not replied

  
Chiroptera
Inactive Member


(2)
Message 3674 of 4573 (868442)
12-12-2019 11:37 AM
Reply to: Message 3673 by Percy
12-12-2019 8:27 AM


Re: The Carter Page FISA Application Problems
I haven't read the actual report, but the portions that Percy quoted sound very much like the complaints those on the Left have been making about the secret FISA warrents since FISA was enacted.
Funny how the process becomes a problem when rich white guys in positions of power become the subjects.

For this generation of far-right nationalists, religion is not a question of ethical conduct; it is purely about identity and peoplehood. -- Jan-Werner Müller

This message is a reply to:
 Message 3673 by Percy, posted 12-12-2019 8:27 AM Percy has seen this message but not replied

  
Chiroptera
Inactive Member


Message 3710 of 4573 (869200)
12-25-2019 11:57 AM
Reply to: Message 3709 by Percy
12-25-2019 11:33 AM


Re: An Evangelical Voice Regains its Moral Sanity
An editor at The Christian Post has abruptly quit the publication after it aligned itself with Donald Trump as part of a spiraling evangelical Christian civil war.
You see, this is what I was talking about. Use your position to stop evil. If that's not possible, resign your position so you don't promote evil. Don't wait until you're going to retire anyway when it doesn't matter any more and you've already enabled evil in the meantime.
...a spiraling evangelical Christian civil war.
Is it really a civil war? 'Cause right now it looks to me more like a few dissidents being liquidated.
Trump called Christianity Today a far-left magazine, after its attack on him.
Because that's now what "far-left" means now: stuff I don't like.

For this generation of far-right nationalists, religion is not a question of ethical conduct; it is purely about identity and peoplehood. -- Jan-Werner Mller

This message is a reply to:
 Message 3709 by Percy, posted 12-25-2019 11:33 AM Percy has seen this message but not replied

  
Chiroptera
Inactive Member


Message 3723 of 4573 (869698)
01-04-2020 9:14 AM
Reply to: Message 3719 by JonF
01-03-2020 10:34 AM


Re: Iran
Well, Trump did run on a campaign to stop the endless wars in the Middle East. I guess if Iraq votes to force US troops to leave their country, that would be one more step in fullfilling one campaign promise.

For this generation of far-right nationalists, religion is not a question of ethical conduct; it is purely about identity and peoplehood. -- Jan-Werner Mller

This message is a reply to:
 Message 3719 by JonF, posted 01-03-2020 10:34 AM JonF has not replied

Replies to this message:
 Message 3724 by RAZD, posted 01-04-2020 10:50 AM Chiroptera has seen this message but not replied

  
Chiroptera
Inactive Member


Message 3741 of 4573 (870279)
01-15-2020 6:30 PM
Reply to: Message 3740 by JonF
01-15-2020 2:58 PM


Re: He's just stupid
To be fair, he probably got confused when he couldn't find the part that says, "The President can do whatever he wants and everyone else can just suck it."

For this generation of far-right nationalists, religion is not a question of ethical conduct; it is purely about identity and peoplehood. -- Jan-Werner Mller

This message is a reply to:
 Message 3740 by JonF, posted 01-15-2020 2:58 PM JonF has not replied

  
Chiroptera
Inactive Member


Message 3774 of 4573 (872419)
02-27-2020 8:34 AM
Reply to: Message 3773 by jar
02-27-2020 8:21 AM


Re: Acquittal
Well, you have to remember how the contemporary US conservatives interpret the Constitution:
"We win every time, all the time. Those other people should just shut up and go away."

The first principle is that you must not fool yourself and you are the easiest person to fool. -- Richard Feynman

This message is a reply to:
 Message 3773 by jar, posted 02-27-2020 8:21 AM jar has not replied

  
Chiroptera
Inactive Member


(1)
Message 4312 of 4573 (882367)
09-19-2020 10:03 AM
Reply to: Message 4307 by AZPaul3
09-18-2020 10:31 PM


Re: SCOTUS On the Right
To quote Rebecca Schoenkopf on Wonkette
Sorry you didn't want to pack the Supreme Court, Joe Biden, but you're going to pack the motherfucking goddamn Supreme Court.

But [Frederick] Douglass was not gone; he was merely dead. -- David W. Blight

This message is a reply to:
 Message 4307 by AZPaul3, posted 09-18-2020 10:31 PM AZPaul3 has seen this message but not replied

  
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