President Trump

[Scott P]

Kaboom!!! Trump just took out his war club in Phoenix and pounded the snot out of the main stream media among other targets. If nothing else it was certainly entertaining.

How about working on thing such as healthcare, negotiating with prescription companies, infrastructure, etc., instead of all this BS?

What ever happened to those promises?

[devo_stevo]

Yeah. It's getting to the point where being the president means that all you do is PR crap all day long, complain about someone or something, campaign for the next election, or try to tear down the legacy of the president that came before you. There's no time for anything else, it appears.

Nobody in congress has the brass to do anything about healthcare. It's a mess that nobody wants their hands in. Republicans are all talk. They voted a bunch of times when Obama was president to repeal that mess because they knew it would just get vetoed. It meant nothing. Now that they can actually get it done, they have no idea what they are doing anymore.

Unfortunately, all of those promises you mentioned are going away just like his status as a non-politician. He is quickly being assimilated.

[twotimer]

Up until 2008, I'd never voted in my life. I figured they were all a bunch of pukes anyway, so why bother to take the time and stand in line? However, with mail ballots these days there's really no excuse.

Anyway, I was on my way home when the news broke of the "Goddamn America" thing, and I thought "Oh no, no, no, no NO!" Not this crap, not in the WHITE HOUSE! So I came home, got on this computer and registered as a Republican. Not only that, but I had also seen the cover of Rolling Stone that had a halo over Obama's head, like he was Jesus and I thought "WTF is this?".

For the next 8 years (and beyond) I saw the mass media with it's tongue firmly planted up the Democrat Party's ass...or is it the other way around, like a dirty 69, huh?

I voted for Trump, and support him regardless of his behavior because he's NOT one of them. The mainstream liberal mass media, the giant advertising corporations, the mass marketing, the non-stop barrage of social engineering designed to influence how people look, act, think and decorate their bodies, what they buy...like a bunch of spiral eyed brainwashed meatheads falling in line and going along with the program, buying the mental dope their pushing.

Hollywood, in particular, with their hypocritical self grandiose delusions mixed with the sleaze and smut the sell. Because of Trump, the people that reject this shit have both voice and power. I wasn't expecting him to come in and right all the wrongs in the world.

He has to fight them, otherwise he'd be buried

.

[Iceaxe]

How about working on thing such as healthcare, negotiating with prescription companies, infrastructure, etc., instead of all this BS?

What ever happened to those promises?

The problem is not with the president, he is doing his job. The problem is with Congress. And I say that if you are talking Obama or Trump, both attempted to do what they were elected to do and congress did/does nothing but obstruct.... so... I think you are pointing your finger in the wrong direction. YMMV

[Scott P]

Hollywood, in particular, with their hypocritical self grandiose delusions mixed with the sleaze and smut the sell.

Why watch it? The simple way of staying away from Hollywood is to simply turn the TV off and don't watch movies.

We haven't had TV for 13 years now. We might occasionally watch DVD's or go to a movie (a few times a year), but Hollywood is easy to avoid. No one is forced to watch it.

I voted for Trump, and support him regardless of his behavior because he's NOT one of them.

I don't know how you come to the conclusion that he isn't one of them. He was the host of a "reality" TV show and seems to love to be on TV.

[Iceaxe]

One other serious problem I see with Trump getting things done is many of the "never Trump" crew are still running the Republican party.

[Scott P]

The problem is not with the president, he is doing his job. The problem is with Congress. And I say that if you are talking Obama or Trump, both attempted to do what they were elected to do and congress did/does nothing but obstruct.... so... I think you are pointing your finger in the wrong direction. YMMV

Congress is indeed a problem, but can you give and example of what has Trump attempted to do with infrastructure or negotiating with pharmaceutical companies and who has obstructed him in doing so?

He was obstructed in repealing Obama care, but only because his post election attempts were the exact opposite of his campaign promises.

I have said before it is the Legislative branch of government who is supposed to make the laws and I still hold to this, but what about promises made?

I agree that all politicians lie, but Trump doesn't do America any favors by throwing fits on Twitter, complaining about Hillary (which should be old news-she lost), rallying, et al, which he spends a whole lot of time on. He;s his own worst enemy. It would be much better if he would focus on issues that are important (and this isn't just limited to Trump, but a whole lot of other politicians).

I have already said that I would give credit where credit is due if Trump and of course Congress work on some of the issues above. This would be a lot more important than Twitter rants, rallies, etc.

Trump won't destroy America, but eventually the two party system just might.

[twotimer]

Why watch it? The simple way of staying away from Hollywood is to simply turn the TV off and don't watch movies.

We haven't had TV for 13 years now. We might occasionally watch DVD's or go to a movie (a few times a year), but Hollywood is easy to avoid. No one is forced to watch it.

[COLOR=#333333]

I don't know how you come to the conclusion that he isn't one of them. He was the host of a "reality" TV show and seems to love to be on TV.

I'm not talking about the influence of the media and myself, personally. I think you're so disconnected from it all you don't see what's happening.

Perhaps that's a good thing...considering I go into Starbucks and there's a 20 year old guy wearing mascara and lipstick, with absolutely horrible tattoo's up to his neck...I reckon you don't have to worry about your son coming home looking like that.

Forget about Trump's TV past, they hate him and that's all that matters. The Nazi's and the Soviets were able to control millions by being joined at the hip with the media. My concern about the information we get and the government being too closely tied is a legitimate concern, right?

[Scott P]

My concern about the information we get and the government being too closely tied is a legitimate concern, right?

Yes it is a concern.

Trump calling everything fake news seems like an endorsement of state run media, even if not intended that way (and I don't think it is intended that way).

What's the alternative to private owned news corporations?

[Scott P]

I'm not talking about the influence of the media and myself, personally. I think you're so disconnected from it all you don't see what's happening.

Perhaps that's a good thing...considering I go into Starbucks and there's a 20 year old guy wearing mascara and lipstick, with absolutely horrible tattoo's up to his neck...I reckon you don't have to worry about your son coming home looking like that.

Obviously I am "disconnected from it all" because I don't have a clue as to what you are talking about. What does and a guy with mascara and tatoos have anything to do with this? Are you saying the media and Hollywood made him do it?

Even if that were so, why would anybody care? The only reason at all I can think of is that if it prevented him from getting a job, I'd have to pay for that.

Also, such people who do those things are usually seeking attention. If you don't like to see it, simply don't look and ignore it.

[twotimer]

Nevermind...it's all good.

[hank moon]

Trump rode his mutual enmity with the media to the White House. For many Republicans, what matters most about Donald Trump is that he’s demonstrated resolve against the enemy — not the Islamic State or the Taliban, but the media.


The media has become for the Right what the Soviet Union was during the Cold War — a common, unifying adversary of overwhelming importance. Before the fall of the Berlin Wall, religious conservatives and libertarians could agree that, whatever their other differences, godless communism had to be resisted. This commitment was the glue of the GOP coalition, and the basic price of admission to conservatism.


Now, a policy of containment, preferably rollback, of the mainstream media occupies that central role. Trump may not be delivering on his agenda, but he’s a righteous, unyielding warrior against the media. And this is the one nonnegotiable. To put it in terms of the famous Isaiah Berlin essay, the fox knows many things; the hedgehog knows one thing — CNN sucks.


Read more at: http://www.nationalreview.com/articl...rumps-all-else

[Sombeech]

Dang, how long has Trump been in office and he's already been discredited with following through? How long did y'all give Obama to shut down Guantanamo Bay?

[accadacca]

Fact or Fiction?

[Iceaxe]

I don't know about the other claims, but the one about Barbara Res heading up the construction of Trump Towers is true. In fact that statement kind of downplays the roll she played as she was instrumental in a number of his projects.

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/frontline/ar...w-barbara-res/

[accadacca]

(CNN) — During his final moments in the Oval Office, President Barack Obama folded into thirds a handwritten letter to Donald Trump, slid it into an envelope, and it in neat capital letters addressed it to "Mr. President."

Now, the contents of that letter -- the last direct communication between the 44th and 45th presidents -- have emerged for the first time after CNN obtained a copy.

Dear Mr. President -

Congratulations on a remarkable run. Millions have placed their hopes in you, and all of us, regardless of party, should hope for expanded prosperity and security during your tenure.

This is a unique office, without a clear blueprint for success, so I don't know that any advice from me will be particularly helpful. Still, let me offer a few reflections from the past 8 years.

First, we've both been blessed, in different ways, with great good fortune. Not everyone is so lucky. It's up to us to do everything we can (to) build more ladders of success for every child and family that's willing to work hard.

Second, American leadership in this world really is indispensable. It's up to us, through action and example, to sustain the international order that's expanded steadily since the end of the Cold War, and upon which our own wealth and safety depend.

Third, we are just temporary occupants of this office. That makes us guardians of those democratic institutions and traditions -- like rule of law, separation of powers, equal protection and civil liberties -- that our forebears fought and bled for. Regardless of the push and pull of daily politics, it's up to us to leave those instruments of our democracy at least as strong as we found them.

And finally, take time, in the rush of events and responsibilities, for friends and family. They'll get you through the inevitable rough patches.

Michelle and I wish you and Melania the very best as you embark on this great adventure, and know that we stand ready to help in any ways which we can.

Good luck and Godspeed,

BO

The words reveal a conciliatory outgoing commander in chief with four items of advice for his successor, whose fitness for the job he'd spent the previous months openly questioning.

"Congratulations on a remarkable run," Obama wrote in his opening line. "Millions have placed their hopes in you, and all of us, regardless of party, should hope for expanded prosperity and security during your tenure."

Written out longhand on White House stationery and slipped into the top drawer of the Resolute Desk, the 275-word letter captures an outgoing president eager to instill in Trump the vast responsibilities and uncertain parameters of the job.

Obama, when writing the letter, didn't disclose the content even to his closest aides. Since then, however, Trump has shown the letter to visitors in the Oval Office or his private White House residence. CNN obtained a copy from someone Trump showed it to.

"This is a unique office, without a clear blueprint for success, so I don't know that any advice from me will be particularly helpful," Obama wrote. "Still, let me offer a few reflections from the past 8 years."

Obama reminds Trump, a billionaire businessman, that they've both been "blessed, in different ways, with great good fortune."

"Not everyone is so lucky," Obama said. "It's up to us to do everything we can (to) build more ladders of success for every child and family that's willing to work hard."

He advises Trump that American leadership is "indispensable" and encourages him "through action and example" to sustain post-Cold War international order.

And he offers a warning against eroding the tenets of democracy in the name of political gain.

"We are just temporary occupants of this office," Obama wrote. "That makes us guardians of those democratic institutions and traditions -- like rule of law, separation of powers, equal protection and civil liberties -- that our forebears fought and bled for."

"Regardless of the push and pull of daily politics, it's up to us to leave those instruments of our democracy at least as strong as we found them," he said.

That passage, read seven months after Trump took office, appears prescient. Trump has been accused of flouting rule of law in his broadsides against federal judges and his own attorney general. His verbal assaults on Congress have led to charges that he's disregarding the constitutionally enshrined separate but equal branches of government.

Trump, however, is said to cherish Obama's missive. Upon reading it on Inauguration Day, he attempted to place a phone call to the former president expressing his gratitude, according to both a current White House official and a former Obama aide. His predecessor was traveling west to California with his family, and couldn't take the call.

When one of Obama's aides reached back out to the White House to return the call, the new president's staffers said Trump just wanted to say thank you for the note -- and wanted Obama to get the message. The men never connected directly.

"It was long. It was complex. It was thoughtful," Trump said of the letter the week after taking office in an interview with ABC News. "And it took time to do it, and I appreciated it."

During the interview, Trump showed the news crew the letter, pulling it from its envelope. He wouldn't read it out loud.

In writing Trump the letter, Obama was continuing a long tradition set by past presidents. He received his own handwritten note from George W. Bush on the day of his inauguration counseling him of uncertain days ahead.

"There will be trying moments. The critics will rage. Your 'friends' will disappoint you," Bush wrote. "But, you will have an Almighty God to comfort you, a family who loves you, and a country that is pulling for you, including me."

Eight years earlier, Bill Clinton offered an optimistic view of the job.

"The burdens you now shoulder are great but often exaggerated," he wrote Bush in 2000. "The sheer joy of doing what you believe is right is inexpressible."

And in 1992, George H.W. Bush wrote Clinton that "your success now is our country's success."

"I am rooting hard for you," he concluded. "Good luck."

Obama's letter is nearly twice as long as his predecessors' and includes more specific pieces of advice. But like Clinton and both Bushes, he offers a view of the job that accounts both for its thrill but also its ability to humble.

"Take time, in the rush of events and responsibilities, for friends and family," Obama wrote. "They'll get you through the inevitable rough patches."

Since reading the letter for the first time, Trump hasn't spoken or seen Obama. Instead he's frequently criticized the former president, rolled back significant elements of Obama's agenda, and privately obsessed about comparisons between himself and the man he replaced.

Obama, meanwhile, has weighed in selectively on Trump since leaving office. He criticized decisions to withdraw from the Paris climate accord and repeal Obamacare, but did not directly address Trump's equivocal comments about white supremacists in Virginia, even as others reacted with withering criticism.

Before all that, however, Obama wrote that he was willing to remain in touch.

"Michelle and I wish you and Melania the very best as you embark on this great adventure, and know that we stand ready to help in any ways which we can," he wrote in his sign-off.

"Good luck and Godspeed."

https://www.ksl.com/?sid=45659219&ni...left-for-trump

[hank moon]

http://www.snopes.com/so-you-think-y...-donald-trump/

[Iceaxe]

http://www.snopes.com/so-you-think-y...-donald-trump/

FWIW - Using Snopes as a source for fact checking Trump is pretty damn funny, since Snopes has been shown to be less then honest and forcing a liberal agenda in such matters.

Fact checking the fact checkers
https://www.forbes.com/sites/kalevle...fact-checkers/

[hank moon]

FWIW - Using Snopes as a source for fact checking Trump is pretty damn funny, since Snopes has been shown to be less then honest and forcing a liberal agenda in such matters.

Fact checking the fact checkers
https://www.forbes.com/sites/kalevle...fact-checkers/

All sources are biased, making it essential to fact check yourself. Snopes is a good stop along the way, but there's no one-stop shop.

Bible/BOM/Koran/Gita/TBOD/WSJ/WPO/... pick your bubble(s)

[Iceaxe]

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