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[Ernest]

In a way, this year is the worst of it. At least for the next three years we'll have campaigns and candidates to focus on.

In what way?
The first year of a presidency is always the quietest, least chaos ridden year of almost all presidencies. After that first year, shit starts going down, and things just get crazier and more complicated. So if that pattern holds, and this is Trump's "easy" year, YIKES for the rest of his term. Just wait till hurricane season and his response to it.

 

[Aaron Strife]

In what way?
The first year of a presidency is always the quietest, least chaos ridden year of almost all presidencies. After that first year, shit starts going down, and things just get crazier and more complicated. So if that pattern holds, and this is Trump's "easy" year, YIKES for the rest of his term. Just wait till hurricane season and his response to it.

Like real talk I can't wait for shit to actually go down on Trump's watch, he's had a pretty easy term thus far.

10% unemployment

"All the people without jobs are losers! Love to our working citizens who are #MakingAmericaGreatAgain"

Hurricanes

"People had bigly warning to get out while they still could. Didn't listen, drowned. Sad!"

 

[BoogieWoogie]

Saw that the Phoenix police just started firing tear gas into the crowd of protestors last night despite there being no violence. I guarantee you Trump ordered them to do it.

 

[balladofwindfishes]

In a way, this year is the worst of it. At least for the next three years we'll have campaigns and candidates to focus on.

This period of the president's term is supposed to be the highlight, where he makes all of his major policy moves, either by going ahead with them, or beginning to plan them out. Major legislation that Trump hopes to have out before midterms needs to be started right now.

Think about Obama and how most of his major accomplishments were done in 2009-2010.

 

[Blader]

In what way?
The first year of a presidency is always the quietest, least chaos ridden year of almost all presidencies. After that first year, shit starts going down, and things just get crazier and more complicated. So if that pattern holds, and this is Trump's "easy" year, YIKES for the rest of his term. Just wait till hurricane season and his response to it.

I'm not saying Trump will become less shitty in years 2-4, I'm saying years 2-4 will become more constructive for people opposed to Trump because we'll have more constructive outlets vis-a-vis campaigns. This year, other than a couple House special elections and governor's races, we basically have nothing to do but take the abuse, protest, and scream at Republicans to do something. Starting next year we'll have House, Senate, and governor candidates to focus our energies on and many many opportunities to start converting some of this resistance into real officeholders who can actually do something.

This period of the president's term is supposed to be the highlight, where he makes all of his major policy moves, either by going ahead with them, or beginning to plan them out. Major legislation that Trump hopes to have out before midterms needs to be started right now.

Think about Obama and how most of his major accomplishments were done in 2009-2010.

Again, I wasn't talking about Trump getting any better or worse, but you raise another good point: if this year is supposed to be the peak time for Trump policymaking, then that bodes well for how little he'll get done in 2018-2020.

 

[Spoiled Milk]

Like real talk I can't wait for shit to actually go down on Trump's watch, he's had a pretty easy term thus far.

I think the Afghanistan announcement showed that during a crisis, Trump will listen to his experts and do the right thing while broadly trying to stay true to his principles.

 

[balladofwindfishes]

Sending more troops to die in a neverending war is the "right thing?"

 

[Aaron Strife]

If he even wins a second term, think of how much past presidents actually get done in their second terms. Bush had decent majorities in both houses and still couldn't get anything done, his two big initiatives (immigration reform and Social Security privatization) flopped.

 

[Spoiled Milk]

Sending more troops to die in a neverending war is the "right thing?"

Maybe look at a graph sometime of the troop levels in Afghanistan over time.

 

[balladofwindfishes]

Maybe look at a graph sometime of the troop levels in Afghanistan over time.

Okay?

Now it's going to tick back up, when it was settling down after a dramatic drop

 

[Spoiled Milk]

Now it's going to tick back up, when it was settling down after a dramatic drop

A very meager amount to handle a changed situation. Keeping the defense up while working toward a stable, multi party government and handing it off to other regional powers to help is a much better idea than causing a government security collapse.

 

[Blader]

A very meager amount to handle a changed situation. Keeping the defense up while working toward a stable, multi party government and handing it off to other regional powers to help is a much better idea than causing a government security collapse.

How is a very meager amount of soldiers going to do that? The reason we need to go back at all is because the Afghan government and military is incapable of doing exactly that without a large and permanent U.S. troop presence on hand.

 

[nature boy]

He likes fuckin' that chicken

 

[Ithil]

"Which the Dems would do".

It's really true what those diplomats say, he really does think the world started with his presidency. Anything prior to last January, never happened.

 

[tbm24]

He likes fuckin' that chicken

It's all he understands. He hasn't comprehended that the skinny repeal wasn't subject to the filibuster. Though hey if republicans jump on board I'll be salivating for when a dem is in office with a simple majority.

 

[Cesare Borgia]

Trump has yet to face a major disaster or gut check moment. Hurricane season is on the way, government shutdown threats are in the air, North Korea, and various other foreign issues loom. He's going to fuck something up, bigly, and we'll see the shift (from bad to worse/dead/game over). Right now we're kind of in pre-Katrina Bush territory.

 

[B-Dubs]

Trump has yet to face a major disaster or gut check moment. Hurricane season is on the way, government shutdown threats are in the air, North Korea, and various other foreign issues loom. He's going to fuck something up, bigly, and we'll see the shift (from bad to worse/dead/game over). Right now we're kind of in pre-Katrina Bush territory.

This is the scary part. He hasn't faced anything like Katrina yet and he's already the biggest fuckup ever.

 

[balladofwindfishes]

A very meager amount to handle a changed situation. Keeping the defense up while working toward a stable, multi party government and handing it off to other regional powers to help is a much better idea than causing a government security collapse.

Problems like that require complex solutions that just throwing additional bodies at won't really seem to change much. Besides American lives dying to aid a foreign country with no guarantee of long term peace.

I'm of two minds of this. I don't really like America being the world's go-to security force because Americans are subsidizing and propping up countries while our military costs balloon, leaving our own domestic problems to be underfunded. And the other is that I don't really believe America is all that great at bringing peace and stability to regions.

This is the scary part. He hasn't faced anything like Katrina yet and he's already the biggest fuckup ever.

W was by far more competent than Trump and had much better staff and advisers and still Katrina was a horrible disaster that was handled terribly.

That is very scary

 

[Dubbedinenglish]

Trump has yet to face a major disaster or gut check moment. Hurricane season is on the way, government shutdown threats are in the air, North Korea, and various other foreign issues loom. He's going to fuck something up, bigly, and we'll see the shift (from bad to worse/dead/game over). Right now we're kind of in pre-Katrina Bush territory.

I think the one year mark is going to be the turn off point for many of his supporters. Under a year "he is still getting sorted" after a year as nothing changes will be the awakening IMO.

 

[Wilsongt]

Is this hurricane even going to be that big?

 

[Wilsongt]

He likes fuckin' that chicken

🐔🐔🐔🐔🐔🐔🐔🐔 Cuck cuck mother fucker

 

[B-Dubs]

Is this hurricane even going to be that big?

Who can tell? It's more the idea of "what if we get a big one?" And even ignoring that, can you see him handling even a small one well?

 

[Hindl]

Is this hurricane even going to be that big?

Possibly, but more importantly this is just the first of many hurricanes

 

[gaugebozo]

He likes fuckin' that chicken

Those who understand strategy are in awe of Trump the master.

Spoiler

I just vomited a little bit typing that.

 

[balladofwindfishes]

A very meager amount to handle a changed situation. Keeping the defense up while working toward a stable, multi party government and handing it off to other regional powers to help is a much better idea than causing a government security collapse.

We've been going back and forth on this, but it turns out Trump did this because he wanted to see more Afghan women in miniskirts. It had nothing to do with stability or anything like that.

I wish I was kidding.

 

[Dubbedinenglish]

We've been going back and forth on this, but it turns out Trump did this because he wanted to see more Afghan women in miniskirts. I had nothing to do with stability or anything like that.

I wish I was kidding.

lol

*reads link*

God fucking dammit

 

[Lord_Byron28]

We've been going back and forth on this, but it turns out Trump did this because he wanted to see more Afghan women in miniskirts. I had nothing to do with stability or anything like that.

I wish I was kidding.

This story kinda seems like it was taken out of context, something is missing or the writers are being intentionally obtuse. I don't think it was Afghanis in miniskirts that made Trump listen. I think the conversation and point had more to do with the Middle East being willing to embrace some western cultures.

 

[Aaron Strife]

It's all he understands. He hasn't comprehended that the skinny repeal wasn't subject to the filibuster. Though hey if republicans jump on board I'll be salivating for when a dem is in office with a simple majority.

Not only that but most of his bills wouldn't get 50 votes anyway. That horrid Cotton immigration bill certainly wouldn't.

 

[balladofwindfishes]

This story kinda seems like it was taken out of context, something is missing or the writers are being intentionally obtuse. I don't think it was Afghanis in miniskirts that made Trump listen. I think the conversation and point had more to do with the Middle East being willing to embrace some western cultures.

Possibly, but this is Trump we're talking about. He's not known for complex thought processes.

 

[RumbleHumble]

It's all he understands. He hasn't comprehended that the skinny repeal wasn't subject to the filibuster. Though hey if republicans jump on board I'll be salivating for when a dem is in office with a simple majority.

He's just trying to find ways to shit on McConnell. Pulling what he did with Sessions, but with a little more subtlety.

 

[RumbleHumble]

This story kinda seems like it was taken out of context, something is missing or the writers are being intentionally obtuse. I don't think it was Afghanis in miniskirts that made Trump listen. I think the conversation and point had more to do with the Middle East being willing to embrace some western cultures.

This implies Trump comprehends words as well as pictures.

We know the latter, not so sure about the former.

 

[Wilsongt]

We've been going back and forth on this, but it turns out Trump did this because he wanted to see more Afghan women in miniskirts. It had nothing to do with stability or anything like that.

I wish I was kidding.

Huffington post. Eh.

Canada no less.

I take this with a grain of huge salt....

It's important for everyone to say #ButHerEmails until Hillary Clinton gets the Espionage Act indictments she deserves. #BernieOrBust

But her emails.

 

[Emerson]

This story kinda seems like it was taken out of context, something is missing or the writers are being intentionally obtuse. I don't think it was Afghanis in miniskirts that made Trump listen. I think the conversation and point had more to do with the Middle East being willing to embrace some western cultures.

That's pretty much exactly what the article says anyway.

 

[RustyNails]

This story kinda seems like it was taken out of context, something is missing or the writers are being intentionally obtuse. I don't think it was Afghanis in miniskirts that made Trump listen. I think the conversation and point had more to do with the Middle East being willing to embrace some western cultures.

"Embrace" is a wrong word.

The reason for 1979 Islamic Revolution in Iran or the hardline Afghanisthan rule by Taliban is because the rulers prior to them were corrupt dictators who imported American consumerist culture wholesale into their socieites. This benefited the bourgeois and upper middle class at the expense of everyone. The rural communities were left behind (as an example, Mossadegh's first order of business in Iran was to implement tax reform in favor of farmers and villagers, whereas the Shah removed it). It was easy to galvanize support from student groups and rural communities alike by simply saying your culture is being eroded away by America's puppets in power. I've read a thesis by Iranian PhD that examines how this culture import directly led to the Islamic Revolution.

 

[Y2Kev]

I can't wait to read Hilldawg's book. I'm going to read about it and post constantly about how she should be in the woods suffering b/c of whatever

 

[Aaron Strife]

PPP

Trump approval 40-53

Generic ballot 49-35 D/R

http://www.publicpolicypolling.com/...nk-whites-christians-face-discrimination.html

 

[Crimson_Gold]

I can't wait to read Hilldawg's book. I'm going to read about it and post constantly about how she should be in the woods suffering b/c of whatever

I wonder how many times the crime bill will be mentioned

 

[kirblar]

"Embrace" is a wrong word.

The reason for 1979 Islamic Revolution in Iran or the hardline Afghanisthan rule by Taliban is because the rulers prior to them were corrupt dictators who imported American consumerist culture wholesale into their socieites. This benefited the bourgeois and upper middle class at the expense of everyone. The rural communities were left behind (as an example, Mossadegh's first order of business in Iran was to implement tax reform in favor of farmers and villagers, whereas the Shah removed it). It was easy to galvanize support from student groups and rural communities alike by simply saying your culture is being eroded away by America's puppets in power. I've read a thesis by Iranian PhD that examines how this culture import directly led to the Islamic Revolution.

Gee this sounds familiar. (Minus the importation and deliberate screwover)

 

[balladofwindfishes]

Generic ballot 49-35 D/R

lol no way

14 point difference

 

[ArkhamFantasy]

Did Katrina hurt republicans in Louisiana or did most of the blame go towards the bush administration?

 

[KirbYuuYuu]

Did Katrina hurt republicans in Louisiana or did most of the blame go towards the bush administration?

Think it was Bush? Which was fair really.

 

[RustyNails]

Did Katrina hurt republicans in Louisiana or did most of the blame go towards the bush administration?

It hurt both parties in Louisiana at local level, but at the federal level it hurt W and FEMA pretty bad.

 

[Aaron Strife]

Haha no way

In the write-up they point out that Clinton voters are almost all supporting the Democrats, while Trump voters are more divided. It's the same reason Democrats were polling well early in the 2014/2016 cycles - Democrats were fairly united the whole way through whereas Republicans all came home on Election Day. Still, the fact that Democrats are nearly at 50 is encouraging.

Also, Joe Biden leads Trump 51-39, while Bernie Sanders leads him 51-38. Biden/Sanders ticket? No BS.

 

[TheAbsolution]

It hurt both parties in Louisiana at local level, but at the federal level it hurt W and FEMA pretty bad.

Yeah,that picture of him looking down in the plane was...terrible to say the least. On top of him taking 2 whole days to respond to the catastrophy.
People didn't believe that he could respond to a crisis after that.

 

[smokeymicpot]

I'm told the White House has prepared the paperwork for Trump to pardon former sheriff Joe Arpaio when he makes the final decision.

https://twitter.com/kaitlancollins/status/900372694843117569

 

[Wilsongt]

I'm told the White House has prepared the paperwork for Trump to pardon former sheriff Joe Arpaio when he makes the final decision.

https://twitter.com/kaitlancollins/status/900372694843117569

Gonna pardon a racist prick who cost his state millions.

I can't WAIT to see who else this idiot pardons before his term is up.

I am sure "Great guy" Flynn will get a pardon.

 

[Box of Kittens]

In the write-up they point out that Clinton voters are almost all supporting the Democrats, while Trump voters are more divided. It's the same reason Democrats were polling well early in the 2014/2016 cycles - Democrats were fairly united the whole way through whereas Republicans all came home on Election Day. Still, the fact that Democrats are nearly at 50 is encouraging.

Also, Joe Biden leads Trump 51-39, while Bernie Sanders leads him 51-38. Biden/Sanders ticket? No BS.

Kinda lines up with the idea that the best path to victory in 2018 is to try and win in Romney/Clinton districts and Obama/Trump districts. A notion I tend to agree with for a variety of reasons.

 

[Blader]

I'm told the White House has prepared the paperwork for Trump to pardon former sheriff Joe Arpaio when he makes the final decision.

https://twitter.com/kaitlancollins/status/900372694843117569

As expected as it was, it's still really maddening.

Kinda lines up with the idea that the best path to victory in 2018 is to try and win in Romney/Clinton districts and Obama/Trump districts. A notion I tend to agree with for a variety of reasons.

Um, so everybody? Or everybody that isn't a Romney/Trump diehard Republican I guess

 

[Aaron Strife]

Kinda lines up with the idea that the best path to victory in 2018 is to try and win in Romney/Clinton districts and Obama/Trump districts. A notion I tend to agree with for a variety of reasons.

Doubling down on one of those paths might be enough to win the presidency, but not enough to win the House. While the president can do a lot on their own, it'll involve playing a lot of defense without any Congressional support.

We need to win seats like VA-10 and CA-49 as well as IA-1 and NE-2.

 

[Teggy]

Pardoning Arpaio will only draw more attention on what he did. It will be cheered by Trump shot on 5th ave types but will turn off everyone else. Seems like a dumb move, so let him do it.