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Edited by Mrph1 on Nov 30th 2023 at 11:03:59 AM

AlleyOop Since: Oct, 2010
#159501: Nov 30th 2016 at 1:17:10 AM

Let's hope he actually does act as that moderating influence and isn't so desperate for real power that he's easily malleable.

MadSkillz Destroyer of Worlds Since: Mar, 2013 Relationship Status: I only want you gone
Destroyer of Worlds
#159502: Nov 30th 2016 at 1:57:27 AM

You know, Jared Kushner is the only guy in the Trump retinue that I find interesting. Not that I like the guy, but there's something about him that strikes me as off. I mean the other people in that Rogues Gallery make sense. Trump, his airhead daughter who asked her servants to use their spare cash to buy lemonade from her, Rasputin Steve Bannon, Theocrat Mike Pence. Within that, Kushner is just The Team Normal. Then you read about his past. His family were donors to the Democrat Party, then his father got taken down by Chris Christie. He got embarrased when it was revealed he paid his way into Harvard. And now he's helping to put a fascist in power. He's the Sidney Falco to J. J. Hunsecker.

I feel the same way about Kushner. He's kind of a cipher to me but I read a pretty illuminating article that positions Kushner as kindred souls with Donald Trump. And they both seem loyal to each other. Trump even had Kushner soothe him to sleep at night back when he thought he was losing badly.

Trump officials say that Mr. Kushner underwent an ideological conversion over the course of the campaign, and that he was particularly affected by the experience of wading into the crowds at Trump rallies.

Mr. Kushner projects a very different image from his father and father-in-law. He speaks in a near-whisper, punctuated by long pauses, conveying both intimacy and awkwardness.

Reminds me of Roose Bolton.

edited 30th Nov '16 1:58:17 AM by MadSkillz

M84 Oh, bother. from Our little blue planet Since: Jun, 2010 Relationship Status: Chocolate!
Oh, bother.
#159503: Nov 30th 2016 at 2:02:39 AM

[up]Trump is a magnet for deeply fucked up people.

Disgusted, but not surprised
MadSkillz Destroyer of Worlds Since: Mar, 2013 Relationship Status: I only want you gone
Destroyer of Worlds
#159504: Nov 30th 2016 at 2:34:45 AM

For $1 million and up, inaugural donors will get ‘candlelight dinner’ with Trump and other access + three free nights at any Trump hotel worldwide, room service not included.

RedSavant Since: Jan, 2001
#159505: Nov 30th 2016 at 2:50:52 AM

Literally pay for the President-Elect's ear. Jesus Christ.

It's been fun.
M84 Oh, bother. from Our little blue planet Since: Jun, 2010 Relationship Status: Chocolate!
Oh, bother.
#159506: Nov 30th 2016 at 3:06:07 AM

Proof that Trump supporters never really gave a damn about "pay-for-play".

Disgusted, but not surprised
RedSavant Since: Jan, 2001
#159507: Nov 30th 2016 at 3:46:16 AM

If there's one ironic/horrific thing Trump has done with this election, he's proven that fake news really didn't affect the results. Of course, he did this by running a campaign dedicated to making any fake attacks on his character sound like praise in comparison to how he actually acts on a daily basis and by cultivating a following that ignores fake and real news equally.

God. These next four years are going to be a fucking circus.

edited 30th Nov '16 3:47:24 AM by RedSavant

It's been fun.
SeptimusHeap from Switzerland (Edited uphill both ways) Relationship Status: Mu
#159508: Nov 30th 2016 at 4:02:04 AM

Yes, fake news alone won't convince. Humanity tends to learn only after trusting the wrong information has landed them in trouble. Really common theme in disasters, really.

"For a successful technology, reality must take precedence over public relations, for Nature cannot be fooled." - Richard Feynman
M84 Oh, bother. from Our little blue planet Since: Jun, 2010 Relationship Status: Chocolate!
Oh, bother.
#159509: Nov 30th 2016 at 4:02:34 AM

So Trump apparently picked a guy with ties to the Rothschilds to be Secretary of Commerce, and a guy with ties to Goldman Sachs and Soros hedge funds to be Treasury Secretary.

That swamp sure looks drained, huh.

Disgusted, but not surprised
CrimsonZephyr Would that it were so simple. from Massachusetts Since: Aug, 2010 Relationship Status: It's complicated
Would that it were so simple.
#159510: Nov 30th 2016 at 5:01:22 AM

Honestly, I really hope that Trump doesn't end up making Romney Secretary of State — I understand the importance of having a competent head of our foreign policy efforts, but having even a single Trump administration success is bad for Democrats' chances moving forward. Trump needs to be an abject failure, and burn down a bit of America with him, for there to be any hope of a reversal.

"For all those whose cares have been our concern, the work goes on, the cause endures, the hope still lives, and the dream shall never die."
IFwanderer use political terms to describe, not insult from Earth Since: Aug, 2013 Relationship Status: Wishfully thinking
use political terms to describe, not insult
#159511: Nov 30th 2016 at 6:25:17 AM

Somebody did a video of The Wall with Trump.

1 2 We are what we pretend to be, so we must be careful about what we pretend to be. -KV
speedyboris Since: Feb, 2010
#159512: Nov 30th 2016 at 6:45:45 AM

[up][up] Damned if we do, damned if we don't. If Romney gets the job and does it well, hello four more years of GOP in 2020. If Giuliani gets the job and acts like his usual loony self, hello nuclear war- or at the very least, a frostier Cold War 2.0.

edited 30th Nov '16 6:47:01 AM by speedyboris

Rationalinsanity from Halifax, Canada Since: Aug, 2010 Relationship Status: It's complicated
#159513: Nov 30th 2016 at 6:49:29 AM

Foreign policy rarely wins elections, and a foreign policy failure of a significant magnitude could be devastating globally. And even if Romney gets Trump another four years...I'd take that in exchange for NATO staying intact, global trade remaining untouched and no nuclear exchanges.

Trump will live and die by his economic performance (or scandals that finally stick). On foreign policy, we should all be hoping for Romney and his success.

Politics is the skilled use of blunt objects.
Hodor2 Since: Jan, 2015
#159514: Nov 30th 2016 at 7:07:42 AM

That's kind of my opinion on things. I don't like Romney taking the role to the extent it gives Trump "moderate cred", especially because it means that Romney will no longer be (publically at least) critical of Trump. On the other hand though, assuming he doesn't just flip his positions entirely, Romney will play the important role of keeping American foreign policy from lining up with Russian foreign policy.

SeptimusHeap from Switzerland (Edited uphill both ways) Relationship Status: Mu
#159515: Nov 30th 2016 at 7:41:05 AM

Besides, domestic policy matters as well.

"For a successful technology, reality must take precedence over public relations, for Nature cannot be fooled." - Richard Feynman
Lightysnake Since: May, 2010
#159516: Nov 30th 2016 at 7:41:17 AM

Look, one thing we have to deal with? There is going to be this cowardly selling out regarding Trump because anything vaguely not-insane he does will be seen as "is Trump MODERATING himself?!" by the media, who'll simper about how lovely it all is and how Both Sides Do It.

  1. Never Trump was always going to fail when he got power because there is no principle Republicans cannot sell out to win. The fact we once decided to trust in the integrity of Mitt Romney is proof how sad that is.

Hodor2 Since: Jan, 2015
#159517: Nov 30th 2016 at 7:46:57 AM

I was pretty disgusted last night with how CNN was doing Trump's spin for him with that Carrier deal.

That's thing though in terms of those arguments about Trump's supposed secret cunning. Yeah I'm sure that he has some level of cleverness, and in this case, it seems a pretty obvious choice to signal moderation (since everyone else selected so far is nuts).

However, as always, I think it's not so much that Trump is smart as it is that news media is really stupid.

edited 30th Nov '16 7:47:08 AM by Hodor2

RedSavant Since: Jan, 2001
#159518: Nov 30th 2016 at 8:20:56 AM

Trump just made a Facebook post three hours ago:

I will be holding a major news conference in New York City with my children on December 15 to discuss the fact that I will be leaving my great business in total - in order to fully focus on running the country in order to MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!

While I am not mandated to do this under the law, I feel it is visually important, as President, to in no way have a conflict of interest with my various businesses. Hence, legal documents are being crafted which take me completely out of business operations. The Presidency is a far more important task!

Yeah, points for effort, jackass. Now stop letting your children sit in on meetings with foreign leaders.

It's been fun.
CaptainCapsase from Orbiting Sagittarius A* Since: Jan, 2015
#159519: Nov 30th 2016 at 8:23:32 AM

[up][up] I'm increasingly starting to buy Scott Adams' assertion that he's a "master persuader", while at the same time being a populist. What I don't buy for one second is that he has good intentions. Yes, the media is being incredibly stupid by the standards we'd like to hold them to, but in the land of the blind the one eyed man is king.

edited 30th Nov '16 8:24:11 AM by CaptainCapsase

carbon-mantis Collector Of Fine Oddities from Trumpland Since: Mar, 2010 Relationship Status: Married to my murderer
Collector Of Fine Oddities
#159520: Nov 30th 2016 at 8:24:14 AM

On the AAPS , a group Tom Price is a member of. Ties to the John Birch society, funded by Tobacco lobbies, AIDS denialism, etc etc. Our new Health Secretary.

I don't care for linking to Mother Jones, but even doctors I'd call hard republican are pretty damn pissed over this guy and sharing this article. Assuming no checks in his way he could potentially set back US healthcare to the 1800's.

CaptainCapsase from Orbiting Sagittarius A* Since: Jan, 2015
#159521: Nov 30th 2016 at 8:25:49 AM

[up] It would absolutely be harmful for the poor and downtrodden, but I can't imagine the Republican leadership won't still be benefiting from the best healthcare money can buy. It'll just be gated behind an increasingly unassailable paywall for the majority of the population.

Fighteer Lost in Space from The Time Vortex (Time Abyss) Relationship Status: TV Tropes ruined my love life
Lost in Space
#159522: Nov 30th 2016 at 8:27:38 AM

Keep the poor sick and dying so they can't exercise their political franchise? There's a kind of twisted logic to it.

"It's Occam's Shuriken! If the answer is elusive, never rule out ninjas!"
CaptainCapsase from Orbiting Sagittarius A* Since: Jan, 2015
#159523: Nov 30th 2016 at 8:29:38 AM

Yeah, if there's going to be a collapse (partial or total) of US democracy, it will be because the economic output of the nation has ceased to meaningfully depends on the wellbeing of the general population.

edited 30th Nov '16 8:29:55 AM by CaptainCapsase

SeptimusHeap from Switzerland (Edited uphill both ways) Relationship Status: Mu
#159524: Nov 30th 2016 at 8:30:19 AM

Well, that makes that plot device much more plausible...

"For a successful technology, reality must take precedence over public relations, for Nature cannot be fooled." - Richard Feynman
CaptainCapsase from Orbiting Sagittarius A* Since: Jan, 2015

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