President Trump: Making America Great Again...

[frank ryan]

So it looks like Sessions lied under oath and it wasn't about sexual relations. https://apnews.com/b396da6f27a9405a9...m-Russia-probe

It almost feels like Russia wanted to meet all of the Donald's key people.

[BlueK]

So it looks like Sessions lied under oath and it wasn't about sexual relations. https://apnews.com/b396da6f27a9405a9...m-Russia-probe

It almost feels like Russia wanted to meet all of the Donald's key people.

if it was no big deal to meet with an ambassador, why lie about it to Congress? This whole Russia thing with Trump's people is very strange, especially given the numerous bizarre things Trump has always said about Putin and Russia.

[BlueK]

True to form, I didn't watch and only read reviews. The one comment that stuck to me was "remarkably unremarkable." The reviewer stated for Trump to deliver standard fare is remarkable given his normal penchant.

But I find you naive to expect "empathy" from a politician. Some are better at faking it than others. Why would a worldly person such as yourself expect it or even value you it? Here's the underlying of my point. As an analyst it is important to distance oneself from emotion, empathy and other emotive related factors but to study systems, effects and efficiencies so as to make the best data driven decisions. One must be aware of social psychology in order to predict responses, but one should not be swayed by them. At the personal level for personal interaction it is important to have empathy in order to function within our immediate and intimate circles. But for our political leaders, empathy actually hampers good decision making. (I am not saying Trump is making good decisions). Rather, it is naive to expect empathy, real empathy not feigned as politicians are wont to do, and it is even counter-productive.

Talking about a grieving widow being happy about TV ratings is completely nutty.

[Maximus]

I wonder if Sessions lasts the week. I hope not

[Commando]

if it was no big deal to meet with an ambassador, why lie about it to Congress? This whole Russia thing with Trump's people is very strange, especially given the numerous bizarre things Trump has always said about Putin and Russia.

This mountain of giant arrows pointing the same way is all probably just a crazy coincidence!

[Moliere]

President Trump: Making America Great Again...

So it looks like Sessions lied under oath and it wasn't about sexual relations. https://apnews.com/b396da6f27a9405a9...m-Russia-probe

It almost feels like Russia wanted to meet all of the Donald's key people.

It definitely looks bad. He obviously had reasons to talk to the diplomat given his role in congress and he was answering a question as to whether or not he would investigate if it came out that Trumps campaign spoke to Russia, so it should have been no big deal (if it really was no big deal, which I honestly don't know). But the optics look bad given his testimony, which I would argue one could reasonably stretch to see he didn't lie given the surrogate qualifier.

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[frank ryan]

It definitely looks bad. He obviously had reasons to talk to the diplomat given his role in congress and he was answering a question as to whether or not he would investigate if it came out that Trumps campaign spoke to Russia, so it should have been no big deal (if it really was no big deal, which I honestly don't know). But the optics look bad given his testimony, which I would argue one could reasonably stretch to see he didn't lie given the surrogate qualifier.

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he met with him at least one other time. There are an inordinate amount of contacts between all sorts of people associated with Trump and the Russians. This merits a full on investigation.

[creekster]

Talking about a grieving widow being happy about TV ratings is completely nutty.

He was talking about the navy seal looking from heaven, not the widow. And he was referring to the length of the standing ovation (minus a few petulant democrats) not the ratings. I am no trump fan but listening to it live I thought it was a nice comment.

[Topper]

if it was no big deal to meet with an ambassador, why lie about it to Congress? This whole Russia thing with Trump's people is very strange, especially given the numerous bizarre things Trump has always said about Putin and Russia.

The explanation that I saw was a division of duties. He met with Russian ambassadors as well as others in his capacity as a Senator, not in his capacity as a Trump associate. I really don't care enough to evaluate if that is a good explanation or not.

[Topper]

Talking about a grieving widow being happy about TV ratings is completely nutty.

I read the comment and didn't interpret it that way. I thought he meant the dead soldier looking at her from heaven.

[BlueK]

I read the comment and didn't interpret it that way. I thought he meant the dead soldier looking her from heaven.

then that is obviously better. Thanks.

[BlueK]

Maybe Trump's new "VOICE" office can also help the victims of these attacks:

http://www.cnn.com/2017/03/02/us/mos...017/index.html

[Dwight Schr-ute]

Well, this is an excited my development.




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[Dwight Schr-ute]

Well, this is an excited my development.




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I guess Tweeting is a lot to expect from the White House Easter bunny.




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[PaloAltoCougar]

But I find you naive to expect "empathy" from a politician. Some are better at faking it than others. Why would a worldly person such as yourself expect it or even value you it? Here's the underlying of my point. As an analyst it is important to distance oneself from emotion, empathy and other emotive related factors but to study systems, effects and efficiencies so as to make the best data driven decisions. One must be aware of social psychology in order to predict responses, but one should not be swayed by them. At the personal level for personal interaction it is important to have empathy in order to function within our immediate and intimate circles. But for our political leaders, empathy actually hampers good decision making. (I am not saying Trump is making good decisions). Rather, it is naive to expect empathy, real empathy not feigned as politicians are wont to do, and it is even counter-productive.

I'm not that cynical. I don't think it's a binary "empathy or no empathy" question. I understand the need to make decisions free of emotion, but I think empathy serves an important purpose in addressing certain issues and can be restorative following national tragedies. No doubt politicians are almost always calculating their responses, but I think there are times where the emotions are real. A good example is Lincoln (oops, aren't you one of the guys who dislikes Lincoln?). He was very calculating politically, but reading some of his letters and notes, and the comments of those nearest him, it's hard to believe he didn't have genuine empathy at times, which I think served him well. More recently, Reagan at Dover Air Force Base or following the Challenger disaster showed, I think, genuine empathy. But I concede he was an actor and a politician. I just don't see the same kind of empathy coming from Drumpf, nor do I think that's a good thing.

I think most good human beings have empathy; going into politics doesn't have to eliminate that, or so I would hope.

He was talking about the navy seal looking from heaven, not the widow. And he was referring to the length of the standing ovation (minus a few petulant democrats) not the ratings. I am no trump fan but listening to it live I thought it was a nice comment.

When I mentioned his love of ratings, I didn't mean to imply his comment related to the Nielsens; rather, I meant ratings in a broader, quantitative sense. For Trump, it's always a superficial appeal to superlatives, whether crowd size, electoral college victory margin, duration of applause, length of one's manhood, etc. I think his initial comment about the the soldier was nice, but Trump always drives on to a superlative too far.