President Trump: Making America Great Again...

[creekster]

It doesn't matter if it results in nothing or not; at least for the Democratic leaders spearheading this witch hunt. This entire matter does nothing more than allow the Dems to avoid confronting the ugly truth about how and why they failed to win the Presidency against the worst-qualified presidential candidate in my lifetime (your lifetime too I'd bet). Do you think the DNC is engaged in any self-critique about the absolutely disgusting behaviors that those leaked e-mails revealed? Hardly. Too busy looking under every bed for a Rooskie.

I agree this is foolish and likely petty for the democrats to pursue in such a manner. But I think whether it is nothing or not may matter a great deal to Trump's presidency going forward, and to American credibility with other countries. Despite Trump's obvious shortcomings, he still is runnning our country and I hope he can do it in an effective way, avoiding the risks that the Nation article from whcih you quoted was talking about.

[Topper]

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.

I agree that empathy is not binary, but I don't believe empathy is useful in setting public policy.

In terms of a public tragedy, I'm not sure it matters. That's not the day-to-day function of a politician, even though it's not rare in a country as large as ours.

I am far removed from the average voter who may feel a need for reassurance following a public tragedy. Personally, I don't care what a politician tells me about it. I feel without a need for reassurance, and in fact feel manipulated when somebody who doesn't know me seeks to reassure me.

You may not be that cynical but it would be more helpful if our country were more cynical. We trust too much in terms of our politicians.

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.

It is possible either way. I don't dislike Lincoln but I disfavor the lionization of and hagiographic nature of works regarding Lincoln. He did some very useful acts as President. But he was very human.

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.

He may have shown genuine empathy; I can't know. So my default is to doubt it.

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

I believe this is naive. Case in point, we have Harry Reid fraudulently and falsely claiming Mitt Romney did not file his tax returns. He, for political gain of his own party, made a false claim, that he knew was false and intended others to rely upon the false claim, to the detriment of Mitt Romney. Entering politics destroys any real sense of empathy or true humanity. Of this I am convinced.

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.

He is an egotistical Son of a Bitch. He is a poor speaker. His has no attention for details. He wants to be a revolutionary. Often these traits accompany revolutionaries. He is a win at all costs.

I agree his use of superlatives is maddening. He has no savoir faire as concerns public speaking.

[BlueK]

What if a democrat had been elected President amid rumors of a hostile foreign power hacking their way into our country for the purpose of manipulating our presidential election, and the now elected president throughout the campaign continued to make weird statements praising the dictator leader of that hostile foreign power which made no sense to anyone in this country of either party?

And then more rumors came out that this president's campaign team had continuous communications during the campaign with the hostile foreign power. Oh yeah, and the new president's chief security advisor was caught on tape with the Russians discussing removing sanctions placed on them for their bad behavior. Then he lied about it. Are we to believe the republicans in Congress wouldn't be trying to investigate the hell out of all this? Why not just let the process play out.

If any of these rumors are true it should be troubling to us, shouldn't it? Last I checked, Russia's interests in Europe (like invading their neighbors) don't really coincide that well with ours. Or is Russia suddenly good because the "so-called" Republican won the election and he says they're cool?

[BlueK]

What I'm wondering is, for those who don't want this stuff to be investigated, is it because:

1. None of this is true. If it were, it wouldn't be so good, but it's not true, so move on

Or is it:

2. Even if it is true, who cares if the Russians are trying to influence our elections, possibly buying off our leaders, and who knows what else. It's not really a bad thing.

[Topper]

What if a democrat had been elected President amid rumors of a hostile foreign power hacking their way into our country for the purpose of manipulating our presidential election, and the now elected president throughout the campaign continued to make weird statements praising the dictator leader of that hostile foreign power which made no sense to anyone in this country of either party?

And then more rumors came out that this president's campaign team had continuous communications during the campaign with the hostile foreign power. Oh yeah, and the new president's chief security advisor was caught on tape with the Russians discussing removing sanctions placed on them for their bad behavior. Then he lied about it. Are we to believe the republicans in Congress wouldn't be trying to investigate the hell out of all this? Why not just let the process play out.

If any of these rumors are true it should be troubling to us, shouldn't it? Last I checked, Russia's interests in Europe (like invading their neighbors) don't really coincide that well with ours. Or is Russia suddenly good because the "so-called" Republican won the election and he says they're cool?

But we were told by Obama that Russia wasn't our enemy. Remember how Obama laughed it off when Romney asserted it? First they are not, now they are?

[Walter Sobchak]

What if a democrat had been elected President amid rumors of a hostile foreign power hacking their way into our country for the purpose of manipulating our presidential election, and the now elected president throughout the campaign had continued to make weird statements praising the dictator leader of that hostile foreign power which made no sense to anyone in this country of either party?

And then more rumors came out that this president's campaign team had continuous communications during the campaign with the hostile foreign power. Oh yeah, and the new president's chief security advisor was caught on tape with the Russians discussing removing sanctions placed on them for their bad behavior. Then he lied about it. Are we to believe the republicans in Congress wouldn't be trying to investigate the hell out of all this? Why not just let the process play out.

If any of these rumors are true it should be troubling to us, shouldn't it? Last I checked, Russia's interests in Europe (like invading their neighbors) don't really coincide that well with ours. Or is Russia suddenly good because the "so-called" Republican won the election and he says they're cool?

The Russians are coming! The Russians are coming!

I wonder which Northeastern town will be the first to fall... and renamed to Putingrad.

[BlueK]

But we were told by Obama that Russia wasn't our enemy. Remember how Obama laughed it off when Romney asserted it? First they are not, now they are?

Obama was also wrong. But I don't see how he's relevant to what's going on now.

[Walter Sobchak]

What if a democrat had been elected President amid rumors of a hostile foreign power hacking their way into our country for the purpose of manipulating our presidential election, and the now elected president throughout the campaign continued to make weird statements praising the dictator leader of that hostile foreign power which made no sense to anyone in this country of either party?

And then more rumors came out that this president's campaign team had continuous communications during the campaign with the hostile foreign power. Oh yeah, and the new president's chief security advisor was caught on tape with the Russians discussing removing sanctions placed on them for their bad behavior. Then he lied about it. Are we to believe the republicans in Congress wouldn't be trying to investigate the hell out of all this? Why not just let the process play out.

If any of these rumors are true it should be troubling to us, shouldn't it? Last I checked, Russia's interests in Europe (like invading their neighbors) don't really coincide that well with ours. Or is Russia suddenly good because the "so-called" Republican won the election and he says they're cool?

Speaking of hyperbole...

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[Walter Sobchak]

But we were told by Obama that Russia wasn't our enemy. Remember how Obama laughed it off when Romney asserted it? First they are not, now they are?

President Obama did a great deal of harm to our relationship with Russia, which probably would have only been outdone by a President Hillary Clinton.

[BlueK]

President Obama did a great deal of harm to our relationship with Russia, which probably would have only been outdone by a President Hillary Clinton.

Did Putin killing journalists and political opponents and invading a neighboring country not have anything to do with that?

Never mind, you probably like the killing journalists part. (TIC, mostly)

[Walter Sobchak]

What if a democrat had been elected President amid rumors of a hostile foreign power hacking their way into our country for the purpose of manipulating our presidential election, and the now elected president throughout the campaign continued to make weird statements praising the dictator leader of that hostile foreign power which made no sense to anyone in this country of either party?

And then more rumors came out that this president's campaign team had continuous communications during the campaign with the hostile foreign power. Oh yeah, and the new president's chief security advisor was caught on tape with the Russians discussing removing sanctions placed on them for their bad behavior. Then he lied about it. Are we to believe the republicans in Congress wouldn't be trying to investigate the hell out of all this? Why not just let the process play out.

If any of these rumors are true it should be troubling to us, shouldn't it? Last I checked, Russia's interests in Europe (like invading their neighbors) don't really coincide that well with ours. Or is Russia suddenly good because the "so-called" Republican won the election and he says they're cool?

This one is also good:

Embedded Tweet

[Walter Sobchak]

Did Putin killing journalists and political opponents and invading a neighboring country not have anything to do with that?

Never mind, you probably like the killing journalists part. (TIC, mostly)

This is where we depart paths I guess. I don't think the Western-backed coup in Ukraine was necessary or noble.

[Jeff Lebowski]

Pretty tough to achieve hyperbole when Putin is involved. The guy is pure evil.

[New Mexican Disaster]

It doesn't matter if it results in nothing or not; at least for the Democratic leaders spearheading this witch hunt. This entire matter does nothing more than allow the Dems to avoid confronting the ugly truth about how and why they failed to win the Presidency against the worst-qualified presidential candidate in my lifetime (your lifetime too I'd bet). Do you think the DNC is engaged in any self-critique about the absolutely disgusting behaviors that those leaked e-mails revealed? Hardly. Too busy looking under every bed for a Rooskie.

It has already resulted in something. More clouds around the administration, and for them this is a huge problem, because it detracts from the perception of the administration's power. It seems to me that making an uproar represents a huge lesson that the Dems learned from this election-talk until you are blue in the face about anything you can find and if you talk enough it will damage your opponent. So don't expect the calls for investigation to stop or slow down. If your opponent is dumb enough to give you ammunition use it, and when it's gone pretend you have more.

[Walter Sobchak]

Pretty tough to achieve hyperbole when Putin is involved.

You would be wrong.

This is the same shit, just a different decade.