What Trump is getting right
If you are only interested in Team Blue Opposing Trump, well, we all know the web site for that.
But if you want to go outside of the echo chamber and understand how Trump's approval ratings are on the rise, then you cannot ignore what The Donald is getting right.
Don't get me wrong, I still think his presidency will be a disaster. That being said, he's doing things the Democrats should have done years ago.
The TPP is DOA.
President Donald J. Trump signed an executive order Monday announcing the U.S. will withdraw from negotiating the TPP, or Trans-Pacific Partnership deal.
...
During a campaign stop in Ohio this summer, Trump said, "The Trans-Pacific Partnership is another disaster done and pushed by special interests who want to rape our country, just a continuing rape of our country."
His administration has drafted an executive order aimed at overhauling the work-visa programs technology companies depend on to hire tens of thousands of employees each year.If implemented, the reforms could shift the way American companies like Microsoft Corp., Amazon.com Inc. and Apple Inc. recruit talent and force wholesale changes at Indian companies such as Infosys Ltd. and Wipro Ltd. Businesses would have to try to hire American first and if they recruit foreign workers, priority would be given to the most highly paid.
“Our country’s immigration policies should be designed and implemented to serve, first and foremost, the U.S. national interest,” the draft proposal reads, according to a copy reviewed by Bloomberg. “Visa programs for foreign workers … should be administered in a manner that protects the civil rights of American workers and current lawful residents, and that prioritizes the protection of American workers -- our forgotten working people -- and the jobs they hold.”
The foreign work visas were originally established to help U.S. companies recruit from abroad when they couldn’t find qualified local workers. In many cases, the companies are hiring for highly technical positions in the fields of science, technology, engineering and math, or STEM. But in recent years, there have been allegations the programs have been abused to bring in cheaper workers from overseas to fill jobs that otherwise may go to Americans. The top recipients of the H-1B visas are outsourcers, primarily from India, who run the technology departments of large corporations with largely imported staff.
President Donald Trump is expected to sign an executive order as early as Monday stating his intention to renegotiate the free trade agreement between the United States, Canada and Mexico, a White House official told NBC News.
President Donald Trump acted Saturday to fulfill a key portion of his pledge to "drain the swamp" in Washington, banning administration officials from ever lobbying the U.S. on behalf of a foreign government and imposing a separate five-year ban on other lobbying.
Trump has said individuals who want to aid him in his quest to "Make America Great Again" should focus on the jobs they will be doing to help the American people, not thinking ahead to the future income they could rake in by peddling their influence after serving in government.
OK. Sure. He's also done, and will do, some awful stuff.
But there is nothing listed above that Obama shouldn't have, and couldn't have, done.
All of these actions are turning the Rust Belt "red".
Comments
Thanks. There's a reason why Big Tech gives more $$$ to Dems
than Repubes - the visa program was designed from the outset to shift work to other countries as part of the global labor arbitrage to enrich Silicon Valley.
I hope Trump drops the second full residency requirement of accredited MDs from western Europe. These doctors are every bit as good as the American doctors and this giveaway costs an average of $800 per family per year. American doctors make at least double doctors in western Europe make and it's because, in large part, to the stifling of competition begun under Clinton.
"The justness of individual land right is not justifiable to those to whom the land by right of first claim collectively belonged"
As for "No qualified US applicants," they're
1) now writing job specifications so narrowly that it excludes almost everyone,
2) companies used to invest in and train their workers, planning to get years of value out of that, not treat them, as they do now, as equivalent valueless cogs, to be used up and disposed of.
The Dem Echo Chamber cost
@gjohnsit I had not seen this poll
I had not seen this poll - many thanks.
"The justness of individual land right is not justifiable to those to whom the land by right of first claim collectively belonged"
Fear works.
Well, the events in
Europe aren't very encouraging.
dfarrah
The poll is dated Jan 5 - 9, 2017
The refugee ban was issued Jan 27, 2017. Was the ban pronounced earlier?
To thine own self be true.
Yes, in October.
Donald Trump Promises to End Syrian Refugee Resettlement Program
Today's poll
link
@gjohnsit Awesome. Very evenly
Awesome. Very evenly divided. Maybe that would be a good cattle prod to get the people killing each other. Because white cops murdering unarmed Black people hasn't quite given us the results we want yet.
"More for Gore or the son of a drug lord--None of the above, fuck it, cut the cord."
--Zack de la Rocha
"I tell you I'll have nothing to do with the place...The roof of that hall is made of bones."
-- Fiver
We on the Real Left need to watch Trump and learn
We need to be objective and see what really works and what appeals to a broad base of voters. There is no reason that much of his program could not be implemented from a populist Left. Add a few things, like building an infrastructure that is sustainable, and I mean that is a very broad sense, and fixing the income and wealth disparity and you have a good formula for a populist movement.
Screaming from the Liberals is mostly motivated by identity politics and the fact that Trump is not Hillary. It's really important to listen and objectively understand what Trump is doing. He is decimating the neocons and the neoliberals. It sounds like he wants an economy that produces livable wages for the people. This is not neoliberalism, they want wages as near to zero as possible and people in debt up to their ears (more investment vehicles driving wealth upwards). We need to watch what he does and what works and what doesn't. Initially he will achieve some successes as there is low hanging fruit to drive up jobs and wages. He may wind up a very popular president, at least initially. The MSM and the embedded politicians scream as soon as Trump does anything. Bad move. He is the president and everyone in the country knows what the MSM is up to. It's ironic that they brought up the concept of "fake news", as they are the worst purveyors. Should have left that one alone.
I don't think that Trump can get where he wants to go. Eventually economic reality sinks in, and things like tax cuts for the rich will not drive the economy. The rich are already sitting on Trillions of dollars, and refuse to invest it, other than in stock buy-backs. I think that also he has bought into the trickle down fantasy, that the average worker will be better off as the wealth become richer. So here's my point, watch what he does objectively and see how that can be adapted to a real Progressive-Populist ideology.
And I need to point out one more thing. He has demonstrated how to take down the Democrat establishment. Will will need to learn from this.
Capitalism has always been the rule of the people by the oligarchs. You only have two choices, eliminate them or restrict their power.
I watched Trump's interview with David Muir very carefully
and I got the impression that Trump was an ill-informed, lying narcissist and that he was a puppet of his Svengali Bannon and others. He agrees to implement their plans in return they agree to bolster his insatiable ego. That's their pact. In addition I am reading a biography of Trump by Wayne Barrett that strengthens my impression.
I agree that some good can inadvertently come from his platform but it won't be his intention to do anything to help the people. He only cares about himself.
To thine own self be true.
No argument here
I would only add "con-man and crook".
However I will disagree with this:
I think he actually believes in some things, unlike most politicians.
I think he's doomed though. The economy is about to roll over.
If I had them to give
57 thumbs up!
A lot of wanderers in the U.S. political desert recognize that all the duopoly has to offer is a choice of mirages. Come, let us trudge towards empty expanse of sand #1, littered with the bleached bones of Deaniacs and Hope and Changers.
-- lotlizard
I would argue
TPP was dead in the water anyway the Republicans would never have agreed to anything Obama had negotiated. I'm happy it is dead.
Renegotiating NAFTA, wait before you see the document before you cheer.
As for work, see my essay for an alternative.
TPP may have been dead
So it would have been a smart political move for Obama to deliver the coup de grâce.
Instead he kept pushing an extremely unpopular bill, and probably cost Hillary the election, not to mention giving Trump an easy win.
I agree, but one thing I hate is rule by diktat
I was against it when past administrations abused and expanded executive power.
I don't like authoritarianism one little bit even when "our side" does it I don't care what colour/political agenda they pretend to wear.
I dislike intensely
Executive orders
Executive memoranda
Signing statements.
Any of which should only be used in a temporary emergency and then passed back to congress.
Enabling Act 1933
At least the Nazis made their "Enabling Act" Brief and to the point. Won by an overwhelming majority too (after they removed the Communist Party anyway).
Law to Remove the Distress of the People and the State (The Enabling Act)
The Reichstag has passed the following law, which is, with the approval of the Reichsrat, herewith promulgated, after it has been established that it meets the requirements for legislation altering the Constitution.
Article 1. National laws can be enacted by the Reich Cabinet as well as in accordance with the procedure established in the Constitution. This also applies to the laws referred to in Article 85, Paragraph 2, and in Article 87 of the Constitution.
Article 2. The national laws enacted by the Reich Cabinet may deviate from the Constitution as long as they do not affect the position of the Reichstag and the Reichsrat. The powers of the President remain undisturbed.
Article 3. The national laws enacted by the Reich Cabinet shall be prepared by the Chancellor and published in the Reichsgesetzblatt. They come into effect, unless otherwise specified, the day after their publication. Articles 68-77 of the Constitution do not apply to the laws enacted by the Reich Cabinet.
Article 4. Treaties of the Reich with foreign states which concern matters of national legislation do not require the consent of the bodies participating in legislation. The Reich Cabinet is empowered to issue the necessary provisions for the implementation of these treaties.
Article 5. This law becomes effective on the day of its publication. It becomes invalid on April 1, 1937; it also becomes invalid if the present Reich Cabinet is replaced by another.
Reich President von Hindenburg
Reich Chancellor Adolf Hitler
Reich Minister of the Interior Frick
Reich Minister for Foreign Affairs Baron von Neurath
Reich Minister of Finances Count Schwerin von Krosigk
From the Light House.
I think that Trump is right
about NATO being obsolete and the F-35 being an outrageous boondoggle. Of course, what the President says, or tweets, and what he actually does will often turn out to be contradictory.
We wanted decent healthcare, a living wage and free college.
The Democrats gave us Biden and war instead.
He also wants to increase military capacity hence spending
too many contradictions thus far.
Trump is historically unpopular
Trump Sets New Low Point for Inaugural Approval Rating
Trump hits majority disapproval in record time, Gallup finds
Poll: Trump begins presidency with 36 percent approval rating
Still waiting for the post Muslim-ban polls. Ought to be interesting.
"We've done the impossible, and that makes us mighty."
There's more than one poll.
Rasmussen shows him at 51% approval. Daily Presidential Tracking Poll
Wasn't this really a "push" poll, and isn't Rasmussen
generally regarded as a Republican pollster?
All polls are really a matter of how the questions are asked. Couldn't find links to the actual wording of this questionnaire.
Are we expected to believe this other finding in their results?
What a load of shit that is.
Seems to be we're in the era of just-throw-whatever-kind-of-shit-you-can-make-up-then-see-what-sticks.
Many of us had the film Idiocracy on our minds for the past year or so. Can't believe we may be actually living it now.
"If I should ever die, God forbid, let this be my epitaph:
THE ONLY PROOF HE NEEDED
FOR THE EXISTENCE OF GOD
WAS MUSIC"
- Kurt Vonnegut
Is there a place for
people who don't like Team Blue and don't like Donald Trump?
I'm against both of them. I was against both before the election, I'm still against both today, and I don't plan on ever getting aboard the Trump love train. I despise him and everything he's doing.
Yes, including his bullshit grandstanding about how he killed the already-dead TPP, and his empty promises about renegoting NAFTA (which, by the way, Obama did say he was going to do, which is all Trump has done) and his empty promises of "draining the swamp" while he fills his administration with sea monsters and Goldman Sachs execs who are salivating at the chance to eat us all alive. Your argument boils down to Trump's a better liar. Using a fire hose of lies and racist, nationalist, christianist rhetoric while he enables people like Steve Bannon to run the government is not something I'm going to admire.
It's apparently now impossible to oppose Trump's actions or criticize anything he does without being tarred and feathered for supporting or enabling democrats. It feels like the message is now just sit down and shut up, because Trump rulz, and if you're not kissing his ass then you are carrying water for the Clintons. I never imagined that any progressive community would be propping up someone like Trump or shouting down criticism of the government now that a republican con man is the front man.
Exactly CS
Running into the same thing. I have to ask if they did this with Bush, praised him for the "good things" he did.
What are you talking about?
What "progressive community" are you referring to?
@gjohnsit That would be me.
That would be me.
I'm not saying I'm the entire progressive community that's criticizing the anti-Trump protests, but certainly I want to push back against the strategy the establishment is using: get the Left all worked up about Trump so that in a few months, all of the Clinton malfeasance will be swept down the memory hole, and the American public will, once again, be turned into a ping-pong ball bouncing back and forth between the two parties and their leadership. "The Clintons are so awful! Let's put in Trump!" "Trump is so awful! Let's put in Clinton!" After a couple years of OMG Trump is so horrible! carefully shepherded along by people like Gloria Steinem and Debbie Wasserman-Schultz, most people on the left will be well-prepared for Hillary 2020. Which, apparently, is actually a thing. I guess Veruca never gives up.
But it's about more than pushing back against the pressure to forget.
When we fight against the Big Bad Individual, that doesn't result in actual change or relief from suffering for oppressed people. We did that with Bush. We took every issue and injustice that bothered us and funneled it into one mighty opposition to the Evil Bad Man (and he was!) and his political party. Where did it get us?
Also, how do you NOT include Clinton in any discussion of Trump, since it was Clinton who invented the strategy that brought us Trump? Does anyone seriously think Donny Tinyhands would have won without a two-billion-dollar in-kind donation of air time? Beyond that, I've always thought that the famous phone conversation between Bill Clinton and Donald Trump on the eve of his entrance into the race was a clear sign that Bill Clinton was asking Trump to get into the race, so that they could use the Pied Piper strategy and the spectacle of Trump's nastiness, to turn the election into a cakewalk for Hillary.
People are upset that I keep asking them to remember Hillary and the Clintons when they criticize Trump. That's because it's one machine, in very specific and obvious ways. How the hell do you look at these things in isolation, and why the hell would you want to?
"More for Gore or the son of a drug lord--None of the above, fuck it, cut the cord."
--Zack de la Rocha
"I tell you I'll have nothing to do with the place...The roof of that hall is made of bones."
-- Fiver
I'm with you on that.
@CS in AZIt's apparently now
I am tired of having to preface every criticism of Trump's regime with "I am also against Clinton," or some such garbage. I don't even like to mention "Trump" because he is just a cartoon face character that idiots can rally around to pass enabling acts, and play out their nationalist totalitarian agenda. Fuck them all.
From the Light House.
Already dead TPP?
It seems to me that the "already dead" TPP died the day Trump was elected. Obama was busy building the coalition that he hoped would have passed it in the lame duck session. Remember that fast track had already passed, one up or down vote without amendments. It had a majority of Republicans and just enough Democrats to get avoid a filibuster.
If it was already dead somebody should have told Obama. I wonder how many rust belt votes his efforts cost Hillary and down ticket Democrats.
And re NAFTA, Trump informed Canada and Mexico he wants to open discussion on renegotiation within 30 days. That's a hell of a lot further than Obama went in 8 years.
I dislike most of Trump's policies. I won't be surprised at all if his renegotiated NAFTA is worse than the original. But I grow tired of this obligation to attack every single thing the man does including what he ate for breakfast this morning. I hope he does hold off the deep state long enough for Russia to reestablish Assad. Assad appears to have more support than the "good terrorists" we and our surrogates have been funding, who seem to occupy their time selling the weapons we provide to ISIS. Tulsi Gabbard, who actually talked to Syrians, found that most of them wanted enough order to resume something close to normal lives.
And I grow especially tired of the argument that Putin subverted our election to make Trump president. Hillary Clinton lost because she ran an arrogant, lousy campaign. I will not support a new cold war because Trump.
She was so confident in July that she could make the left come crawling back that she nominated Tim Kaine. If she'd selected Sherrod Brown she'd be president. It's with her. It's all with her. And the rest of us are going to suffer a lot more from her arrogance than she is.
TPP was dead long before trump was elected
I've written this before, but as Trump keeps getting credit where none is due on this:
Many people seem unaware that it was never something the US could do on its own, or the fact that none of the other countries involved have ratified it or were close to doing so. It was a failed effort long before his EO, which in typical trump fashion allowed him to claim credit for something he really had no impact on.
TPP
There was no reason for any country to ratify it ahead of the US. Had Obama considered it dead he would not have wasted political capital on an overwhelmingly unpopular issue weeks before the election. There were infinitely many more profitable ways he could have spent his time.
That's the key point
Obama wasted effort on a hugely unpopular issue. And why was it wasted effort? Because it was hugely unpopular and it was not going to happen!
By the way, I do agree with you on the Russia foolishness, which is a total red herring and gigantic waste of energy, typically off target and stupid bullshit from democrats.
Stop.
Az
TPP was not dead.
HRC was a huge supporter of TPP, unless you want to believe her narcissistic lying.
dfarrah
Obama suspended TPP talks
just two days after the election.
TPP was stalled, but it wasn't dead.
If Hillary won, there would have been another push for it.
@gjohnsit That there.
That there.
With Trump in Presidency it was effectively dead.
If Clinton won, there would have been more pushing from Obama. Would he have succeeded? I don't know. Other countries not ratifying the trade agreement is different than America, big ol' America jumping in the pool here.
IMHO she didn't want Her VP to be more popular than Her
which is why she went with the nebbish Kaine.
One could write a book, and no doubt there will be a small industry, on the subject of How the 2016 Campaign Went Horribly Wrong. Kaine was certainly part of it. So was her egregious misjudgement as to whether she was up to the 9/11 ceremony (she wasn't, and should have begged off with "pneumonia"). That focused too much attention on Kaine and what kind of President he would make if (when?) anything happened to Her.
There is no justice. There can be no peace.
Interestingly,
our local news had the organizers of the women's march here saying, the next step for people is to attend their next Interior Democrats meeting.
I begin to suspect all this protesting going on is part of what was planned in those high powered meetings between Obama and congressional Democrats prior to the inauguration.
The energy being expended is IMO a waste. There are going to be much more important issues coming up that should invoke huge protests in the future of this awful presidency. If everyone's energy is already expended, where do we go from there?
I would have been much happier to see such a huge uprising for #NODAPL, which has far more legal and environmental implications for our nation than does Donald's sexism.
Not just with Hillary
It's with every single person who voted for her. I get it. They made their decision according to their own lights. I don't fault them for that. But they should own the results.
They were totally blind to the mood of the nation and they lost. They are STILL totally blind so they will lose more in 2018 and 2020. Meanwhile, if Trump can even remotely pull off his "economic nationalism" then Bannon is right, Republicans will rule for the next 50 years.
A lot of wanderers in the U.S. political desert recognize that all the duopoly has to offer is a choice of mirages. Come, let us trudge towards empty expanse of sand #1, littered with the bleached bones of Deaniacs and Hope and Changers.
-- lotlizard
Did you not notice the EO
the essayists lists about lobbying?
Trump has banned lobbyists for 5 years. He is light years ahead of the stupid dems always lamenting lobbyists but never doing a thing about them. He also banned people from becoming lobbyists for foreign countries. I'm not sure the extent of personnel covered, but this is an improvement.
dfarrah
If you
look at the comments that are rational about Trump vs the spittle, the spittle appears to be quite far ahead, comprising at least 80% of the comments; there is little support for Trump, and certainly no 'trump rulz.'
But this is the type of comment you would expect from people who are so biased and unable to evaluate information, even when it's right in front of their faces.
Do you really have to ask why people are challenging the so-called liberals or progressives now? Why wouldn't they? What I see now is the rawest display of hypocrisy I have ever seen.
Do you expect people to sympathize with protesters who are exercised over a few refugees when people are being killed regularly in the east, thanks to BO and Bush?
I find it stunning that these people, who apparently can find time/funds for a p-hat brigade, couldn't find time to organize huge protests against BO's wars or to protest Albright after she said the lives of 300,000 children were worth it. Talk about someone who is truly sick, Albright would be it. But we'll give it a pass because she is a woman.
These protests tell me what these people truly value and how injudicious they are. And the spittle tells me the same thing.
I read a comment the other day where the person expressed how they desired BO and his calm, rational demeanor. After all the harm BO did to the country, this person's main concern is personality?
All of the hysteria reminds me of the tea-partiers with all their shrieking about BO.
dfarrah
Did you notice
That Trump just ordered a military strike that killed a number of civilians and children in Yemen, which he called "very successful"? All good as long as it's trump doing it, hum? Oh and thanks for confirming that you aren't a progressive, "they" who need to be lectured by you trump propagandist of course.
BFD.
Maybe some of the p brigade will show up to protest the ongoing slaughter.
And no, it's not any better than when BO did it.
dfarrah
That is offensive.
Accusing a fellow c99'er of being a "Trump Propagandist" is outside the bounds of decent discourse.
The essay asks us to exercise our objectivity. You do not seem to have gotten the message.
That's out of line.
Calling a fellow community member a "trump propagandist" crosses the line of civility. Please behave yourself.
Heh, guess how I got my sig...
although I will say this community has at a non-trivial percentage that do strive to be fact-based.
A lot of wanderers in the U.S. political desert recognize that all the duopoly has to offer is a choice of mirages. Come, let us trudge towards empty expanse of sand #1, littered with the bleached bones of Deaniacs and Hope and Changers.
-- lotlizard
I couldn't agree more
Point by point I'm with you. All I see is disingenuous hypocrisy and the stark similarities to the Tea Party.
A lot of wanderers in the U.S. political desert recognize that all the duopoly has to offer is a choice of mirages. Come, let us trudge towards empty expanse of sand #1, littered with the bleached bones of Deaniacs and Hope and Changers.
-- lotlizard
He is doing a few things that should have
been addressed ages ago. I don't give him anything for TPP anymore than I do for Carrier not fleeing to Mexico. He's just contriving political capital. The HB-1 is interesting, since Drumpf fulfills many if not most of his Mara Largo summertime staffing needs by using the the HB-1 visa. This is probably true for all of his hotels/resort properties in the U.S. Nonetheless, it has been abused for ages and he is doing the right thing by curtailing their issue.
That is nowhere near enough to redeem him and most of his other proposals, particularly appointments, tax cuts, etc.
"I can't understand why people are frightened of new ideas. I'm frightened of the old ones."
John Cage
Not H-1B.
He uses the H-2B temporary guest worker visa program. These are very short-term compared to H-1B.
The result is the same.
Cheap labor.
"I can't understand why people are frightened of new ideas. I'm frightened of the old ones."
John Cage
Yes, I agree.
I just wanted to point out which visa he uses to get his cheap labor. H-1B is primarily used by tech companies to get cheap labor in STEM fields while H-2B is for cheap labor in hospitality.
which, If I'm going to be completely cynical
is the real reason Google, Microsoft, etc. are bitching about the travel ban and curtailing the issuance of work visas. They won't get cheap IT guys. OH-- it look good because the both the CEO's of Google and Microsoft are Hindu immigrants, but get real.
"I can't understand why people are frightened of new ideas. I'm frightened of the old ones."
John Cage
All we Lefties/real Liberals have to do is read and study
the directions written in The Powell Memo of August 23, 1971. It was the Bible of the FRightwing or Fright wing nutjobs. It took them 46 years, and look where this country is now. Rec'd!!
Inner and Outer Space: the Final Frontiers.
They had alot of help....
a lot of help from the likes of Al From, Bill Clinton, and the lastest, BO.
If dems hadn't been taken over by repubs, maybe things would be different today.
dfarrah
It's not squat if it's not enforced with real prison teeth.
tRump is starting to show signs of dementia just like Reagan. I'm not sure yet if he's worse.
Inner and Outer Space: the Final Frontiers.
Geez, now the insanity garbage.
Trump made campaign promises and he is doing exactly what he promised.
Where is the dementia in that?
I guess people are too shocked to see a politician doing what s/he said he was going to do. They are so used to politicians lying about what they are going to do, they can't handle anything different.
I give Trump credit for that, even if I extremely dislike other things he is doing.
dfarrah
It's not what he's doing...
It is how badly, amateurishly, that he is doing it. The executive orders he sends out are legal garbage. An embarrassment to the office. He flames out every time there is push back. The cracks in his fragile ego are getting more noticeable.
"I can't understand why people are frightened of new ideas. I'm frightened of the old ones."
John Cage
And yet...
... in more than a few ways he appears to be rowing with me rather than against me. I, for one, am glad that the maddened rush to nuclear Armageddon with Russia seems to be slowed down although I'm eyeing China now. I'm thrilled that the TPP is staked in the heart. The whole visa situation was utterly out of control. I could go on.
It's hard to say the same thing about Democratic candidates. Sure, they are "for blacks"... while they enact policies which crush lower income communities. Even the best of the Democrats, their identity politics, are simply hollow shells. I see them as rearranging deck chairs on the titanic.
I think Gilens & Page got it right. Because I do I welcome pretty much anyone willing to stand on my side of that fight... even if that person is as unlikely a candidate as Donald Trump. I'm perfectly willing to acknowledge the battles he helped me win even as I decry the ones he fought against me. It's more than I can say for Democrats.
** edited to add **
I should mention that "more than I can say for Democrats" is a really low bar. That's why I'm still trying to find an actual path forward.
A lot of wanderers in the U.S. political desert recognize that all the duopoly has to offer is a choice of mirages. Come, let us trudge towards empty expanse of sand #1, littered with the bleached bones of Deaniacs and Hope and Changers.
-- lotlizard
I for one am a bit weary of the Trump killed the TPP
bit. It was already dead. Not just in our own congress, either. That's just Trump snatching political capital, taking credit that doesn't belong to him. He has already and continues to press China and they will not take it sitting down, however, I'm not ready to buy into the nuclear war with China trope just yet. More likely he'll fuck up the Iran deal and get into it with them.
"I can't understand why people are frightened of new ideas. I'm frightened of the old ones."
John Cage
This is probably all that most people want
"found that most of them wanted enough order to resume something close to normal lives."
This was meant to be a reply to FuturePassed
Thanks for pointing out Donald's plusses, some of
them major wins beyond the ability of Dems to accomplish because they just don't give a damn. You forgot to mention The Don jawboning Big Pharma on eye-popping drug prices by shaming them on Twitter and in the few media outlets who care.