Enemies of the State

[Got Stripers]

Well I guess the people named yesterday in another five star press briefing are probably lucky they aren't on Putin's list, because Putin would poison their arses.

Trump likes to deal with anyone speaking badly about him in his usual way, me thinks he complains too much, does he have something to hide? Tough year for the intelligence community, it must take incredible resolve to continue to do your job to protect this country, when the guy you work for will throw you under the buss in a heartbeat.

Seems like the farther down the road the Mueller prob gets the thinner his skin gets.

[Nebe]

When things get really bad for trump, I bet somehow we magically fabricate a reason to invade Iran. Or.. to “rescue” Venezuela..
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[spence]

Originally Posted by Nebe

When things get really bad for trump, I bet somehow we magically fabricate a reason to invade Iran. Or.. to “rescue” Venezuela..
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Or to stop Montenegro from starting WW3.

Here's his MO. Say something is at a 7 out of 10. Trump claims it's a 1 and a disaster, eff's it all up and now we're left with a 4 as Trump claims a major victory only he could deliver.

[Nebe]

Lol. Yup
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[Sea Dangles]

Wow, Spence and Nebe agree! Lol
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[Pete F.]

Typical WH research, threaten to take something, that in at least 2 cases, they don't have.
Shoot off your mouth first, based on something you heard on Faux News, ask questions later.
And poor Sarah has to defend it. Sad
Then complain because the media reports the facts

[spence]

Originally Posted by Pete F.

And poor Sarah has to defend it. Sad
Then complain because the media reports the facts

How do you claim you're an evangelical Christian yet you lie for a living?

[Raven]

is for IRAN to shut down the Strait of Hamuz


and the war is >>>>ON<<<<

[PaulS]

Can't believe it took 18 months for people to come up with the Trump baby balloon.

[Sea Dangles]

That balloon is hilarious
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[wdmso]

Bad people.. we'll take their security clearances... How dare they speak Truth to power it outrageous .... to disrespect the dear leader its pure
partisanship.. no the Truth sometimes hurts


PS Rand Paul needs to one day figure out where he stands on just about everything ...

[spence]

Originally Posted by wdmso

Bad people.. we'll take their security clearances... How dare they speak Truth to power it outrageous .... to disrespect the dear leader


PS Rand Paul needs to one day figure out where he stands on just about everything ...

He's just kissing up to earn some chits.

I think Bob Corker's remark on the security clearance flap was right on...

"I can't even believe that somebody at the White House thought up something like this...I mean, when you're going to start taking retribution against people who are your political enemies in this manner, that's the kind of thing that happens in Venezuela."

How soon before he starts talking about repealing the 22nd Amendment?

[wdmso]

Originally Posted by spence

He's just kissing up to earn some chits.

I think Bob Corker's remark on the security clearance flap was right on...

"I can't even believe that somebody at the White House thought up something like this...I mean, when you're going to start taking retribution against people who are your political enemies in this manner, that's the kind of thing that happens in Venezuela."

How soon before he starts talking about repealing the 22nd Amendment?

Some states would do it in a heartbeat ... But he seems stuck on using National Security to circumvent congress ..... and they were So worried about it the past 8 years but now they are all for it ... But their not hypocritical

[Jim in CT]

Stupid move, with awful optics, by a petty man. Even Obama, also a vindictive thin-skinned baby, never went this far.

Not a good month for Trump...

[JohnR]

Originally Posted by Jim in CT

Stupid move, with awful optics, by a petty man. Even Obama, also a vindictive thin-skinned baby, never went this far.

Not a good month for Trump...

Well, he didn't bring 2 billion to Iranian Farmers

Sorry - I couldn't resist.

Short version, our Trade is fairly screwed overall and not as fair to us as it should be - too many countries have better deals at our expense. China is rigging the system to their benefit between currency and trade manipulation and at the same time carving out our advantages. This needs to end or it will be a shooting war in 10 years - well it may be a shooting war either way because China is significantly building

[Jim in CT]

Originally Posted by JohnR

Well, he didn't bring 2 billion to Iranian Farmers

Sorry - I couldn't resist.

Short version, our Trade is fairly screwed overall and not as fair to us as it should be - too many countries have better deals at our expense. China is rigging the system to their benefit between currency and trade manipulation and at the same time carving out our advantages. This needs to end or it will be a shooting war in 10 years - well it may be a shooting war either way because China is significantly building

I don't know a lot about international impacts, but a lot of people seem to agree with you that we get the short end of the stick again and again. And if anyone is going to take a wrecking ball to that, it will be Trump.

[Pete F.]

Originally Posted by Jim in CT

I don't know a lot about international impacts, but a lot of people seem to agree with you that we get the short end of the stick again and again. And if anyone is going to take a wrecking ball to that, it will be Trump.

When I was a kid I used to try and "fix" things, luckily most of them were not worth much as my results were not always what I wanted, I wrecked a few things.
I learned when to defer to people who knew more than I
Trumps approach to trade approximates mine then at mechanical things and I don't see a robust group of people advising him.
He doesn't like people who say that won't work or perhaps you should.....
The consequences of: "Who knew trade could be so complicated" could easily be horrendous, maybe he will get lucky

[Jim in CT]

Originally Posted by Pete F.

When I was a kid I used to try and "fix" things, luckily most of them were not worth much as my results were not always what I wanted, I wrecked a few things.
I learned when to defer to people who knew more than I
Trumps approach to trade approximates mine then at mechanical things and I don't see a robust group of people advising him.
He doesn't like people who say that won't work or perhaps you should.....
The consequences of: "Who knew trade could be so complicated" could easily be horrendous, maybe he will get lucky

So what should we be doing, to improve our standing in regards to trade? Most people feel we are getting screwed pretty regularly...

[spence]

Originally Posted by Jim in CT

So what should we be doing, to improve our standing in regards to trade? Most people feel we are getting screwed pretty regularly...

So Jim, how has our trade policy screwed you?

[Jim in CT]

Originally Posted by spence

So Jim, how has our trade policy screwed you?

I don't know that it has. But I've seen conservatives on Fox say that many of the deals are bad for us, and I've heard liberals on MSNBC say the same thing.

In the other thread, you yourself said there are "some legitimate issues" regarding trade deals. Were you just fear-mongering in that thread, but being the voice of reason in this one? Which is it?

[spence]

Originally Posted by Jim in CT

In the other thread, you yourself said there are "some legitimate issues" regarding trade deals. Were you just fear-mongering in that thread, but being the voice of reason in this one? Which is it?

Theft of IP is a legit issue. I think the Chinese manipulation of currency used to be a problem but is old news. We don't have significant trade issues with pretty much all of the Western world. NAFTA wasn't a bad thing. Bailing out of the TPP was foolish.

But just because we have a trade imbalance with a nation doesn't mean it's necessarily a bad thing. So we have a large trade deficit with China, a lot of that is because Americans like affordable stuff and we don't understand their markets.

[wdmso]

White House 'ends public summaries of foreign calls'


Brick by brick

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-44955992

[Jim in CT]

Originally Posted by spence

Theft of IP is a legit issue. I think the Chinese manipulation of currency used to be a problem but is old news. We don't have significant trade issues with pretty much all of the Western world. NAFTA wasn't a bad thing. Bailing out of the TPP was foolish.

But just because we have a trade imbalance with a nation doesn't mean it's necessarily a bad thing. So we have a large trade deficit with China, a lot of that is because Americans like affordable stuff and we don't understand their markets.

"But just because we have a trade imbalance with a nation doesn't mean it's necessarily a bad thing."

And I presume that's exactly how some people are reacting, that an imbalance is bad. I agree.

"we have a large trade deficit with China, a lot of that is because Americans like affordable stuff and we don't understand their markets"

I agree with that too, can't disagree with that.

SO I sit just theft of IP and currency manipulation? There aren't tariffs that our exports get slammed with (levied by the importing countries) that can be re-negotiated,?

[spence]

Originally Posted by Jim in CT

SO I sit just theft of IP and currency manipulation? There aren't tariffs that our exports get slammed with (levied by the importing countries) that can be re-negotiated,?

Well, that's why we enter into trade agreements. The issue here isn't if negotiation is a good or bad thing, it's about Trump's philosophy.

He thinks that multi-national agreements are always a bad thing, and worse he feels that everything should be 1 on 1 with him. Trump thinks every negotiation has to have a winner and a loser, like he got a deal on a real estate transaction. I don't think he has a clue how the global economy really works.

[Jim in CT]

Originally Posted by spence

Trump thinks every negotiation has to have a winner and a loser, like he got a deal on a real estate transaction. I don't think he has a clue how the global economy really works.

Yep.

[detbuch]

Quote:
Originally Posted by spence
Trump thinks every negotiation has to have a winner and a loser, like he got a deal on a real estate transaction. I don't think he has a clue how the global economy really works.

Originally Posted by Jim in CT

Yep.

From what I've heard Trump thinks that a good deal is win-win, not winner/loser. Heard he just made a deal with the EU:

[spence]

Originally Posted by detbuch

From what I've heard Trump thinks that a good deal is win-win, not winner/loser. Heard he just made a deal with the EU

That's not much of a deal, just an agreement to stop escalation of a trade war with a critical partner. Typical Trump, nothing specific, could change tomorrow.

[Jim in CT]

Originally Posted by spence

That's not much of a deal, just an agreement to stop escalation of a trade war with a critical partner. Typical Trump, nothing specific, could change tomorrow.

i have zero knowledge of this deal you are bashing. but when you hear something like “ the tax cuts are helping people”, or that gdp growth will look healthy, or about low black unemployment, or what detbuch referred to...do you just reflexively conclude it’s bad because its Trump? or do you do any kind of honest thinking before you decide that whatever he did, can’t possibly be productive? do you have any appreciation for how redundant and predictable you are on these things? if he ran into a burning building to save a puppy, how exactly would you criticize that?

how about you criticize him when he deserves it, and give him credit when he deserves it? what are you afraid would happen, if you gave him credit for somehing? reading your posts, or pete, or wdmso, you’d think he was a cartoon villain.
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[Sea Dangles]

It's the standard #^&#^&#^&#^&#^&#^&#^& he always spews Jim. Let him keep chasing his tail.
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[spence]

Originally Posted by Jim in CT

i have zero knowledge of this deal you are bashing. but when you hear something like “ the tax cuts are helping people”, or that gdp growth will look healthy, or about low black unemployment, or what detbuch referred to...do you just reflexively conclude it’s bad because its Trump? or do you do any kind of honest thinking before you decide that whatever he did, can’t possibly be productive? do you have any appreciation for how redundant and predictable you are on these things? if he ran into a burning building to save a puppy, how exactly would you criticize that?
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I evaluate all his actions in the broader context.