Donald Trump

[Mikee]

1 hour ago, Selene said:

If I was advising my grandparents in 1928 from 1958, I would have told them that they would have been smarter to buy stock in GM after the crash rather than purchase half of a brownstone off 2nd Avenue near where the Triborough Bridge would be developed nine months before the crash. 

They still did well and it was their home also.

This was a very successful step for two individuals who arrived at Ellis Island from Northern Italy in 1905 unmarried in a brave new world. 

I have never understood the probative value of Monday morning quarterbacking statements.

A...

What I took away was that Trump inherited a fortune...and essentially preserved it.  How he preserved it includes declaring bankruptcy multiple times and buying politicians to invoke imminent domain on his behalf multiple times.  He is not what anyone would call a "corporate titan" of the Atlas Shrugged variety.  His vulgarity and personal attacks, his misstatements, his ignorance of economics (except of the crony capitalist kind), world politics and the strategy of warfare, his admiration of thugs and thieves, (I noted first in his book AoD), is an embarrassment for one aspiring to lead the greatest nation in the history of the world.  But then, after two bouts of the Obama plague, who could complain?  I believe our government (reflected in its people) has become so corrupt decent men of accomplishment and ability will have nothing to do with it.  That's not Monday morning quarterbacking, that's a cold assessment of the facts in front of our faces.

[william.scherk]

I know that Donald will be dancing with Melania at inaugural balls in Washington DC come a win. So I wondered what kind of dancer was he -- stiff and flat like Obama, or smooth and assured like Reagan. Then I found this video gem. It won't change your mind about Trump, but it does expand the membrane of Mash Up Trump universe. Kudos on the bare-bones effect team and the wizards in the Autotune booth. My video/audio editing skillset is expanding, but almost nil in comparison.

The genius bits kick in around 1:02 ...

 

[merjet]

1 hour ago, Michael Stuart Kelly said:

Like the Second Amendment?

Like right to life, especially in reference to those who chop off heads in public?

Just about in every speech.

Michael

Whoop-de-do. How does the second differentiate Trump from any other candidate? How does the first differentiate Trump from any other Republican candidate?

[Michael Stuart Kelly]

9 minutes ago, merjet said:

Whoop-de-do. How does the second differentiate Trump from any other candidate? How does the first differentiate Trump from any other Republican candidate?

Merlin,

I must have misunderstood your question.

I thought you asked the following: "Does he ever talk about individual rights and liberty?"

I just looked. Gooooleeee... You did. You did. You did ask that question. You even followed it with: "I haven't heard it."

So I answered your question. Now you've heard it.

If you didn't want your question answered, I don't know how to talk like that. Maybe there's some advanced form of communication, but I tend to be stupid. I think questions generally precede answers and an answer is supposed to be relevant to the question. It's a mental limitation of mine. Please bear with my handicap...

As to your observation, I don't recall you ever asking about how Trump differentiates himself from other Republican candidates. Or even commenting on it other than here.

I feel ya' though. It's hard to track a discussion on a forum. Question to answer... that kind of thing... it can get confusing...

Michael

 

[Michael Stuart Kelly]

A note from our fearless leader:

How do you fight millions of dollars of fraudulent commercials pushing for crooked politicians? I will be using Facebook & Twitter. Watch!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump)

March 7, 2016

And for those who think this won't make a difference, I'm fine with that. 

Michael

[Ellen Stuttle]

1 hour ago, Michael Stuart Kelly said:

Jon!

You are magnificent!

Michael

Are you referring to this post?

If so, I'm doubly confused.  Jon appears to be quoting a post by me, but I didn't write what he quotes, although his link goes to a different post, which I did write.

Second, I thought that Jon doesn't want Trump to get the nomination.

Ellen

[Michael Stuart Kelly]

9 minutes ago, Ellen Stuttle said:

If so, I'm doubly confused.

Ellen,

Let me join the club.

I'm triply confused.

 

I thought Jon read the Wikipedia article and molded his opinion accordingly. And I thought he was not comfortable yet with how to do quotes in the new forum software, so in posting, his comments got embedded in a quote. (I've seen this in the posts of others at times.)

So let me revise.

If those words at the end of each quote are his, he is magnificent.

If those words are not, he still may be magnificent, but I will not have seen it.  

Michael

[merjet]

1 hour ago, Michael Stuart Kelly said:

Merlin,

I must have misunderstood your question.

I thought you asked the following: "Does he ever talk about individual rights and liberty?"

I just looked. Gooooleeee... You did. You did. You did ask that question. You even followed it with: "I haven't heard it."

So I answered your question. Now you've heard it.

If you didn't want your question answered, I don't know how to talk like that.

Yes, you answered it, with a couple whoop-de-dos, but not my follow-ups. I'm sorry I didn't spell it for you, that I was hoping for something far stronger in support of individual rights. Are you trying to say don't know how to talk about individual rights ala Ayn Rand, the Founding Fathers, or even Ron or Rand Paul?

[Jon Letendre]

Hi Ellen,

Sorry about my post, what a mess. I think I hit too many quote buttons. I only meant to post my final part, in response to turkey...

I was not trying to respond to you. Nice to see you again, though. Hi.

I do want for Trump to get the nomination.

And I also think that a different sequence of events would finish the lock the establishments from both parties have and jointly maintain even faster and more thoroughly than Trump's nomination and election, namely, if the American people were to perceive that Trump (and Bernie) won and had it taken away. So I am also hoping for that outcome.

[Michael Stuart Kelly]

20 minutes ago, merjet said:

Are you trying to say don't know how to talk about individual rights ala Ayn Rand, the Founding Fathers, or even Ron or Rand Paul?

"Are you trying to say_____don't know how to talk..."

Hmmmm...

I don't understand the question.

Who doesn't know how to talk?

Man, answering questions on forums is a bitch!

Michael

[Michael Stuart Kelly]

19 minutes ago, Jon Letendre said:

I do want for Trump to get the nomination.

The "Jon is magnificent" statement wins!

Michael

[Michael Stuart Kelly]

Here is a perfect example of how NOT to speak to Trump supporters:

An Open Letter To Non-Racist Donald Trump Supporters
The burden of ridding the Trump movement of open white supremacy falls on you.
Ryan Grim and Julia Craven
03/07/2016
The Huffington Post

You have to read this thing to believe it. I swear, the opening sounds like the Big Bad Wolf telling Little Red Riding Hood to come closer.

Don't believe me? Check this out:

Grim and Craven said:

Look, we haven't been nice to your candidate. When Donald Trump launched his presidential campaign, we stuck him in our Entertainment section, and since then, we've appended an editor's note to every story about him that links to all manner of vile stuff the guy has said. Let's stipulate that there are not many Trump supporters here at The Huffington Post.

But let's also put something else out there: We understand that people are hurting. Wages have barely budged for decades, and jobs have gone overseas. No matter who controls the White House or Congress, the rich keep getting richer and the cost of everything that matters -- college, day care, housing -- just keeps going up and up.

And on and on it goes.

"Come closer my dear so I can see you better." (And us: "What big teeth you have, Grandma!"  )

The subtext of the entire article is that they know I am not a racist. It's just the other Trump supporters who are.

And the corollary, if I continue to support Trump, I will either be a racist or an enabler of racists.

"But come closer my dear..."

Grim and Craven said:

Trump is giving a big middle finger to all of it, a clenched fist right to the face of the establishment. What could be more satisfying than that?

I can think of one thing. It's temporary, but it's very satisfying: 

Giving a big fat middle finger and clenched fist in the face of The Huffington Post.

Michael

[merjet]

Oops. Are you trying to say you don't know how to talk about individual rights ala Ayn Rand, the Founding Fathers, or even Ron or Rand Paul?

 

Quote

If you didn't want your question answered, I don't know how to talk like that.

Why would I have asked?

[Jon Letendre]

Rubio will drop out before the 15th to prevent an unforgettable and career-ending demonstration by Trump in Florida of how useless * Liitle Marco really is.

* Except in Minnesota and Puerto Rico.

[Brant Gaede]

45 minutes ago, merjet said:

Oops. Are you trying to say you don't know how to talk about individual rights ala Ayn Rand, the Founding Fathers, or even Ron or Rand Paul?

I can! I can!

--Brant can

(doesn't include the Pauls)

[Michael Stuart Kelly]

1 hour ago, Brant Gaede said:

I can! I can!

--Brant can

(doesn't include the Pauls)

I can too! I can too!

Michael

[KorbenDallas]

I can!

(goes back to lurk mode)

 

[Ellen Stuttle]

4 hours ago, Jon Letendre said:

Hi Ellen,

[....] Nice to see you again, though. Hi.

Hi.  Nice to see you again, too.

 

4 hours ago, Jon Letendre said:

I do want for Trump to get the nomination.

And I also think that a different sequence of events would finish the lock the establishments from both parties have and jointly maintain even faster and more thoroughly than Trump's nomination and election, namely, if the American people were to perceive that Trump (and Bernie) won and had it taken away. So I am also hoping for that outcome.

I see.  So now I think I understand a couple responses you made earlier to marc, the one below and this one.

On March 4, 2016 at 11:49 PM, Jon Letendre said:

I soooo hope you are right.

Ellen

[turkeyfoot]

7 hours ago, Jon Letendre said:

7 hours ago, turkeyfoot said:

That is his inarticulateness in framing the issues in a way that I can overcome my intense dislike for his attitude.

Geoff,

Here, let me help you some with that framing (all books by Donald Trump):

There are others, but that small list should keep you busy for a few nights if you decide to read them.

Let's say this is one way to frame capitalism.

Thx Michael. Nice of you to add value to our conversation.

I cant explain the style of this reply. I quoted Jon at one point and then this. No worries.

7 hours ago, Jon Letendre said:

 

[Dglgmut]

If Trump wins there are some very productive people who will be leaving the US to live in Canada. There are some appealing reasons in this video:

 

 

[Michael Stuart Kelly]

Here's a Trump interview with Hannity tonight.

Hannity and Trump went over Trump's conservatism and policies. This interview is far more substantive than Trump's stump speeches or debate performances. Granted, Hannity is a VERY friendly interviewer, but he did pull a lot of information out of Trump in a short space that others have not done.

 

And the continuation:

 

Michael

[Michael Stuart Kelly]

I had a huge laugh tonight.

I sometimes watch Cenk Uygur because, even though I disagree with about 90% of his opinions, he tries to hard to be objective from his perspective. With Trump, he's been the one constantly calming his people down, always saying Trump has far more support than appears, is far more intelligent than others are saying, etc. etc. etc. He bases it on his opinion that Republicans all love ape-like alpha males and so on, but he's been firm on standing up to the peer pressure.

Until tonight.

Let's not forget that Cenk is a progressive soaked in leftwing doctrine so much he honestly believes the propaganda. And that includes the jargon and catchphrases. So he kept it bottled up over months until he could keep it no more. And finally the pressure blew and he blurted out the progressive incantations:

1. This time Trump went too far and will now start tanking, and
2. If you still vote for Trump, this means you are probably a racist.

See here:

 

The funny part is, I kept seeing Roger Rabbit in my mind choking on "Shave and a Haircut."

 

When it's gotta come out, it's gotta come out.

Michael

[merjet]

For anyone who considers success in business to be a very important consideration for supporting a political candidate, consider the following. Michael Bloomberg has been far more successful than Trump. Bloomberg also did not start a public company that became a disaster. So if Bloomberg decides to enter the race, are you going to switch your support to him with far more enthusiasm?

P.S. A few minutes after writing the above, I saw the news that Bloomberg decided against running. Why here. That doesn't make my question irrelevant. 

[merjet]

Thanks for posting Hannity interviewing Trump. Yes, it is more substantive than Trump's stump speeches or debate performances. I liked some of what Trump said and didn't understand some other things. 

After 7 minutes Trump speaks about health care. He lauds health savings accounts (HSA), but he seems to have a poor understanding of them.

1. Very few people have them because they have employer-purchased coverage (Medicare if over age 65). 

2. An HSA requires the owner have a high deductible health plan (HDHP). A low deductible plan is not allowed. The HSA is then a vehicle for the owner to pay with pre-tax money medical costs not covered by the HDHP, i.e. co-pays, deductibles, and prescription drugs. HSA money cannot be used to pay the HDHP premium or another premium (with minor exceptions). 

3. Trump says HSAs provide the "incentive to spend wisely." Very, very little, since HSA money can be used for only a small fraction of all medical expenses, i.e. co-pays and deductibles. There is no incentive for the HSA owner to minimize the amount spent by the HDHP insurer. Also, how does a copay or deductible influence choosing among different medical providers?

As I posted earlier (link), I believe HSAs have the potential to radically alter the health care landscape toward individualism, but not as they are now. 

[Michael Stuart Kelly]

Merlin,

Trump has thousands and thousands of employees. I'm pretty sure he understands insurance. He might even be thinking of buying an insurer.  

I hope the very first thing he does in office is restore the word "insurance" instead of just "health."

Michael