I haven’t posted much about him here (though I’ve had a lot to say over on Twitter), but yes, he would be a disastrous president.
I doubt if he’s ever even read the Constitution.
[Update a few minutes later]
Speaking of Trump, go read Jonah Goldberg’s evisceration of him.
I have to wonder if the whole Trump thing isn’t a particularly truculent expression of the “Burn It Down” attitude that’s been expressed occasionally over at the Ace of Spades HQ. Not that they actually want Trump to be president, but they’re in a mood to riot.
I know quite a few Trump supporters (even though I’m not one, I am sympathetic to some of their motives). My take, based on extended conversations with them, is kind of similar to yours; a large fraction see supporting Trump as, first and foremost, a way of raising their middle finger at a GOP establishment they loathe. A minority of them seem to think Trump would be a good president.
The GOP establishment created Trump. He wouldn’t be anything more than a novelty candidate if they hadn’t set the stage for him by pissing off, betraying, and insulting a big chunk of the base on several issues.
Yep, many in the GOP are in a mood to riot, and Trump is the vehicle. The GOP establishment needs to wake up and see they have some choices to make. Or, they can ignore the freight train bearing down on them.
In the AoS podcasts, they mention that Trump, to some, is the living embodiment of SMOD, but none of the cobloggers want him.
What’s wrong with SMOD?
On fiscal issues, there’s a very strong case for SMOD, because SMOD would wipe out both the deficit and the national debt. No other candidate can make that claim.
SMOD is eminently trustable, due to being incapable of lies.
On the foreign policy front, SMOD would take care of ISIS, Islamic extremism, Russia, and China, all at once.
SMOD will not, not once, not ever, use a secret private e-mail server, guaranteed.
There are many, many policy arguments in favor of SMOD.
“The only time Trump is blunt is when he is personally insulting someone, which is quite often. As a rule, Trump responds to all criticism and even tough questioning with personal insults.”
Ya, pretty much like Obama. Obama ushered in an era of shallow thought where whomever hurled the best insult was declared the winner. Russia a problem? Only in the 1980’s and they are calling…
It’s like bullying on a national level and that fits right in with how Obama’s government agencies treat the populace.
Right now, Trump and his success is the best thing for the GOP. As long as he stays in the race, he will be enemy #1 for the MSM (and Democrats). This keeps the heat on him and off the ‘real’ candidates.
Just look at last cycle, as soon as one person in GOP went to lead, the MSM went crazy tearing him down. The next one up, same story. For now, the MSM can try tearing Trump down, but they will see that the more they go after him, the more his core fans love him.
Now, him as President, well I agree, he’s not the one.
My concerns are tangentially different; I’m worried he’s simply saying things based on what he thinks people want to hear. The lack of specifics on many things are very convenient if you’re using Obama’s “blank screen” strategy. (“I serve as a blank screen on which people of vastly different political stripes project their own views.”)
I’m unlikely to vote for Trump in the primaries. So far, I’m undecided as far as the Republican field is concerned. Right now, there are two R candidates who I loathe so much I absolutely will not support them (financially or with my time and vote) in the primaries or the general, and they’re both from Florida. Everyone else in the field I’m taking a wait-and-see approach to, because some I simply don’t know enough about some to have an opinion (though I’m starting to warm to Cruz, Fiorina, and Walker – based on what I know at the moment, subject as always to changing as new facts become available to me). I’m well aware that I won’t get a candidate that I like on every issue; there is no such candidate, never has been. I’m not holding out for perfect. I am, however, holding out for “Not utterly reprehensible.”
Trump? I’d vote for him over Hillary in the general if he’s the R nominee, but at the moment, that’s as far as my support for him goes (My current read is he’d be awful, but not as awful as her).
Trump has no chance of becoming the GOP nominee or president. The biggest impact he could have would be as an independent candidate; in a close election he could take enough votes from the GOP nominee to make a difference.
He could take votes from both sides, as Perot did.
Example: A Hillary supporter switches to Trump.
“Clinton supporter switches to Trump” is a news story because it’s man bites dog. As it happens this particular woman was never going to support Hillary in 2016, so Trump is taking her vote away from a Republican.
If Trump runs as an independent he’ll take far more votes from the GOP nominee than he will from the Democrat.
And if Bernie Sanders were to run as a Socialist, who would he take more votes from?
The Democrat, no doubt, but that seems much less likely than a Trump run. For one thing, Sanders has explicitly ruled it out, saying “I would not want to be responsible for electing some right-wing Republican president.”
“Trump has no chance of becoming the GOP nominee or president. ”
The voters will decide. The media can’t make him quit and they aren’t even trying because they think him in the race helps the Democrats. The Republicans can’t make him quit by being mean to him. He wont run out of money. He wont be going to jail. Its up to the voters.
Same deal with Hillary. The only way she drops out is by going to jail or not getting the votes. Democrats could care less about her baggage and scandals but there is a popular socialist that appeals to the authoritarian tyrannical base of the Democrat party. The type of people who think AC is bad and want to make people live a subsistence lifestyle because it really provides a lot of free time and very little work. And to free you from the burden of shopping in your free time, there will only be one kind of shoe and one flavor of deodorant, odor free and androgynous of course.
It will be a glorious time when differences are stamped out! Hers and his will become illegal and replaced with one word for all 300 genders, qkx.
Qkx says, “Hey, Qkx pick me up three squares of toilet paper from the ration disbursement center in town. I spent 3 days carving 10 wooden letter openers to barter.”
Qkx replies, “Sorry Qkx, they said no more letter openers. They want one ear of corn per toilet paper square now.”
Qkx replies, “But how am I going to heat my home this winter without the cobs?”
people who think AC is bad
Written by someone who is probably a speech-nut.
Lower your IQ by about 40 points and think like a Democrat. The Obamas and Clintons don’t like one another. If Obama decides to prosecute her (as he should), she’s toast. Who then would be the likely Democrat candidate? Slow Joe Biden is a moron but he’d be unlikely to undo Obama’s policies. Warren would likely enter the race. Bernie Sanders is bringing out the inner socialist/fascist of the Democrat base. Who else would excite the base? One outside possibility is Michelle (shudder, gag, choke, spit). She’s a two-fer (black and female), so any criticism of her would automatically be labeled racist and sexist. She’s likely an even bigger socialist than Sanders based on her public statements. She’d be “historic” in more ways than one, and she’d save the taxpayers on moving expenses and the cost of Secret Service details for a former president. It’s a low probability of happening, but if it does, you read it here first.
Don’t worry, all the supposed anarchists are trying to pick the candidate that will make government “less bad”.. it’s pretty rare to find anyone who actually rejects the state enough to understand that electing a tyrant would be the best way to get the rest of society to see government the same way they do.
That hasn’t worked in Germany, Italy, or Russia. The people who vote for tyrants will do so again once the memory of the last one fades enough, even in the face of overwhelming evidence that it leads to disaster.
That’s because there’s no active counter-economy that can fill the power vacuum after the government falls.
The best comment I’ve seen about Trump is “he pisses off all the right people”. That would include the Left, the GOP establishment, and the media. I like the fact that he is flamboyantly un-PC. We need more people to stare down the Thought Police and give them the finger.
I don’t “support” Trump, but I like how he’s shaking things up that need to be shaken up. I don’t enthusiastically support any of the candidates. Walker and Paul are the ones I like best, but they (and all the others) are questionable on immigration. I don’t trust Cruz. He says all the right things, but I get the sense that I’m being played. Fiorina, maybe.
I’ll say one thing, though: If Jeb is the Republican nominee and Trump runs as an independent, I will vote for Trump without hesitation.
I’ll say one thing, though: If Jeb is the Republican nominee and Trump runs as an independent, I will vote for Trump without hesitation.
I think that’s a little crazy, but I’d hope you’d at least watch the campaigns before making a final decision.
Dunno I have a distinct feeling Trump, is Clinton’s Trump Card/dirty trick. He will drive the electorate to Hillary.
Either with the 3rd party run or as the GOP Candidate or he might drive the eventual candidate to a untenable position in the general election with out the need of a 3rd party run. That might drive the demographics that put Obama in the 2nd time to show up to put Clinton in out of Fear. Trump as a 3rd party wouldn’t lose the GOP any of the republican base states (besides Texas which may not be impossible between the voters for Trump instead of the GOP and the Hispanics whipped up to vote democratic), but I think he would cause a mess in the swing states, more so with a large Hispanic population where his effect may be doubled.
Let see some of the RINO GOP have been trying to expand the GOP voting base with Hispanics, which are kinda of natural fit for some of the tent poles of policy positions. Though personally disagree with the pandering to illegals with the thinking it will help with the Hispanic vote, when it more of help to business owners who rely on the illegally cheap labor and may give money to support it. But Trump took a blow torch to it with calling most illegal immigrants, vile criminals of the worse kind, it one thing to not pander to it another to call a potential voters, friend or family members a rapist /murderer.
Forcing the issue on immigration will make any strong anti illegal immigration to be lumped in with Trump for the general, and anyone that isn’t strong on that matter may not win the primary.
Some weeks ago, I said, very much in jest, that maybe Trump was a Democratic false flag operation to scare all of the folks that voted for Obama into voting for the Hildebeest. In the cold light of day, there’s just no way that the Democrats could pull that off. In the dark night of the soul…I’m beginning to wonder.
My ideal 2016 ballot:
Jeb Bush – R
Hillary Clinton – D
Donald Trump – I
Bernie Sanders – I (or S, whatever)
The winner (I couldn’t care less which one) becomes the first president in history to garner less than 40% of the vote.
I think that those pronouncing that Trump has no chance are being premature.
We live in a society in which the cult of celebrity reigns supreme. Nobody thought Arnie would become the gorvernator. Nobody expected “The Body” to become governor of Minnesota. Or, Al Franken to become its Senator.
When actors make political statements on the tele, the voters dutifully line up and do that they say. I’ve seen it time and time again.
No, I would not discount the possibility of President Trump at this time at all.