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A mistake or two in the first 150 days is probably not a problem. Have we ever had a President who made this many mistakes this quickly -- Trump is not fit to be President. The coziness with Russians by itself should alarm everyone in our great country. I am ready for Mike Pence to be our President. Trump needs to go.
Uh, to answer your question, yes we have. And in fact we've had some presidents with just as much drama... and much much worse drama… in their last 150 days.Quote:
Originally Posted by VADawg1
Who? What was the "drama"? I am curious to the answer you and others might give to this. Why can't we all just admit the man should not be president?
Signed Ready for Mike Pence
You are a democrat.Quote:
Originally Posted by VADawg1
Absolutely! Ditto for Bill Clinton. I give Clinton the edge in that he always seemed to be speaking from his heart even though he was reciting a speech using a teleprompter. It was obvious Obama was reading the teleprompter but he had excellent writers and he pulled it off with his salesmanship. But Obama was a beast when allowed to go full community organizer mode. His snarky jibes about whoever/whatever he was attacking could really work up the crowd. It's a treat watching those guys work and yet it's sad they are the blueprint for future politicians.Quote:
Originally Posted by RhythmDawg
Buy some books. Use Google. Get yourself some historical context. Really.Quote:
Originally Posted by VADawg1
Reagan
Kennedy
Grant
LBJ
Harding
Nixon
Jackson
Clinton
Obama
W
You can pretty much pick one, including the ones I didn't list. The difference between this president and past presidents...as I have already stated...is the media and more specifically, what they are willing to report, how they report it, and how both political parties manipulate them. Take the two poster children for both sides as examples. Read up on Reagan's and Kennedy's administrations, what they did in the White House and in their personal lives. See how fit you think they were to lead our country. Most of that stuff wasn't reported in the media, and it wasn't leaked. Much of it was culturally inappropriate, a barrier which no longer exists in today's media.
As for your statement that Trump shouldn't be president...not only do I disagree, but I'll characterize that statement as completely asinine. He won the election = he should be president. And unless he resigns, that won't change. I can make a huge retrospective case about Obama's policy-related failures as president...but I'd never say he shouldn't have been president. He won the freaking election, twice. That would be stupid. There were even cases in which Obama or someone in his administration leaked classified material...but don't worry. It wasn't widely circulated in the news. Do you think there was less evidence of obstruction of justice when Bill Clinton met with video lady on the tarmac?
Typically, the further away we get from a presidency, the less drama we remember.
Signed,
Ready for people to educate themselves before forming politically biased opinions based on propaganda from their favorite talking head
For contemporary politics, all we've got is propaganda. It's depressing, but I agree that consuming news from multiple outlets while evaluating the the actual words of the politicians may be as good as we've got for the time being.Quote:
Originally Posted by RhythmDawg
I'll add this on the whole Comey memo, obstruction, and impeachment. I have heard the alleged quote from Trump. If that is exactly what was said, that is not obstruction. He didn't tell Comey to do it. He didn't threaten Comey, taking the words for what they are. He didn't even ask him to drop it, as is being reported. He said "I hope you can let this go." So he hopes. That's not a request. That's not an order. It's a statement that he hopes. In fact, stating that he hopes Comey can let it go is putting all the power with Comey.
What we are missing...aside from confirmation of the statement and the exact wording...is the context. What was the tone of voice? What was discussed leading up to, and immediately following, that statement? What was Trump's body language? Did he say it in such a way to imply a threat? It should be obvious, regardless of what Comey says now, that he did not interpret whatever Trump said as an attempt to obstruct. Otherwise, we would have heard about it long ago because Comey would have reported it.
Edit: I'd like to know how Comey responded. Perhaps something like...
Comey: "I can appreciate that Mr. President, and I understand. But I can't. You know it's my job."
Trump: "I know. I want you to do your job. It's just a shame. He's a good guy and doesn't deserve it."
Context
Totally agree. The Wall Street journal is pretty good.Quote:
Originally Posted by johnnylightnin
Yeah. Thinking about motivations for saying things the way they are said and considering past comments and conduct provide some insight as well.Quote:
Originally Posted by johnnylightnin
Totally agree with that, but not enough insight to draw an accurate or informed conclusion. That's just being intellectually reckless.Quote:
Originally Posted by Guisslapp
Not necessarily. He may have or he may not have, but the fact that he hasn't reported it (to the DOJ, I assume you mean) doesn't prove anything at this point. Had he alerted the DOJ, that would be very telling, though.Quote:
Originally Posted by RhythmDawg
We don't know what level of weight he put on the statement, and contrary to Cartek's misreading of the conjunction in a statute, he didn't have a duty to immediately report it to the DOJ.
The context of it all will likely be known very soon when Comey testifies.
As Rush pointed out today...
It will be interesting to see all the memos written by Comey including those he wrote when he was talking to Obama about not prosecuting Hillary.
I can't argue any of that. And yes, when we get the context, we will know...even though Comey's perception of the context, his interpretation of Trump's statement, and anything he may have inferred from the combination of the two is still quite subjective. Trump can always come back and say "that's not what I meant and Comey did not respond at the time in such a way that communicated to me that's how he took it."Quote:
Originally Posted by Guisslapp
Until then, everyone talking about impeachment and stating their speculation about what was said and what it meant as factual need to shut up. I don't have a problem with speculating on national tv. But don't report that "this" is what was said and "this" is what he meant.
If Trump flat out threatended him, he should be charged. There is no way they will even come close to proving obstruction.
And like PawDawg...I am looking forward to seeing all of Comey's memos.
FWIW, Trump is saying he didn't say it at all (calling Comey a liar)