Unless you are Trump and happen to have a black Sharpie, well then I guess you can make this stuff up.
A true nonissue. Early on there were projections that Darian could cross the Florida peninsula and into the Gulf. Once it got through Florida, with 85 degree water, it could easily re-generate and head anywhere from the Florida panhandle to the Louisiana coast. When Trump made his comment, it appeared that the Florida peninsula crossing was off the table. So Trump was wrong. Big deal. If you are going to make a big deal out of this, wait till Biden gets going. If you want to make a Federal case out of all his gaffs, you will spend most your time on nothing else. This is the stupid "Gotcha!" crap that makes political commentary tedious and petty.
Absolutely agree that Trump looked at an early map and tweeted based on that. I have no issue with that. It was the map modified with a black marker drawn around Alabama days later that is the story. What a small ego this man-child has. I hope you are embarrassed for him. You should be.
I am just glad I don’t have half of a nation tuned to my every word awaiting for me to make a human blunder. I mean what’s next? He used the wrong salad fork? Wore the wrong color tie? Come on, let’s stick to the substance here.
I said that it is easy to dismiss the initial mistake. The problem with Trump is that his ego is so fragile that he always goes to incredible lengths to protect his ego. The NOAA statement is jaw dropping. There is something wrong when one side refuses to see that the emperor has no cloths while the rest of are in utter disbelief that any human being could actually be this immature. Yet, day after day, we all get to witness the depth of this guys insanity. Dismiss it at your and our peril.
Insanity ..... Well, I believe that may be a bit of an overstatement. Egotistical I would agree with. Yet I would also concede that ego plays a major role in anyone’s pursuit of the nations highest office......... But I still contend that the mans entire tenure as president has been shackled by similar meaningless side bars. There is real work that needs to be done. There are very real global enemies planning our demise while we continue to wallow aimlessly in these sorts of meaningless issues. These are global issues that may place our own children on the field of battle. The man is the duly elected president. He does possess the mettle necessary to deal with these very real threats. We need to drop the silliness and get behind him. Lest at our own peril we watch our children go off to fight and bleed because we were unable to unite behind the man.
I'm not a fan of hyperbolic language. Insanity isn't even remotely hyperbolic in this case, it's just a matter of what type of insanity Trump suffers from. Narcissism is the clinical term. Narcissism is a form of mental illness. Believe me, I have an in-law that is a narcissist and it is nothing to dismiss. It causes profoundly self-destructive behaviors that affects everyone around them. In a societal sense, Republicans as more or less apprentice narcissists. They seem consumed first and foremost by their own situation usually to the detriment to everyone else in society. The welfare of the county is only considered long after their personal situation is secured and they will openly admit it while not seeing the narcissistic aspect of their own behaviors. Money is their primary concern. If anyone threatens their money, you see the narcissism flare up. You can examine your own situation and determine whether this characterization aptly applies to your life or not. I'm not trying to characterize you but moreover the broader Republican mindset. I've noticed that this behavior is usually dismissed by Republicans as not true because they may volunteer once or twice a year while spending the 99.9% deeply catering to their own needs. A rationalization they make to reinforce their own self-worth but it isn't what you do one percent of time that defines you, it's what you do the rest of the time that is your true nature. Now Trump isn't having these side bars hoisted on him. They are side bars of his own making. It's not like Democrats forced a black marker into his hand and made him alter a weather map. He did that himself. Is the country just supposed to ignore his behavior like the entire GOP does routinely? I remember the weeks long uproar when Obama wore a tan suit. The Republicans nearly had a stoke over that "scandal". I think you have to admit that both parties go after anyone on the other side for any type of gaff perceived or real but we have never seen anything that even comes close to what Trump displays on a daily basis. I sincerely doubt that Trump will give up power at the end of his term. He simply couldn't handle the rejection. Of ALL of the unprecedented behavior we've witnessed, it wouldn't even surprise me if Trump took a cue from is fellow dictators and declared himself President for Life. It's not even out of the realm of possibilities and I know that the GOP will happily support him in that effort. The rest of us will be on the White House lawn with pitchforks and torches. Where will you be on that day?
Most assuredly.... I would be there with torches and pitchforks. I did serve my nation proudly and would do so again to prevent such a perversed abuse of power. And though I revile in the usage of the term, that thought is so outwardly “radical”, I could not even remotely envision that scenario playing out. Narcissistic behavior, well I am not educated on such issues. I do claim to be a moderate conservative. I do not vote a straight ticket. But I was conservative as a soldier, as a working man (still am) and now though I am reasonably comfortable I still profess to be moderately conservative. The vast majority of what my business earns goes toward my fellow employees and their benefits. I am the last to be compensated or rewarded in my company. My wife and I have long served to nurture children that are in bad scenarios even to the point of adopting a child. We are responsible with what we now have, yet we do serve those around us in need. So from that personal perspective, I do not feel that I fit into your definition of narcissistic conservatives. I would hazard to say my story is not unique. But again, my real world concern here is not the gaffs or perceived gaffs of any one man. You see, our nation doesn’t send us old worn out curmudgeons to fight its battles. We send the young men and women, our truly best and brightest to do our dirty work. Joe, you cannot ignore the fact that there are world leaders that deplore us simply for living under the flag of freedom. All they require is the smallest chink in our armor to implement their plans for our demise. Soon these leaders can implement that plan with the simple press of the nuclear tipped missile button if we continue to distract our attention. And believe me when I say that singing cum-by-ya and offering hugs and love will not change their view of us. Brutal men only respond to a punch in the nose. This man is our duly elected leader. I will repeat myself and say... He does possess the mettle necessary to deal with these real issues and world brutes. If we don’t figure out how to let go of this childishness and focus on the real and looming issues at hand we will soon be finding these thugs on our doorstep. And mine and your children will be paying the price with their own blood. Mine and your tears will burn too deeply then to worry about these silly gaffs.
I think that the Trump presidency will define this country for many years to come, and not in a good way. If there ever was some type of national crisis, everything you fear about the enemies of this country will likely come to fruition under Trump. The handful of good men and women that have been cast out of this administration out of disgust with Trump or at Trump's own hand were the only people that could have prevented Trump's worst inclinations. There is nobody left but toadies and sycophants that will not stand up to this man-child. Heaven help us if one of those enemies you spoke of ever decides to take advantage of the chaos. As far as the military goes, I personally did not serve but many members of my family served in every branch of the military during wars and peacetime. I don't believe that other people hate us for our freedoms. That is just propaganda spoon fed to the masses to cover up the fact the since this country's founding, we are the most war-like people on the planet. No other country even comes close to the history of war we have amassed in our short time as a nation (**footnote below). That is in all likelihood the reason other countries might find us a threat, not that we have freedom. You want proof of our aggressive nature? How about the indisputable historical fact that America has been at war 93% of the time - 222 out of 239 years - since 1776. If you think that those wars were in the past, consider that we currently are in the longest ongoing war in our Nation's history. We simply just don't call them wars anymore nor do we bother to follow Article One, Section Eight of the Constitution that gives Congress and Congress alone the power to declare war. This country spends more on "defense" (a misnomer) than the next dozen country's combined and many of those countries are our allies. Lest we forget that we are the last remaining Superpower with the ability to end all life on the planet. So I don't think it is our freedoms that make other countries hate us. Hatred stems from fear, and there seems to be a long war-like history and plenty of current reasons to fear America. I have stated nothing but objective facts here. Heck, even our resident self-proclaimed American History Expert can't argue with America's historical war record. You can be as loyal to this country as you want to be or as critical of this country as you want to be, those freedoms are both suppose to be protected. When someone is disrespectful of either the loyalty of some or the criticism of others, what they really hate is the freedom to choose. In my opinion, they are the real haters of our freedoms not foreign adversaries. BTW The United Nations mission in Afghanistan reported recently that U.S. airstrikes and Afghan security forces killed more civilians in the first half of 2019 than the Taliban did. The mission says “pro-government forces” killed 717 civilians while “anti-government forces” killed 531, and 118 deaths could not be attributed. **To put this in perspective: * Pick any year since 1776 and there is about a 91% chance that America was involved in some war during that calendar year. * No U.S. president truly qualifies as a peacetime president. Instead, all U.S. presidents can technically be considered “war presidents.” * The U.S. has never gone a decade without war. * The only time the U.S. went five years without war (1935-40) was during the isolationist period of the Great Depression.
Joe, I am knowledgeable on US history, though not educated near enough to debate you on our nations war history. I do concede that we have been a nation long involved in conflict around the world. Though to my knowledge, our involvement has not been as an aggressor. I see our role as a defender of freedoms around the world. Our role in France in the early 20th century was born not of our aggression. Nor was the Second World War in Europe or the Pacific, Korea nor Vietnam. Our role (though not always successful) was to defend freedom for others against their aggressors. Beyond that, other than our own civil war I cannot speak to our roles in 19th century conflicts. As far as our current military objectives, there are Middle East leaders that speak of us and Isreal as the Great Satan. If we had chosen to have no presence there, I confidently believe that Isreal would be no more. Having said that, I believe our conflicts have been honorable. No different than defending a young lady on the street being mugged by an aggressor. My service time was spent defending Europe against a very aggressive Soviet Union. We were victorious without firing a shot. Germany was reunited due in part to my role in the service. I feel rather proud of that. Being a nuclear missile crewman on German soil in the late 1970’s, I witnessed quite a lot of opposition to our presence there from the local younger folks. They would often form rings around our firing pad and chant and shout at us. In my mind I was defending their voice just as I was defending yours or anyone’s voice that speaks from a platform of freedom. Their view as well as your view or anyone else that I agree or disagree with has the freedom to voice their feelings and concerns because they are every bit as valid as mine. Though I made the choice at 17 to serve and (regretfully) gave up my opportunity to further educate myself, I do know one thing. As a nation we have never fully agreed on any one thing. Compromise and clear headed debate is the only way to reach anything of substance. Those are sorely missing in our current climate and the longer it goes on, the further we will find ourselves divided. And that accomplishes nothing for anyone.
At least in the 20th century, our presence abroad in just about any conflict was to protect economic interests not freedom. Defending freedom sounds better than defending oil, defending rubber supplies, defending commercial shipping lanes, or any number of other foreign resources. Defending freedom has a ring to it doesn't it? We trump up reasons constantly to get involved in conflicts all over the world. The Gulf of Tonkin was used as an excuse to involve us in Vietnam later proven by the Pentagon Papers, the memoirs of Robert McNamara, and NSA publications from 2005, proved material misrepresentation by the US government to justify a war against Vietnam and over 50,000 U.S. soldiers were killed. Nonexistent WMD's were used to justify the Iraq war. Trump's "maximum pressure" is going to be the next pretext for war in Iran. Not the aggressors eh? You can't be at war 93% of your country's history without being the aggressor much of that history. Defending freedom is just another propaganda slogan. It makes us feel like the good guys. Soldiers are told many things to get them to conform and do what they are told. The younger the better because they are more malleable. Does it really make any logical sense at all that people hate us because of our freedoms? Do you hate Canadians because they are allowed to have dual citizenship? That's a freedom Americans don't have. Do you hate them for it? Of course not, why would you? The whole "They hate us because of our freedoms" is just plain old propaganda. It makes no sense.
They hate us because they are Islamic extremists who are looking to wipe Israel from the face of the earth and then take the rest of the world eventually. Should we take actions to prevent that? What is alternative? Israel probably has the atomic bomb. Would it be better to have them drop it Iran or Saddam’s Iraq? Where do you think that will go? Saddam Hussein was looking to take over all of the oil producing areas in the Middle East and use that leverage to get whatever he wanted via economic blackmail. Europe would have been at his mercy. Does that sound like a good outcome to you? We could have ignored this, just like we could have ignored Hitler in Europe and Tojo in the Far East. If the U.S. had not intervened in that case, where would those tyrants have gone next? You think they would have left us alone? England was the last line of defense. Hitler and Stalin were carving up Eastern Europe until Hitler decided to attack Russia. Then Stalin expected us to help save his evil butt. Hitler and Stalin were cut out of the same cloth. We probably could have stayed out of World War I, but Wilson, who is an icon for many on the left, got us into that one. I could write about the 19th century. Joe Nation and I might have some areas of agreement, then again, I’m not a college professor, so what do I know?
Trump attacked Chrissy Teigen on Twitter. Another day, and the dignity of the Office of the President of the United States ticks another notch lower.
Because this sort of thing is not news to me I have no earthly idea what this is about. But this is the thought that crosses my mind....... As a grade schooler I participated in more nuclear bomb drills at school than I did fire drills. As I grew older I took an historical interest into what was going on in those days.... President Kennedy was a strong man and a good leader. He was also quite the womanizer. Just imagine if he were dealing with Cuba and the Soviets while battling every two bit reporter trying to get a story on his libido. That man wouldn't have been able to get anything done and we would likely have faced the inevitable nuclear exchange in 1963. I too wish our commander in chief would leave these sorts of 21st century communication gizmo's alone and simply be our commander in chief. Fact is though, the man cannot catch a break with the childishness leveled against him. I suppose any man would feel the need to retaliate at some point. And yes, it is below the dignity of our nations highest office...... However I would note, the office has been far deeper in the gutter during previous administrations than it is now.
I can think of no president in modern history that was as viciously attacked as Barrack Obama was attacked, and even, I might add, on the floor of the House during a State of the Union. He had the courage and dignity to go high as the Republicans went low again and again. I can't even imagine Obama or any modern day president jumping on twitter or any other media and attacking TV personalities with childish grade school insults and silly name calling. Trump isn't capable of acting mature. He is a petty, vindictive, womanizing, egomaniac. God help us all.
Frankly, I was not at all proud of that event. I am not prejudiced either way. The catcalls get absolutely nothing done.
After two years of the fake news Mueller witch hunt, this post is total fantasy. You people were looking to impeach Trump before he took the Oath of Office. You never gave him a chance. Obama lied about Obama Care and how you could keep you doctor and your health care plan. Even the liberal press gave him four Pinocchios on that one. I’ll tell you about Obama Care. After 28 years with the same company, my wife had to take an early retirement after her company was sold. As part of the severance package, they agreed to pay her health insurance until she was 65. Along come comes Obama Care. It ruled that she had a “Cadillac Plan” and that her agreement with her company was no longer valid. She is diabetic, and we ended up paying $6,500 more a year for her health insurance because of Obama. She had a private agreement with her employer and the government outlawed it. Come back attack me. Show how much compassion you have for retirees because they don’t fall for your socialist system when hurts them financially.
I don't believe that we as Democrats or we as Republicans can shoulder responsibility for every single infraction by any individual on either side until and unless the infraction is unchallenged by the rest of the Party. True, Wilson apologized later but damage done. Incidentally, it turned out that Obama didn't lie. Obama said, "There are also those who claim that our reform effort will insure illegal immigrants," "This, too, is false — the reforms I’m proposing would not apply to those who are here illegally." This statement was followed by Wilson yelling "You lie". Some people have trouble remembering what statement was being shouted down.