Trump as Mr. Magoo:
Trump is not playing 4D chess here, he’s just being stupid. For a while I bought into Scott Adams’ 4D chess theory, but now I realize that Trump is more like Mr. Magoo, who doesn’t know what he’s doing, but because of bizarre happenstance, Trump being Trump resonates with the proles who voted him into office.
Trump seems especially like a Mr. Magoo with the bungled government shut down. I cringed when I read that he tweeted “most of the people not getting paid are Democrats.”
I give Trump credit for genuinely caring about his campaign promise to build a wall, but he let Republicans play him for two years. Republicans got what they really wanted (tax cuts, and a showdown on repealing Obamacare but not replacing it with anything as Trump promised in his campaign speeches), but they refused to help Trump get the Wall.
* * *
In case you don’t get the Mr. Magoo reference because you’ve never seen any Mr. Magoo cartoons, as explained by Wikipedia: Mr. Magoo is a wealthy, short-statured retiree who gets into a series of comical situations as a result of his extreme near-sightedness, compounded by his stubborn refusal to admit the problem. However, through uncanny streaks of luck, the situation always seems to work itself out for him, leaving him no worse than before.
Lion of the Blogosphere 
Cringed? So what? He’s correct and it reminds his base that the deep state is our enemy. Fuck ‘em.
Could he count on the Bezos Post to reify that point? No. Opportunity seized.
Curle
December 27, 2018 at 1:09 PM
He needs to learn to be more presidential in order to get stuff done. It was a totally unnecessary tweet, I don’t see how it advances his agenda.
Lion of the Blogosphere
December 27, 2018 at 1:36 PM
Lion,
“He needs to learn to be more presidential in order to get stuff done.”
This is a false argument. He is opposed on principle. Nothing will change that.
map
December 27, 2018 at 6:42 PM
Mitt Romney was extremely “Presidential,” and he was accused of murder, tax evasion, and wanting to bring back slavery.
name can't be blank (@DSGNTD_PLYR)
December 31, 2018 at 9:45 AM
The gov’t shutdown seems like a political misstep. Has this ever worked out for the party that pushed it?
Although isn’t he right about the gov’t employees being mostly Democrats? Why did you cringe about it? Because it is impolitic?
Lowe
December 27, 2018 at 1:09 PM
“Because it is impolitic?”
Absolutely. Let Rush Limbaugh say that stuff.
Lion of the Blogosphere
December 27, 2018 at 1:37 PM
OK, Lion, you crossed the line.
You do not compare Trump to one of my fellow Scarlet Knights.
Retract your statement.
njguy73
December 27, 2018 at 1:52 PM
The Republicans in Congress did nothing about building a wall because Trump never once pressed the issue with them. Nor did he push them to do anything else about immigration. He didn’t even try, and the people he hired to interface with Congress were either establishment types (Kelly, Mulvaney, Cohn, Mnuchin) or Club for Growth/supply-side cultists (Kudlow), both groups being firmly on the other side of the issue. We all know what happened to the one cabinet member who truly believes in immigration restriction – Trump first froze him out (over a problem of Trump’s own creation) and then fired him. Apparently, Trump thought, once he was in office, it was Paul Ryan’s job to build the wall, without Trump or his administration having to lift a finger. That is just not how it works, especially on a polarizing issue that divides the president’s own party.
Now that the Dems are taking over the House, and realizing that – having delivered nothing of interest to the voters who put him over the top in the primaries and general election – he is in danger of losing in 2020, Trump is flailing around trying to pretend his “agenda” still matters. Too late.
Anyone who had noticed Trump’s behavior over the past few decades he’s been in the public eye could have seen this coming. He has been Mr. Magoo all along.
Oh well, at least he’s solved the North Korea problem. Right?
djf
December 27, 2018 at 2:25 PM
“Oh well, at least he’s solved the North Korea problem. Right?”
He has not done worse than Obama.
Lion of the Blogosphere
December 27, 2018 at 2:55 PM
He hasn’t done better, either.
djf
December 27, 2018 at 4:02 PM
What’s with the constant negativity? Do you idiots realize you’re jeopardizing all of our achievements? Either you’re controlled opposition or just plain dumb. Either way it’s becoming clear Trump’s old coalition is falling apart. This is directed to anyone who erroneously believes Trump hasn’t achieved anything or cucks who think Donald The Great is a Mr. Magoo. Many of you don’t appear to understand how the executive branch even works. I’m going to repeat what I’ve written at other sites and blogs. Most of what Trump critics say isn’t true or is only half true and in many cases they’re proven anti-Trump ideologues. I’ve suspected most anti-Trump critics on the left and the right are simply well off enough not to be effected by the reality of modern America.
I agree that not prosecuting Hillary was a mistake but that was caused by his idiot daughter and her friendship with Chelsea. It was that same softness for his daughter that cost Trump the first general election debate as well. I’ve long been a critic of Ivanka for the record and it appears our enemies finally found Trump’s one weakness which was his daughter and her cuck husband.
Trump crushed the left, right, center, and mainstream media in 2015/2016 winning a revolution. Trump no doubt failed at appointments and firing general Flynn who was chief of staff material was the worst mistake of the Trump presidency as it legitimized the Russian collusion hoax, encouraged more illegal leaks, and enabled all sorts of traitors, careerists, saboteurs, and malcontents into the halls of power. The first five months of the Trump administration were bad but the second half of 2017 was great and it felt like we were on the offensive again. Some appointments even proved out to be excellent like at Treasury and Defense as well as chief of staff John Kelly who froze out lots of people including Ivanka and Kushner. 2018 has been a mixed year but we retained control of the senate even expanding our domination of the upper chamber and more importantly we have a much more pro-Trump GOP now.
Where are you people getting the idea that Trump isn’t delivering on his agenda? From a do nothing, chattering class, failure socialite like Richard Spencer? The mainstream media including the so called “conservative media” is anti-Trump. It’s also the nature of the media to engage in hype, controversy, negativity, and hysteria even when things are going well like in the 1990s. The alternative media/new media is pro-Trump but anyone with major reach and mainstream influence is being suppressed, defunded, delisted, deplatformed, and censored by Silicon Valley. I think a united front is important because the fight is far from over.
The truth is Trump perhaps unlike any president before him is enacting reform/change from improving the economy, fighting crime, changing trade policy, securing the border, combating illegal immigration, and much more. Even anti-trust enforcement is being seriously discussed for the first time in a long time. These sorts of things send signals across society as well prompting more change. That may not seem like a big deal as it’s “part of the job” but literally nothing was being done for sixteen years on any issue of importance. Things had just been getting worse since 2001 onward with a few minor reprieves. Obama may have talked a good game but put little to no effort into fixing anything yet Trump has achieved more in two years than his two predecessors did in their entire terms.
Even at the local level I’ve seen major improvements since Trump became president and its only the far left publications which openly acknowledge the reign of terror he’s unleashed on “people of color, undocumented immigrants, civil rights activists, criminal justice reformers, and welfare recipients”. They also frame a better economy for all as “tax cuts for the rich” and its only a “matter of time” until it ends but I can read between the lines.
Our side which I mean nationalists/populists must support Trump. Race realism of any kind is only possible on the right and that’s been true for decades going back to the GOP’s southern strategy. Clinton/Gore may have been the exception but SJW politics have a long history in Democratic circles. Cuckservatvism is a relatively new phenomena and has been strongly rebuked at least by the grassroots.
Spencer and other doofuses in the alt-right were once deemed ideal leaders for the movement but that flopped badly and many have since distanced themselves from them but they were never true Trump supporters. Their support or lack there of is dependent on the news cycle and the latest headlines. Serious people, organizations, and governments don’t change their views on the whims of the agenda driven press.
Beyond Spencer my second guess for all the cynicism would be Ann Coulter. The last president to seriously oppose illegal immigration was Bill Clinton and she despised him. She shilled hard for a lot of bad stuff over the years/decades and only began to talk demographics after 2012. She also dates negros and people like Dinesh Tandoori so I’d hardly call her credible. Trump promised to build the wall in his first term and as far as I’m aware that’s a work in progress. He’s even shut down the federal government to secure funds for the wall which step by step is reaching the sufficient threshold.
For people who love the news many here don’t seem to know much about what’s going on and its significance. The Trump administration is taking anti-trust seriously and has actively opposed the AT&T takeover of Time Warner. They lost the case but they’ve appealed it and the message is clear the Trump DOJ is going to be aggressive on these issues. They’ve also rejected net neutrality and worked to preserve a free and open internet delivering a major blow to Silicon Valley by putting the future in the hands of the telecom industry which created the high speed connections, wireless networks, undersea cables, and digital platforms that enable the communications revolution not search engine providers and tech companies like Google. Nevertheless taking on the largest and wealthiest corporations in America like Google who have an army of high priced lawyers on their payroll also requires an ironclad anti-trust case and those take years to build.
Trump has stopped the US government’s war on coal and other cheap and legitimate forms of energy. Trump is slashing regulations and cutting taxes two major economic successes while squeezing states like California whose tax rates actually went up significantly. Rich liberals can no longer exempt themselves from the massive taxes they impose on the middle class. Threats by the Trump administration against foreign governments have also denied Hollywood lucrative funding and reduced their cash flow. The Trump administration has also launched major police sweeps and massively cracked down on pedophile rings/religious cults a large number of which are in liberal areas and southern California in particular. Trump has also broken the Negro Felon League (NFL) de-legitimizing the organization and wakening up boomer cucks and GOP types to the nonsensical children’s game they worship.
Again for many who discuss government and public affairs you don’t seem to know much about the US executive branch. The president is the chief law enforcement officer of the nation, commander in chief of the armed forces, and he represents the United States internationally. The Department of Justice, security bureaucracy, and the FBI are under his control. Trump is basically a policeman he doesn’t have legislative powers to massively curtail legal immigration. He can only combat illegal immigration and slow legal immigration which he is successfully doing. His attorney general Jeff Sessions was basically as far as white nationalism can go in mainstream and respectable circles. He certainly unleashed a reign of terror I’m sorry to see him go and I’m concerned if the success will continue under a new AG but so far so good.
The inauguration day protestors may have gotten off but many were fired from their jobs, suffered the stress of legal proceedings, and have had their records ruined. Antifa has also been labeled a domestic terror organization and the media no longer openly celebrates them for fear of being prosecuted as accessories. More progress needs to occur here and if anyone is protecting them within the DOJ its deputy director Rod Rosenstein the phony conservative who attempted to launch a coup against Trump and has been directing the Mueller witch hunt/coup attempt as well. I’m shocked he still hasn’t been fired but hopefully a new AG will clean up the department.
On the foreign policy front can you point to anything Trump has done that is excessively deferential toward Israel and not in line with long standing US history? All I can think of are tearing up the Iran deal which was likely dependent on having a war in Syria. Moving the US embassy to Jerusalem is simply recognizing the reality that there will be no Palestinian state but that ship already sailed long ago. Saudi Arabia likely has the best leader in its history who much like Trump is a reformer and has purged all the pro-Bush, pro-Clintion, and pro-Obama elements from the halls of power in Saudi Arabia. MBS is smeared relentlessly in the press because he is a powerful and effective Trump ally.
For the first time in history Trump met with the leader of North Korea paving the way for diplomatic recognition and a formal end to the Korean War. I agree that American-Russian relations have not improved as much as I would have hoped but the US was always a sea based power in contrast to the land based power like Russia. Conflict of some sort no matter how small was inevitable yet despite that Trump has done the best he could and I continue to remain supportive. As of a few days ago Trump has pulled US forces out of Syria in a major step forward with Russia.
All in all the majority and especially the productive forces of society are satisfied with the Trump candidacy/presidency which has delivered on its promises and again proves the masses know more than the DC/Manhattan chattering classes and their wannabes in the blogging world.
I’d like to add that I think Jeff Sessions was a great attorney general obviously not against the swamp but in terms of going after dangerous criminals, illegal aliens, sanctuary cities/states, drug offenders, and people of color. He also paid generous settlements to victims of IRS abuse and launched discrimination lawsuits against institutions like Harvard. Sessions admires the US federal government and didn’t want to destroy the law enforcement juggernaut he controlled for practical reasons. It’s also better for a presidency to move forward and not look backward. I also agree with his perspective that a major problem in modern America is that we’ve had too many overly political attorney generals.
Sessions was a in a tough spot in regards to the swamp he obviously made lots of friends, colleagues, and associates over the years/decades. As attorney general he faced opposition from within the Department of Justice, opposition from Congress including the GOP, opposition from the courts, and opposition from the mainstream media. He agreed to recuse himself on the Russian collusion hoax because it’s not a hill he wanted to die on but he did make it clear he wouldn’t tolerate illegal leaks and established a special unit within the DOJ to investigate/prosecute any and all leakers. The leaks basically stopped after that.
Trump made it clear if the special counsel went after his family and business he would terminate Mueller. The cunning snake has skirted around that targeting people and entities close to Trump but not too close. The House Intelligence committee has been running a parallel investigation to the Mueller special counsel and Trump has allowed his allies in Congress especially congressman Devin Nunes to expose the massive corruption, fraud, and criminality in the halls of power. What happens next in this high stakes tango dance remains to be seen.
I suspect 2019 will be a make or break year for the Trump presidency leading into 2020. MAGA is not a one term project it will require a minimum of two terms and likely then some with a worthy successor.
redarmyvodka
December 27, 2018 at 3:44 PM
Tl
Mrs Stitch
December 27, 2018 at 4:48 PM
Why so terse?
djf
December 27, 2018 at 5:15 PM
dr
Lowe
December 27, 2018 at 6:07 PM
LOL!
Two in the Bush
December 27, 2018 at 6:20 PM
It’s not just Coulter and the contemptible Richard Spencer. It’s hard to find someone who was pro-Trump before January 2016 who isn’t disappointed with him today. For instance, here are articles on VDARE and Amren:
http://www.unz.com/article/raj-shah-in-darren-beattie-out-no-wonder-trump-faces-mid-term-catastrophe/
https://www.amren.com/features/2018/11/the-tragedy-of-trump/
What’s interesting is that his loudest supporters are those who only became Trump cheerleaders after it was clear he’d win the nomination, what I’ll term the “huckster Right.” People like Sean Hannity, who in 2012 supported amnesty and now demands the wall.
I’ve never seen much reason to think Ivanka Trump is a big problem with Trump’s presidency. I think she actually voted for him in the primary, which can’t be said about the neocons who would replace her if she were exiled from the white house.
“more importantly we have a much more pro-Trump GOP now.”
Why do you think this is true? I’ve seen evidence that those Republicans voted out in 2018 were disproportionately centrist, but you’d expect that, as centrist districts are the most likely to flip. It certainly wasn’t the case that Trumpist primary challengers replaced establishment conservatives. In any case, it isn’t the case that the more conservative Republicans are necessarily more pro-Trump. Trump is himself a “moderate” on economic and social issues, and he performed worse in the caucuses, where only the more committed Republicans turned out.
“Trump made it clear if the special counsel went after his family and business he would terminate Mueller. The cunning snake has skirted around that targeting people and entities close to Trump but not too close. ”
“You can go after my underlings, but not after me” is not something a smart, admirable leader says. Even a purely self-interested leader knows that attitude will lead his subordinates to desert him.
Alexander Turok
December 27, 2018 at 7:19 PM
Didn’t you write the exact same post here a couple of days ago, or is my mind going on me?
gothamette
December 27, 2018 at 7:46 PM
I get it most of you don’t care about truth, justice, history, and law but are more interested in the latest headlines, whose up/whose down, what’s trendy, and the latest talking points. In other words you’re conservative SWPL. I’ve also observed a sharp age/class divide among Trump supporters. Trump’s biggest supporters are people in their early 30’s and younger. You know people who never saw good government, low crime, good schools, secure borders, and a good economy during much of their lives.
As for the wall Trump has already delivered in a legal sense. His administration has tightened asylum laws making illegal aliens wait on Mexican territory as their cases are processed in America and given the litigation backlog they’ll likely never enter the United States and simply give up and return home. A physical wall is necessary and coming but the legal wall is perhaps much more powerful.
Trump’s new attorney general pick is just as good as Jeff Sessions if not better and he’s been endorsed by Florida attorney general and blond babe Pam Bondi.
https://www.orlandosentinel.com/opinion/os-op-pam-bondi-bill-barr-20181221-story.html
redarmyvodka
December 28, 2018 at 3:02 AM
Alexander Turok
Thanks for responding in depth and great name.
I’m a Trump supporter in fact I’ve been a Trump supporter from the beginning even before the beginning and throughout 2015/2016 I remained faithful all the way to victory night. I remain supportive into the present. Not many Trump supporters are like me even some pretty conservative people began cucking during the Access Hollywood tape. The same weakness and defeat I saw early on and near the end of the campaign is the same weakness I see now. I’ll take a mercenary like Sean Hannity over most part time Trump supporters.
I read your articles the first was better than the second which mostly consisted of endless whining. I’ve written a blog part time before and I know hard it is to come up with material and maintain reader interest. Imagine having a regular schedule and multiple hours of programming content. Yikes. I’d have to engage in fake news and endless negativity all day as well.
That said I agree Nikki Haley was a terrible choice for UN envoy and she was a never Trumper as well but she’s been fired now albeit quietly and on positive terms. The state department was another problem but Rex Tillerson wasn’t THAT bad he dismissed/fired dozens of career people in Trump’s earliest days in office ridding the department of entrenched opposition. Trump loyalist Mike Pompeo has now taken charge of the organization. He’s the same bulldog who headed the CIA and got them under control for the president. John Bolton like him or hate him is another powerful and effective Trump loyalist/ally hence his position in the white house.
Lots of prominent never Trump people have been removed from the halls of power via termination or retirement both in the executive branch and congress. The senate in particular was a major thorn in our side because they also oversee appointments. Now we have a staunchly pro-Trump GOP controlled senate. This is important because Trump can’t afford to antagonize his GOP allies on capital hill.
There have been many nationalist/populist victories domestically and especially internationally which may not be something you’re interested in but Trump has sparked a world revolution of sorts. I agree there is a deliberate attempt to isolate Trump from allies and deprive his supporters of power. That’s why the president is appointing a new attorney general one who shares and in some ways pioneered Jeff Sessions worldview but can also bring a swift end to the Mueller coup attempt.
Giuliani is also a valuable asset to the Trump White House. Most lawyers are soft and intellectual types more interested in preserving their reputation with the BAR and attending cocktail parties than serving their clients including the president. Rudy is the right man to serve at the president’s side together with Miller, Mike Pence, and other GOP factions in the white house.
If anyone is interested in a source of information that is beyond the alt-light but not quite alt-right occupying a very interesting middle ground simply following the facts where they go much like myself check out a guy called Trump Mafia and his sister channel Truth Syndicate on YouTube.
https://www.youtube.com/user/DEFCONYuko
redarmyvodka
December 28, 2018 at 5:10 AM
@ gothamette
Another great name btw but yeah I’m going to repeat myself again and again and again until the message sinks in but also because the same arguments keep getting posted and reposted again and again.
redarmyvodka
December 28, 2018 at 5:17 AM
> Trump has stopped the US government’s war on coal and other cheap and legitimate forms of energy.
The energy industry is quietly thankful that Obama stopped billions of dollars worth of pipeline construction that would now be utterly worthless, considering the crash of oil prices. The keystone pipeline was utterly predicated on unrealistic oil prices, and did in fact pose a serious threat to the Ogallala aquifer. The Obama admin was ultimately correct to stop it.
People need to get it through their skulls that North America is out of hydrocarbons. Coal plants in WV are closing down because they are out of high quality coal. It’s not a policy issue. This happened in the coal mines of the UK over 60 years ago: they simply ran out of cheap enough high quality coal.
It’s amusing how viscerally angry Americans get when you calmly try to explain to them they probably won’t be driving everywhere in 15 years because it will be impossible. We’re simply out of cheap energy and it isn’t a policy problem.
bobbybobbob
December 28, 2018 at 8:20 PM
Well thanks but no thanks,
“et it most of you don’t care about truth, justice, history, and law but are more interested in the latest headlines, whose up/whose down, what’s trendy, and the latest talking points.”
Sir, I beg to differ.
gothamette
December 28, 2018 at 10:06 PM
@ bobbybobbob
All the laws ensuring fixed pricing systems for energy supply which created prosperity for both producers and consumers alike were deliberately dismantled, gutted, and destroyed. The trendy, jet setting, globalist elite now raise and drop energy prices for all sorts of reasons such as creating a pretext to go “green” while they corner the green energy market as well as for geopolitical intrigues such as damaging Russia’s economy. Unlike you I don’t want to live in a neo-feudal state where energy, cars, housing, and the good life only belong to the ruling class.
redarmyvodka
December 29, 2018 at 1:14 AM
“What’s interesting is that his loudest supporters are those who only became Trump cheerleaders after it was clear he’d win the nomination, what I’ll term the “huckster Right.” People like Sean Hannity, who in 2012 supported amnesty and now demands the wall.”
I knew Ann Coulter, and Mike Cernovich, would turn on Trump. Their “brands,” involve being “independent,” so they can’t be seen as too close to any politician.
name can't be blank (@DSGNTD_PLYR)
December 31, 2018 at 9:49 AM
he is in danger of losing in 2020
No danger…Trump will not run for re-election.
E. Rekshun
December 27, 2018 at 4:28 PM
Trump is definitely going to run for re-election. All presidents in my lifetime ran for re-election. Even Ford. And Carter.
Lion of the Blogosphere
December 27, 2018 at 4:39 PM
Could he run for re-election while they bring impeachment proceedings against him?
gothamette
December 27, 2018 at 7:47 PM
“Could he run for re-election while they bring impeachment proceedings against him?”
Especially if they bring impeachment proceedings against him.
Curles
December 31, 2018 at 1:20 PM
Spending bills begin in the House and Paul Ryan’s Chamber of Commerce buddies were all against the Wall and any forms of immigration restriction. They, instead, pushed the disastrous ObamaCare repeal against Trump’s wishes for the purpose of embarrassing him.
It may have been a “Republican” Congress, but it was certainly not on board with Trump’s agenda.
Frankly, Trump was probably concerned that the Republican House would impeach him, an “own goal” that Democrats desperately wanted.
map
December 27, 2018 at 6:48 PM
That’s why I have to give the Trump administration a D minus at the half way point. He’s done great things on the executive branch side; the things he can directly control, but we’ve just had two years of GOP controlling the Presidency and Congress and nothing of importance was accomplished. It’s a wasted opportunity that the GOP may never have again in our lifetimes.
He was suckered on Obamacare, with Ryan cranking out versions that couldn’t possibly pass because he didn’t WANT them to pass, he hated Trump and wanted to oppose him more than he wanted any sort of legislation. And of course McConnell and Ryan kept lying to him on the wall. That was something that the House and Senate could have easily provided early on, but didn’t because they hate Trump. Trump, for his part, either didn’t recognize that the GOP Congress was opposing him, or did recognize it, but took no action to fight them. The past two years, they were the real enemy.
Once Ryan got his tax bill through, he had no incentive to do anything but interview for post House jobs with donors. That was the only leverage Trump had and he gave it away. Part of Trump’s attraction was that he was supposed to be a great negotiator, but he got totally taken by the GOP Congressional leadership.
Mike Street Station
December 29, 2018 at 10:21 AM
💯 percent true
gothamette
December 29, 2018 at 11:27 AM
Whatever happened to Grover Norquist anyway? You never hear about him anymore.
Vipltd
December 27, 2018 at 8:09 PM
You never hear about Bill Bennett either. A lot of Reagan era luminaries just went nowhere.
gothamette
December 28, 2018 at 10:03 PM
The tax cuts were early on. Why no work on the wall until after the midterms?
Frau Katze
December 27, 2018 at 2:42 PM
My impression is some advisor told him….listen if you don’t get the wall built it will be your “read my lips no new taxes”.
I wish from the start he governed on all the issues he ran on. His mistake was filling his cabinet with GOPe types who pushed things like tax cuts. Trump’s first two years were no different than if someone like Jeb Bush was elected….except Bush would have a more conventional style and cause less controversy.
I find it interesting that Dems still hate Trump with such passion….that hate is based more on his 2016 campaign and his personal demeanor than anything he has done over the past two years. It’s like they don’t even realize how far his governing has deviated from his campaign.
Jay Fink
December 27, 2018 at 3:14 PM
“find it interesting that Dems still hate Trump with such passion….that hate is based more on his 2016 campaign and his personal demeanor than anything he has done over the past two years. It’s like they don’t even realize how far his governing has deviated from his campaign.”
If you’ve gotta pinata, you bang it.
gothamette
December 27, 2018 at 4:14 PM
Jeb Bush? No just no. Trump has much more in common with president Clinton. Trump’s entire agenda was considered mainstream in 1998 and someone like him should have been president in the 2000s. Instead we got Dubya the worst president in American history followed by the most mediocre president in American history. In other words the cumulative effects of two terrible presidencies have taken a massive toll on America.
redarmyvodka
December 27, 2018 at 5:12 PM
“All Alone in the World” from Mr. Magoo’s Christmas Carol
MEH 0910
December 27, 2018 at 6:25 PM
The Lord’s Bright Blessing (reprise)
MEH 0910
December 28, 2018 at 10:33 AM
Trump isn’t lucky. Suppose it took 100 correct decisions to get him where he is and it was pure 50/50 luck for each decision. That would mean that the chances of him being where he is today are 1 in 2^100. Statistics says he is not lucky.
Clay
December 27, 2018 at 9:07 PM
He has made a lot of wrong decisions since getting in office.
Lowe
December 27, 2018 at 11:32 PM
With regard to his real estate career it is illustrative to compare Trump to Sam Zell. Zell repeatedly got out at tops, and reentered at lows. Trump, in contrast, repeatedly levered up as much as possible over and over on commercial real-estate. It just so happened to work out OK. In retrospect it may look smart but that’s just 2020 hind-sight. He went bankrupt more than once.
It is much the same with Trump’s political career. He has essentially correct ideas about where things are headed and the social zeitgeist, but he is hopeless on tactics.
Like a bad golfer! No touch! Can’t putt!
bobbybobbob
December 28, 2018 at 9:37 PM
In case you don’t get the Mr. Magoo reference because you’ve never seen any Mr. Magoo cartoons,
Mister Magoo (1960) – Intro (Opening)
MEH 0910
December 28, 2018 at 10:38 AM
Trump has essentially correct instincts, and that’s about it. He has no intellectual frameworks or principles, and more importantly he has no aligned network of powerful or even just very smart friends. I think he believed a bunch of rich NYC characters he has met were powerful and he was a serious player. Well, that’s not how the world works, as he has since discovered.
Paul Craig Roberts both predicted the outcome of the election and also predicted that the Trump presidency would be completely hamstrung because Trump would be arriving without a network. PCR was completely correct. You have to roll into town (DC) with an army. Trump tried to show up like Rambo.
It’s a shame Nixon is long dead. He was the one guy who really knew how to work the system and would be able to arrange all the necessary meetings. But Nixon was assassinated for trying a tiny fraction of what Trump promised.
bobbybobbob
December 28, 2018 at 7:59 PM
I agree with this. But who knows maybe the vodka guy is right. What do I know?
gothamette
December 28, 2018 at 10:13 PM
Vodka guy is wrong. I went back and read 2/3 of his rambling post, to be sure. He claims Trump is working on this and that, and we are all ignorant of how the executive branch works if we think otherwise.
In reality it’s easy to list the things Trump could have and should have pursued by now, but hasn’t.
Trump’s problem is not that he lacks a network, whatever that means. He isn’t doing the things his supporters want. He has underlings to write bills to send to congress, to write executive orders. He has Justice to defend his orders. So what is he doing? He is either afraid or unwilling to rock the boat beyond what little he does.
I like Trump for beating the Republicans and Dems. I like him for pushing a peaceful foreign policy. I like him for his rhetoric, for moving the Overton window, for calling the media fake. I love the guy, but so far, he is not the leader we needed.
Lowe
December 28, 2018 at 11:54 PM
I agree with you and bobbybobbobb. Hope I didn’t leave out a “b”.
Of course his instincts are right. He’s a real estate man. He’s the guy who offered to buy, cash, all the housing projects in NYC 30 years ago, and he got laughed at. He had the right instincts – but he didn’t know how to effect it.
Look at his life. It’s been one restless change after another. True, he’s been onto Chinese trickery in trade for a long time, but that’s about it. And the Chinese aren’t so much tricky as the US is run by oligarchs who believe in “free trade” like the Brits before us.
gothamette
December 29, 2018 at 8:18 AM
The president doesn’t have legislative powers. Trump never claimed to be a white nationalist either. I’ve read on some blogs that people now demand a sixty year moratorium on legal immigration, At no point in the campaign did Trump call for a total end to legal immigration. What some of you people want is crazy and unrealistic matched with absurd expectations.
redarmyvodka
December 29, 2018 at 1:32 AM
“The president doesn’t have legislative powers. ”
We know that, sweetheart.
“Trump never claimed to be a white nationalist either.”
Great, no one who comments here consistently is, either, and I for one wouldn’t support him if he was.
” I’ve read on some blogs that people now demand a sixty year moratorium on legal immigration, ”
No one here has done that, so it’s irrelevant.
“At no point in the campaign did Trump call for a total end to legal immigration.”
Duh, tell me something I don’t know.
” What some of you people want is crazy and unrealistic matched with absurd expectations.”
No one here is expecting the moon. Trump lost the plot for a while after his election, and we knocked him back in line. All we want is positive movement on the damn wall. Realizing that it’s basically symbolic, and that most of the real work in cutting down on illegal immigration is enforcing already existing laws.
Get lost. You sound smart but you aren’t.
You’re right about Coulter, though. She never recanted her belief that Amanda Knox was guilty.
gothamette
December 29, 2018 at 10:17 AM
@ redarmyvodka
I like Trump, and I understand what you are saying. He lacks the power to enact legislation, and he is not a white nationalist. Okay.
H/e he does have the power to submit bills. He has the power to write executive orders, and the lawyers needed to fight for them. Having bills getting voted, and cases in the courts is better than not.
Trump knows where his support came from. It isn’t inherently white nationalist to clamp down more on legal immigration, and he must realize that would win him support, and protect him from the fallout of getting no wall. Ending DACA would help him. So would proposing bills for a remittance tax, and for national E-Verify.
Issuing a birthright citizenship EO would help. There is no time like the present. This isn’t white nationalism. It’s common sense. Get Americans talking about the court battle, discussing a real issue. Make the left defend open borders. Trump is apparently either too scatterbrained, too scared, or too uninterested for this.
Lowe
December 29, 2018 at 3:01 PM
Unfortunately, things have come to such a pass, that standing up for immigration control in the way that Bill Clinton did in the 1990s is considered white nationalism.
By the way, the immigration obstructionists in the 1990s were the Republicans.
gothamette
December 29, 2018 at 8:27 PM
“By the way, the immigration obstructionists in the 1990s were the Republicans.”
…and still are (I’m looking at you Paul Ryan!).
Mike Street Station
December 30, 2018 at 8:05 AM
point taken.
gothamette
December 30, 2018 at 10:14 AM
I wasn’t addressing you Gothamho. Most people don’t understand the precise differences between the legislative, executive, and judicial branches of government. That’s understandable most people aren’t specialists but some erroneously seem to think we elected a king and not a president.
I’ve seen you personally berate white nationalist sympathies here and blast figures in the “alt-right” so the idea that it’s not relevant when I do it is ridiculous.
What occurs at other sites/blogs/podcasts/etc some of which are even on Lion’s own blog roll is highly relevant because they all form one echo chamber.
Trump doesn’t need advice he’s been highly successful all his life, he ran an amazing campaign perhaps the greatest in American history, and that success has continued as president. Trump isn’t a GOP Obama simply giving nice speeches and doing nothing he’s achieved far more in two years than some presidents do over multiple terms.
redarmyvodka
December 30, 2018 at 11:58 PM
“Trump doesn’t need advice he’s been highly successful all his life.”
He was born rich.
Lion of the Blogosphere
December 31, 2018 at 9:42 AM
“i’ve seen you personally berate white nationalist sympathies here and blast figures in the “alt-right” so the idea that it’s not relevant when I do it is ridiculous”
You weren’t berating white nationalist sympathies. You were pointing out duh stupid things that everybody here already knows, which is that Trump himself is not a white nationalist and has never espoused it.
Guys like you are a waste of time. But for the record, please don’t tell us stuff that we already know and then claim copyright protection!
gothamette
December 31, 2018 at 9:46 AM
@ Lowe
All fair points but I think you’re underestimating the opposition to the president. There are people who want to impeach him and perhaps much worse. President Trump is very powerful but not invincible he needs allies. There is consensus on fighting crime/illegal immigration and boosting border security/creating legal walls at least from the GOP base and the US executive branch. Those are all worthy goals and doable here and now. Your proposals however are a little dangerous. What happens when most of the ideas you want fail as they inevitably will? Trump will have squandered political capital on high risk hail marys when he could have moved the ball down the field in a more cautious and realistic way instead. Now the argument against that is “we’re running out of time” hence all the doom and gloom but I’m not convinced. We’re barely two years into the presidency and a lot can happen. The presidential elections of 1860 and 1960 were the two biggest turning points in US history. I’d argue 2000 was as well albeit on a smaller scale. It’s not easy to undo the work of a president and Trump is very much a turning point in US history on par with 1860 and 1960.
redarmyvodka
December 31, 2018 at 12:30 AM