Republican-Conservative Catch All Thread

4Q Basket Case

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Yes, I meant to write "nuances." LOL

I agree with you that the tariff is over-used. Trump seems to have only one tool in the toolbox relative to the situation. And that is the tool of a bully. Regarding trade, it's the use of tariffs. It seems to be his lead move and only move. How did he think China (or any country) would react? I suspect he thought China would cave. Asian countries more than any have to save face in a confrontation. Their pride will not let them look week. Is Trump wise enough to propose a solution where both sides can win? We're on the "everybody loses" path at the moment. And the average America suffers. When elephants fight the grass gets trampled.

I don't pretend to know the solution to dealing with China; I don't have access to any special inside knowledge. I've just studied the subject and have a belief that international trade is greatly beneficial to those who participate in it. It just seems to me that instead of spending time on self-harm policies, it would have been far better to develop alternatives to China. They need us more than we need them. If they see we are aggressive in courting other countries, China will be incentivized to behave better. That seems far better than going the protectionist route.
We're on the same page, and I agree that when it's misused, the tariff is the tool of a bully. Which Trump is.

Your point about Asian cultures needing an out to save face is a good one. Trump, however, believes that if the opposition is left with a shred of dignity, he himself has shown weakness. A 99% win is a loss because it's not a 100% annihilation.

I do believe that the President (any President) has to have the tariff in his back pocket -- where everyone should hope it stays. But if it's not there at all, the country's bargaining position is materially compromised. It's kind of like the threat of a Qualified opinion from an auditing firm. It's drastic. It's nasty. It has the potential for a lot of collateral damage to a lot of innocent parties. But without that ultimate hammer hovering in the background, the auditor is a paper tiger.

The flip side is that, with great power comes the obligation to use it responsibly. The auditor can't issue Qualified opinions willy-nilly. The President shouldn't pull out the tariff hammer simply because it's there, and that's what seems to be lost here.
 
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Bodhisattva

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Well, there was that scrawled note of his in the margin of a campaign speech "TRADE IS BAD." Take that and his evinced belief that trade wars are good and easy to win and you've exhausted his knowledge about trade...
Good point and I agree. Regarding the success of trade wars, while it's not an on-point analogy, Trump should have looked at the (lack of) success in trying to force compliance from Cuba through economic bashing. It was the policy for decades with minimal success. China is not Cuba. Why would he think China would fold in a matter of months when economically insignificant Cuba held out? I guess I'm not enough of a stable genius to get it.
 

cbi1972

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The flip side is that, with great power comes the obligation to use it responsibly. The auditor can't issue Qualified opinions willy-nilly. The President shouldn't pull out the tariff hammer simply because it's there, and that's what seems to be lost here.
This is the president that earnestly suggested an alligator moat and shooting migrants in the legs, and was frustrated upon meeting resistance to these "ideas"
 

Bodhisattva

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This is the president that earnestly suggested an alligator moat and shooting migrants in the legs, and was frustrated upon meeting resistance to these "ideas"
Well, to be fair, ten-year-old Bodhi liked the concept of moats with alligators ….. and I still kinda do. Of course, the only problem is that neither water nor alligators do well in the desert. That's why pits with snakes should be a strong Plan B.
 

TIDE-HSV

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Well, to be fair, ten-year-old Bodhi liked the concept of moats with alligators ….. and I still kinda do. Of course, the only problem is that neither water nor alligators do well in the desert. That's why pits with snakes should be a strong Plan B.
The problem with snakes is, that if they're not confined, snakes have a habit of going where they want. At least the alligator would stay with the water - until it evaporated...
 

TIDE-HSV

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Good point and I agree. Regarding the success of trade wars, while it's not an on-point analogy, Trump should have looked at the (lack of) success in trying to force compliance from Cuba through economic bashing. It was the policy for decades with minimal success. China is not Cuba. Why would he think China would fold in a matter of months when economically insignificant Cuba held out? I guess I'm not enough of a stable genius to get it.
It's because he's ignorant as hell and that's why his grades, all the way back to grammar school, are protected by court order. When he said that trade wars were good and easy to win, all I thought was "Oh God! Here we go." It's hard even to describe ignorance as abysmal as that and he was in charge and also had the nuclear football, which still gives me nightmares...
 

MattinBama

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Several have asked what the appeal of Trump could possibly be to a lot of his supporters.

This came out a couple of years ago and I believe the author captures my sentiments perfectly.

https://townhall.com/columnists/evansayet/2017/07/13/he-fights-n2354580
Could you at least find someone more intelligent to fight for the white supremacy that appeals to Trump supporters? I mean the whole thing is supposed to be about how much better and smarter the whites are in the first place.
 

hollisx4

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Could you at least find someone more intelligent to fight for the white supremacy that appeals to Trump supporters? I mean the whole thing is supposed to be about how much better and smarter the whites are in the first place.
Not sure what you mean. Did you even read the article before commenting?

I'm a Trump supporter, and I'm not a white supremacist.
 
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CrimsonNagus

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Several have asked what the appeal of Trump could possibly be to a lot of his supporters.

This came out a couple of years ago and I believe the author captures my sentiments perfectly.

https://townhall.com/columnists/evansayet/2017/07/13/he-fights-n2354580
That is one of the dumbest articles I’ve ever read. Basically boils down to Trumps behavior is okay because the author believes the other side behaves the same way. Because “everyone else did it too” is always an acceptable excuse from one of your own kids.
 

hollisx4

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That is one of the dumbest articles I’ve ever read. Basically boils down to Trumps behavior is okay because the author believes the other side behaves the same way. Because “everyone else did it too” is always an acceptable excuse from one of your own kids.
Don't agree with your assessment at all.

And everything he said happened, happened.
 

MattinBama

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Not sure what you mean. Did you even read the article before commenting?

I'm a Trump supporter, and I'm not a white supremacist.
I read enough of it. At best as a Trump supporter you are ok with white supremacy and at that point it doesn’t really matter whether you consider yourself one or not.
 

NationalTitles18

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Don't agree with your assessment at all.

And everything he said happened, happened.
I believe Trump when he asked two foreign government to investigate his political rivals that he meant it. I believe the official summary from the White House of his call with the Ukrainian president. I believe the text messages among those working under him when they revealed that he used the power of the government to leverage a foreign power for his own selfish political purposes. I believe what came out of his mouth when he asked Russia to hack Clinton's emails. I believe what came out of his mouth when he said there were good people on the white supremacist side. I believe a lot of what he says is truly how he feels and means, but when he tells me not to believe my own eyes or ears or what he just said and did - well, I'm not dumb enough to believe that. CNN reports the president's own words and actions and Trump and his supporters call it fake news. Propaganda, anyone? The emperor has no clothes. Feel free to compliment him on something that doesn't exist, though. Feel free to shut your eyes and ears to truth as if a cult leader's spell had been cast. The order has been sent to only listen to approved sources for only they have the truth. You can't have doubts if you're never exposed to other ideas or dismiss them reflexively with the jingo of the cult leader. Go ahead and comfort yourself with false equivalencies and denials and excuses. Tell yourself that hatred, crudeness, vulgarity, lies, criminality, insults, and dehumanizing behaviors are the only way to win. Tell yourself that the man who heads law enforcement in this country needs to leverage a foreign power for help investigating his rival. Tell yourself that Mueller exonerated Trump when he explicitly said he could not, based on the evidence. Tell yourself the man who separates families as a deterrent and locks kids in cages as a deterrent and breaks the law to do those things really cares about people and the laws. Tell yourself the same about a man who breaks the law attempting to intimidate one or more whistleblowers. Tell yourself a man who says the impeachment inquiries are unconstitutional knows the constitution. Same for the man who thinks a congressman should be tried for treason for speaking on the house floor. Or that he can sue that man. Tell yourself he cares about America first (a phrase with possible anti semitism origins) when he puts his own interests ahead of the nation's time and again. Tell yourself that his kind is good for America. Tell yourself that stoking racial and ethnic fear is not the purpose of articles opposing immigration that repeatedly point to a day when whites are no longer a majority as something to be avoided. Justify it in any way that makes you feel better. Just know that we know the truth. Know that in some ways in times past I've stood where you stand. I'm not condemning you, but I am asking you to open your eyes to the truth. Donald Trump isn't fighting for anything other than himself and your vote. While that may not seem too different than most politicians, this one is willing to sell out his country for personal gain.
 

Go Bama

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Several have asked what the appeal of Trump could possibly be to a lot of his supporters.

This came out a couple of years ago and I believe the author captures my sentiments perfectly.

https://townhall.com/columnists/evansayet/2017/07/13/he-fights-n2354580
The Mueller report is not influenced by CNN. The transcript of the phone call between Zelensky and Trump is not connected in any way with CNN. These documents are not fake news.

Donald Trump is a Russian asset in the Oval Office. He is selling your country out and the freedoms you think he is fighting for are in serious danger of being permanently lost. Read just a little bit of the aforementioned documents and see if you are not stunned by the volume of evidence against this man. It’s right there for you to read and not written by CNN, MSNBC, the NYT, or WaPo.

You are being deceived in the same way that a TV evangelist makes viewers think they are trying to save souls when in fact they are trying to rob the viewers of their money.
 

81usaf92

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The Left has been engaged in a war against America since the rise of the Children of the ‘60s. To them, it has been an all-out war where nothing is held sacred and nothing is seen as beyond the pale. It has been a war they’ve fought with violence, the threat of violence, demagoguery and lies from day one – the violent take-over of the universities – till today.The problem is that, through these years, the Left has been the only side fighting this war. While the Left has been taking a knife to anyone who stands in their way, the Right has continued to act with dignity, collegiality and propriety.With Donald Trump, this all has come to an end. Donald Trump is America’s first wartime president in the Culture War.During wartime, things like “dignity” and “collegiality” simply aren’t the most essential qualities one looks for in their warriors. Ulysses Grant was a drunk whose behavior in peacetime might well have seen him drummed out of the Army for conduct unbecoming. Had Abraham Lincoln applied the peacetime rules of propriety and booted Grant, the Democrats might well still be holding their slaves today. Lincoln rightly recognized that, “I cannot spare this man. He fights.”
I don't know who is dumber, more racist, and more out of touch between Trump and this Bozo. Its like I said, conservative thinkers with the ability of a logical thought are dead like the dodo once Buckley and his group died. Now we are left with parrots who just regurgitate anything Il Duce says despite how stupid it is
 

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