President Trump's good qualities

[Griffon64]

He certainly doesn't hang around waffling with advisors or soliciting facts before making decisions. That is one way to be a man of action, right?

I can see how that is refreshing - hey, he actually does stuff, he doesn't just talk about stuff! - to some people.

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Here's the one thing that Trump has done that, for me, is definitely good: opened my eyes to the fact that there are millions, tens of millions, of people whose world view, on the Venn diagram of their views and mine, is a circle on the other side of the universe.

I used to think that people were basically a decent, reasonable sort, and that we can all find more in common that we can find different. Boy howdy, no longer have that rosy view of the world. And I think long-term that is a good thing, because it will make "silent majority" people fight harder for what they want instead of assuming that it will be taken care of "because we're all basically the same and want the same stuff, right?" That should kick the pillars out from under the fringes, who are currently happy to claim that their views are also supported by "the silent majority" just because up to now they haven't encountered strong headwinds. I think those winds have started to blow, and will pick up more steam. That's good.

[Frelga]

Hard same, Griffy.

[yovargas]

Except..... I don't think the extreme sharpness of our modern divides are natural or inherent but instead have been created and reinforced by various cultural forces. And I see Trump as both the result of those forces and as a powerful extension of them.

[Inanna]

I don’t think this is modern or recent. People have always divided themselves into “Us & Them”. Information dissemination means we are just more aware of it now.

[yovargas]

That's certainly true too. I had posted elsewhere about how the division between city and rural folk seems to be very old. But I also think that the division has grown dramatically in recent years (and there is data out there showing we here have become more partisan). Griffy's Venn diagram would have been much more reasonable 25 years ago.

[Inanna]

Oh, good qualities: is keeping his campaign promise (the wall).

[elengil]

Oh, good qualities: is keeping his campaign promise (the wall).

Has he really, though? He spent the first two years with his party controlling both halves of congress not funding the wall (promise not kept) because Mexico was going to pay for the wall (promise not kept). Now he's just using it to shut down the government and play petty because Democrats control the House.

[Alatar]

I like that he has inspired some great comedy.

Love this bit from Bill Bailey which is only vaguely Trump related, but just enough to fit here!

[elengil]

I love Bill Bailey!

That was hilariously... depressing.

[Frelga]

A NYT writer mentioned Trump's observation on how important chyrons were in TV news, as many people watch the news on mute, which the writer thought was genuinely astute. I don't know if it's a "good" quality, as that implies a moral dimension, but Trump does know how to play the old-media game.

Twitter, not so much.

[Sunsilver]

Wow. This came as a really pleasant surprise!

https://www.yahoo.com/news/trump-overru ... zl63VD1oD0

[Cerin]

“The Special Olympics will be funded,” Trump told reporters on the White House lawn. “I just told my people I want to fund the Special Olympics and I’ve just authorized a funding of the Special Olympics. I’ve been to the Special Olympics. I think it’s incredible and I just authorized a funding. I heard about it this morning. I have overridden my people. We’re funding the Special Olympics.”

I enjoy the President's way of repeating himself. It's so funny. I don't mean, as in making fun of him, but it just makes me laugh.

[Alatar]

I'll give him that one! Its a bit like applauding someone for not being a douche, but I'll give it to him.

[Frelga]

That was such a Putinesque move, though. His own appointed official proposed and spent days defending an unpopular, pointless, and cruel proposal when the President stepped in with the rescue.

To appreciate what's happening in the US, it would really help to watch Russian state TV.

[Inanna]

“The Special Olympics will be funded,” Trump told reporters on the White House lawn. “I just told my people I want to fund the Special Olympics and I’ve just authorized a funding of the Special Olympics. I’ve been to the Special Olympics. I think it’s incredible and I just authorized a funding. I heard about it this morning. I have overridden my people. We’re funding the Special Olympics.”

I enjoy the President's way of repeating himself. It's so funny. I don't mean, as in making fun of him, but it just makes me laugh.

It makes me reach for my copy-editing pen.

[Dave_LF]

Meh. It's a move that costs him nothing and pleases everyone, and he gets to humiliate a subordinate in the process. Not impressed.

[Frelga]

It's more than that.

The Special Olympics is a genuinely important program. It is also highly visible and popular with the public, which is one of the reasons why it is so important to the people who are often made invisible.

But the proposed budget also

• Includes a 26 percent reduction to state grants for special education and millions of dollars in cuts to programs for students who are blind.
• Includes about $2 billion in cuts to Pell Grants on top of billions in reductions to about 30 other programs.

Now that the critics focused on the cuts to Special Olympics, Trump steps in to restore the funding. As far as I know, all the other programs remain cut. But now the administration can say, "Hey, we are funding the Special Olympics, what are you still complaining about?"

If this was a deliberate move, I will at least credit the administration for playing the game well.

[Voronwë the Faithful]

I never thought it was not deliberate.

https://www-m.cnn.com/2019/03/29/politi ... cnn.com%2F

Sent from my LG G6 using Tapatalk

[Cerin]

That article doesn't make it sound like it was planned or deliberate.

According to the article, it was the Office of Management and Budget who kept rejecting De Vos's submitted budgets that included Special Olympics funding (a program she supports), because the OMB director objects to government funding for private organizations. According to the article, the Pres. was not part of that negotiation and did not know about the Special Olympics funding cut until it was made public. Apparently when he was saying, 'I've overridden my people,' he wasn't talking about De Vos, who never wanted the Special Olympics funding cut, but about the two men in the OMB.

To suggest that it was all deliberate credits the two men in the OMB with a great deal of foresight in predicting exactly how the President would react when the Spec. Olympics cut was made public, or supposes an incredible amount of behind the scenes planning and rehearsal involving a very large number of people for just one small budget negotiation. That strains credibility, imo.

Speaking generally, I'm afraid that people on the left hate Trump so much, it warps their judgment, in the same way the right hated Obama and the reality of an Obama presidency so much, they were willing to believe any outrageous, scurrilous and despicable theory about him, no matter how preposterous.

[Voronwë the Faithful]

You don't seem to understand that in this administration, the OMB does nothing but what Mr. Trump tells them to. It's director, Mick Mulvaney, is his biggest designated implementer, as director of OMB, and as acting director of the Consumer Protection Bureau, and as acting Chief of Staff. As a Congressman, Mulvaney was a deficit hawk, but as Mr. Trump's designated implementer, he has abandoned fiscal responsibility.