The Dangerous Case Of Donald Trump

[Tilt]

Start at about 2:39, The character, Dennis from It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia has a "narcissistic rage" meltdown when he's losing a game show. Always reminds me of Trump's Twitter rants. Hahahaha

EDIT: [MENTION=4660]Julius_Van_Der_Beak[/MENTION]: fixed.

 

[Tater]

I am happy to say that I have applied this advice to my own life and found that it works.
How to Deal With A Narcissist: 10 Tips Plus When to Move On

2. Break the spell and stop focusing on them
When there’s a narcissistic personality in your orbit, attention seems to gravitate their way. That’s by design — whether it’s negative or positive attention, those with narcissistic personalities work hard to keep themselves in the spotlight.

You might soon find yourself buying into this tactic, pushing aside your own needs to keep them satisfied.

If you’re waiting for a break in their attention-seeking behavior, it may never come. No matter how much you adjust your life to suit to their needs, it’s never going to be enough.

If you must deal with a narcissistic personality, don’t allow them to infiltrate your sense of self or define your world. You matter, too. Regularly remind yourself of your strengths, desires, and goals.

Take charge and carve out some “me time.” Take care of yourself first and remember that it’s not your job to fix them.

 

[Falcarius]

Status Of President Trump's Campaign Promises, 2 Years Later : NPR

I haven't compared statistics but it seems like he has done as much or more to fulfill campaign promises than most presidents have done.

On all the major polices of Trump's he has arguably made steps to carry them out apart from 'Draining the swamp' where the country has probably gone backwards.

Trumps achievements in carrying out his policies

*Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017
*More Americans are now employed than ever recorded
*Got NATO allies to spend $70 billion more on defence since 2016.
*U.S.-Mexico Trade Deal to replace NAFT
*Imposed tariffs on China in response to China’s forced technology transfer, intellectual property theft, and abusive trade practices.
*Median household income has hit highest level ever recorded.
*Signed Right-To-Try legislation.
*Improved vetting and screening for refugees.
* Supported Vocational education with Pledge to America’s Workers
*Started building "The Wall"



For all Obama's flowery language where he used to talk about inspiring the country, like this video did he get the "other stuff done" as he calls it since his only major legislative achievement is Omama Care (some would say the policy does not work). The American public seems to agree as Democrats lost hundred and hundreds of seats in state legislatures, governors’ mansions, and Congress during his time in office.

For example when Obama is compared to Clinton or even controversially George W. Bush or Trump's current achievements did he do enough in purely terms of getting through legislation and actually doing stuff?

Clinton's achievements:

*Multiple budgets were balanced budgets with surpluses
*One of longest economic expansion in American history
*Educational reform
*Passed the Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act of 1994
*Passed Federal Assault Weapons Ban
*Helped ratify NAFTA
* Help negotiate the Oslo Accords between PLO and Israel
* Had important role in Northern Ireland peace process

George W. Bush achievements (ignoring his shit-show of foreign policy and Hurricane Katrina lol):

* Led the UN efforts in creating a global fund to fight AIDS with President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief
* Economic Growth and Tax Relief Reconciliation Act of 2001
* Jobs and Growth Tax Relief Reconciliation Act of 2003.
* No child gets left behind
* He would ague most likely he kept the country safe with USA PATRIOT Act

In terms of getting legislation passed and keeping election promises Trump is doing a decent job at least.

 

[Z Buck McFate]

*Median household income has hit highest level ever recorded.

Just a quick note on this. It's kind of meaningless. If you put Jeff Bezos in a room full of 150 homeless people, the median income for each person would be 1 billion dollars.

Eta: I mean, that's where this new wealth went. The tax breaks mostly helped the top 1%.

 

[Lark]

The real danger is Z Buckery or McFatalism

 

[Falcarius]

Just a quick note on this. It's kind of meaningless. If you put Jeff Bezos in a room full of 150 homeless people, the median income for each person would be 1 billion dollars.

Eta: I mean, that's where this new wealth went. The tax breaks mostly helped the top 1%.

That post was not some endorsement of Trump as Falcarius is really a bicycle riding, vegatarian, pinko, hippy that Fox News warn people about.

But for what it is worth, it is relevant from statistical point of view as there are around 2,000 billionaires and 330 million people in USA in total so the rich should not inflate it too much. For example, the average household income was $61,372 in 2018 which does not seem all that inflated as far as Falcarius can see.

 

[Coriolis]

Actually it is not that he annoys me. I always thought he was a somewhat entertaining character. I felt him completely unqualified to run for the office but he was elected - so my thought was lets see what happens. On the one side, I have agreed with some of his policies (I'm generally a republican on economic issues and lean towards the democratic side on social ones).

I don't find people like Trump entertaining in the least, but that much is a matter of taste. I would willingly overlook his manner, and even his history of racism and sexual imposition, if I thought he could actually do something good for the nation, but so far he has mainly alienated allies, encouraged domestic extremists, created economic confusion, and done his best to throw a monkey wrench into the works wherever possible. Yes, this creates an opportunity for someone eventually to come in and clean it up, perhaps putting things back together better than they were, but at best that is a silver lining.

I favor positions across the political spectrum as well (e.g. gun rights and reproductive rights). One thing I do agree with Trump on is the idea of keeping jobs and investments at home and developing favorable trade relationships with other nations, but I don't see much progress here at all. I would especially like to see US citizens encouraged to enter those STEM fields which now rely on immigrants due to lack of skills/expertise in the domestic work force. Again - nothing done there.

Overall, Trump's election seems comparable to disgruntled voters voting en masse for Mickey Mouse as a protest, except that Mickey was actually on the ballot this time.

 

[rav3n]

I would willingly overlook his manner, and even his history of racism and sexual imposition

Wow...just wow.

 

[The Cat]

Ah, delicious.

 

[Deprecator]

Just a quick note on this. It's kind of meaningless. If you put Jeff Bezos in a room full of 150 homeless people, the median income for each person would be 1 billion dollars.

lol.

I don't mean to be condescending here, but the fact is that time and time again it seems that positive outcomes occurring while Trump is president are so triggering for people that as a result they consistently struggle with simple facts and concepts. For an example, the quoted statement here would be accurate if was referring to mean household income, but it is not. You could literally add 50 Jeff Bezos's to a sample of 150 homeless people and the median income would not be affected in any way. I even double checked to make sure that the statistical definition for median doesn't magically change when describing household income; it does not.

Record low unemployment, highest ever recorded median household income, renegotiating unfair trade deals that have hurt millions of Americans... I really don't know why people would be more concerned with baseless allegations of "racism" or whether or not Trump is a narcissist than positive outcomes that help the country.

And yes, I do realize that Obama was black, articulate and charismatic (and that 40% of polled democrats feel that any and all criticism about him is merely the result of racism), but unfortunately, these qualities didn't help him implement the change and policies that he advocated for.

But for what it is worth, it is relevant from statistical point of view as there are around 2,000 billionaires and 330 million people in USA in total so the rich should not inflate it too much.

Don't worry. Not only is it relevant from a statistical point of view, but judging solely by the hypothetical scenario that Z buck McFate provided the rich wouldn't inflate median household income in any way. But who cares about facts?

Most recently, he suggested using nukes to stop hurricanes

So long as a disputed allegation is sponsored by "a lone and unnamed source who was there" -- and there's also no recording or video to verify what was or wasn't said during the private meeting -- then it must be 100% true.

 

[Peter Deadpan]

tl;dr this whole thread

 

[JAVO]

tl;dr this whole thread

seconded

 

[The Cat]

tl;dr :

 

[Jaguar]

An extensive New York Times report on the secret legal deliberations behind the 2011 raid that killed Osama bin Laden reveals that President Obama ordered the operation to be kill-only. Weeks before the mission, four administration lawyers discussed the legal ramifications of either killing or capturing the fugitive terrorist leader. Ultimately, they decided, it would be legal to execute bin Laden on the spot. The president agreed, apparently, as the Times reports that Obama “explicitly ordered a kill mission.”

I had one request of Obama when he entered the White House: A bullet through bin Laden's brain. He delivered.

I'm surprised Trump didn't call it fake news or claim bin Laden is really still alive and running a child sex ring out of a pizza parlor.

 

[sLiPpY]

Whose nutz vs. Trump...?

Well, I'd say it's a toss up...in that them media folks presenting the information seem equally, if not exceedingly nutz.

 

[Tellenbach]

Yes, President Trump's a narcissist and yes, he's pretty messed up as an individual, but he's still the best president we've had since Reagan. No other president in my memory (Nixon was before my time.) has faced such a hostile media; the coverage is uniformly biased, stupid, and dishonest.

If you're a fan of honest, competent journalism, you should be alarmed at the direction the national media has taken; there was a time when the networks pretended to be non-partisan; that's all gone out the window. The state of the media should be far more alarming than anything Trump has done.

Trump's signing of "Right to Try" legislation will save hundreds, if not thousands of lives. Trump's deportation of dangerous MS-13 gang members will save hundreds of lives. The V.A. reforms that let veterans see private doctors will save hundreds of lives. If you just look at Trump's policies, he's in the top 3 best presidents of the last hundred years (along with Coolidge and Reagan).

Think of it this way: Trump's the Doc Martin of Presidents. You may not like the personality or behavior of Doc Martin but you want him taking care of you when you are sick because he's good at his job.

I would urge every one of you to savor the Trump years because it could be another half century before we get another great president.

 

[Julius_Van_Der_Beak]

Both the media and Trump are shit. It's not either/or.

 

[ceecee]

Record low unemployment, highest ever recorded median household income, renegotiating unfair trade deals that have hurt millions of Americans... I really don't know why people would be more concerned with baseless allegations of "racism" or whether or not Trump is a narcissist than positive outcomes that help the country.

lol You people are so hung up on racism.

Adjust that median income record for inflation and you will see the increase comes from workers putting in more hours and profit. Wages have been flat for decades.

But while workers are earning about what they made in 2000, corporate profits, productivity, and general growth are all way, way up. Bernstein noted that in the past 17 years, GDP is up almost 40 percent, productivity is up 35 percent, and real corporate profits have almost doubled. All of this suggests that income inequality is roaring right alongside the booming economy.

Median Income Rises—But That’s Far from the Full Story

A much more likely explanation. This is the reason you have plenty of people, Trump voters included, that repeatedly say they are seeing little to none of this booming economy and wonder why they aren't included. Not to mention the loss of jobs directly due to tariff and trade wars.

Because the GOP generally dumb down and simplifies so they aren't lying outright, is the only reason anyone is taking this claim seriously. It's the reason someone like Larry Kudlow can still be trotted out to speak on the economy in 2019 after he claimed no recession for years right before the recession in 2007, people who have expressly watched Fox and other right wing media will believe it.

He's now making the identical claims.

Larry Kudlow: "There's No Recession On The Horizon, What's Wrong With A Little Optimism?" | Video | RealClearPolitics

So don't do this when people are simply using past behavior as a predictor of future performance, whether that's about Trump, his inept advisers or the economy.

 

[Deprecator]

lol You people are so hung up on racism.

Well to be fair I was not the first person to mention racism in this thread; I had only mentioned it because someone else before me had wanted to bring it up. Secondly, I don't know what you mean by "you people", but when I last watched the DNC debate it was literally non-stop talk about racism and privilege. In contrast, when I watched the GOP debate from last the last cycle there was hardly any talk of racism at all; just a lot of talk about ISIS and policy that helps all Americans, and not just Americans who were descendants of slaves from hundreds of years ago.

On this forum alone... number of times I hear Trump being called a racist? I don't know, 30-40 times now at least. Number of specific examples I've seen provided of Trump's so-called "racism"? Literally, zero. This observation reminds me of an echo chamber in which the same belief is parroted again and again, and judging by the examples that no one ever wants to provide, no one ever has any idea what they're talking about.

you will see the increase comes from workers putting in more hours

First median househould income was inflated by the rich (can only imagine the sheer level of intense mental gymnastics required to pull this one off), and now suddenly we want to talk about work hours? Correct me if I'm wrong but isn't this one of the variables cited when debunking the gender wage gap myth? That collectively, women are wanting the same pay/ earnings and yet also putting in less work hours?

This is the reason you have plenty of people, Trump voters included, that repeatedly say they are seeing little to none of this booming economy

Well to be fair we're still only 3 years into the 8 year spell. In any event, I can honestly say that my personal wages and benefits have increased significantly since Trump was elected. When I applied for a new job it was just non-stop phone calls and emails from company after company after company wanting to set up interviews. To save time I eventually forwent altogether with formalities; the very first thing I would ask when they called me is how much they could offer. Virtually every major retailer in my city is hiring and in need of workers; everywhere I go there are complaints that they are understaffed and need more people.

Having more jobs available than workers who can work those jobs is not only a great condition for collective bargaining, but it also doesn't strike me as an indicator that the economy is failing or that Trump hasn't performed exactly as he said he would.

 

[ceecee]

First median househould income was inflated by the rich (can only imagine the sheer level of intense mental gymnastics required to pull this one off), and now suddenly we want to talk about work hours? Correct me if I'm wrong but isn't this one of the variables cited when debunking the gender wage gap myth? That collectively, women are wanting the same pay/ earnings and yet also putting in less work hours?

You brought up gender and no I don't know any women asking for higher pay for less hours of work.

In any event, I can honestly say that my personal wages and benefits have increased significantly since Trump was elected.

I hear this continuously from the right. Media and gasbags specifically. I have yet to find one actual person that's making more money AND paying less for better benefits than they were before Trump. Generally they are counting HSA contributions, that's a typical "benefit" that really only benefits the employer. And having a $2000, $3000, $4000 or more deductible to qualify for an HSA account makes it pointless.

I know of one employer now offering 100% paid benefits. The employees took a wage cut for those benefits and your collective bargaining comment is hilarious. Collective bargaining isn't a single individual, it's negotiation of wages and other conditions of employment by an organized body of employees. If you would like to see an employer actually approaching collective bargaining in a typical fashion towards employees wanting to unionize - Dave Portney is a great example.