U.S. Election - Because we know better than you do

[Ser Scot A Ellison]

Commodore,

Because when the Republican State Government of Michigan took it over it didn't improve, it got worse.

[Lightysnake88]

2 hours ago, Commodore said:

Why would the Dems be interested in showcasing Flint? 

They've had complete run of the place for decades and it's one of the worst places in the country to live. 

 

I love when right-wingers get collective amnesia on Snyder and his emergency manager laws

[S John]

I DO NOT want Trump to be President of the United States.  It is almost too embarrassing to bear.  But with that said, I cannot stand Ted Cruz.  He really creeps me out.  I've watched every single Republican debate and I'm beginning to find myself actually pulling for Trump to take this thing.  I hope he'd lose in the general, of course, but if the Dems end up somehow losing this year - anyone but Cruz.

[HexMachina]

How do people feel Trump would handle relations wth foreign governments, if he were to actually become President? I'm asking this from an outsider's perspective, but from what I have seen/heard he would not handle this well. And the U.K. Parliament have already shown themselves pretty critical of him. I'm just curious to hear what people think about this

[Mexal]

6 minutes ago, HelenaExMachina said:

How do people feel Trump would handle relations wth foreign governments, if he were to actually become President? I'm asking this from an outsider's perspective, but from what I have seen/heard he would not handle this well. And the U.K. Parliament have already shown themselves pretty critical of him. I'm just curious to hear what people think about this

Poorly, just like he handles relations with fellow candidates. If the foreign government says no, god help us all.

[Lany Freelove Cassandra]

9 minutes ago, HelenaExMachina said:

How do people feel Trump would handle relations wth foreign governments, if he were to actually become President? I'm asking this from an outsider's perspective, but from what I have seen/heard he would not handle this well. And the U.K. Parliament have already shown themselves pretty critical of him. I'm just curious to hear what people think about this

Depends on his mood?

One time he says "carpet bomb Syria"

He frequently talks tough about dealing with other countries

But when asked about "America should avoid foreign entanglements" he agreed we should.

Like everything else, he panders to whomever he is speaking

[Mr. Chatywin et al.]

11 minutes ago, HelenaExMachina said:

How do people feel Trump would handle relations wth foreign governments, if he were to actually become President? I'm asking this from an outsider's perspective, but from what I have seen/heard he would not handle this well. And the U.K. Parliament have already shown themselves pretty critical of him. I'm just curious to hear what people think about this

He's still saying Mexico will pay for his stupid wall, so like Mexal said, poorly. At best.

Probably still better than Ted Cruz though.

[Dr. Pepper]

4 minutes ago, HelenaExMachina said:

How do people feel Trump would handle relations wth foreign governments, if he were to actually become President? I'm asking this from an outsider's perspective, but from what I have seen/heard he would not handle this well. And the U.K. Parliament have already shown themselves pretty critical of him. I'm just curious to hear what people think about this

I think this comes down to ideology.  I would view Trump as a total disaster, likely worse than GWB.  I often can't even wrap my head around the idea that anyone would consider him someone who could possibly be effective with foreign relations.  Then I hear a segment on the radio about some of the volunteers who worked for Trump's campaign in New Hampshire.  One of the common things they said was that they were super excited to have a president who wouldn't apologize to the world.  They cited the Iran hostage exchange and Iran's holding of US soldiers who trespassed into their water as an outrageous display of apology by Obama and that it was unfathomable that any American could act in such a way.  These people said Trump wouldn't bend over for other governments, he'd make them do what he wanted.  

I mean, in my head I'm screaming "WHAT THE ACTUAL FUCKING FUCK?!?!" because these are insane comments and sound like something a toddler would say.  It takes a certain type of person to think diplomacy is a bad thing.  Not going to lie, I sometimes think it's really too bad that voter id laws aren't targeting these type of folks.  

TL;DR- He'd handle foreign relations poorly, though his supporters will say that he'd handle them perfectly because pissing off everyone is American tradition or something.

Though, like Tywin et al says, he's probably better than Cruz, and even Rubio.  That's how terrifying those two candidates are.  

[Commodore]

I agree with these characterizations

Quote

 

Ben Carson is the Obama of 2004: an impressive stranger who just walked onstage and is really known only for one speech.

Marco Rubio is the Obama of 2008: youth, cool, eloquence, hopeful optimism, appeals to unity, an ideological candidate under a veneer of bipartisanship.

Ted Cruz is the Obama of 2012: a candidate who has given up on the center of the electorate and believes he can win by galvanizing his base around him.

Donald Trump is the Obama of 2016: a man dedicated to trolling, who takes his greatest pleasure from “stray voltage” – acts and pronouncements that spin his critics into a tizzy.

 

Read more at: http://www.nationalreview.com/corner/431314/republican-candidate-obama-which-one

[DaveSumm]

23 minutes ago, Dr. Pepper said:

I mean, in my head I'm screaming "WHAT THE ACTUAL FUCKING FUCK?!?!"

 

Yea that's basically what the rest of the world are doing throughout this whole process. Honestly, the mere concept that these farcical Republican debates are part of the process by which you become the leader of the world's only superpower is.......I mean, terrifying doesn't even cover it. I don't know a great deal about Cruz or Rubio but if you fine folk are claiming they're worse than Trump...? I think I'll just head down to the fallout shelter, peak my head out in four years and consider it a win if no nukes have gone off.

[Inigima]

17 minutes ago, Commodore said:

I agree with these characterizations

Read more at: http://www.nationalreview.com/corner/431314/republican-candidate-obama-which-one

All of these are certifiably insane

[Mr. Chatywin et al.]

15 minutes ago, Commodore said:

I agree with these characterizations

Read more at: http://www.nationalreview.com/corner/431314/republican-candidate-obama-which-one

The only one that's even remotely accurate is Rubio, and he's a cheap knockoff of Obama.

 

[Manhole Eunuchsbane]

18 minutes ago, Commodore said:

I agree with these characterizations

Read more at: http://www.nationalreview.com/corner/431314/republican-candidate-obama-which-one

Laughable. Impossible comparisons, as none of the clown car inhabitants will ever manage to achieve what he has. Dog willing.

[OnionAhaiReborn]

Quote

Marco Rubio is the Obama of 2008: youth, cool, eloquence, hopeful optimism, appeals to unity, an ideological candidate under a veneer of bipartisanship.

 

Ah, yes, Marco Rubio, the "cool" candidate:

[zelticgar]

1 hour ago, Dr. Pepper said:

They cited the Iran hostage exchange and Iran's holding of US soldiers who trespassed into their water as an outrageous display of apology by Obama and that it was unfathomable that any American could act in such a way.  These people said Trump wouldn't bend over for other governments, he'd make them do what he wanted.  

I mean, in my head I'm screaming "WHAT THE ACTUAL FUCKING FUCK?!?!" because these are insane comments and sound like something a toddler would say.  It takes a certain type of person to think diplomacy is a bad thing.  Not going to lie, I sometimes think it's really too bad that voter id laws aren't targeting these type of folks.  

 

Probably not the best example to use considering no one knows what the hell happened with those sailors.  If you have some inside info you would like to share about it I would love to hear it. John Kerry indicated it was a win for diplomacy but Ash Carter (Obama's Secretary of Defense) is on record as feeling the same way as Trumps campaign volunteers. For now the jury seems to still be out even within the administration so its a little early to be cheer leading about how successful diplomacy has been with Iran. Right now the optics don't look good (see the sailor below crying). It seems pretty reasonable that a person could take the view that our sailors were not treated well and maybe would should not be so diplomatic with Iran.

 

[Dr. Pepper]

Lol, oh noes a sailor had a tear in his eye, better carpet bomb the Iranians!!!!

I repeat, WHAT THE ACTUAL FUCKING FUCK.  

[Bennis of the Brown Shield]

30 minutes ago, OnionAhaiReborn said:

Ah, yes, Marco Rubio, the "cool" candidate:

And what is more eloquent than repeating the same 30-second speech four times in a row like a broken robot? 

Let's dispel this notion that Rubio knows what he is doing. 

[S John]

48 minutes ago, DaveSumm said:

 

Yea that's basically what the rest of the world are doing throughout this whole process. Honestly, the mere concept that these farcical Republican debates are part of the process by which you become the leader of the world's only superpower is.......I mean, terrifying doesn't even cover it. I don't know a great deal about Cruz or Rubio but if you fine folk are claiming they're worse than Trump...? I think I'll just head down to the fallout shelter, peak my head out in four years and consider it a win if no nukes have gone off.

I *think* that deep down the Donald is pragmatic and also likely harbors more left-leaning thoughts than is helpful for him to present in front of Republican audiences during the primary period.  Cruz, on the other hand, is a true believer. A far-right Evangelical nut.

[Altherion]

48 minutes ago, Dr. Pepper said:

I think this comes down to ideology.  I would view Trump as a total disaster, likely worse than GWB.  I often can't even wrap my head around the idea that anyone would consider him someone who could possibly be effective with foreign relations.

But consider the standards set by the previous two administrations. Between them, Obama and G.W. Bush have made significant contributions towards turning much of the Middle East into long-term war zone (thus indirectly causing a refugee crisis in Europe), starting a new scuffle with Russia and engineering international treaties that both screw over American consumers and result in the loss of American jobs. The US is not directly affected by these things (beyond a few terrorist attacks on American soil) because it is the 800lb gorilla of global politics and because it is separated from most of the regions of conflict by an ocean, but it's hard to describe American foreign policy of the past 15 years as anything other than an unmitigated disaster.

Now, it is true that electing Trump is akin to buying a pig in a poke: it is impossible to predict what his policies will actually be. However, I don't see any reason to assume that he will do worse than his two immediate predecessors. Of course, it is always possible to do worse, but the bar has been set so low that somebody who, after all, has dealt with elements of the international elites before, has a pretty good chance of clearing it.

[Dr. Pepper]

14 minutes ago, Altherion said:

But consider the standards set by the previous two administrations. Between them, Obama and G.W. Bush have made significant contributions towards turning much of the Middle East into long-term war zone (thus indirectly causing a refugee crisis in Europe), starting a new scuffle with Russia and engineering international treaties that both screw over American consumers and result in the loss of American jobs. The US is not directly affected by these things (beyond a few terrorist attacks on American soil) because it is the 800lb gorilla of global politics and because it is separated from most of the regions of conflict by an ocean, but it's hard to describe American foreign policy of the past 15 years as anything other than an unmitigated disaster.

Now, it is true that electing Trump is akin to buying a pig in a poke: it is impossible to predict what his policies will actually be. However, I don't see any reason to assume that he will do worse than his two immediate predecessors. Of course, it is always possible to do worse, but the bar has been set so low that somebody who, after all, has dealt with elements of the international elites before, has a pretty good chance of clearing it.

See, @Helena, this is from the guy who previously (even in this thread, or the one preceding it) commented about how Trump finally exposed the truth about how we should get rid of Muslims (paraphrasing here).  Comes down to ideology.  A certain type of xenophobe individual will think that a person who calls people fat pigs, rapists, and so on will be more likely to think that Trump would be an improvement.