Why I think Donald Trump running for president is a good thing

Without the 2 party system 99% of the country wouldn't know who to vote for.

Coke or Pepsi... what do you mean there's Tab? Never heard of it. People love it though. Well a certain demographic of people. Vote for Tab!

Bucket said:

since the reign of Saint Reagan the political discourse has moved so far to the right, nobody knows what a real liberal looks like any more

Indeed, the US political field is so far to the right that people think "liberal" is a synonym for "left wing".

Bucket said:

as since the reign of Saint Reagan the political discourse has moved so far to the right, nobody knows what a real liberal looks like any more.

Fredrik said:

I like "it takes one to know one".

The subtlety in this makes me chuckle.

geo said:

Without the 2 party system 99% of the country wouldn't know who to vote for.

Coke or Pepsi... what do you mean there's Tab? Never heard of it. People love it though. Well a certain demographic of people. Vote for Tab!

Parties themselves were never really accounted for when the founding fathers were creating our electoral process. They were introduced into U.S. politics in the 1800s, particularly in the election between Andrew Jackson and John Q. Adams. Washington himself warned against the divisiveness of what he referred to as "Factions". He was right; now because of the evolution of Democrats vs. Republicans, 50% of the nation is at odds with the other 50%. That's why I actually hate politics, because its basically another form of religious fundamentalism. Parties divide the country based on political ideology. When administrating a government, its a terrible idea of being committed to one school of thought; leaders need to be pragmatic, and adaptive. Only a fucking moron would allow his convictions to rule over reality. That's why politicians have a hard time keeping their promises; sometimes a conservative needs to raise taxes, and a liberal needs to cut funding.

Originally, the presidency was intended for individuals to vie for; not political groups. Moreover, the executive branch wasn't supposed to be such a powerful institution; Jackson changed that. Much of the U.S. political system was altered, from elections, to the range of powers of the president, when Andrew Jackson came on to the scene.

Not that it matters, because both parties are essentially the same when it comes to stuff like pandering to corporations and the upper class, which accounts for a majority of their decision-making.

All this talk, money, and resources once again spent on what essentially boils down to picking between a turd sandwich and a giant douche. This is one game I'm glad I've never played.

Donald Trump: making yet another Bush look like a sane choice.

Mordeth said:

Donald Trump: making yet another Bush look like a sane choice.

I think after the comments Trump made about POWs being unworthy of his respect, he essentially secured the primaries for Bush. There's no way a GOP candidate can gain the confidence of his constituency after making disparaging comments about members of the military. Both Democrats, and Republicans by a vast majority agree that McCain is in fact a war hero; and he is!

Really, the only other person I can think of in history, that had a low opinion of POWs, was Joseph Stalin.

The National Anthem of the United States, the Star-Spangled Banner, was written by a POW, while in captivity. There would be a great hypocrisy if Trump were to participate in reciting it.

Kontra Kommando said:

I think after the comments Trump made about POWs being unworthy of his respect, he essentially secured the primaries for Bush. There's no way a GOP candidate can gain the confidence of his constituency after making disparaging comments about members of the military. Both Democrats, and Republicans by a vast majority agree that McCain is in fact a war hero; and he is!

Really, the only other person I can think of in history, that had a low opinion of POWs, was Joseph Stalin.

The National Anthem of the United States, the Star-Spangled Banner, was written by a POW, while in captivity. There would be a great hypocrisy if Trump were to participate in reciting it.

It was written by a lawyer, not a POW, attempting to free a prisoner from captivity. And McCain certainly isn't a fucking war hero, he's a jackass that got special treatment and uses it like a golden token any chance the pussy gets. Fuck McCain. There aren't war heros anymore, anyway. If you consider a group of soldiers occupying deserts that can't even muster proper defense, topple dictators allowing entities like ISIS to rise, you're an idiot. Real heros fought in WW1 and 2.
Fuck the mockery of American politics. It's nothing more than a bunch of celebrities living better and have vastly more money than the idiots voting for them. It's the equivalent of "voting" in a Mob Boss to "fix" things, with cute little talking points that strike just the right heart string. The whole gig is solely for the purpose of riling up a gang-mentality in the population, to continue a perpetual cycle of stupidity and greed, voted in by a populace of idiots that don't know any better.

Flesh420 said:

It was written by a lawyer, not a POW, attempting to free a prisoner from captivity. And McCain certainly isn't a fucking war hero, he's a jackass that got special treatment and uses it like a golden token any chance the pussy gets. Fuck McCain. There aren't war heros anymore, anyway. If you consider a group of soldiers occupying deserts that can't even muster proper defense, topple dictators allowing entities like ISIS to rise, you're an idiot. Real heros fought in WW1 and 2.
Fuck the mockery of American politics. It's nothing more than a bunch of celebrities living better and have vastly more money than the idiots voting for them. It's the equivalent of "voting" in a Mob Boss to "fix" things, with cute little talking points that strike just the right heart string. The whole gig is solely for the purpose of riling up a gang-mentality in the population, to continue a perpetual cycle of stupidity and greed, voted in by a populace of idiots that don't know any better.

Wrong. He was officially a POW while aboard a British ship, as they bombarded Fort McHenry

Lets see you spend 5 years in captivity while being tortured. Don't confuse the war and the warriors.

Also, if you're vying to become the leader of the Armed forces, what kind of an example can you set by basically saying "Fuck POWs"? The point of what I was saying is that Republicans will not back Trump, because they respect McCain to be a war hero (as do I, and as do democrats). I never asked what you believe in.

Mordeth said:

Donald Trump: making yet another Bush look like a sane choice.

Implying Obama wasn't the third Bush that appealed to college kids.

I've yet to hear a convincing argument comparing Obama to Bush.

Mordeth said:

Donald Trump: making yet another Bush look like a sane choice.

Ironically, I believe Trump is the only GOP candidate not currently being investigated for corruption.

Bucket said:

I've yet to hear a convincing argument comparing Obama to Bush.
Ironically, I believe Trump is the only GOP candidate not currently being investigated for corruption.

Obama did expand the powers of the NSA, and PATRIOT Act. So maybe he even out Bushed, Bush in that respect.

Bucket said:

I've yet to hear a convincing argument comparing Obama to Bush.

Oh I don't know, maybe extending and updating the Patriot act to even greater draconian levels and investing huge amounts of funds into NSA spying. Sending over arms and resources to certain noble tribal warlords rebels in hopes of removing hands that bit him oppressive tyrants in stable nations like Libya and Syria to help destabilize them for democracy to prevail to keep terrorist preoccupied from friendlier, OPEC, Islamic nations. Much like what removing Saddam from Iraq did. Also, wasn't he supposed to close a certain jail somewhere in the Caribbean?

But hey, he did get the U.S. out of Iraq all by himself.

Bucket said:

I've yet to hear a convincing argument comparing Obama to Bush.

Bush and Obama both advocated for economic stimulus bailouts. That's a HUGE comparison right there.

Kontra Kommando said:

that McCain is in fact a war hero; and he is!

How is McCain a war hero?

'Cause he was almost killed in a battle, hippie!

Cool. So Obama and Bush are exactly the same... other than being opposed on pretty much every social issue including gay marriage, abortion, Social Security, campaign funding, immigration, privatization, decriminalization, the prison system, public education, taxes on the wealthy, military intervention, and UN cooperation.

Obama spent $700 billion in infrastructure spending that we really fucking needed. Bush gave $700 billion to his banker friends. Obama's legislation includes repealing DADT, reigning in student loan debt, small business and unemployment assistance, a compromise on Iran's nuclear program, and healthcare reform. Bush started PRISM and the USA PATRIOT Act and the Department of Homeland Security, started two illegal wars and didn't pay for them, issued a huge tax cut we couldn't afford, built a shitty wall on the Mexico border, passed Medicare Part D which is a giveaway to the pharmaceutical companies, and he couldn't even cut a check for Katrina relief without earmarking more Iraq War spending in it.

If the best argument you have is, "Obama didn't end ALL of the shitty things Bush started," then you'll have to concede this one.

Quast said:

How is McCain a war hero?

http://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2015/jul/20/trump-mccain-insult-pilots-vietnam-anti-air-hell

[edit] It's also worth noting that Trump did not serve in Vietnam and has claimed that he managed to avoid being drafted because he was lucky enough to have a high draft number. However, a quick search turns up plenty of articles indicating that this may not be true and that he had a series of medical deferments that may have allowed him to avoid being drafted instead.

example:
http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/donald-trumps-vietnam-draft-records-secret-documents-deferments/story?id=13492639

This, admittedly very slanted article, makes an interesting comparison between how those war years were for the two men:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/news/morning-mix/wp/2015/07/20/what-donald-trump-was-up-to-while-john-mccain-was-suffering-as-a-prisoner-of-war/

[/edit]

Stan: That's passive past tense, Trump! You don't own that!

Donald Trump: (Clearing throat)
Stan: Oh, for God's sake. Somebody pay Mr. Trump.

hardcore_gamer said:

Regardless of what you actually think of Trump's political views, don't you think it's nice that somebody is actually challenging the status quo for once? Even if it's just a rich asshole who's opinions you might not even like?

Nothing is good just for novelty's sake, much less when you're supposedly changing a status quo to produce even more poverty, hate and exclusion.

Quast said:

How is McCain a war hero?

Indeed; I guess a US war hero in the Vietnam war would have been someone attempting to somehow stop the war. In that sense, Trump is probably more of a hero than McCain, albeit a most pathetic one if he managed it by being a rich boy with privileges. True Vietnam war heroes had to go to prison or suffer other adverse consequences. There are a lot of US war veterans from the Vietnam war, and also brave and capable ones among those, but heroes? You actually need to be doing something worthwhile or morally decent, like liberating your nation or really furthering peace, welfare and equality, to be a hero at war.

Technician said:

Oh I don't know, maybe extending and updating the Patriot act to even greater draconian levels and [etc]

If you only look at the similarities or continuities it's like meeting a shapely and charming redhead and a fat and smelly redhead and telling your friend that, "duh, they're obviously equally hot!"

myk said:

If you only look at the similarities or continuities it's like meeting a shapely and charming redhead and a fat and smelly redhead and telling your friend that, "duh, they're obviously equally hot!"

No, but the cute one may be hiding hep C from her naive victims. Also, fat shaming is not ion your character.

Wikipedia said:

On July 29, 1967, McCain, by then a lieutenant commander, was near the epicenter of the USS Forrestal fire. He escaped from his burning jet and was trying to help another pilot escape when a bomb exploded;[28] McCain was struck in the legs and chest by fragments.[29] The ensuing fire killed 134 sailors and took 24 hours to control.[30][31] With the Forrestal out of commission, McCain volunteered for assignment with the USS Oriskany, another aircraft carrier employed in Operation Rolling Thunder.[32] Once there, he would be awarded the Navy Commendation Medal and the Bronze Star for missions flown over North Vietnam.[33]

edgy posters said:

le mccain isn't a war hero face

Damn...this meme is out of control!

Mr. Freeze, I fail to see how that can counter the wrongs he did through the aerial bombardment he took part in. Vulture fund managers and drug cartel lords often contribute to charity, which doesn't cleanse or supplant their criminal behavior.

Technician said:

Also, fat shaming is not ion your character.

Pardon me, master Technician, I was misled into believing I was talking to people who would equate attractive women to diseased whores, so I didn't want to address them in an unintelligible way. My mistake!

"Here are a select few ways in which two things are similar. Therefore, they are exactly the same."
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/False_equivalence

Trump for president?

Yeah, nah. I would definitely stay the hell away from him. If Enjay's posts didn't already tell it, he's not a real leader. He's all too much about power and money. Plus that, he has too much of influence. The wrong sort of influence.


If Trump ever gets to position that he could become a president (which I doubt, seems more like free press and advertising), I'll laugh hard. And if he ever gets presidential seat, I'll laugh even harder.

myk said:

Nothing is good just for novelty's sake, much less when you're supposedly changing a status quo to produce even more poverty, hate and exclusion.

Indeed; I guess a US war hero in the Vietnam war would have been someone attempting to somehow stop the war. In that sense, Trump is probably more of a hero than McCain, albeit a most pathetic one if he managed it by being a rich boy with privileges. True Vietnam war heroes had to go to prison or suffer other adverse consequences. There are a lot of US war veterans from the Vietnam war, and also brave and capable ones among those, but heroes? You actually need to be doing something worthwhile or morally decent, like liberating your nation or really furthering peace, welfare and equality, to be a hero at war.

If you only look at the similarities or continuities it's like meeting a shapely and charming redhead and a fat and smelly redhead and telling your friend that, "duh, they're obviously equally hot!"

Well, as I said before, Republicans believe him to be a war hero. But I bet if there were to be debates between trump and a liberal candidate; no doubt they would ridicule Trump for his sentiments about McCain as well. All politicians are scumbags, and they'll do or say anything to get elected. But the fact that Trump criticized U.S. involvement in Vietnam is probably going to marginalize him even further from the GOP. After all, he's not going for the hippie primaries.

Bucket said:

"Here are a select few ways in which two things are similar. Therefore, they are exactly the same."
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/False_equivalence

I think the examples we gave you are sufficient for the areas of similarities we've mentioned. No doubt they have differences, but those similarities are pretty significant. Its not that he didn't get rid of all the shitty things bush did; he empowered some of them.




Not to mention, both of them are great job creators... for China.