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Donald Trump on Foreign Policy
Both wanted to run for president but didn’t for various reasons.
Rumsfeld “briefly sought the Presidential nomination in 1988, but withdrew from the race before primaries began. During the 1996 election he initially formed a presidential exploratory committee, but declined to formally enter the race.” Between 1993 and 1995, Cheney considered running for president. I even remember his direct mail.
Although I supported the Iraq War, both made some foolish quotes and predictions about this war. Two former secretaries of defense should have known better, although I suppose unpredictability and bad news is the very nature of war other than the previous Kuwait Gulf War.
…with sycophants and trembling estheticians.
The fact that these men made mistakes, as do all people in power, is not a condemnation of their qualifications. My point is that is you listen to them what you hear is what we should expect to hear from the men or women who serve in high office, seriousness, thoughtfulness, and intelligence. We have experienced seven long years of a man who had no qualifications for office other than the ability to impress mobs, tell lies, and his racial background. At least two of those qualifications apply to Trump. I am unimpressed with his professions of support for things he very recently was on the other side of. As multiple pundits have already pointed out, his pledge of loyalty to the party is not going to stop him from doing whatever he pleases. He has no credibility and fewer qualifications.
I have not been a Trump cheerleader, but the above statement is simply wrong. We can look back now on the last six presidential terms and see poor performance, low credibility,and lies, all found totally acceptable in the realm of the ‘ruling class’.
What Trump has is a performance record within his chosen work and this is qualifying and credible. What he does not exhibit is consistent political thought and positions, at least in the terms of the punditry that keeps track of these things. And I think that troubles a number of us at Ricochet as well. As for the interview, I absolute do believe that if and when Trump were to be responsible for the matters asked about, he would be ready.
If you were to list all the people in the country who have a record of success in their chosen work it would be a long list. Perhaps tens of millions of highly successful persons.
If we were to objectively (that is, with no particular person in mind) list the essential characteristics of a US president I wonder how many of these Trump would possess. In my own calculations, the answer is almost none.
So, in my estimation that there are probably a couple of million people at least as qualified to be president as Trump, if not more so, and at least 12 who are currently running whom I would prefer and who are in fact orders of magnitude more qualified by experience and especially by temperament.
This next comment is not directed at you, since you admit to not being in Trump’s camp, but I wonder how many of his supporters are such because they like him as a candidate, but haven’t thought much about what sort of president he would be over the 4 years of his administration.
I’m looking for improvement over where we have been for more than 20 years. Illegal immigration and Islamist terrorism are our most immediate existential threats that have not been met for two decades. Although this is what he is being faulted for in the responses to this interview, I don’t sense he would be nearly as inept as those we have been depending on. Also, I’m not confident he would complete a first term much less two, so if this looks like it could go forward at some point, running mate gets to be very important. And I say that for no other reason than my sense of Trump’s temperament.
Hard to imagine “more inept” than what we have seen lately.
But what makes someone “ept?”
My criticism of Obama from day one was that he didn’t know what he was doing. Now, I’m not denying that he might very well mean to diminish America’s standing in the world, but I don’t think he was trying to make himself look bad by failing at everything he touches. But looking at a few of the particulars:
I mention these things to emphasize that I don’t want another ignoramus in the White House who thinks that the only thing that matters is the force of his personality.
I think that there is more to the parallels of Obama and Trump. However, what I see in their similarities diverges. Obama, if D’nesh’s assessment is to be believed, has a Third World perspective which likely arose out of his time in Indonesia, his extreme leftwing grandparents, and his various mentors. I think growing up in Hawaii, with no disrespect meant for that glorious place, tended to create disconnect in him from the lower 48 (or 50 or whatever his thinks exists below Canada). He perceived his role as diminishing the United States’ power and arrogance around the world. He has done a pretty fair job of it. So, in his own terms, he has been a successful president, even if the rest of us see him as a total disaster.
Trump, on the other hand, doesn’t really have an agenda. He has some flack to throw up about the borders, but I don’t really think that is serious. It got him attention, and that is his real agenda. Trump wants to be, has always wanted to be, the center of attention. I can remember that from his early school days at Kew Forest School. As an athlete he wasn’t team player. He saw himself as a star.
His inability to answer questions demonstrates how little serious thought he has given to what he is assaying. He is simply riding the crest of a wave he created without any control over his destination.
Sarah Palin is dumber, and she’s now millionaire.
Who let the troll out?
How original
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/sarah-palin/11849363/Sarah-Palin-says-immigrants-should-speak-American.html
That was sad but she quickly said “English” after catching herself.
Speaking of the difference between English and American, may I offer a tip? Don’t get your American news from the British papers. The perspective can be interesting, but don’t start there.
Likewise, don’t get your British news from American papers.
I would guess that is good advice!
I speak American. :-P
I speak Texan, y’all. ;-)
Oh, wow, you must be really dumb to not know that the language is called English. ;-)
“Speaking of the difference between English and American, may I offer a tip? Don’t get your American news from the British papers. The perspective can be interesting, but don’t start there. Likewise, don’t get your British news from American papers”.
My?
Having been to other countries, I can tell you there is a difference. Even the dictionaries are different, especially if they have a phonetics section. I speak southern.
I feel confident that Mike LaRoche can also speak Sarcasm well enough to understand my comment. :-)
Yep! :-)
A conversation I had the other day with my friend, Robert F Beers, on facebook:
Robert F Beers I like Cruz. But I resent the demonization of Trump when republicans have done nothing with congress. Absolutely nothing.
You know what they did when they last had both houses of Congress and the White House? They spent money like drunken sailors. And tried to nation build.
Like · Reply · 6 · September 6 at 12:10 am
Gardner Ruggles Jr. Trump demonizes himself. Someone displeases him and his first response is to resort to name-calling. I didn’t care that he didn’t know who Suleiman was. It wasn’t a big deal but he made it a big deal by attacking Hewitt afterwards as a “third-rate radio announcer”. It’s graceless and childish and far short of what I want from our nominee. Cruz would have handled the situation MUCH better.
Like · Reply · September 6 at 9:47 pm
Robert F Beers Gardner, not only do politicians name call every day, so does everyone on FB. Civility is out of style.
Like · Reply · September 6 at 10:17 pm
Gardner Ruggles Jr. Maybe it’s time to bring it back into style. Obama’s incivility is of one of the more vile characteristics of his presidency. I’m not going to like it any more just because it’s coming from Trump.
Like · Reply · September 6 at 10:24 pm
(cont.)
(cont.)
Robert F Beers Honestly, I’m having the most fun watching the GOP elites and donor class having meltdowns. Payback is a bitch.
Like · Reply · September 6 at 10:27 pm
Gardner Ruggles Jr. Hugh Hewitt is not the enemy and if Trump thinks he is, he’s deeply confused. This doesn’t reflect well on him.
The elites and donor class also don’t like Cruz. I’d rather pay them back with a Cruz presidency.
Like · Reply · 1 · September 6 at 10:32 pm
Robert F Beers Me too. Believe me, Trump isn’t my first choice.
Unlike · Reply · 1 · September 6 at 10:44 pm
As in the British news you read. It’s a common English (or American) expression.
Read this this morning. I think it really encapsulates Trump perfectly:
In a recent interview with Rolling Stone, Donald Trump was quoted as saying about Carly Fiorina: “Look at that face! Would anyone vote for that?”