Evil isn’t something of a weak sauce enemy that you can defeat with one cowboy riding in on a horse, or one superhero riding in on a horse.

Sadly, the more I learn of the man, the deeper my contempt for the man.

That’s strange. It’s also why I don’t go with the band wagon. My views don’t evolve. That’s because they weren’t developed using human logic. I can explain them using human logic, but all one needs to know about Comey is that he was a Demoncrat. What else did they need?

Nothing else. Also he’s in DC. Yea.

I’m not sure what to firmly think about trump at this point.

I WANT him to be a SUCCESS(in conservative terms), but it is looking everyday more like a lost opportunity, and potentially a boon to dems, if things continue apace (the only barrier they have is their own internal dysfunction, at the moment, but that can change for 2018 and 2020 – remember the GOP were recently written off).

I do know he boasted about his superior “competence” over every other politician (“Only I can…”).

I do know that political SUCCESS (i.e. getting things done) requires building broader support (see my most recent comment above).

All these “distractions” that trump has driven (intentionally or not) are taking the eye of that ball.

And they are the reason why trump’s approval numbers are back down to his steadfast small core of supporters.

That is far from enough to have leverage in Congress to get things done.
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As far as clinton is concerned, we can agree, BUT she’s not the POTUS right now. The election is over and she lost.

trump now has the responsibility to deliver on his “promises”.
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The one remarkable thing in that election was how many of trump’s supporters were arguing about how competent he’d be (among other things), primarily citing his billionaire status as “proof”.

There were many signs that trump wasn’t what he boasted about himself, but h*ll if anyone could say anything different that could convince those supporters.

But, today, we see, that he was and is far from the brilliant “deal maker” (or “master persuader” from some) mythology.

(Incidentally, a great deal maker / negotiator has to have a keen sense of empathy, of what the others want and need. He also has to know the ins and outs of what he is negotiating – the details.

IMHO, I don’t see much empathy from him, and little command of a sufficient level details to know what he is negotiating.)
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Now, if trump hadn’t set that expectation in the first place, and if his supporters didn’t keep arguing it to beat heck, maybe one could give him more “benefit of the doubt” (or be more “fair minded”).

He promised many things in the first 100 days, and had many other “promises”. IOW, he set the terms to be judged against.

Many of us who were skeptical in 2016 said with hope “We’ll see”.

We are nearing 145 days, and aside from the judges, and some executive orders (which may or may not be effective – but certainly are not long term resolutions), not much of the big stuff has been accomplished off his list.

So, does this make trump “a moron”. No.

But, he is single-handedly doing more to torpedo delivering on any of his promises, by creating / perpetuating all these distractions, rather than making the case for the changes we want him to make, and building support for them.

Is it because he has other designs / has such a flawed character, or because he is incompetent (at the skills required of a POTUS)? IDK for sure, but lean to the latter rather than assume the worst.
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Still hoping he will change, but to do that, he needs to know from his supporters that he needs corrective action. He won’t seem to learn otherwise.

Seems many would rather he go down in flames causing “Big Heads to explode”, as the entertainment value is greater than if he were a success in delivering his promises.

We’ll see.

Good catch Bill… Makes one wonder, as several seem to think that they can have a democracy and simultaneously have a POTUS who can force his way to get things done.

It just doesn’t work that way.

By its nature and the limitations designed into our system by the Founders (there is SUPPOSED to be a balance and separation of powers – it is not all vested in the POTUS), democracy requires cooperation (even if it is grudgingly).

This is why it is absolutely VITAL to work at convincing a good majority of folks / voters why your ideas and policies are superior.

Anything else is de facto not advocating our democracy.

No, I don’t think Trump is dumb. I think, actually, that he is very intelligent in certain ways. You don’t win the Presidency by being dumb.

You don’t have to keep telling me you’re not a fan of Trump. 🙂

Your point is that fair-minded people will know what he meant – this reminds me of the old “I take him seriously, not literally”.

My point is that it is very naive to expect people to be fair-minded. “Not being a politician” has helped Trump but it’s also given unwarranted confidence to some of his followers that it’s always a good thing.

Possibly the best politician we’ve had since Reagan is Bill Clinton. Think what you will of him (I’m not a fan 🙂 ) – he was an amazing politician and he knew how to get himself out of scrapes.

Trump needs to become a better politician. He’s the President, for crying out loud. While fair-minded people will give him the benefit of the doubt, lots of people are not fair minded. He keeps committing unforced errors (as you put it, he “blusters and blabs”), giving them ammo, while his followers clap and holler about “making heads explode”.

Lots of people will disagree with me, but I don’t think the Trumpian strategy is working at the moment, and I also don’t think he knows how to “pivot” to any other strategy.

Basically, I have one question for you. Do you think Trump is a moron? As in, a complete, incapable-of-matching-socks incompetent that can’t be trusted to put shoes on the correct feet?

These statements were made in July 2016. The server had been in FBI custody for almost a year. Unless you think Trump is an epic, drooling idiot you cannot possibly see those statements, made in a highly public situation, about a server that has not been available to hack into for almost a year, as an actual, literally intended, suggestion or request to “hack into Clinton’s server.” Seriously. Lefties might believe six or more staggeringly stupid things before breakfast on a daily basis, but I expect better of us.

A career politician might not have said this, because they live in a world in which every syllable they have ever uttered in their life has to withstand scrutiny, but whatever Trump is, or is not, he is not a career politician. He blusters and blabs. Comments like these should be considered by real-world standards. Unless you think Trump is stupid enough to direct a foreign entity to hack into a rival’s sensitive information during an interview while on the Presidential campaign trail, and that he believes that the material is still available for hacking into, you cannot consider this a literal direction.

While I’m no fan of Trump (why do I have to keep saying that to you two?), it’s perfectly obvious to rational people who aren’t mouth-foaming nevertrumpers that this is campaign snark. It was an opportunity to take a public jab at Hillary’s weakest spot, reminding the world of the server situation: that she is an incompetent corruptocrat who disregarded protocol, made sensitive information available to every hacker on the planet, and then deleted emails when cornered about it. Clinton should be serving jail time for it. It’s something that was worth bringing up anytime it worked into conversation.