Point 1: I didn't vote for Obama either time. I didn't vote for Hillary...never would have ever (Which is likely the causal reason for Trump's win...he was running against the only person in the world who had a lower approval/likeability factor than Trump).
I never suggested you did :shrug: So, why bring this up?
Point 2: Trump is a buffoon. Trump is incompetent. Trump is inept. Trump is unfit. It is the duty and responsibility of a President to work to bring this country together. Trump makes no attempt to do that. It is the duty andresponsibility of a President to move this country forward. Trump makes no attempt to do that.
I looked in the Constitution, and I found no such duties or responsibilities. Trump's job is to execute laws; he runs the government. It is the
duty and
responsibility of
the people to work to bring this country together. It is the
duty and
responsibility of
the people to decide what it means to "move this country forward", and elect people that will do that.
Point 3: Trump's election night speech was the only time before or since that the man sounded or acted Presidential. A President does not under any circumstance go on twitter and get into elementary school brawls. A President does not under any circumstance call the press the enemy of the people.
I agree it is childish to go on Twitter and get into fights. But, it works for him because it keeps people following him and reading what he says when he offers meaningful things. Do I think it is beneath the dignity of the president? Of course I do, but that doesn't change the efficacy of what he is doing.
As far as calling out the press, I would suggest that is one of the jobs of the president, as well as Houses of Congress, as well as we, the people. Recall the Alien and Sedition Act of 1798, where John Adams wanted to jail reporters for printing their lies? Of course, ol' Tommy Jefferson had that repealed, because he used slander in the media to win his presidency (his hitman was jailed for it). How about Teddy Roosevelt, who said of the press: “The liar is no whit better than the thief, and if his mendacity take the form of slander he may be worse than most thieves.” When the press is wrong (which they are now in the way they treat him), they need to be called out. They needed to be called out for their partisanship for many years, and the Obama administration made it so blatant that it should not be a shock that we are in Adams/Jefferson times of press problems.
In other words this is nothing new, and not really a problem for the government but rather for the press.
Point 4: Obama was weak on the international stage. But he knew who our friends were and who are enemies were. Trump, like all things, has no clue. I hate using this particular analogy because I think it is a weak argument, but what would you cultists have done had Obama got up on a stage in Helsinki and said the things that Trump did or demurred to Putin like Trump did. What promises did Trump make to Putin? His own people, his own intelligence and national defense folks don't event know.
We don't know. We don't know what "flexibility after my election" Obama set into motion either. You're right, it is a very weak analogy because it is so entirely inaccurate. Trump knows who are friends are and who are enemies are as well. Look at the attacks on Germany for using Russian fuel! Trump is the friend that bitches for being taken advantage of, in this case by NATO "allies" who treat the United States like the enemy instead of the friend. He's the girlfriend who tells you, "stop going back to the guy who keeps hitting you". You may not like the message, but if you actually listen to it you find out it is correct.
I don't like the way he says it either, but it is effective.
Point 5: Trump's hires have been atrocious. From Mike Flynn to Omarosa and almost everyone in between. He didn't hire the best and the brightest as he professed to do. He has now surrounded himself with an entourage of people whose main job function is nothing more than to bow before the king.
You may have a point with this one - at least as far as not hiring the best. I suspect he trusted old "friends", and trusted beltway insiders to help him. He was wrong on both counts.
Point 6: All politicians lie. You all went nuts about "keeping your own doctor". Trump lies about everything. North Korea wasn't an imminent nuclear threat when he came into office and the nuclear threat of North Korea didn't miraculously evaporate because Trump met with Kim Jung Un. No the economy isn't the greatest its ever been. No we are not being over run by legal or illegal brown skinned immigrants. No he did not get any concessions from our European allies regarding NATO defense spending. No John Brennan is not a national security threat. No trade wars are not easy to win. No health care is not an easy fix.
NK actually is less of a threat, and we got concessions from them. The economy is definitely not the best it has ever been, but it's far better than it was, and the confidence rating of businesses and consumers demonstrate that. It would be nice if there were far less government spending, and I have tried to get you to talk about that, but you flatly refuse. Brennan is not a national security threat, but he's also no help to the nation.
Point 7: After almost 18 months in office, with a House and Senate run by the same party, what has Trump accomplished?? What policy has HE put forth that is the law of the land? What? The tax cuts were the baby of Paul Ryan and Mitch McConnell. Trump did his best to blow that up. DACA is not fixed. Health care is not fixed. There has been nothing, nothing done or even mentioned on Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid reform. We have no infrastructure program in place to repair, replace our dilapidated roads, bridges, tunnels, airports etc. No progress has been made on immigration. No progress has been made on trade (none...not one deal has been signed). No progress has been made towards reducing the level of gun violence. Our annual deficit and its impact on our debt have been made significantly worse. Puerto Rico is still a mess from the hurricane and its finances are worse. The "swamp" is worse, due in large part to the poor quality of Trump hires.
Who is arguing? Everything you've said here are things that we "cultists" have argued as well.
Some of the things you talk about, though, he has shown leadership on. For example, he gave the boundaries of a DACA fix; Congress failed to act. He gave the boundaries of a health insurance take-over fix; Congress failed to act. Infrastructure is not the job of the federal government. Progress has been made on trade, which is why most of the tariffs he proposed never went into effect - the other nations changed their tunes for the most part. Gun violence is, for all intents and purposes, pretty darned low now.
But, PR is PR's mess to deal with, not the federal government's. The annual deficit and our total debt is outrageously out of control, and they really need to do the right things on that.
He has set the tone in DC to change our defense strategy from "hope they don't attack if we give them enough concessions" to "#### you and the horse you rode in on if you mess with us." That's a good thing. He changed the tone in DC to "cut, don't add regulations", and that modified our economic trajectory for the better.
It may shock you, but the president is not a king. As much as many of the previous presidents of both parties have tried to make the president a king, and as much as Congresses of the past have tried to support that notion, it's still not accurate.
Point 8: Seemingly, Trump's sole reason for being in office is to "get back" at Obama for embarrassing him at the WH Correspondent's dinner. Ok...that is a childish, immature and incredibly stupid way to run a government and a country...but ok. However, if that is your goal, you must have replacement policies ready to go. Trump has no alternative to the TPP (as such China is eating our lunch on trade all over southeast Asia). Trump has no alternative to the Iran nuclear deal (not one country in the world is standing up with us on this...that should tell you something). Trump has no alternative to the Paris climate deal. Trump has no alternative for Obamacare, no alternative for the DACA problem. Why does Trump have no alternatives? Trump has no policies, he has no actual ideas. He has slogans.
That's just not accurate. Sorry.
Point 9: This country has serious issues and problems to solve. Trump has made no progress on any of them. Trump has made no effort on any of them. He is too busy toilet tweeting, golfing, and holding rallies where a minority of the population will stand up and scream his name.
Trump is a buffoon. Trump is inept. Trump is incompetent. Trump is unfit.
You may be right on one point. We may get a Bernie Sanders type as a replacement...and that would be the absolute worst outcome for this country...and would complete the "Trump legacy".
We agree that a Sanders clone will be bad. We agree that the country has serious issues and problems to solve. Attacking and weakening the political strength of a guy who is at least trying to do something about some of the problems is not a constructive way to be a citizen helping to get those issues and problems resolved.
Support a tenth-amendment revolution, whereby the states take back some authority. Call for state-led Article IV Constitutional Convention, call for repeal of the 17th amendment, call for SOMETHING. Don't just complain and attack and insult. Be better than that.