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Donald Trump's Orgy of Irresponsibility


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2016 Feb 25, 6:19am   34,276 views  136 comments

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Jimmy Carter knew that one way to win the trust of the citizenry was to appeal to their moral vanity. He was elected president in 1976 promising "a government that is as good and honest and decent and competent and compassionate and as filled with love as are the American people."

Donald Trump does not try to ingratiate himself by telling Americans how good they are. He does it by telling them it's commendable to be bad. His campaign is not so much a challenge to prevailing standards as a rejection of all standards.

Other candidates fudge, exaggerate, and mislead, but they operate within accepted limits on dishonesty. Trump denies truth and embraces falsehood. He can't be proven wrong because he and his followers deny the authority of facts. He encourages his audiences to trust what they feel—and nothing else.

"Donald J. Trump's record on truth and accuracy is astonishingly poor," Angie Drobnic Holan, a reporter for PolitiFact, wrote in December in The New York Times. "So far, we've fact-checked more than 70 Trump statements and rated fully three-quarters of them as Mostly False, False or 'Pants on Fire' (we reserve this last designation for a claim that is not only inaccurate but also ridiculous)."

That was before a new parade of fictions—saying the United States is the "highest taxed country in the world," claiming he vocally opposed the invasion of Iraq before it happened, and accusing Ted Cruz of having a "double passport." Making stuff up is at the core of his campaign.

Of 96 Trump statements scrutinized by PolitiFact at last count, only seven were true. By contrast, Hillary Clinton, whom Republicans regard as a habitual liar, sticks to the facts slightly more than half the time, according to the fact-checkers.

The brazen deceit Trump exhibits would be fatal to most candidates. Cruz, no slave to veracity, had to fire a spokesman for spreading the claim that Marco Rubio had disparaged the Bible. Trump would not have made that claim. He would have recalled the time Rubio spit on a Bible while wearing a Satan mask in the Grand Mosque of Mecca.

Trump's contempt for the truth is no impediment with a large segment of the Republican primary electorate, which has an adversarial relationship with reality. Two-thirds of Trump supporters think Barack Obama is a Muslim, a survey by Public Policy Polling found, and 61 percent think he was born abroad. Other candidates may decline to indulge voters who are ignorant or unhinged. But Trump is not bound by such dreary customs.

In every way, his campaign has been an orgy of irresponsibility. George W. Bush outraged his critics by waterboarding suspected terrorists, a method he insisted is not torture. Trump says it is torture—and its only drawback is being too gentle.

"I think we should go much stronger than waterboarding," he said. In his view, "nothing should be taken off the table." Any form of sadism you can imagine, Trump will happily consider.

Terrorist suspects are not the only ones at risk of brutality. When someone disrupted his rally, Trump wished for the days of old, when a protester "would be carried out on a stretcher."

His anathema for Muslims, like his taste for torture, knows no bounds. He called for a "complete shutdown of Muslims entering the United States until our country's representatives can figure out what the hell is going on." He fondly recalled an American general who, according to a doubtful legend, executed Muslim prisoners using bullets dipped in pig's blood.

For some reason, his glorification of hatred and violence appeals to many evangelical Christians, whose savior preached the golden rule. Saintly attributes, in his eyes, are for suckers. Trump tells his supporters that their most vicious impulses should not be suppressed.

Even on less visceral matters, Trump sees boundaries as something to violate without compunction. His tax plan would swell the federal budget deficit by $10 trillion over the next decade. His insistence that this approach will bring the economy roaring back will convince only those who need no convincing. Like his other policies, it treats recklessness as a virtue.

Some politicians think that, on occasion, exceptions have to be made to our observance of civilized norms. Trump wants to toss those civilized norms on a bonfire. He's found plenty of Americans just dying to light the match.

http://reason.com/archives/2016/02/25/donald-trumps-orgy-of-irresponsibility

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89   MisdemeanorRebel   2016 Feb 26, 9:57am  

Ironman, Trump legally hired some Romanians during busy season Oct-March in Palm Beach when all the College Students are in classes at 50+ hours/week. Not that Palm Beach is full of colleges, either. Just like Club Med, Disney Resorts, and every single other hospitality operator does in Florida. He's a hypocrite! He should have labor troubles to ruin his business on sheer principle by fighting the system and putting his and his investors money at risk! Don't you understand! One-Term Senators and GOPe Media/Think Tank schmucks know more about business than a billionaire.

Romney released his 2011 tax returns at the end of September 2012. But Trump needs to release 2015 tax returns before April 15th, right now! And 10 years of tax returns too.

The Great Business Expert Rich Lowry, CPA, MBA, CFP, Esq. hath spoken! Whenever IBM has a cash flow problem, they bring in the National Review writers and interns.

This is the desperation of the Socal2 side of the GOPe. They think the filthy house needs no cleaning.

91   MisdemeanorRebel   2016 Feb 26, 10:11am  

dublin hillz says

I wouldn't call being compared to the crooks at corinthian university/apollo group as having a damage free performance. In fact, it makes him look even worse that Mr Bain's infamous 47% comment.

Hey, guess who went to bat to derail the investigation into Corinthian College? Rubio.

http://www.bloomberg.com/politics/articles/2015-04-29/marco-rubio-goes-to-bat-for-corinthian-colleges

http://thinkprogress.org/education/2016/02/26/3754140/rubio-trump-for-profit-college/

Nothing to do with Corinthian donating money to Rubio and his PACs.

"Fuck Trump, I want a brought and paid for Senator like Normal!"

Trump University was not a degree-issuing institution that stole Federal Funds. It sold DVDs, CD, and tickets to Seminars. Corinthian College had 350,000 students and fucked most of them over while pocketing taxpayer money.

92   tatupu70   2016 Feb 26, 10:20am  

Ironman says

The next thing you'll start with is saying that "if Trump put that money in an index fund, he would have made more money and would be worth more"....

Truth hurts, doesn't it.

You can say some good things about Trump--he gets that free trade is NOT good for the country. He understands the effects of immigration. He is not bought and owned by Wall St. Not many candidates can say those things.

One thing you can't say is that a man who inherited $200MM, sent 4 companies into bankruptcy, and whose current wealth is less than what he would have accumulated by doing nothing over his life is a wildly successful businessman. You just can't.

93   tatupu70   2016 Feb 26, 10:30am  

Ironman says

Yes, we should elected a socialist who couldn't hold a job hammering nails and lived off of welfare the majority of his life... Now THAT'S the poster child for a amazing businessman with unbelievable accomplishments!!

we should vote for the best candidate who has demonstrated the best judgment in his voting history and who has the best policy ideas for improving the country.

94   socal2   2016 Feb 26, 10:40am  

Ironman says

HE didn't hire polish workers, he hired a contractor, and that contractor hired the polish workers.... The contractor is the ultimate one responsible.

Buck stops where?

The company I work for is the Prime Contractor for numerous water projects in California, and if one of our subs was caught breaking labor law, my company would also be liable and responsible.

I can see Trump a few years from now into his presidency after he starts a shooting war with China and we lose a bunch of soldiers. "I didn't hire those grunts!"

95   tatupu70   2016 Feb 26, 10:43am  

Ironman says

We don't need anymore IDEAS.... didn't you learn from your failed vote the last two cycles?

Talk is cheap, the last 7 years should be your best benchmark.

The best candidate is the person who has PAST accomplishments and experience that can be applied to the job.

Yep, we need better ideas. And better implementation.

What we don't need is a guy whose past accomplishments include 4 bankruptcies. That's not the type of experience I want applied to this job.

96   socal2   2016 Feb 26, 10:52am  

Ironman says

We don't need anymore IDEAS.... didn't you learn from your failed vote the last two cycles?

Talk is cheap, the last 7 years should be your best benchmark.

The best candidate is the person who has PAST accomplishments and experience that can be applied to the job.

Sorry - this is just dumb. You are basically saying:

- "We don't need a PLAN!" "We just need ACTION!"

The problem I (and many people) have with Trump is that he says and does different stuff every single day. He has no core and a long history of Liberal impulses. I don't think you are going to like his "actions" once he wins and has to deal with a likely split Congress. Dude is going to be cutting deals all day long.

Get ready for really BIG and CLASSY government! Government is going to be so YUGE with Trump and the Democrats. That's what you want right?

97   MisdemeanorRebel   2016 Feb 26, 10:54am  

Repeat after me, GOPe supporters:

"(FILL IN THE BLANK) Lost because... he wasn't a Real Conservative(tm)"

Great from Bush 1 to Dole to McCain to Romney!

Of course, when those guys were nominated due to the Donor Class and Insider GOP activists, they were "True Conservatives!" They only became "not a true Conservative" when they lost.

GOPe can't pick winners, because they are losers.

98   MisdemeanorRebel   2016 Feb 26, 10:56am  

BTW, Trump only person offering a Free Market solutions by knocking down inter-state Health Insurance boundaries.

Something the Health Insurance industry hates and will fight tooth and nail. The smaller and more disperate the groups, the more the premium for risk.

99   socal2   2016 Feb 26, 10:59am  

thunderlips11 says

BTW, Trump only person offering a Free Market solutions by knocking down inter-state Health Insurance boundaries.

Nope.
http://thehill.com/blogs/congress-blog/healthcare/255490-health-insurance-across-state-lines

100   socal2   2016 Feb 26, 11:07am  

Ironman says

Sure, and putting one of two first term Senators, who couldn't cut it and hold a job in the private sector is such a great idea.... right?? There's just so qualified, even though they haven't run a lemonaide stand or managed any type of organization.

As opposed to at trust-fund vulgar celebrity who is being exposed as a pathological liar?
http://www.politifact.com/personalities/donald-trump/

No to mention Trump is the only Republican candidate that will lose to Hillary?

I'll pick Cruz or Rubio all day long. Hell - I will even take Kasich before Trump.

101   MisdemeanorRebel   2016 Feb 26, 11:08am  

socal2 says

http://thehill.com/blogs/congress-blog/healthcare/255490-health-insurance-across-state-lines

Isn't it hilarious when a libertarian conservative think tank is fighting to preserve trade barriers between government entities?

Many people are stuck on the wrong side of a state border, where there's a big city with many options and cheaper services on the other side, but their health care doesn't contract with them because of regulatory and agency differences.

102   MisdemeanorRebel   2016 Feb 26, 11:11am  

As for Tatupu, Trump just attacked Bezos for buying the WaPo to generate political inlfuence.

Now he just said he's gonna change libel laws to allow a pattern of biased and unfair coverage by media to be sued senseless. Look out National Review! Look out NYT!

Free Market solution to the loss of the Equal Time rule :)

103   MisdemeanorRebel   2016 Feb 26, 11:15am  

Ironman says

If you really think Trump can't chew up and spit out Hillary, you're so far down the rat hole and unreachable.

Anybody thinks that sweating, choking, one-term senator newbie baby Rubio can stand up to the Clinton machine in and out of the debates, is smoking crack.

I'm believing that the GOPe has settled on Clinton as their second choice. Busting the public unions might be a little tougher, but they'll get the wars and no change to outsourcing/insourcing. In fact Hillary will sign every Cruz 500% increase in H1-Bs that passes her desk.

Backing Rubio is just an insurance policy, but Trump must not win in their view.

Kristol and others have already said nice things about Hillary's Foreign Policy in the past few weeks.

104   socal2   2016 Feb 26, 11:21am  

Ironman says

So, you're all for continuing the last 7 years for the next 4 to 8 years.... Got it!!

See - this is how far down into bizarro-world the Trump-bots have fallen. It really is remarkable thing to witness.

You think Cruz? CRUZ would be a continuation of 8 years of Obama?

For real?

Anyhoo - looks like Trump just got endorsed by Chris Christie. No GOPe there!

105   mell   2016 Feb 26, 11:21am  

thunderlips11 says

Isn't it hilarious when a libertarian conservative think tank is fighting to preserve trade barriers between government entities?

Libertarians have the right ideas and it is the ideal form of existence with most individual freedom and civil liberties. However these are noble ideas which in practice often undergo a perverse transformation by hostile forces and political opponents and end up being used against the very same demographics of people proclaiming them, mostly white middle-to-upper-class (but not uber-wealthy) folks. Free trade is "perversified" into stealth trade agreements favoring other nations, civil liberty and freedom of choice/religion is perversified into mass-immigration and forced appeasement of radical religious and cultural-marxist doctrines, and so-on and so forth. That's why different times need different solutions. DT is more authoritarian but could very well restore some of the original ideal state of the Republic as envisioned by the original Liberal/Libertarian bourgeoisie. The time for appeasement and forced-tolerance of globalist corruption is over.

106   MisdemeanorRebel   2016 Feb 26, 11:22am  

Final thought:

The Rabbit and the Jackal are only attacking the Lion because they are desperate. They avoided taking on the Lion for months, and are only doing so now because they have no choice.

107   socal2   2016 Feb 26, 11:23am  

Trump has Palin and Huckleberry too!

Provided Hillary doesn't get indicted, Hillary is going to win in a landslide.

108   socal2   2016 Feb 26, 11:23am  

thunderlips11 says

Final thought:

The Rabbit and the Jackal are only attacking the Lion because they have no choice. They avoided taking on the Lion for months, and are only doing so now because they have no choice.

Captain Obvious!

109   HydroCabron   2016 Feb 26, 11:29am  

mell says

Libertarians have the right ideas and it is the ideal form of existence with most individual freedom and civil liberties. However these are noble ideas which in practice often undergo a perverse transformation by hostile forces and political opponents and end up being used against the very same demographics of people proclaiming them, mostly white middle-to-upper-class (but not uber-wealthy) folks.

So many Scotsmen turned out fake!

110   MisdemeanorRebel   2016 Feb 26, 11:31am  

socal2 says

Captain Obvious!

When Putin or Xi gets into conflicts with us, do we want Rabbits and Jackals who don't fight back until they're cornered in their dens?

You want an alpha guy who will jump on the plane, read them the riot act, make a few concessions to save their face allowing them to declare victory to their population, and fly home .

111   tatupu70   2016 Feb 26, 11:32am  

thunderlips11 says

As for Tatupu, Trump just attacked Bezos for buying the WaPo to generate political inlfuence.

Now he just said he's gonna change libel laws to allow a pattern of biased and unfair coverage by media to be sued senseless. Look out National Review! Look out NYT!

Free Market solution to the loss of the Equal Time rule :)

I'm on board. I agree he has some good ideas and he does seem to be unbought by special interests

113   socal2   2016 Feb 26, 11:45am  

Ironman says

Tell you what, how about posting the list of Cruz accomplishments, NOT campaign promises. Please show us all the bills he sponsored that got signed into law. Please show us all his successful businesses and how many employees he has. Please show us how he's directly made things better for the population. Please show us direct results of his leadership that resulted in positive benefits for others

Are you a big government fan? Sounds like you want a candidate to get in there and just "do something". Personally, I want my government doing as little as possible. Just "doing something" creates have the problems we have today. Trump knows big government working in liberal New York alright. He helped abet and fund big liberal government so he could make money for himself using Daddy's millions in real estate. He'll do that X10 when he gets to Washington. Trump will go along to get along and government will get bigger than ever. Without a doubt.

In Cruz's short time in the Senate, he bottled up, stalled and held back some (not all) of the worst of our GOPe and Democrat party's over-reach on budget deals, amnesty, Gang of 8 etc, There is a reason why he earned the ire of the GOPe Republicans. Cruz created a ton of awareness and also litigated and won numerous cases at the Supreme Court.

Cruz is more accomplished than the vast majority of humans walking this planet. But he doesn't have any shiny buildings named after him or any TV reality shows.

114   tatupu70   2016 Feb 26, 11:50am  

Ironman says

Please list all of Bernie's businesses and how many jobs they have created.

If he had inherited $200MM from Daddy, I'm sure he would have created some jobs too.

Regardless, running the United States shares very little with running a real estate company building golf courses or Casinos.

115   MisdemeanorRebel   2016 Feb 26, 11:54am  

tatupu70 says

If he had inherited $200MM from Daddy, I'm sure he would have created some jobs too.

Didn't happen, not at that amount. NYT is guessing.

116   tatupu70   2016 Feb 26, 12:01pm  

thunderlips11 says

Didn't happen, not at that amount. NYT is guessing.

Maybe, maybe not. My overall point is that I don't think the narrative of him as a successful businessman and therefore will be a good President is accurate or logically true.

If you want to vote for him because he has new ideas, and is seemingly more independent than typical candidates--a case can be made.

117   MisdemeanorRebel   2016 Feb 26, 1:07pm  

Neocon GOPe alternate reality. "Rubio got the best of Trump"
http://nypost.com/2016/02/26/finally-a-gop-candidate-got-the-best-of-donald-trump/

Has Rubio won a state yet? Or consistently come in second within a few points of Trump?

I think these guys do know, but are doing everything possible to get Rubio in as insurance so they don't have to go for Hillary Clinton. But in the end, Elites back Elites.

118   socal2   2016 Feb 26, 1:32pm  

thunderlips11 says

When Putin or Xi gets into conflicts with us, do we want Rabbits and Jackals who don't fight back until they're cornered in their dens?

You want an alpha guy who will jump on the plane, read them the riot act, make a few concessions to save their face allowing them to declare victory to their population, and fly home .

Forgot you were a big Putin fan. So naturally you would be all in for Trump.

Well Trump does have alot in common with Putin.

"Donald Trump vowed to ‘open up’ libel laws to make suing the media easier. Can he do that?"
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-fix/wp/2016/02/26/donald-trump-vows-to-open-up-libel-laws-to-make-suing-the-media-easier-heres-how-he-could-do-it/

119   socal2   2016 Feb 26, 1:41pm  

Ironman says

You really think this looks like a landslide (+2.8)? and these polls were before Trump's Nevada win. There hasn't been an update since.

He is already losing by 2.8 and the Media have hardly laid a glove on him.

You guys don't get it. The Liberal Media is dying for Trump to be the nominee. The Democrat's can't believe their luck. Every attack line on the Clinton sleaze can be thrown right back into Trump's face in the General.

120   socal2   2016 Feb 26, 1:52pm  

Ironman says

That would suck, because if he did that, you wouldn't be able to get your Trump lies from Mother Jones... How would you get your misinformation then?

It is laughable that the guy that is pimping a New York Liberal like Trump is accusing me of getting my talking points from Mother Jones.

You are star struck. Just like the Obama girls of 2008.

I can sort of understand how guys like ThunderCommie are all in for the Alpha Male Claudio like Trump. But there really is no Conservative argument for Trump.

121   MisdemeanorRebel   2016 Feb 26, 1:55pm  

Welcome to the break up of the old Republican Elite. The Republican party will become Bull Moose, only room for 100% Americanism, speak softly carry a big stick, America First party, or it will simply be the pro-life branch of the Clinton DNC Globalist Neoliberal Mass Immigration wing of the Democrats.

122   tatupu70   2016 Feb 26, 2:33pm  

What's interesting to me is whether guys with similar views to socal will come out and vote for Trump if he's the Republican nominee. I don't think Trump can win, if not.

Although you can say the same thing with respect to Hillary--will the Bernie supporters come out and vote for her?

123   MisdemeanorRebel   2016 Feb 26, 3:46pm  

tatupu70 says

What's interesting to me is whether guys with similar views to socal will come out and vote for Trump if he's the Republican nominee. I don't think Trump can win, if not.

According to Bloomberg Super Tuesday Poll: Donald is the First or Second choice of half of Republican voters. Those who would "Never" vote Trump are only 20%, which is about the same as consider Kasich to be first or second choice (18%). That 20% is easily outnumbered by the huge portion of Indies and Reagan Democrats Trump is going to pull.

Bloomberg Super Tuesday Poll.pdf

tatupu70 says

Although you can say the same thing with respect to Hillary--will the Bernie supporters come out and vote for her?

What we'll need to do is find measurements of how many Sanders voters would never vote for Hillary. I expect it's quite high. Also, enthusiasm. A 25-year old might come out for Bernie the First Socialist, won't come out simply to vote against Trump.

Trump is the nominee. Super Tuesday is just a rubber stamp at this point.

By the way, notice the 9% for Clinton and the 4% who would stay home correlates strongly with what I believe to be the hardcore GOPe Elite/Party Loyalists.

Many of those threatening to vote third party are Cruz Nuts, but once they see Hillary over and over again on the TV Ads and TV News (because they're TV watching low-info romantic religious dummies), you can probably count a good chunk of them as going out to defeat Hillary, even if it means the Liberal Christ Killing Jew Yorker.

124   HydroCabron   2016 Feb 26, 3:56pm  

This is the only the second time that Richie Rich of The Hamptons and Winthrop Endicott Sargent of Massachusetts have lost control of the GOP - 1964 being the only other time since the Civil War.

If Old Inherited Money can no longer predetermine the presidential nominee by making the delegate-allocation rules, they'll leave, and take their money with them. And they won't go to the Democrat Party.

Trump will create prosperity for the little guy, and strip these wealthy elite snobs of their influence.

125   dublin hillz   2016 Feb 26, 4:00pm  

HydroCabron says

Trump will create prosperity for the little guy, and strip these wealthy elite snobs of their influence

Lol, Trump is the walking definition of snobbery, he acts as if he is the king that's predestined to rule over the plebes. He makes Bush the 2nd look respectable by comparison.

126   MisdemeanorRebel   2016 Feb 26, 4:06pm  

dublin hillz says

Lol, Trump is the walking definition of snobbery, he acts as if he is the king that's predestined to rule over the plebes. He makes Bush the 2nd look respectable by comparison.

Whereas Rubio is a dignified elder statesmen, and not at all a manicured metrosexual.

www.youtube.com/embed/uhlzdjPGxrs
www.youtube.com/embed/IjSTQwamo8M

Gasp!

127   dublin hillz   2016 Feb 26, 4:08pm  

thunderlips11 says

Whereas Rubio is a dignified elder statesmen

Well, he's definitely better than adolph lite and the religious zealot that he is running against.

128   MisdemeanorRebel   2016 Feb 26, 4:11pm  

They had begun to consider the Government of the United States as a mere appendage to their own affairs. We know now that Government by organized money is just as dangerous as Government by organized mob.

Never before in all our history have these forces been so united against one candidate as they stand today. They are unanimous in their hate for me—and I welcome their hatred.

I should like to have it said of my first Administration that in it the forces of selfishness and of lust for power met their match. I should like to have it said of my second Administration that in it these forces met their master."

- I welcome their Hatred... FDR.

Back when Democrats produced Alpha Male Leaders who whopped ass and laid it on thick.

Those who consider the USG their appendage have been trying to overturn FDR for 70 years, and have half succeeded. Only an ass kicker will knock 'em down.

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