The Trump Presidency | Biden Inaugurated

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matherto

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Mike Schatner said:
I think we need to establish what we are considering a large number of people. As a percentage of the US population I would put that number at no more than 5-10%. Still a significant number of people but the vast majority of people are not racist IMO.
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I think you're massively wrong. Not just the US either. I'd say most of us are but obviously in varying degrees.

We don't like to admit we're racist but I bet casually we all manage at least one thought a week that could be considered racist. Definitely one a month/year/etc. Nobody is clean and clear of it.
 

Gambit

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Santi_Mesut_Alexis_87 said:
He is obsessed with everything his opponents do. Sour grapes?
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No. He's trying to make sure there is a competition narrative at all times. It fortifies the us vs them of the base support. He's in power now and already won, there's no personal competitions for him anymore really. Everything now involves politics, congress and passing bills which doesn't help his brand of him vs the world and achieving what he wants which he can't communicate because it's to complex and I doubt he fully understands it himself.
 

datura

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Gambit said:
No. He's trying to make sure there is a competition narrative at all times. It fortifies the us vs them of the base support. He's in power now and already won, there's no personal competitions for him anymore really. Everything now involves politics, congress and passing bills which doesn't help his brand of him vs the world and achieving what he wants which he can't communicate because it's to complex and I doubt he fully understands it himself.
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I read somewhere that his autobiographer said he’s constantly seeking validation as he questions whether people are only friends with him because of his wealth it’s so his whole life he’s insecure.
 

Mr Pigeon

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Dan said:
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Donald J Trump was President since 2017, so why didn’t he do something about mentally ill people gunning down school kids?

Oh, sorry, we shouldn’t politicise it...
 

Redplane

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The damage being done to the US' international reputation truly is amazing. If Trump's goal is to make the EU, Russia and China more powerful then he just needs to keep doing what he s doing. The Russians are laughing all right - but not because of the investigation.
 

Gambit

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Redplane said:
The damage being done to the US' international reputation truly is amazing. If Trump's goal is to make the EU, Russia and China more powerful then he just needs to keep doing what he s doing. The Russians are laughing all right - but not because of the investigation.
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What's happening with the state department is unbelievable. It's probably the most damaging President internationally that could do decades of damage to US trade and relations.
 

Cheesy

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Gambit said:
What's happening with the state department is unbelievable. It's probably the most damaging President internationally that could do decades of damage to US trade and relations.
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Felt from the start that his incompetency had the potential to do more damage than his actual rhetoric and it's arguably been true so far - plenty of departments reportedly still haven't been assigned people to fill them yet and issues like Puerto Rico have demonstrated his inability to either deal with or give a feck about problems that don't immediately concern him or his base.
 

Gambit

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Cheesy said:
Felt from the start that his incompetency had the potential to do more damage than his actual rhetoric and it's arguably been true so far - plenty of departments reportedly still haven't been assigned people to fill them yet and issues like Puerto Rico have demonstrated his inability to either deal with or give a feck about problems that don't immediately concern him or his base.
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China at the moment are wooing a lot of the world with their one belt one road infrastructure project and winning over countries like Saudi Arabia and Iran. 2 countries that this White House still hasn't hired an ambassador for.
 

2cents

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Gambit said:
countries like Saudi Arabia and Iran. 2 countries that this White House still hasn't hired an ambassador for.
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America hasn't had an ambassador or open embassy in Tehran since 1979.
 

Gambit

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2cents said:
America hasn't had an ambassador or open embassy in Tehran since 1979.
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True but they did have diplomats working there until recently. Backing out of the Iran deal has paved the way for China.
 

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oneniltothearsenal

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sglowrider said:
Just to remind us that we dont live in a weird parallel universe:

Presidential scholars rank Trump as worst President ever (even Bottom 5 amongst GOP scholars)
https://sps.boisestate.edu/politicalscience/files/2018/02/Greatness.pdf

https://www.nytimes.com/interactive...up-against-the-best-and-worst-presidents.html

Obama moved into the Top 10, Clinton went down several spots. W Bush moved up 5 spots.
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Clinton's rank is definitely going to continue dropping. None of his policies have aged well and his womanizing is looking less cool these days. His tough on crime contributed heavily to jailing minorities, non violent pot smokers while massively expanding private prisons, he neglected health care and let it get to the bad point Obama had to intervene, and it was policies he signed that directly caused the financial crisis - FSMA and CFMA.
 

Cheesy

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oneniltothearsenal said:
Clinton's rank is definitely going to continue dropping. None of his policies have aged well and his womanizing is looking less cool these days. His tough on crime contributed heavily to jailing minorities, non violent pot smokers while massively expanding private prisons, he neglected health care and let it get to the bad point Obama had to intervene, and it was policies he signed that directly caused the financial crisis - FSMA and CFMA.
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Aye, Obama's position will likely remain stable considering his being sandwiched between two atrocious Presidencies.
 

Fergies Gum

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He's now decided to carry on doing these tweet storms late at night. It was bad enough when he kept them to the early mornings and daytime.
 

Ubik

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Cheesy said:
Intriguing considering the divisions between them in the past. Presumably desperate and realising a weaker candidate may lose to the Dems.
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That, or...
"I am Reek"


 

Raoul

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Cheesy said:
Intriguing considering the divisions between them in the past. Presumably desperate and realising a weaker candidate may lose to the Dems.
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He knows Romney will get elected and is obviously trying to keep him on his side when that happens. Trouble is, Romney is going to almost certainly be the most vocal anti-Trumper on the GOP Senate side (assuming McCain isn't around any more).
 

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oneniltothearsenal said:
Let me tell you a true story with some twists to protect identities.

A stereotypical white American from the mainland suburbs travels to Hawai'i thinking she understands everything about how America is far less racist than it used to be and not understanding what her black and immigrant friends were talking about when they disagreed.

She thought she was "down" and wanted to hang out at non-tourist spots on Oahu (IE not Waikiki in Honolulu and not the tourist North Shore section). She travels off to bars where locals hang out. She walks into a bar and conversations stop. People turn and give suspicious looks. She is served but the vibe in the air clearly shows her she is unwanted. She would sit at the bar, used to her blond hair making guys want to buy her free drinks. Instead bartenders at local bars serve customers who arrived at the bar after her ignoring her for as long as humanly possible. Instead of queuing up to buy her free drinks as she is used to, guys move away from her seat at the bar to not be close to her. Servers, male and female, never say more than they have to. Often times servers "forget" to bring her the extras she asked for in her meal always with a "oh sorry I forgot" despite the fact the locals seemed to be getting excellent. This continues consistently for several days in a row.

No one directly calls her a Haole. No one actively refuses her service. No one ever does anything that would fit a US Republicans subjective (because no dictionary can actually define racism).

Yet she cancels her trip weeks early and returns home because she is made in very subtle and sometimes indescribable ways to feel unwanted. She calls her black and immigrant friends and says "I finally understand what you all mean when you say the vibe of racism that I never noticed before because I was immune to it. Now I understand because I have experienced it."

Now, you might tell her she never actually experienced racism because the story doesn't fit whatever arbitrary definition exists. But she knows what she experienced and how it felt. And it exists. I have a feeling other black and minority posters on her know exactly what I mean when I tell this story.


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Oh and just so this is not only anecdotes I suggest the great work of Devah Pager who showed another type of subtle racism. Being a black person with no criminal record is worse than being a white American with a criminal record regarding job prospects

"In fact, even whites with criminal records received more favorable treatment (17%) than blacks without criminal records (14%).34 The rank ordering of groups in this graph is painfully revealing of employer preferences: race continues to play a dominant role in shaping employment opportunities, equal to or greater than the impact of a criminal record."
https://scholar.harvard.edu/files/pager/files/pager_ajs.pdf
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This should probably go in another thread, but I did want to weigh in on this and confirm that this is true in Hawaii. I remember being in school as a young kid, and if you were white and didn't grow up in a local area, then you were not cool. "F*ckin haole" is a common term you'd hear. And in my first elementary school (in Kauai), it went a step further. Not only were you uncool being white, but if you brought shoes to school, then you were considered to be uncool. Fitting in meant wearing slippers or going bare footed. Unfortunately, black kids were looked at as outsiders too, and were made fun of just like white kids.
 
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