Current events

That's NOT what they voted for and you know it. I'd have more respect for you if you did not constantly spew your seriously slanted Trump-hating agenda every time you post.

Peter

They don't like logic. They have even admitted as much here to me. "fallacies shmallacies", they wrote.
 
Any former Capitol Hill intern is familiar with the concept of a clip book, which young staffers compile, every day, to give their bosses a sense of how news outlets are covering them. This is a standard practice for Democrats and Republicans alike. Indeed, once upon a time when I was an intern in Chuck Schumer’s office, my responsibilities included assembling a daily package of news articles that contained any mention of him.

But the purpose of that document — and of nearly all clip books — was for the senator and his senior aides to get an accurate portrait of how he was being covered in the press. Like any normal human being, Schumer preferred to read positive coverage of himself to negative, but the goal of the exercise was to help ascertain what was actually going on in order to inform future decision-making.

That is not Donald Trump’s goal. He, by contrast, seems to just want to hear that people think he’s doing a great job even though the best evidence we have is that people do not, in fact, think he’s doing a great job.

As Alex Thompson of Vice News, citing “three current and former White House officials,” reports: In the morning at 9:30 and then around 4:30 in the afternoon, Trump is presented with a briefing document full of people praising him.

The folders, according to Thompson, “are filled with screenshots of positive cable news chyrons (those lower-third headlines and crawls), admiring tweets, transcripts of fawning TV interviews, praise-filled news stories, and sometimes just pictures of Trump on TV looking powerful.”

The point of this is to improve the notoriously media-obsessed president’s mood by reminding him he has a lot of fans and admirers out there, and in a hilarious detail, reportedly some in the White House even refer to this clip package as “the Propaganda Document.” And, in a very bad way, it is.

Obviously, nobody who is in the news as much as the president is in a position to read all coverage of himself. But it’s dangerous for a president to be cocooned in a world where he doesn’t know what kind of criticisms he’s facing.

Indeed, even from the standpoint of the president’s own self-interest, it’s probably counterproductive to be isolated from accurate information. Trump, for example, seems very taken with news coverage that emphasizes the number of jobs that have been added to the economy so far in 2017.

This is perfectly fine spin as far as spin goes. The reality, however, is that thus far in 2017, job growth has been somewhat slower than it was in 2016. If Trump believes that economic growth is booming when it is in fact slowing, he is unlikely to take action to reverse the slowing trend, even though both Trump and the American people more broadly would be better off with faster rather than slower job growth.

This problem will, of course, only be exacerbated if objective conditions at some point take a southward turn. If nobody wants to deliver bad news to the Oval Office, then there will be no way for problems to be addressed before they spiral out of control.

All administrations face some version of this problem, but part of good staffing is to push against it. Yet so far there’s little indication that anyone is really trying to break through with Trump, as opposed to letting him rely on Fox & Friends as his go-to news source. There’s a reason they say, “Don’t shoot the messenger.” Trump doesn’t appear to know what it is.

--Matthew Yglesias
 
You have poor recall. It's all posted here.

?here? Not in this thread, nor the Trump consequences thread...All you've done is trash Trump and his supporters. I'm sure you can provide a link to a post I may have missed?

Peter

No answer from dbphoenix? So who really has poor recall?
He just talks out his you-know-where and when called out he shows he can't even hold an intelligent debate but only berates everyone who's views don't fit his agenda.

Peter
 
I'm going to assume you never looked at the BLS data. Your failure to do so has nothing to do with me.
 
Is He really serious about bunging more US troops into Afghanistan ?
You would think he just might have twigged it that it is a total waste of money.
But no, a sensible decision is just a " bridge too far ".
But don't worry our very own Mrs Poodle will be helping !
 
You can't unring the bell . . .

(The Washington Times) They’ve represented gun owners in some of the highest-profile cases to hit the courts in recent years, but the Second Amendment Foundation won’t defend groups that hold public armed protests, saying that crosses a line.

“We are not a fan of armed protests and highly discourage that,” said Alan Gottlieb, the founder and executive vice president of the SAF. “Firearms serve a purpose, and the purpose is not a mouthpiece. It’s to defend yourself. If you are carrying it to make a political point, we are not going to support that.”

In the wake of recent public protests by neo-Nazis, white supremacists and “alt-right” adherents, demonstrations featuring gun rights backers openly carrying their weapons have come under intense scrutiny.

And the protesters are finding themselves increasingly isolated as national gun rights groups consider the role they will play.

“There are many in the gun community who believe the open carriers pose a big threat to gun rights because they are so aggressive and so in the face of other people in controversial settings that it could lead to a backlash,” said Adam Winkler, a gun rights scholar and constitutional law professor at the University of California, Los Angeles.
 
You can't unring the bell . . .

(The Washington Times) They’ve represented gun owners in some of the highest-profile cases to hit the courts in recent years, but the Second Amendment Foundation won’t defend groups that hold public armed protests, saying that crosses a line.

“We are not a fan of armed protests and highly discourage that,” said Alan Gottlieb, the founder and executive vice president of the SAF. “Firearms serve a purpose, and the purpose is not a mouthpiece. It’s to defend yourself. If you are carrying it to make a political point, we are not going to support that.”

In the wake of recent public protests by neo-Nazis, white supremacists and “alt-right” adherents, demonstrations featuring gun rights backers openly carrying their weapons have come under intense scrutiny.

And the protesters are finding themselves increasingly isolated as national gun rights groups consider the role they will play.

“There are many in the gun community who believe the open carriers pose a big threat to gun rights because they are so aggressive and so in the face of other people in controversial settings that it could lead to a backlash,” said Adam Winkler, a gun rights scholar and constitutional law professor at the University of California, Los Angeles.

It is likely that gun carrying in public demonstrations could become a shootout with opposition groups or police.
Not a nice prospect for the peaceful demonstrator.
 
North Korea claims to have tested a hydrogen bomb.
This is a serious escalation.
More talks ?
Kim is narrowing the US options to only a first strike. Must be mad.
The US has always under estimated NK's capability.
Can they really afford to wait a few more months while NK places its hydrogen bombs onto ICBMs ?
I don't think so.
 
If the U.S. is/will go to war with north korea why is it most of it's allies are warning of the huge catastrophic consequences.......and not warning north korea that they will pay dearly just as they did with sadam hussein? General Mattis has clearly stated numerous times that any military strategic plan will require 'partners' to defend the values of democracy....yet we don't see any U.S. allies giddy to attack the hermit kingdom. This whole north korea nonsense is just jibber jabber.
 
The United States is considering, in addition to other options, stopping all trade with any country doing business with North Korea. -- Donald Trump

Like China.

Idiot.
 
Is NK really making those rockets etc. or are they being supplied by Russia/China ? There seems to be an endless supply.
Apparently just about all their trade is with China. Trump would love to have the excuse to cut trading with China to promote his make it at home policies.

A pity the NKs don't put their efforts into promoting something like tech or medicine.
 
I see Prince George is now going to school. Well you might say - so what ?
Well they have released the information publicly of which school and where it is.
I mean just how stupid can the top nobs be ?
The kid would be an easy and prize target of criminal kidnappers or terrorists.
 

I think It's all a well calculated bluff to provoke KJU into doing something rash which, it is hoped, will cause China to distance themselves and withdraw support from him and his inner circle. China may then encourage a coup from high ranking NK officials who are crucially more moderate, diplomatic, outward looking and stable. Pretty much, what ever happens, Kim's days are numbered!
 
I think It's all a well calculated bluff to provoke KJU into doing something rash which, it is hoped, will cause China to distance themselves and withdraw support from him and his inner circle. China may then encourage a coup from high ranking NK officials who are crucially more moderate, diplomatic, outward looking and stable. Pretty much, what ever happens, Kim's days are numbered!

Lets hope Kim pulls back from the brink of war. It could set off WW3. The current world leaders are nearly all guilty of ramping up the number of lethal weapons around. Including our Mrs May buying costly nuclear subs.
Why do the North Koreans allow themselves to be treated so badly. Afraid of the local Gestapo I suppose.
 
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