Posted on 10/24/2015 10:06:50 AM PDT by Kaslin
ARE YOU crazy about Barack Obama? Do you fervently hope the next president of the United States will be as similar to the current president as possible?
Then Donald Trump may be the candidate for you.
Of all the candidates running for president, the one who most resembles the incumbent is not Hillary Clinton or Bernie Sanders or Martin O'Malley. To be sure, the Democrats' policy views largely overlap with Obama's. But when it comes to attitude and self-image, it's Obama and Trump who are birds of a feather.
Everyone knows about Donald Trump's bottomless narcissism; this is a man who has affixed the name "Trump" to everything from hotels to golf courses to cologne. Asked the other day which world leaders he would reach out to upon being elected, Trump replied that he wouldn't need to call anyone: "I think I'd probably have them call me."
But Obama's march to the White House also involved startling displays of self-glorification, from Greek-style columns to a triumphal foreign tour to his own official seal (complete with Latin motto). From the earliest days of his presidency, it was clear that Obama was deeply enamored of himself, and had no doubt that the rest of the planet was just as smitten. "I am well aware," he told the UN General Assembly, "of the expectations that accompany my presidency around the world." He gifted the queen of England with an iPod that included his own speeches. Obama's addiction to the first-person singular pronoun — "I," "me," "my" — has been remarked on by many; he has even referred to "my military" and the troops "fighting on my behalf."
Anyone who finds such vanity attractive should relish the prospect of a Trump presidency. Trump, after all, never doubts his own brilliance. He's always the smartest person in the room; just ask him. Sound familiar?
"I'm a better speechwriter than my speechwriters," Obama told campaign aides in 2008. "I know more about policies on any particular issue than my policy directors. And I'll tell you right now that I'm gonna think I'm a better political director than my political director."
When a presidential candidate talks that way, what could possibly go wrong?
Hardly! And the huge amounts that were paid by the employers were nothing but taxation.
Exact! Et moi aussi, je pense il est bien dans sa peau..
I don’t know that was what he inherited. I’ve seen numbers from $35 million to a share of several hundred mi)ion. And I don’t know how to factor in the loan from his siblings. But he certainly got a little bit more of a head start than the average joe.
And then, one shouldn’t discount the invaluable education he received at the feet of his beloved father. His father really was a business genius, laying a solid foundation of the family fortune. And learn he did! This is a great CREDIT to trump, that while others were rebelling, he was absorbing business lessons from a master m his very own father.
I don’t like to see trump’s accomplishments blown out of proportion, but thet shouldn’t be minimized, either. He is a successful crony capitalist real estate developer. AND TV star!
I don’t agree with your assumptions. Nevertheless, I think the time has come for YOU to tell us WHO you think is more qualified to be president.
I don’t scorn him. I just don’t apotheosize him.
So WHO do you think is a better choice?
Sorry. First, I’m not qualified since I’m not accusing anyone of anything. Unless you think calling someone a successful real estate developer is an “accusation.”
Second, I’m not looking for work as a.) I have my own business, and b.) as I recently became disabled I have been advised to stop working.
Next attack?
>> I don’t know how he pays for his tax plan <<
Not to worry. Specific “plans” are for losers and low-energy people. He has assured us that everything he does will be fabulous, terrific, fantastic and stupendous. We can trust him because he tells us he’s worth about ten billion. He can do no wrong. That’s all we need to know.
Define “built from scratch”.
There ain’t many garage operations that have gone on to anything substantial without some assistance. Capital from private investors, loans or family assistance, are all doomed without proper management. And that goes double in real estate which has taken some serious hits over the years.
That reality makes Trump’s skill set all the more attractive. IMHO.
Sorry, he doesn’t look at all qualified. At least not to be a Republican president. If I wanted to elect another crony capitalist, he would have some of the attributes. But I was hoping for someone who had some familiarity with the Constitution.
Crony capitalists don’t turn on a dime and become conservative constitutiinalists over night.
For fecades, this man accomplished things, pretty great things, based on crony capitalist methods and means. It is unlikely that he will have the right instincts to solve the challenges the next president will face. Frankly, he has treated the normal things that a president must know rather cavalierly. I suspect that trump as president would be a cure worse than the disease.
He said he wouldn’t touch Social Security and Medicare. It’s good politics, but ma g be unrealistic.
Multiple Internet sources. Do your own homework. I already have.
You STILL are avoiding the issue. Of the Contenders for the Republican nomination, WHOM do you think is qualified if not Trump? WHO has what it will take to straighten out this screwed up country and get us back on the right track? WHO will obey the Constitution and honor their sworn pledge?
Okay. I agree. It’s real work employing real expertise. But far from unique. That about sums up my point.
It is unlikely that he will have the right instincts to solve the challenges the next president will face. Frankly, he has treated the normal things that a president must know rather cavalierly
...............................................
AND WHAT are the “right” instincts? I’d say being a patriotic American goes a long way to providing the RIGHT instincts.
AND please LIST the things he has treated “Cavalierly.”
AND state which contender is more qualified since you’re so committed to tearing down Trump..
Well, I’m a conservative. I don’t know whether you claim to be or not. If not, maybe trump’s your guy. I would prefer someone who would enact and execute small government, constitutional solutions. I prefer not to elect someone who doesn’t seem to have a constitutiinal bone in his body, and through sheer force of personality may become, through popular approval of his unconstitutional actions, a dictator, or worse.
The movement from the dictator Julius Caesar (obama) to the first real empower Augustus Caesar (trump) was only completely recognizable in hindsight.
I’d rather not try that road. I will vote for Cruz.
I will never vote for trump. Sadly, it is quite possible he might win. Then I expect the tribulation.
That is his current net worth, according to to an estimate, if I recall correctly, by Forbes.
“He said he wouldn’t touch Social Security and Medicare.”
Defund Planned Parenthood. $500 million
Get rid of the illegals $130 Billion
Stop training Syrian rebels $500 Million
Get rid of waste and fraud in Medicare $50 Billion
Get rid of the UN $1.57 Billion
Get rid of Foreign Aid $37 Billion
and on and on and on.
We can afford it.
I never said Jeff was a politician....he’s the token conservative at the Boston Globe. I happen to know Jeff & have clashed with him in the past. He’s an open borders zealot with a long history of advocating mass immigration. You can find his columns out there....
You deny that these taxes were called the Federal INSURANCE ACT taxes, and then, the Old Age and Disability INSURANCE tax, and that politicians gave the impression that people would eventualay recieve benefits as a result of a formula based on one’s individual contributions.
That’s funny. Every year, I recieve a statement frommthe Social Security Administration stating that under the law, because of the formula written into law, based on my personal contributions (I have been self-employed for 30 years, so they are nearly all my contributions, but even “employer” contributions are functionally the employee’s, as the employer makes those contributions in lieu of additional pay he’d give the employee), I will be ENTITLED by law to a specific set of benefits.
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