Thursday, July 12, 2018

How Gullible are Trump True Believers?

Now Trump has a habit of:
  • Claiming that things are TERRIBLE
  • Then claiming that HE FIXED IT
And I am really curious if the Trump True Believers swallow this manipulation hook, line and sinker?


I mean he escalated the conflict with North Korea and then claimed that he fixed it...  And now North Korea is blowing us off and is critical of US demands.


He insists that the NATO Nations were free loaders...  And then insists he fixed it, while everyone else denies any change.


And the list goes on and on...


I have to believe that his blatant method works though...  I often ask Trump True Believers about what Trump has accomplished and they start almost glowing with joy at "all he has accomplished". And they get angry when I ask then to list some of the real changes / improvements.


Please remember that I do believe he is accomplishing some good and bad things. I am just amazed at the cult of personality thing.




33 comments:

Anonymous said...

Not very, in my opinion. They knew what they were doing. They know Trump is a liar. The American people are not as stupid as on occasion they like to pretend they are. I am not sure that the fact that the American people voted for a liar, who they knew to be a borderline criminal isn't worse than being gullible.

==Hiram

Laurie said...

Trump to me is highly disturbing in 3 ways. First he is the worst president ever-corrupt, incompetent etc. Second- 40 percent of the people are unable to see what a terrible president he is and continue to support him. (I partially blame fox news and talk radio for this but the citizens are responsible for choosing to be misinformed.)

Third and most disturbing to me is the republican leaders who should be able to see how terrible he is continue to support him. Where are their morals and patriotism?

Things are going to get worse as the Mueller investigation continues and we get more specifics of how corrupt Trump is and I expect the GOP will continue to support Trump rather than do what's right.

John said...

Laurie,
Now I agree that he is a womanizing, lying, self centered braggart...

However if he gets NATO allies to pay some more, gets some trade concessions, slows illegal immigration, keeps the economy going, keeps North Korea talking, gets Iran out of Syria, etc...

Will most people forgive his eccentricities? I personally think so.

John said...

G2A Justifying Trumps Behavior

John said...

I had a flashback to Rodney Dangerfield's character in Caddy Shack

Annoying as can be, but seems to get things done.

Laurie said...

Donald Trump is indisputably the worst president in American history

John said...

Now you do realize that is an opinion piece written by...

"Joel Mathis is a freelance writer who lives in Lawrence, Kansas with his wife and son. He spent nine years as a syndicated columnist, co-writing the RedBlueAmerica column as the liberal half of a point-counterpoint duo. His honors include awards for best online commentary from the Online News Association and (twice) from the City and Regional Magazine Association."

John said...

This WAPO piece seems to fit well in this post...

Laurie said...

I prefer opinion pieces written by liberals as they usually get their facts right in supporting opinions I agree with. Why are you so automatically dismissive of liberal journalists. What redeeming quality does Trump have in support of your opinion that he is not the worst president ever?

Laurie said...

Did you read the Wapo piece you linked. It is written by a liberal totally mocking Trump for all the claims he makes about being the smartest, greatest, etc president ever.

John said...

Personally I am more about results than style, and he has stirred up the dust in a lot of areas.

As I noted above:
- Some NATO allies to pay more
- Possible trade concessions
- Scaring people to slow illegal immigration
- Economy is still booming when it should be in recession (ie 8-10 yr cycle)
- Has North Korea talking, may or may not succeed
- Stock market up when many are thinking of retiring
- Unemployment at historical lows
- Working with Russia to get Iran out of Syria

Not to mention the Conservative favorites:
- Big tax cuts
- 2 Conservative Justices
- ACA is being challenged
- Moved consulate to Jerusalem

What is not to like right now?

Only time will tell if it all implodes or keeps going great.

John said...

Laurie,
Yes I read the WAPO piece. That is why I wrote the following.

"This WAPO piece seems to fit well in this post..."

It seems the True Believers believe Trump

John said...

I just think both tribes have lost their minds...

He is not the savior or the devil. He is just a rather smart man who sells stuff and pressures people in order to achieve results.

This could go well or badly...

Laurie said...

Trump’s administration can’t clean house because its leader is too soaked in scandal

Joe Scarborough Calls Trump White House ‘Most Corrupt Administration in the History of Our Lifetime’

Laurie said...

the trade war Trump has started is going to hurt US economy more than help it

we can live with a small amt of illegal immigration rather than take away children from seeking assylum.

economy has continued on same track as it was under Obama, who didn't do huge tax cut to blow up the deficit

There is zero chance the N Korea will denuclearize.

Wrecking Obamacare is a bad thing.

John said...

Beauty is definitely in the eye of the beholder.

Remember that "Ma and Pa" think Trump is wonderful !!!

Anonymous said...

I was all for Trump's meeting with Mr. Un. It's the way I approach about negotiations. And the argument for fresh thinking is one of the things that appealed to me about Donald. The tariff thing too. It's Republicans who have conducted a memory dump of all the principles they have ever had on that issue. While not going as far as Trump particularly on tariffs, I think we should be a little more careful in how we do business abroad. What surprised me was something else.

When Trump was about to meet, the news media talked about how previous presidents had been deceived by Mr. Un. I was kind of dumbfounded by that. Many American presidents have dealt indirectly with North Korean leaders. Some of them have actually concluded agreements with them. One or two of them might actually have been hopeful, particularly early in their terms. But I don't think any of them, Democratic or Republican, deceived themselves in to trusting those leaders or believing what they had to say. That being the cased, they weren't deceived. They tried something and it didn't turn out. Donald is different. Donald came back and actually vouched, and continues to vouch to the American people. He has made claims on behalf of Mr. Un and his goals that no other president would ever have made, and didn't have grounds to make, just as Donald has no grounds for making them now.

--Hiram

John said...

Personally I think it is an "Executive Thing"...

They learn somewhere to say "What they think people need to hear, instead the truth."

They are true believers in the belief that:

"attitude is everything"...
"see it, believe it and then make it"

And the reality is that if the Americans believe things are good... Miracles can happen.

If Americans get fearful, worried, etc we will plow the world into another recession.

Laurie said...

If there was to be a debate about Trump - Is he the worst president ever -corrupt, racist and idiotic or has he been a successful president of good character. The side arguing that he is the worst would have 10 times or 100 times more evidence to present.

John said...

What about the third choice...

Has he been a very successful president of very questionable character?


What do the American people want? Results or Character?


I disapprove of many things Trump does and says, however I sure don't mind him shaking up the status quo of our country's politics and bureaucracies.

Sean said...

"Has he been a very successful president of very questionable character?"

You're defining "very successful" extremely low. What are his actual accomplishments?

John said...

Personally I am more about results than style, and he has stirred up the dust in a lot of areas.

As I noted above:
- Some NATO allies to pay more
- Possible trade concessions
- Scaring people to slow illegal immigration
- Economy is still booming when it should be in recession (ie 8-10 yr cycle)
- Has North Korea talking, may or may not succeed
- Stock market up when many are thinking of retiring
- Unemployment at historical lows
- Working with Russia to get Iran out of Syria

Not to mention the Conservative favorites:
- Big tax cuts
- 2 Conservative Justices
- ACA is being challenged
- Moved consulate to Jerusalem

What is not to like right now?

Only time will tell if it all implodes or keeps going great.

Sean said...

Stirring up the dust is not the same as results.

"Some NATO allies to pay more"

Macron doesn't seem to share Trump's view on what just happened.

"Possible trade concessions"

Not a result until something actually happens.

"Scaring people to slow illegal immigration"

Was already slow when he took office.

"Economy is still booming when it should be in recession (ie 8-10 yr cycle)"

Not crashing the car is not exactly an accomplishment. And by what basis is the economy "booming"? If so, he inherited that from Obama.

"Has North Korea talking, may or may not succeed"

Not a result until something actually happens.

"Stock market up when many are thinking of retiring"

On trend from what he inherited.

"Unemployment at historical lows"

On trend from what he inherited.

"Working with Russia to get Iran out of Syria"

Outsourcing our foreign policy to Russia? Hmm.

"Big tax cuts"

And huge deficits! I remember all the way back in 2016 when Republicans hated deficits!

"ACA is being challenged"

And what results have been produced here? Higher premiums and fewer people insured. Yay!

Sean said...

So, on July 27, 2016, Donald J. Trump said: "Russia, if you’re listening, I hope you’re able to find the 30,000 emails that are missing. I think you will probably be rewarded mightily by our press."

From today's indictment of 12 Russian intelligence officers:
"On or about July 27, 2016, the Conspirators attempted after hours to spearphish for the first time email accounts at a domain hosted at a third party provider and used by Clinton's personal office. At or around the same time, they also targeted 76 e-mail addresses used at the domain for the Clinton campaign."

Sean said...

"What is not to like right now?"

The nation is led by a corrupt racist who in the most charitable explanation of events was merely incredibly reckless in how he and his campaign played footsie with Russian intelligence during the Presidential campaign. Other than that, everything is great!

John said...

True. But people are employed and thus happy.

Sean said...

"But people are employed and thus happy."

Source, please, regarding the "happy" part.

Sean said...

And, we shouldn't forget that regular ol' Republicans are running interference to hinder the investigations.

Like, Republicans on the House Intel Committee refused to issue subpoenas for electronic communications from Roger Stone and Donald Trump Jr. (who we know communicated with Guccifer 2.0 and Wikileaks, respectively -- the two ways the 12 Russian hackers indicted today released the materials).

But, hey, tax cuts!

John said...

Sorry. Drinking beer with college friends this weekend at Ma and Pa’s lake home. Maybe tomorrow.

Anonymous said...

Does anyone claim that the increase in defense spending Americans are making are the result of inadequate European spending? If, as Trump claims, Europeans have committed to spending more, can we expect cuts in American defense spending?

--Hiram

Anonymous said...

Trump is a con man, the current embodiment of a great American tradition. Strangely enough, we like con men. We have movies about them. We don't prosecute them much. In 2016 millions of Americans voted for one for president. In polls, vast numbers claim to like him. Why is this? Is it a matter of gullibility? But if we thought so, wouldn't that be an example of condescension, even smugness? Qualities that Fox News claims are two of the very worst qualities any American can have? Or is something else as work? After all, as much of a crook as Harold Hill, somehow River City ended up with a band, or at least a fantasy of one.

--Hiram

John said...

Hiram,
Do you want to see the Defense budget reduced significantly?

Anonymous said...

It's not my field of expertise, but it does seem to me that we are doing a number of absurd things. Trump wants a Trump Tower of defense, full of gold leaf but basically a waste.

--Hiram