[Beren]

I value rational thought more highly than I value feelz, Beren. Perhaps your intuition tells you differently?

Intuition has two advantages though: it's quick and you can apply it anywhere, anytime, regarding anything, almost all your decision making is based on intuition actually. In my opinion we make the same decisions 99% regardless of whether we use intuition or rational thought, and intuition beats rationality 99% in the 1% left.

[Potemkin]

Intuition has two advantages tough: it's quick and you can apply it anywhere, anytime, regarding anything, almost all your decision making is based on intuition actually. In my opinion we make the same decisions 99% regardless of whether we use intuition or rational thought, and intuition beats rationality 99% in the 1% left.

So feelz it is then. I never thought the postmodernists would claim you as one of their own, Beren. Oh well. :/

[Beren]

So feelz it is then. I never thought the postmodernists would claim you as one of their own, Beren. Oh well. :/

Intuition is not really feelz, Potemkin, it's more like reckoning in one's head quickly. However, being rational all the time is just an illusion and simply wouldn't work if you tried. It's also intuition that makes the genius.

[Potemkin]

Intuition is not really feelz, Potemkin, it's more like reckoning in one's head quickly. However, being rational all the time is just an illusion and simply wouldn't work if you tried. It's also intuition that makes the genius.

But most people don't seem to possess that sort of intuition, Beren, at least where politics are concerned. Instead, they just seem to have prejudices and feelz. Unlike Trump himself, most of the people who voted for him are probably not geniuses.

[Crantag]

But most people don't seem to possess that sort of intuition, Beren, at least where politics are concerned. Instead, they just seem to have prejudices and feelz. Unlike Trump himself, most of the people who voted for him are probably not geniuses.

Gotta agree. To add, the function of emotionally charged wedge issues, utilized tactically, is an oft observed perpetuator of all of this.

For Trump, this notably includes the White Nationalist Lobby, and parts of their agenda.

[foxdemon]

On topic, I agree with foxdemon that Trump is not insane, just over-confident and not self-aware.

One thing that makes Trump different from small businessmen I’ve worked for is his apparent lack of education. I am wondering if Trump is literate. If he isn’t, that would explain his lack of interest in briefing material.

[Tainari88]

In fact, no nation's people are fit for democracy. Do most people cast their vote after carefully considering the policy platforms of the candidates and thoughtfully analysing the viability and desirability of those policies? Hell no, they vote for somebody because "he looks like a nice guy" or his wife's a supermodel or some shit like that. Lol.

I think the issue with voters in the USA has a few realities attached to it. The first being Potemkin, that many Americans just don't vote. They don't. The vast majority of people living in low income neighborhoods don't show up to the polls. Many don't have IDs. I was surprised about this but when I did research on it? A bunch of people living on $18k or less a year in government housing don't have IDs. You need that to register to vote. A good chunk of the American electorate don't register to vote and don't vote. Of all ethnic groups. Apathy about the voting process is rampant in the USA.

The other issue is about gerrymandering. That is a practice that the GOP uses all the time. It recreates voting districts to favor Republicans even though many counties are not voting Republican. The Democrats use it less than the Republicans but both parties are guilty of rigging the system to favor their ends. It is undemocratic.

The other issue is also money. Third party candidates rarely can challenge the system because they don't have enough money to run multi million dollar campaigns. The Democratic Party had the opportunity to reject PAC money and they did not do it. So did the Republican party. Both are just sellout to big interest parties and everyone knows this. Many third party potential voters just stay home because of this. Who can blame them? Corruption is hard to eradicate in today's political climate in the USA. The Supreme Court with Citizens United have made buying off elections legal. To undo that with that conservative Trump appointee Neil G. is going to be a pain in the ass. So? Rich Koch style buy offs are going to be the thing to do for a long time.

Also, if you get enough disgruntled people to create coalitions and band together you might have a good fight on your hands. But you got the Electoral College system that favors basically ignores popular voters. So? Even if you get a popular vote landslide win? You might still have Republican freaks winning like in the 2000 Election, and the 2016 Election. Even though they did not get the popular vote.

All together it makes for a grim picture for American democracy and the light of the world of democracy. A bunch of fakers with fake democratic credentials. Soon, Trump will come out looking like Anastacio Somoza and start declaring his absolute right to push a button and his absolute right to invade Iran and declare 'freedom' in the Middle East. He can declare Jerusalem for Israel only and then he can go to Moscow and give the intelligence inside scoop to Putin for a billion bucks in natural gas and oil reserves in Russia and be the best traitor to the USA government the world has ever known! A truly successful without principles American capitalist who hoodwinked every stupid patriotic dumbell Racist Republican conservative pendejo in the USA....HalleYuyah! Praise the Lord! Let the fake, mean spirited and gullible Christian Protestant IDIOTS get what they deserve. A destroyed nation due to stupidity and lack of understanding capitalists and who they are in bed with. LOL!!

The only thing Trump is going to do well in the USA with? Is being so disorganized, chaotic, and disorderly that he will prevent half of his agenda from getting done in time...and it will buy time for others to try to flee this nation before it goes under officially and the PRC takes over world leadership.

[Zagadka]

We've covered the ID thing before - Republicans demand voter ID but refuse a national ID program, Dems the opposite. It is pretty dumb. I prefer both the ID program and voter ID.

Gerrymandering is done by both sides, not just the Republicans.

And money will always rule politics. Even if you have equal campaign financing (which does NOT ensure equal campaign coverage or exposure), one position does not have that much power and lobbyists have high impact on both poor and rich.

[Beren]

But most people don't seem to possess that sort of intuition, Beren, at least where politics are concerned. Instead, they just seem to have prejudices and feelz. Unlike Trump himself, most of the people who voted for him are probably not geniuses.

Trump is clearly a genius way ahead of his time while his followers are the enlightened ones who understand that. I'm not sure if they are geniuses too, but they don't even need to be because their prejudices and feelz naturally lead them in the right direction.

[Zagadka]

Trump reminds me a lot of the idiots who take an online IQ test and brag about having a 164 IQ whenever they look stupid.

[jimjam]

Signs of this Donald's mental instability are: verbal aggressiveness, boasting about sexual assaults, inciting violence in others and the continual taunting of a hostile nation with nuclear weapons. Additional traits that are concerning are impulsiveness, recklessness, paranoia and rage reactions; a loose grip on reality with a poor understanding of consequences; a lack of empathy and belligerence toward others; and a constant need to demonstrate power. Trump’s recent tweet insisting he is a “very stable genius,” in response to claims about his mental capacity in a recent book by journalist Michael Wolff, exhibit concerns about Trump: He appears not to perceive how critical any defect in his mental sharpness could be, or how imperative it is that he protect the country before his own reputation.

[Tainari88]

He is going to be [The Apprentice:The Last Episode: Nuclear Apocalypto].....The USA American Empire was annihilated by an ex Reality TV star and many times bankrupted Real Estate Con Man....that the American voters of only 25% chose for president.....so class what happened? This is a historical case of American stupidity. Let us praise the People's Republic of China that now leads the world and that is the reason we have the greatness of rice as a staple food for the world and everyone is studying Mandarin as a second language....it was because the Americans proved to be people of little intelligence. We think it is because the European extraction Americans are genetically inferior. Asians are naturally superior in all things. Europeans are just made to be servants. Look what kinds of choices they made during their time in power? That Trump guy....had no sense of loyalty. It was mental defectiveness. European extraction Americans of German and Scottish descent do those dumb things. Must not allow that race to wield power. See class? China and the PRC....the Master Race. One world under state control. The MIDDLE KINGDOM RULES!!

Theories of Peking Man being superior and having many geneticists prove this...with great research. IQ tests in written Chinese issued and it is proven....Americans with too many European genes don't rule because they are inferior.....and somehow Buddhist religion gets involved.....European paradigms of religious thought are all external and not internal that means....their religion is defective.

Meanwhile, the rich in the USA live well and the middle class no longer is even the majority in the USA....it devolves into an American Drug Cartel culture....the kind that the world issues warnings....Avoid Ohio, Pennsylvania and Oregon....they are high crime areas....in Chinese.....to Chinese tourists.

[Prosthetic Conscience]

Gotta agree. To add, the function of emotionally charged wedge issues, utilized tactically, is an oft observed perpetuator of all of this.

For Trump, this notably includes the White Nationalist Lobby, and parts of their agenda.

Well anticipated:

President Trump grew frustrated with lawmakers Thursday in the Oval Office when they floated restoring protections for immigrants from Haiti, El Salvador and African countries as part of a bipartisan immigration deal, according to two people briefed on the meeting.

“Why are we having all these people from shithole countries come here?” Trump said, according to these people, referring to African countries and Haiti. He then suggested that the United States should instead bring more people from countries like Norway, whose prime minister he met Wednesday.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics ... 1120ea8171

[Tainari88]

Well anticipated:

But Prosthetic Conscience, doesn't Trump realize? Norway has a fairly good standard of living. Why should the Norway citizens disturb their lives to immigrate to the USA....they don't live in a supposed 'shithole' nation....where is the incentive to get the white Europeans to MOVE out of Europe.....to the USA...where they can get shot in the butt or worse by crazy guys with multiple assault weapons in Las Vegas?

[Godstud]

Norway, and it's citizenry, have a better standard of living than in the USA. Trump only has knowledge about his native countries USA/Russia, and even that information is poor.

Norway ranks as among the top countries, every year, to live in. For the 13th consecutive year, Norway ranked highest in standard of living, life expectancy, and education. Thanks to the country's robust, publicly funded healthcare system, the average life expectancy is 82 years.

[Hong Wu]

Norway also isn't in the EU and didn't take in as many refugees. Is this 4D chess at work?

[Libertarian353]

Norway also isn't in the EU and didn't take in as many refugees. Is this 4D chess at work?

Yes. https://www.thelocal.no/20170412/norweg ... utive-year

[Doug64]

In my opinion intuition is not necessarily worse than thoughtful analysis, I actually think they'd make you make the same decisions in most cases.


Sure, let's compare Obama's policies with Trump's character, and Trump's policies with Obama's character!

To cut it short, they're both terrible in Trump's case and Obama's presidency should rather be compared with Romney's governorship, because Obama and Romney are the same category rather than Obama and Trump are.

For actual accomplishments, Trump hasn't had that bad a year. We're beginning to enforce our immigration laws again, a decent number of judges have been appointed including a Supreme Court justice, a hefty number of regulations have been rolled back, ISIS has taken a serious beating in Syria and Iraq, and now serious tax reform, we're out of the Paris climate deal we were never officially in to begin with, and he's actually followed through on the promise to officially recognize the reality of Jerusalem as Israel's capital that so many previous presidents have reneged on. Certainly policy-wise he's been a major improvement over Obama.

As for Romney being just like Obama, you obviously didn't read Romney's book outlining what would have been his goals and policies if he'd been elected. I did, and they were nothing like what Obama pushed. Would Romney have been as Conservative as I would have preferred? No. He still would have been a big improvement, and if he'd won we'd be talking about his second term now.

[4cal]

Not sure what the clinical definition of “insane” is. Trump isn’t worth looking it up.

He is however, clearly:

A pervert
Is incredibly dishonest
Is incredibly immature
Unfit for the office he has

[Hindsite]

Not sure what the clinical definition of “insane” is. Trump isn’t worth looking it up.

He is however, clearly:

A pervert
Is incredibly dishonest
Is incredibly immature
Unfit for the office he has

Donald Trump is none of those things. In fact he is the exact opposite. And he is the Trump of God. Praise the Lord.