How Has Your Opinion Changed Or Not Re Trump?

[LSHMEAB]

For all the bluster, he's pretty much your standard issue GOP President. The lone deviation from orthodoxy is on trade.

 

He's considered divisive because he has no interest in appealing to the left. I don't really blame him as those of us who disagree with his policies were never going to vote for him anyways. 

 

He is who we thought he was! Can't imagine anyone being surprised by a single thing he's done.

 

I believe he's an awful human being, but that has little statistical bearing on the country. People need to settle the hell down and stop obsessing about his tweets. I wonder if they realize that's precisely what he wants them to be doing. He'd probably do something stupid if they just stopped paying attention to the horseface sideshows.

 

[Deranged Rhino]

18 minutes ago, LSHMEAB said:

For all the bluster, he's pretty much your standard issue GOP President. The lone deviation from orthodoxy is on trade.

 

His foreign policy and rebuttal of regime change is a seismic change from the GOP of the past. Can't overlook that, especially because it's this stance in particular that made him such a threat to both political establishments (since they are really one and the same). 

[Bray Wyatt]

Going into the 2016 Election, I knew I wasnt voting for Hillary. My friend at work tried convincing me to vote for Johnson the libertarian, but I knew he didnt really have a chance (not that my vote in NY matters much for president). The SC vacancy was the deciding factor on why I went with Trump, and he has certainly fulfilled that commitment to me. However, I actually like him more than I did when I "held my nose" and voted for him. He has surpassed my low expectations by a long shot. His exposure of the media and their blatant bias cannot be understated. 

[IDBillzFan]

30 minutes ago, LSHMEAB said:

People need to settle the hell down and stop obsessing about his tweets. I wonder if they realize that's precisely what he wants them to be doing.

 

They'll never settle down and stop obsessing because leftists take clickbait to new levels judging from my social media timelines. I watched well-educated adult friends I've known for years spout off how certain they were that Kavanaugh was a gang rapist, and as soon as he got seated, he would single-handedly overturn Roe and force women everywhere to have wire hanger abortions in seedy skid-row alleys.

 

There's not putting that crazy back in the container.

 

But it's gets the clicks the media needs for ad revenue, so they just keep feeding that beast and the left just keeps getting pulled along because they're simply too damn stupid to realize what is happening.

 

It's glorious.

Edited October 23, 2018 by LABillzFan

[Tiberius]

38 minutes ago, whatdrought said:

I forgot to add that the fact that he's so good at getting certain posters panties in a wad is also a point in his favor on my score card. 

Seems to be the main appeal of Trump. 

 

I wonder what the cross over of professional wrestling fans is to Trump supporters. 

 

Same demographic? 

14 minutes ago, Deranged Rhino said:

 

His foreign policy and rebuttal of regime change is a seismic change from the GOP of the past. Can't overlook that, especially because it's this stance in particular that made him such a threat to both political establishments (since they are really one and the same). 

Yes!! He is against taking out, challenging or confronting dictators. That's a reason Putin hated Hillary so much. Or the reason. 

[3rdnlng]

Hillary couldn't even spell "reset".

[LSHMEAB]

59 minutes ago, LABillzFan said:

 

They'll never settle down and stop obsessing because leftists take clickbait to new levels judging from my social media timelines. I watched well-educated adult friends I've known for years spout off how certain they were that Kavanaugh was a gang rapist, and as soon as he got seated, he would single-handedly overturn Roe and force women everywhere to have wire hanger abortions in seedy skid-row alleys.

 

There's not putting that crazy back in the container.

 

But it's gets the clicks the media needs for ad revenue, so they just keep feeding that beast and the left just keeps getting pulled along because they're simply too damn stupid to realize what is happening.

 

It's glorious.

He's the most gifted salesman of all time and I'm not using that term as a pejorative. 

 

If the left had a Trump like hype man, I'd be all in. I had hopes for Avenatti, but he's clearly sputtering. There's really only one Donald Trump.

 

I reckon more than a few members of TBD understand nuanced policy better than Trump, but none could sell it to the masses quite like him. It would have served Dems well to fully appreciate this guy's talent, but that ship sailed in 2016.

Edited October 23, 2018 by LSHMEAB

[whatdrought]

58 minutes ago, Tiberius said:

Seems to be the main appeal of Trump. 

 

I wonder what the cross over of professional wrestling fans is to Trump supporters. 

 

Same demographic? 

Yes!! He is against taking out, challenging or confronting dictators. That's a reason Putin hated Hillary so much. Or the reason. 

 

Same ratio as is the crossover of kale eaters to liberals. 

6 minutes ago, LSHMEAB said:

If the left had a Trump like hype man, I'd be all in. I had hopes for Avenatti, but he's clearly sputtering  drowning. There's really only one Donald Trump.

 

 

Fixed it for ya. 

[IDBillzFan]

1 minute ago, LSHMEAB said:

I had hopes for Avenatti, but he's clearly sputtering.

 

The biggest difference between Trump and Avenatti is that essentially no one likes Avanatti.

 

He completely screwed up when he came after Kavanaugh with the gang-rape woman. Massive miscalculation based almost entirely on stupidity. A college woman travels to a bunch of high school parties where gang-rapes are taking place; she does nothing the entire time, but oh, by the way, Kavanaugh was there.

 

I hope that nut gets disbarred and has to work as a strip club bouncer the rest of his life.

[DC Tom]

1 hour ago, LSHMEAB said:

 

I believe he's an awful human being, but that has little statistical bearing on the country. People need to settle the hell down and stop obsessing about his tweets.

 

I've told people that, and they've responded "No, we have to emphasize his tweets, so people understand how awful and stupid he is!"  To which I'd usually reply "Just who's awfulness do you think you're emphasizing?"

 

After a while, I just stopped talking to people.

[TakeYouToTasker]

I was one of the posters here most vocally opposed to President Trump when he was candidate Trump.

 

I found him boorish, poorly spoken, and was entirely unsure of what a Trump Presidency would look like from a policy perspective given his ties to Steve Bannon and his prior life as a long-time Democratic donor.

 

Given that the Presidency becomes the defacto leader of the Party, my fear as a classical liberal, was that he would be the death knell of traditional American conservative values.

 

I was wrong on every front, and am not ashamed to admit it.

 

President Trump has been the best thing that has happened to the concept of classical liberalism in my lifetime, and probably in the last 150 years of American governance.

 

He has fought tooth and nail against the modern slave trade, pursuing human freedom all over the world, even into the darkest corners where I never thought a light could shine.

 

He has forced government to reduce it's size and scope, working to return our legislative body to it's proper role, and has faithfully executed the laws congress has written.

 

He has appointed swaths of conservative, origionalist, and libertarian leaning judges to the bench; including two SCOTUS appointments who will serve to return our Government to it's proper role in American life.

 

He has torn up old treaties, unbeneficial to American interests, and forged new ones that directly benefit American business and people.

 

He has used the bully pulpit to lead globally, withdrawing us from the United Nations Human Rights Counsel, which was a hive of villainy and evil given legitimacy by the United States membership.

 

He has returned us to a proper course of ratifying international treaties with a withdrawal from an unbinding pledge from Kyoto.

 

He has worked to force Congress to do their jobs and legislate in regards to our immigration and border problems.

 

And this list is in no way comprehensive.

 

I came to this discussion as a fervent anti-Trump libertarian, and from my current vantage, if he continues on this arch, will be standing shoulder to shoulder with men like Washington.

[RochesterRob]

16 minutes ago, LABillzFan said:

 

The biggest difference between Trump and Avenatti is that essentially no one likes Avanatti.

 

He completely screwed up when he came after Kavanaugh with the gang-rape woman. Massive miscalculation based almost entirely on stupidity. A college woman travels to a bunch of high school parties where gang-rapes are taking place; she does nothing the entire time, but oh, by the way, Kavanaugh was there.

 

I hope that nut gets disbarred and has to work as a strip club bouncer the rest of his life.

  Riding the back deck of a Waste Management truck is far more appropriate.

[KD in CA]

4 hours ago, KRC said:

There is no question that he is making progress in areas where others have failed. Politicians do not want to solve problems. As long as the problems still exist, they have talking points for election time. Therefore, there is no incentive to actually fix anything. Trump doesn't care. He feels that he was hired to do a job and he is going to do it. He will succeed at times (when he can do it alone), and fail other times (especially when he needs to rely on politicians). 

 

I may actually vote for him this time (didn't last time), simply to see another four years of hilarity of the exploding heads of NPC's.

 

As far as Twitter, it is nice to see a politician with a backbone. He is also able to communicate directly with the people, which pisses off the media. They are used to controlling the message. However, people do need to take his phone away from him at times. He is just hurting himself with some of his tweets.

 

Same here, partially for the exploding heads, but mostly for what Rob articulates:

 

3 hours ago, Rob's House said:

I liked Trump from the start but wasn't sure if he was a legitimate Presidential prospect. But I got on the Trump train during the primaries and I like the guy more every day.

 

The smear job done on this guy was disgraceful. I understand politics is a rough business and not everybody's going to like his policies and personality, but the widespread characterization of this guy as some Hitlerian despot is appalling.

 

Think of how many times we heard mindless morons chanting "No Trump, No KKK, no Fascist USA!" Anyone with any sense and even a cursory understanding of fascism knows that's patently ridiculous, but the media treated this absurdity as though it were legitimate and millions of useful idiots ate it up.

 

After he was elected liberals adopted a diaper pin as their new symbol and delusional, virtue-signaling white girls posted that they would stand alongside the victimized minorities and shield them with their white privilege. The whole thing was so beyond the pale.

 

What beats all is the way these people will make the nastiest baseless allegations against a guy and then call him divisive when he fights back. I love that he fights back. There have been too many casualties of this PC war and it's about damn time someone stood up to these bullies and exposed them for the empty suits they are.

 

My biggest criticism of Trump is how ineffective his racist policies have been. With black and hispanic unemployment at historic lows he's really failed at bringing back Jim Crow style oppression.

 

But with the economy finally being allowed to take off, a President in office who foreign leaders respect, and daily meltdowns by the worst people in our society, I guess I'll give him a pass on that.

 

Two years ago I was open to the possibility of voting for a Democrat, but after watching this vile display for two years (the Kavanaugh smear being the capper), there is pretty much zero chance of that happening for the next few decades.

[TakeYouToTasker]

2 minutes ago, KD in CA said:

Same here, partially for the exploding heads, but mostly for what Rob articulates:

 

Two years ago I was open to the possibility of voting for a Democrat, but after watching this vile display for two years (the Kavanaugh smear being the capper), there is pretty much zero chance of that happening for the next few decades.

 

Until 2016 I, as a libertarian (more accurately described as classically liberal), have cast my ballots exclusively for Democrats at the national level, and have encouraged other libertarians to do the same as a protest vote.  My reasoning being that if Republicans cannot give me a candidate with sufficiently libertarian leanings, then libertarians should withhold their support, and punish Republicans as a national party until such time as a palatable candidate can be provided.

 

In 2016 I cast my ballot for Johnson, a candidate I found to be horrible, because even as a protest vote I couldn't bring myself to cast my vote for the Democratic nominee, a leader of an anti-American crime syndicate.

 

I expected that to be a blip on the radar, and would go back to my protest vote mantra in 2020 and beyond.

 

Never again.  Never.

 

These people do not deserve to be permitted anywhere near seats of power.

[DC Tom]

9 minutes ago, KD in CA said:

 

Same here, partially for the exploding heads, but mostly for what Rob articulates:

 

 

Two years ago I was open to the possibility of voting for a Democrat, but after watching this vile display for two years (the Kavanaugh smear being the capper), there is pretty much zero chance of that happening for the next few decades.

 

Same here.  I used to pretty reliably vote Democrat in legislative races...but after that Kavanaugh shitshow, I'm voting straight Republican for the first time ever.

 

They may have a low standard of decency, but at least they have one.

[plenzmd1]

@Deranged Rhino My biggest problem with him is not his policies per se..I think you can comb through my posts in here and see that is the case. ..it is just him as a human being. I find him a vile, crass, and dishonest. I don't want to be friends with people like that, and I don't want him leading our country. I agree with much that you post in regards to both parties and the entitled "political class"..but this dude just ain't the guy I want in charge.

 

In regards to the original question, looks like TYTT is most changed on opinion. I must say Trump has done some things better than I expected..but not enough for me to not want him out today!!

 

(btw, when i try to quote your post, my laptop freezes)

[3rdnlng]

9 minutes ago, plenzmd1 said:

@Deranged Rhino My biggest problem with him is not his policies per se..I think you can comb through my posts in here and see that is the case. ..it is just him as a human being. I find him a vile, crass, and dishonest. I don't want to be friends with people like that, and I don't want him leading our country. I agree with much that you post in regards to both parties and the entitled "political class"..but this dude just ain't the guy I want in charge.

 

In regards to the original question, looks like TYTT is most changed on opinion. I must say Trump has done some things better than I expected..but not enough for me to not want him out today!!

 

(btw, when i try to quote your post, my laptop freezes)

He's got quite a stare.

[bdutton]

I had the pleasure of meeting him in person during the campaign.  He went out of his way to make sure we could get a picture with him. I was a VIP visitor at a stop thanks to a friend that was working as a driver/security on his campaign.

 

That said, publicly he's a blowhard that can't stop stepping on his own dick when tweeting or speaking to crowds.

 

His getting elected is an astounding achievement and a referendum on Clinton.

 

I NEVER expected him to get elected. I am not surprised with the chaotic first months of his taking office either. I doubt he thought he would ever win and never made plans on a transition of power.

 

HIS ability to deliver on most of his campaign promises despite an openly hostile liberal press and Democrat conspiring is astounding as his being elected.

 

I will happily vote for him and every Republican on the ticket every year until I die.

Edited October 23, 2018 by bdutton

[4merper4mer]

1 hour ago, plenzmd1 said:

@Deranged Rhino My biggest problem with him is not his policies per se..I think you can comb through my posts in here and see that is the case. ..it is just him as a human being. I find him a vile, crass, and dishonest. I don't want to be friends with people like that, and I don't want him leading our country. I agree with much that you post in regards to both parties and the entitled "political class"..but this dude just ain't the guy I want in charge.

 

In regards to the original question, looks like TYTT is most changed on opinion. I must say Trump has done some things better than I expected..but not enough for me to not want him out today!!

 

(btw, when i try to quote your post, my laptop freezes)

Have you considered the possibility that only someone as crass and vile as Trump could truly expose the heretofore fairly well hidden nature of the democrats and a big swath of republicans?

 

I hadn't, but I sort of think that now. The people that elected him knew there was something wrong, and although Hillary embodied it more than anyone else, it was not just her.  Trump has baited them into showing their true colors.  I wouldn't want to be his friend most days either, but if he was best able to expose these cretins, then I'm ok with him having power.

[snafu]

1 hour ago, 4merper4mer said:

Have you considered the possibility that only someone as crass and vile as Trump could truly expose the heretofore fairly well hidden nature of the democrats and a big swath of republicans?

 

I hadn't, but I sort of think that now. The people that elected him knew there was something wrong, and although Hillary embodied it more than anyone else, it was not just her.  Trump has baited them into showing their true colors.  I wouldn't want to be his friend most days either, but if he was best able to expose these cretins, then I'm ok with him having power.

 

I've thought this for awhile.  I call his win the miracle of Trump. Not because I think he's great, but because he was the only one in that big Republican primary field who showed that he was capable of cutting through the headwinds of being an outsider. That said, I never thought he'd win it all. 

 

Even after he did win, I thought his Democratic roots would bob up to the surface, and that he was going to revert to moderate policies. But I believe that his conservatism may be a reaction to the way he's been treated by the Left and his own never-Trumpers ever since Election Day, 2016. I'm stunned that he's accomplished all that he has.  I tend to agree with Plenzmd that "winning ugly" is better suited for my sports teams than for my President.

 

If his policies remain after he's gone, I'm good with that -- because he didn't just stop the march of progressives, he turned that course around completely. I love the fact that he fights back against the BS hurled at him, and if that legacy continues with whomever his successor may be, I'm good with that.  But I hope to never see his particular demeanor replicated by another President.