Donald Trump

[jimmy eat jazz]

Without disagreeing with your accessment, I do want to note, that for anti-Trump individuals like myself, he nailed the feelings underlying our alarm at seeing a power grab by a demagogue build up a head of steam, surge ahead, and become the overwhelming front runner. Just as a student of history alone, the whole Trump phenomenon is jaw dropping to me, since he utilizes the tools of the demagogue so skillfully.
It just makes my head spin as I hear him call himself a unifier even as google search queries on "moving to Canada" are up 350+% since Super Tuesday. He's gone out of his way to preach divisiveness. I thought Romney actually eloquently nailed the fears of many Americans. Even as I am sure you are correct in any effect on Trump supporters. Perhaps the nation itself inches closer to civil war. Who knows what history will have to say on this extraordinary election cycle?

I agree with everything you've said.

I'd just say in reply to Republicans, you made this bed, now you must lay in it. Only, Dear God, please don't make the rest of us, who didn't spend the last 8 years pandering to the very people who are on the verge of making Trump the Republican nominee, lay in it too.

 

[Joe Bagadonuts]

Yep I am. You seem to fundamentally misunderstand that public and private entities have different objectives, different stakeholders, different lines of accountability and measuring performance, and different funding sources (with much different methods of raising funds).

You are taking a complex issue and reducing it to a silly, naive ideological talking point: private sector = GOOD, public sector = BAD.

Both can provide services efficiently and in good quality and both can do so inefficiently and in poor quality. Personally, I think that, on balance, the private sector does a better job in terms of efficiency and quality. And, all else equal, given a choice between private and public provision, I'd choose the former. BUT, the private sector operates under a very different set of rules. Yet this very obvious truth is never acknowledged by those whose knee jerk tendency is to criticize the government and lionize the private sector. Just because your knee is jerking spasmodically doesn't mean you've discovered some underlying truth.

My knee is jerking because I see the waste of billions in taxpayer money as a giant problem.

 

[Joe Bagadonuts]

I agree with everything you've said.

I'd just say in reply to Republicans, you made this bed, now you must lay in it. Only, Dear God, please don't make the rest of us, who didn't spend the last 8 years pandering to the very people who are on the verge of making Trump the Republican nominee, lay in it too.

Who have they pandered to? Trump is a result of the electorate's massive dissatisfaction with the political establishment, not of their pandering. And so the Dems feel like America should lay in their bed because they are on the verge of nominating their own narcissistic liar? Those who live in glass houses...

Both parties have enormous problems.

 

[Red]

Yep, but if this happened imagine the results. Trumps most loyal supporters would be even more fanatical. His ego wouldn't allow him not to run as an independent. The republican vote would be split, virtually handing the White House to Hillary who will have only escaped Federal indictment due to her political influence. Insane.

Maybe a Catch-22 in play. Trump himself increases divisiveness in the nation. Opposing Trump furthers the polarization by angering Trump's supporters even further. No doubt making them even more determined to see him win. Unfortunately, this is the kind of Catch-22 that can scar the nation for a long time. I don't want to overthink it, or sink myself into some morass of fear and loathing over the 2016 election. It's a shame we don't seem to have the kind of leader anywhere who can actually unify Americans at this point in our history. We need a leader who can not only inspire our higher natures, not our baser instincts, but address our real problems in a manner that makes us all want to chip in and do our part. Everywhere I look I see political opportunists. I do not see that leader that can truly inspire and unify liberal and conservative alike. Somebody who transcends partisanship.

 

[JazzGal]

Since I'm guaranteed to be unhappy with whomever is elected President, and there is nothing I can do about it, I'm trying to view this whole thing as "entertainment TV." And it is entertaining. Trump is exactly everything that in past GOP elections would have never gotten this far - not really religious, three wives, admitted affairs, excessively rich, arrogant, homely, loud, brash, rude. And all of this in a media frenzy that doesn't approve of him. It's incredible.

 

[JAZZGASM]

I has a mailman that would throw packages at doors. Kick them down the sidewalk, etc. Multiple neighbors complained and they never fired him. He would skip delivery and when we called to complain he responded that there was a dog in the yard and he didn't feel safe. We did not have a dog... The lines at USPS are long, prices are just as high as the private shippers, yet they lose $$$.

So, out of curiosity, what was the margin or error and confidence level of your sample size of 1?

My mailman doesn't do that, so my sample size of 1 cancels out your sample size of 1.

My local dry cleaner lost one of my shirts. Guess that means all privately run companies are incomptent.

The USPS loses money because it is not allowed to operate as a fully private company. As a public entity, it served multiple stakeholders and fulfills multiple objectives and serves many masters. It operates by an entirely different set of rules than a private company does.

Comparing publicly run companies to privately run ones, and pretending that the former operate under the same rules as the latter, is naive and wrong.

I can't think of one governmental entity that does a good some as a similarly situated private company.

See above.

And one should assume, of course, that your limited anecdotal experience is representative of the entire spectrum of possibilities. Right?



So, the US government subsidizes all the R&D for non-US medical and drug companies? You do realize that there ARE drug and medical companies that are not located in the US, right?

Yep, many non US medical and drug companies. And we subsidize them by paying higher costs. I'm not going to take the time, but search for the other thread on here. Tons of info.

And in regards to my mailman, sure there are many good ones. My point is, the bad ones don't get fired. I have read tons of stories about bad mailman, and unless they are stealing mail, they stay on the job. Only. In. Government.

 

[Stoked]

Maybe a Catch-22 in play. Trump himself increases divisiveness in the nation. Opposing Trump furthers the polarization by angering Trump's supporters even further. No doubt making them even more determined to see him win. Unfortunately, this is the kind of Catch-22 that can scar the nation for a long time. I don't want to overthink it, or sink myself into some morass of fear and loathing over the 2016 election. It's a shame we don't seem to have the kind of leader anywhere who can actually unify Americans at this point in our history. We need a leader who can not only inspire our higher natures, not our baser instincts, but address our real problems in a manner that makes us all want to chip in and do our part. Everywhere I look I see political opportunists. I do not see that leader that can truly inspire and unify liberal and conservative alike. Somebody who transcends partisanship.

Just the way the Rs and Ds want it. The hard left and right are in a place where compromise is impossible.

 

[Stoked]

I has a mailman that would throw packages at doors. Kick them down the sidewalk, etc. Multiple neighbors complained and they never fired him. He would skip delivery and when we called to complain he responded that there was a dog in the yard and he didn't feel safe. We did not have a dog... The lines at USPS are long, prices are just as high as the private shippers, yet they lose $$$.

So, out of curiosity, what was the margin or error and confidence level of your sample size of 1?

My mailman doesn't do that, so my sample size of 1 cancels out your sample size of 1.

My local dry cleaner lost one of my shirts. Guess that means all privately run companies are incomptent.

The USPS loses money because it is not allowed to operate as a fully private company. As a public entity, it served multiple stakeholders and fulfills multiple objectives and serves many masters. It operates by an entirely different set of rules than a private company does.

Comparing publicly run companies to privately run ones, and pretending that the former operate under the same rules as the latter, is naive and wrong.

I can't think of one governmental entity that does a good some as a similarly situated private company.

Yep, many non US medical and drug companies. And we subsidize them by paying higher costs. I'm not going to take the time, but search for the other thread on here. Tons of info.

And in regards to my mailman, sure there are many good ones. My point is, the bad ones don't get fired. I have read tons of stories about bad mailman, and unless they are stealing mail, they stay on the job. Only. In. Government.

Very hard to fire bad federal employees, to the point of absurdity.

 

[Deleted member 848]

I can't think of one governmental entity that does a good some as a similarly situated private--

Healthcare. Find one Canadian politician that endorses a move towards an American-style health care policy.

Political suicide across all parties.

 

[Jamezz]

I think Megyn Kelly has a crush on Trump.

 

[Jamezz]

Calls Rubio "Little Marco" LOL

 

[Stoked]

Marco couldn't get elected dog catcher. Hahaha

Dick jokes

Legit KKK questions

Yelling/talking over each other

Shouting, boos and cheers, and clowns in the audience

Pending court cases

Talking past time

Personal shots

It's not a debate. It's a reality show. Ooofff