monitoring Trump and relevant contemporary events

Cycloptichorn wrote:

Just, not due to any actual actions Trump or the GOP have taken. They certainly haven't passed any bills that would lead to such a result.

You have restricted the issue to the passage of legislation, without regard to the obvious facts of the many very significant regulatory changes that have occurred, and others promised by the new management of our increasingly bureaucratic state installed by Trump.

Take a look at the trajectory of numerous government economic indices, including unemployment, job creation and quarterly GDP growth. They all point to a change beginning this year. Your argument here is weak and contrived.

Cycloptichorn wrote:

I think this is a great example of the 'animal spirit's theory that drives Republican thought.

In fact the theory belongs to economi9sts generally, and not just to Republicans. It partly explains the persistent failures of socialism as well.

The problem is that it allows you to take whatever bullshit theory you like and present it as if it were a fact. The truth is that you DON'T know why the market has been going up. You only have theories as to why. Isn't that right?

I generally focus on legislation, because it is the best indicator of actual, lasting change in our society and system. Regulatory changes are fleeting, as we'll just put them right back in as soon as the Dems win again.

Cycloptichorn

Take a look at the trajectory of numerous government economic indices, including unemployment, job creation and quarterly GDP growth. They all point to a change beginning this year.

Your argument here is weak and contrived.

"Texas Governor Skirts Questions About Gun Control Afterr Church Shooting"

Cycloptichorn wrote:

The problem is that it allows you to take whatever bullshit theory you like and present it as if it were a fact. The truth is that you DON'T know why the market has been going up. You only have theories as to why. Isn't that right?

I generally focus on legislation, because it is the best indicator of actual, lasting change in our society and system. Regulatory changes are fleeting, as we'll just put them right back in as soon as the Dems win again.

Cycloptichorn

I believe you should reflect on the applicability of the above to the vacuous arguments you are making.

At a news conference in Tokyo today, Donald Trump read from a prepared script and praised Japan's economy while standing alongside Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe. The American president then paused for a moment and decided to add an unscripted thought.

"I don't know if [Japan's economy is] as good as ours. I think not. OK? We're going to try to keep it that way. And you'll be second."

America’s pathetic autocrat
Donald Trump’s authoritarian instincts have been checked by his incompetence.
The most important struggle playing out in American politics right now is between President Donald Trump’s thirst for power and his inability to use it effectively.

In a November 2 interview on WMAL radio in Washington, DC, Trump lamented his inability to use his authority to prosecute his political enemies. “You know the saddest thing, because I’m the president of the United States, I am not supposed to be involved with the Justice Department,” Trump said. “I am not supposed to be involved with the FBI. I’m not supposed to be doing the kinds of things that I would love to be doing. And I’m very frustrated by it.”

Trump’s instincts remain chilling. Ten months in the job have not eased his yearning to wield the autocrat’s iron authority; instead, they have magnified his frustration, his sense of persecution. That’s the bad news. The good news, such as it is, is that Trump’s 10 months on the job have revealed that he lacks the focus, the persistence, the strategic sense, to become the strongman he dreams of being. We have elected an authoritarian, but an apparently incompetent one. That is the bit of luck on which we are gambling our political system.

He is such colicky infant who feels the need no matter the occasion to brag.

You have restricted the issue to the passage of legislation, without regard to the obvious facts of the many very significant regulatory changes that have occurred, and others promised by the new management of our increasingly bureaucratic state installed by Trump.

White House reporters, keen perhaps to pick up on a Trump gaffe, captured the moment when he upended his box on their smartphones and tweeted evidence of his questionable grasp of fish keeping. However, other footage made clear that Trump was merely following his host’s lead.

Yes, and had CNN shown the wide-angle footage from the beginning, it wouldn’t have been an issue at all. Like any president on a state visit, Trump took his cues from his counterpart.

A second fake-news eruption came out of a meeting with auto manufacturers, a particularly thorny trade issue in the US. News media reported that Trump asked Japanese carmakers to build in the US. “Try building your cars in the United States instead of shipping them over,” Trump said. “Is that possible to ask? That’s not rude. Is that rude? I don’t think so.”

CNN and Slate immediately went to the fact-checkers. “Trump asks Japan to build cars in the U.S. It already does,” CNN headlined its report. Slate’s Jordan Weissman advised, “Perhaps someone should ask Trump where he thinks Toyota builds all those Camrys it sells in California. He might be pleasantly surprised to learn the answer.”

And in the room, we have a couple of the great folks from two of the biggest auto companies in the world that are building new plants and doing expansions of other plants. And you know who you are, and I want to just thank you very much. I want to thank you.

I also want to recognize the business leaders in the room whose confidence in the United States — they’ve been creating jobs — you have such confidence in the United States, and you’ve been creating jobs for our country for a long, long time. Several Japanese automobile industry firms have been really doing a job. And we love it when you build cars — if you’re a Japanese firm, we love it — try building your cars in the United States instead of shipping them over.

But this is completely unfair to Trump. A look at this fuller remarks makes clear he did know that Japanese cars are built in the United States. He even talked about it at-length and praised the manufacturers for the amount of jobs they’ve created here. …

Even if you isolate that one quote, it could be read simply as a plea for Japan to build more cars in the United States, which it seems is exactly what Trump meant.

Trump says plenty of things that are false or that belie a lack of familiarity with the subject at-hand. But spotlighting this quote as evidence of the latter is extremely uncharitable.

However, news organizations are supposed to report the news in its fullest context, not serve on Gaffe Watch and slice it up to justify their own biases. Rather than work responsibly to cover events, American media now seem to be entirely focused on creating memes. We can get plenty of those on social media from other sources, thank you very much.

When there’s no agreed-upon reality — no Walter Cronkite as the most trusted man in America — we’re all in trouble.

This feeling of mistrust and disagreement on facts is backed up by public opinion polls: One reported last month that 46 percent of Americans believe the news media simply makes things up about Trump.

The president has been sowing those seeds of mistrust for many months, and cultivates them daily with extra-strength fertilizer.

Well, if the first day of Trump’s Asia trip is an example of Sullivan’s “golden age” of journalism, then there’s plenty of fertilizer getting spread around without Trump to add even more.

What is with your utter refusal to cite information sources that validate your claims? Either you are lazy or you're dishonest or perhaps both. And it is self-defeating because no one here has any reason at all to think you more than lazy or dishonest.