Trump is winning me over

[Boss]

First of all, I know that many of you on the left assume that I am this big Trump supporter because I am a conservative who has been very outspoken against Hillary Clinton and liberals in general. But there are many of the die-hard Trump supporters here who can affirm that I have hardly been a cheerleader for Donald Trump. I've taken my share of flack for this and I make no apologies for sticking with my principles in light of this fascination with celebrity that seems to have overcome so many on the right. I'm one of those "butthurt Cruz-bots" who supported Senator Cruz in the primaries and had serious problems supporting Trump in the general. I still have some serious issues with some of his policies, especially on trade and economics. I don't think we need yet another trillion-dollar stimulus to fix the fucking roads and bridges, and I don't believe in protectionist tariffs on imports made willy-nilly to supposedly protect American jobs. I just think these are bad ideas that will not work. That's my opinion and I'm going to stick with it regardless of popularity.

Now.... Since he has won the election and he will be the President of the United States for the next 4 years, I have to come to terms with that and try to find something to be optimistic about. First of all, I do agree with him on many things he said during the campaign. The problem is, he continues to walk back some of those things now that he has won and that gives me a reason for concern. If he is going to flip-flop on what he said, then I am not going to be a happy camper at all. When you're running for public office, we have to put our faith in what you tell us you're going to do, that's all we have to go on. We have to hold politicians accountable when they don't do what they said they would do.

I prefaced my remarks with all of this to let it be known that I am objective in my evaluation of Trump. I'm not a cheerleader who is simply going to roll over on my principles and just accept it because it's coming from Trump. But here is something I have noticed... just my personal observation... no links to editorials from others... no repeating what I've heard from someone else... just my honest evaluation thus far... Trump is doing a very good job of bringing many different sides together.

This might seem a bit shallow and trivial but I think it's an important aspect to his Administration. He is demonstrating a very bipartisan and non-ideological approach, and I think that is something we need as a nation. Of course, there are die-hard conservatives like Mark Levin who Trump is driving absolutely nuts with cabinet picks like Rex Tillerson. Indeed, it's not who I would have picked... I would have gone with John Bolton... but Tillerson is 10000x better than ANYTHING Hillary would have picked. He's a smart man with good business sense and a grasp of what is needed to negotiate with foreign leadership. So I don't have as much of a problem with this than some, it's Trump's cabinet and he gets to make that choice.

Looking at his cabinet, I am majorly impressed with how many governors there are, how many extremely successful people there are, and how much diversity is represented. It's not some cabal of ideological purists who march to one tune. It is a litany of various viewpoints who are committed to Trump's vision of making America great again. And here is the kicker... it seems as if everyone who meets with Trump comes away with positive things to say about it. He is uniting very contradictory ideologies behind a central message in a way that no recent politician has ever done... not even Ronald Reagan.

This alludes to one of the "positives" which I articulated early on regarding a Trump presidency. Because he lacks the fundamental tie to party and associated lobbyists, because he isn't an ideologue with an agenda, because he can't be bought off by special interests, he is able to govern in a true "centrist" manner and actually break this "left/right" stalemate we've found ourselves in the midst of. We're actually seeing the results of that before our very eyes. He's meeting with people like Bolton and Romney, but also people like Al Gore and Kanye West. He is willing to listen to their concerns and genuinely remain open minded. I think this is an outstanding quality in a leader. We've truly been missing this for a long time in America.

Is everybody going to be happy and sing Kum ba yah together? NO! Of course not! The die-hard ideologues and extremists will remain as defiant as ever and they may actually be MORE vitriolic because he is usurping their own countenance. But is this what we need as a nation to heal the polarization and divisiveness? Well, if it's not, I don't know what can.

 

[Ringel05]

I'm happy for ya.......

Now can we get back to playin' tiddlywinks?

 

[Mac1958]

Is everybody going to be happy and sing Kum ba yah together? NO! Of course not! The die-hard ideologues and extremists will remain as defiant as ever and they may actually be MORE vitriolic because he is usurping their own countenance. But is this what we need as a nation to heal the polarization and divisiveness? Well, if it's not, I don't know what can.

Having voted against him I remain hopeful. His cabinet picks - full-on, straight-ahead conservative - have me pretty concerned, although strangely enough I'm most comfortable with the idea of Tillerson.

What does give me some hope is that, yeah, he is clearly taking a different approach to the office, that of an executive who has little interest in standard politics. Lovely. And I'm getting the feeling he won't be spending a lot of time sitting on his hands.

I'll still aware that he could say or "tweet" (oy) something embarrassing at any given moment, though.
.

 

[ABikerSailor]

You know, Trump spent a bunch of time railing against Clinton for her handling of the emails as well as said she was in bed with Wall St.

Now? He's got THREE (count 'em THREE) executives from Goldman Sachs on his cabinet, one of whom is the CEO, as well as many others in his cabinet have strong ties to big oil. And, not only that, but there is one who is actually convicted of mishandling classified information.

And then..............there's that little problem with his SoS pick having close ties to Putin, even getting the highest award that Russia can give to a non Russian citizen.

Still think he's good for the country?

 

[Boss]

Having voted against him I remain hopeful. His cabinet picks - full-on, straight-ahead conservative - have me pretty concerned, although strangely enough I'm most comfortable with the idea of Tillerson.

What does give me some hope is that, yeah, he is clearly taking a different approach to the office, that of an executive who has little interest in standard politics. Lovely. And I'm getting the feeling he won't be spending a lot of time sitting on his hands.

I'll still aware that he could say or "tweet" (oy) something embarrassing at any given moment, though.

I agree his tweet habits are a bit immature and disconcerting. He will need to dial that back as president. He doesn't need to be setting international fires on Twitter for his department heads to have to run around putting out the next day. That's a very self-defeating strategy in my opinion. He is demonstrating daily that he is someone who can be respectful of the views of others and listen with objectivity... but one of his infamous tweets comes across as knee-jerk reactionary vomit that simply negates the hard work he is putting in to appear objective.

I know that Trump believes Twitter is a powerful tool for communication with the people and I actually think he is right about that... it's the modern equivalent of the "fireside chat" used so effectively by FDR. But with that comes a very important responsibility... FDR spent countless hours planning those chats, what he would say, how he would phrase things... often times, it seems that Trump just shoots from the hip without thinking about consequences and that can be dangerous. That's a personal flaw I think he needs to seriously work on. Not to completely abandon tweets, but just THINK before you send!

 

[LoneLaugher]

First of all, I know that many of you on the left assume that I am this big Trump supporter because I am a conservative who has been very outspoken against Hillary Clinton and liberals in general. But there are many of the die-hard Trump supporters here who can affirm that I have hardly been a cheerleader for Donald Trump. I've taken my share of flack for this and I make no apologies for sticking with my principles in light of this fascination with celebrity that seems to have overcome so many on the right. I'm one of those "butthurt Cruz-bots" who supported Senator Cruz in the primaries and had serious problems supporting Trump in the general. I still have some serious issues with some of his policies, especially on trade and economics. I don't think we need yet another trillion-dollar stimulus to fix the fucking roads and bridges, and I don't believe in protectionist tariffs on imports made willy-nilly to supposedly protect American jobs. I just think these are bad ideas that will not work. That's my opinion and I'm going to stick with it regardless of popularity.

Now.... Since he has won the election and he will be the President of the United States for the next 4 years, I have to come to terms with that and try to find something to be optimistic about. First of all, I do agree with him on many things he said during the campaign. The problem is, he continues to walk back some of those things now that he has won and that gives me a reason for concern. If he is going to flip-flop on what he said, then I am not going to be a happy camper at all. When you're running for public office, we have to put our faith in what you tell us you're going to do, that's all we have to go on. We have to hold politicians accountable when they don't do what they said they would do.

I prefaced my remarks with all of this to let it be known that I am objective in my evaluation of Trump. I'm not a cheerleader who is simply going to roll over on my principles and just accept it because it's coming from Trump. But here is something I have noticed... just my personal observation... no links to editorials from others... no repeating what I've heard from someone else... just my honest evaluation thus far... Trump is doing a very good job of bringing many different sides together.

This might seem a bit shallow and trivial but I think it's an important aspect to his Administration. He is demonstrating a very bipartisan and non-ideological approach, and I think that is something we need as a nation. Of course, there are die-hard conservatives like Mark Levin who Trump is driving absolutely nuts with cabinet picks like Rex Tillerson. Indeed, it's not who I would have picked... I would have gone with John Bolton... but Tillerson is 10000x better than ANYTHING Hillary would have picked. He's a smart man with good business sense and a grasp of what is needed to negotiate with foreign leadership. So I don't have as much of a problem with this than some, it's Trump's cabinet and he gets to make that choice.

Looking at his cabinet, I am majorly impressed with how many governors there are, how many extremely successful people there are, and how much diversity is represented. It's not some cabal of ideological purists who march to one tune. It is a litany of various viewpoints who are committed to Trump's vision of making America great again. And here is the kicker... it seems as if everyone who meets with Trump comes away with positive things to say about it. He is uniting very contradictory ideologies behind a central message in a way that no recent politician has ever done... not even Ronald Reagan.

This alludes to one of the "positives" which I articulated early on regarding a Trump presidency. Because he lacks the fundamental tie to party and associated lobbyists, because he isn't an ideologue with an agenda, because he can't be bought off by special interests, he is able to govern in a true "centrist" manner and actually break this "left/right" stalemate we've found ourselves in the midst of. We're actually seeing the results of that before our very eyes. He's meeting with people like Bolton and Romney, but also people like Al Gore and Kanye West. He is willing to listen to their concerns and genuinely remain open minded. I think this is an outstanding quality in a leader. We've truly been missing this for a long time in America.

Is everybody going to be happy and sing Kum ba yah together? NO! Of course not! The die-hard ideologues and extremists will remain as defiant as ever and they may actually be MORE vitriolic because he is usurping their own countenance. But is this what we need as a nation to heal the polarization and divisiveness? Well, if it's not, I don't know what can.

Who didn't know that you'd be a Trump fan?

 

[Boss]

You know, Trump spent a bunch of time railing against Clinton for her handling of the emails as well as said she was in bed with Wall St.

Now? He's got THREE (count 'em THREE) executives from Goldman Sachs on his cabinet, one of whom is the CEO, as well as many others in his cabinet have strong ties to big oil. And, not only that, but there is one who is actually convicted of mishandling classified information.

And then..............there's that little problem with his SoS pick having close ties to Putin, even getting the highest award that Russia can give to a non Russian citizen.

Still think he's good for the country?

Better than Hillary? YES!

 

[NYcarbineer]

Translation: Is there room on the bandwagon?

 

[LoneLaugher]

Having voted against him I remain hopeful. His cabinet picks - full-on, straight-ahead conservative - have me pretty concerned, although strangely enough I'm most comfortable with the idea of Tillerson.

What does give me some hope is that, yeah, he is clearly taking a different approach to the office, that of an executive who has little interest in standard politics. Lovely. And I'm getting the feeling he won't be spending a lot of time sitting on his hands.

I'll still aware that he could say or "tweet" (oy) something embarrassing at any given moment, though.

I agree his tweet habits are a bit immature and disconcerting. He will need to dial that back as president. He doesn't need to be setting international fires on Twitter for his department heads to have to run around putting out the next day. That's a very self-defeating strategy in my opinion. He is demonstrating daily that he is someone who can be respectful of the views of others and listen with objectivity... but one of his infamous tweets comes across as knee-jerk reactionary vomit that simply negates the hard work he is putting in to appear objective.

I know that Trump believes Twitter is a powerful tool for communication with the people and I actually think he is right about that... it's the modern equivalent of the "fireside chat" used so effectively by FDR. But with that comes a very important responsibility... FDR spent countless hours planning those chats, what he would say, how he would phrase things... often times, it seems that Trump just shoots from the hip without thinking about consequences and that can be dangerous. That's a personal flaw I think he needs to seriously work on. Not to completely abandon tweets, but just THINK before you send!

A bit immature. He's 70. He's PEOTUS. You are telling the PEOTUS that he needs to think before acting.

Awesome.

 

[JakeStarkey]

It's good to get right with your Inner Boss.

The rest of us hope you are happy.

 

[Boss]

He's got THREE (count 'em THREE) executives from Goldman Sachs on his cabinet....

Oh, I know... and as a former Cruz supporter, it really grates at me that he literally destroyed Ted Cruz for his wife just working for Goldman Sachs. She wasn't even a major player and now he has the fucking CEO running the Treasury Dept. So yeah, I agree... total POS move.

Still... It wasn't an issue for me that Ted's wife worked for GS... I have no animosity toward GS. I don't like crony capitalism and if that kind of crap is going to happen, I will be the first to call it out.

Also... his cabinet picks will still have to be confirmed.

 

[Mac1958]

Having voted against him I remain hopeful. His cabinet picks - full-on, straight-ahead conservative - have me pretty concerned, although strangely enough I'm most comfortable with the idea of Tillerson.

What does give me some hope is that, yeah, he is clearly taking a different approach to the office, that of an executive who has little interest in standard politics. Lovely. And I'm getting the feeling he won't be spending a lot of time sitting on his hands.

I'll still aware that he could say or "tweet" (oy) something embarrassing at any given moment, though.

I agree his tweet habits are a bit immature and disconcerting. He will need to dial that back as president. He doesn't need to be setting international fires on Twitter for his department heads to have to run around putting out the next day. That's a very self-defeating strategy in my opinion. He is demonstrating daily that he is someone who can be respectful of the views of others and listen with objectivity... but one of his infamous tweets comes across as knee-jerk reactionary vomit that simply negates the hard work he is putting in to appear objective.

I know that Trump believes Twitter is a powerful tool for communication with the people and I actually think he is right about that... it's the modern equivalent of the "fireside chat" used so effectively by FDR. But with that comes a very important responsibility... FDR spent countless hours planning those chats, what he would say, how he would phrase things... often times, it seems that Trump just shoots from the hip without thinking about consequences and that can be dangerous. That's a personal flaw I think he needs to seriously work on. Not to completely abandon tweets, but just THINK before you send!

I'd be curious to know if the people around him (particularly Conway) have tried to talk him out of that stuff.
.

 

[Boss]

Translation: Is there room on the bandwagon?

LOL... there seems to be less and less room on that bandwagon because Trump keeps winning over his adversaries. I wouldn't say I am on his bandwagon just yet. I remain concerned about some of his stated policy positions and I will continue to call him out on those in the coming months. I'm merely speaking as someone looking at this objectively from a political standpoint... like him or not, he is forming a powerful coalition of support among a wide variety of very disparate viewpoints. If he keeps that up, it is going to spell serious trouble for the Democrats.

 

[Boss]

I'd be curious to know if the people around him (particularly Conway) have tried to talk him out of that stuff.

Oh, I think someone definitely said something to him during the campaign. If you noticed, his Twitter feed virtually went silent in the closing weeks. He avoided tweeting anything at all, unless it was a very obviously calculated statement. Now that he has been elected, it seems he is back to his old form. Like I said, this is one of his biggest flaws personally and he needs to work on that. Twitter can be a very useful and powerful tool for him but he HAS to use more discretion in what he tweets out. If not, it will eventually create a real ass-biting problem for him.

 

[ABikerSailor]

Tell ya what Boss, take this subject back up with me in 6 months, and we'll see if Trump has managed to win either of us over.

 

[BluesLegend]

Just remember Trump has vowed to be the president of ALL the American people. That means no one faction is going to be 100% happy with every decision he makes. And I think we would agree its impossible to make everyone in this country happy. So pull your heads out of your ass and give the guy a chance and don't get your feathers ruffled if every decision doesn't go your way.

 

[Granny]

You're not alone ... I have a friend who was Cruz, Cruz, Cruz all the way. She ultimately turned to Trump when the Cruz option became apparent. I have a very, very dear decades long friend who was behind Obama all the way and Clinton, MoveOn, etc. all the way ... and I don't know what to do. I value my decades long friendship ... but I can't understand how he could back such a regime. As for me, I had only one question to answer: "Do I want to live in a totalitarian (Alinsky communist) government/country ... or take my chances with an unknown Trump?"

 

[WaitingFor2020]

Is everybody going to be happy and sing Kum ba yah together? NO! Of course not! The die-hard ideologues and extremists will remain as defiant as ever and they may actually be MORE vitriolic because he is usurping their own countenance. But is this what we need as a nation to heal the polarization and divisiveness? Well, if it's not, I don't know what can.

Having voted against him I remain hopeful. His cabinet picks - full-on, straight-ahead conservative - have me pretty concerned, although strangely enough I'm most comfortable with the idea of Tillerson.

What does give me some hope is that, yeah, he is clearly taking a different approach to the office, that of an executive who has little interest in standard politics. Lovely. And I'm getting the feeling he won't be spending a lot of time sitting on his hands.

I'll still aware that he could say or "tweet" (oy) something embarrassing at any given moment, though.
.

Tillerson has received Putin's highest national award and you are comfortable with that? What the fuck is wrong with you?

 

[Boss]

Tell ya what Boss, take this subject back up with me in 6 months, and we'll see if Trump has managed to win either of us over.

I agree... time will tell. I am not saying that I am 100% on board the Trump Train. But I am objective enough to see what he is doing and it's not a bad thing at all. It's actually a very smart thing and could be a really great thing.

He is never going to please everyone, especially those on the extreme ends of the spectrum. Ironically, I think the people who will be the most disappointed in him will be the Alt-Reich morons who believe he's going to kick all the non-white people out of the country. I think a LOT of the moderate Democrats are going to be okay with him. He has the potential to make great strides with the black community by showing them what a vibrant free market can do for them. If that happens, and I believe it's possible, the Democrats are going to struggle politically going forward. They cannot afford to lose that demographic.

 

[WaitingFor2020]

Just remember Trump has vowed to be the president of ALL the American people. That means no one faction is going to be 100% happy with every decision he makes. And I think we would agree its impossible to make everyone in this country happy. So pull your heads out of your ass and give the guy a chance and don't get your feathers ruffled if every decision doesn't go your way.

His cabinet so far represents 0.05% of the American population you fucking idiot