You say you think he is smart and tough - what makes you think so. As far as I have read, he inherited a robust business from his crook father and he hasn't run it into the ground.

His dad bought his way into harvard. He is a 35 year old kid with little life experience. Not saying he isn't a decent fellow, but I don't see him as being particularly noteworthy, other than being rich.

What is your point here? The choice of senior advisor is not between Kushner and Treimink, or Treimink's wife, so your questions about their qualifications are not relevant, and you are just being a dick about his wife.

I posted his wiki lin page regarding his qualifications

Do you think he is unqualified to provide advice to a president

Do you think he is an idiot.

Not only that, but I'll bet that you, and ironmayb for that matter, can remember who were the smart kids, and who were the idiots, that you went to HS with. I certainly can.

I get that I am being a dick about his wife. I didn't bring his wife into the conversation he did.

I started in this thread when it was about whether Kushner should be an advisor because of his relationship to Trump. I don't think he should be.

Tremink then decided to introduce the concept that he shouldn't be an advisor because he isnt qualifiedhe is an idiot. I think that goes way too far. So I posted Kushner's "credentials" and asked if Tremink would like to post up his "credentials" as a comparison. He then introduced his wife into the process as his defense for Kushner being an idiot.

I get it, Kushner is an idiot and a rich kid who's father bought him into school blah blah blah. Just like Trump's old man was rich and bought him into everything. And GW Bush was an idiot despite Ivy League degree and his daddy got him out of everything blah blah blah.

Maybe Kushner is unqualified to give any advice to a sitting President. But once you get past your assumption that his dad (crooked Dad) bought him into college (and I assume bought him his degree and his MBA and his JD) and "gave him" a business that he hasn't screwed up (yet) then please compare this 35 year old "kid" (your words) and his ability to be an advisor to a President to the degrees and qualifications of our current sitting President either at 35 or when he took the job.

I guess I'm just old and cranky and tired of good qualified people in this country being written off as idiot's (on either side of the aisle).

I guess I'm just old and cranky and tired of good qualified people in this country being written off as idiot's

I know, right? When is that poor kid going to finally catch the break he so clearly deserves?

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"People think it must be fun to be a super genius, but they don't realize how hard it is to put up with all the idiots in the world."

:-)

Can you imagine having trump for a FIL? Almost cancels out the hotness that is Ivanka. Almost

Do you think he is unqualified to provide advice to a president


Do you think he is an idiot.


Those are completely irrelevant questions. The problem is the relationship between Kushner and Trump, not his qualifications. If you start appointing people related to you, who decides if the person being appointed is qualified or not? He could be the world's best advisor but he can do that without actually being formally appointed to the position. The laws against nepotism are there for a very good reason.


The "unpaid" part is also not really comforting because he will get paid one way or another. I'd much rather someone take a salary, at least then we know that some of his compensation is legitimate and open to the public.

I agree completely. My questions were in response (originally) to someone who felt that kushner shouldn't be an advisor because he is an idiot (because his wife says so).

I think kushner is qualified to advise a president. I don't think he should advise this president for the same reasons as you

I think kushner is qualified to advise a president.

It's kind of a distraction, but why? What do you base that opinion on, other than the fact Trump appointed him? He's a 35 year old guy with no real accomplishments of his own in the field he actually works in- which isn't anything to do with public policy.

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"People think it must be fun to be a super genius, but they don't realize how hard it is to put up with all the idiots in the world."

Yep. Here's what else I bet you remember. The smart kids weren't always the ones with the best grades. Sometimes they skated through and then matured at a later date. And sometimes those that called people spoiled brats and idiots were the ones who didn't get invited to the "in crowd" stuff and were jealous.

Seems like most of us agree the nepotism shouldn't get a pass.

To me, this sort of sums up the overall concern with Trump, not that he will make a few missteps, but that he, and his team, seem to have absolutely no regard for even the optics of their decisions.

Communications person who plagiarized her book and her PhD thesis - no problem.

Conflict of interest between business holdings and presidential post - nothing to worry about.

Son in law as advisor - ignore the rules.

Supporting Russian hackers - what's the big deal?

Ormarosa as a member of his team, and who rants on and on about how all of Trump's enemies will have to bow down to him - cool.

For as much as we "hate" our political foes, most of us believe in the rule of law and the civility and nods to the underlying checks and balances that following certain rules and practices brings with it. And we want those upheld, even if they don't always go our way.

Trump, to me, just seems to blow through all of that. If he doesn't like something, no matter if it is law, or good taste, or better optics, he just ignores it - and right now there seem to be no repercussions.

That seems much more like the actions of a tinpot dictator, than of someone who is to lead the largest democracy in the world, and is kind of scary.

I agree with most of what you said and share many of the same concerns. These are real issues which our time should be spent on IMO

Part of what makes this frustrating is this hasn't been defined. Could be senior advisor in charge of advising how to take a dump

It is also one of the many reasons why I think it shouldn't happen. This has the likelihood of taking on a life of its own and really getting in the way of what appt and voted people like prebius and pence should be doing

To try to answer your question more directly I think he has academic credentials (including a Jd) and business experience that qualify him to serve in some sort of advisory role. I imagine if I saw your credentials I would conclude the same thing. That you are qualified and not an idiot. Whether you should and it what capacity I would need to know more. Which is why I think kushner shouldn't for trump. Among other reasons.

Am I an idiot? No. Am I qualified to be a senior adviser to the president of the United States? Probably not.

In any event, it's hard to see what special expertise Kushner offers Trump. He's basically Trump anyway, just a couple generations younger. Rich kid, sent to Ivy League by rich dad, got rich with family wealth, no public service experience or policy expertise, not even any especially impressive business chops.

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"People think it must be fun to be a super genius, but they don't realize how hard it is to put up with all the idiots in the world."

What in the world makes you believe his son-in-law is going to give him the unvarnished truth? He's married to the Donald's infatuation. He's not doing anything to piss him off.

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TEAM HD
Each day is what you make of it so make it the best day possible.

What if its senior advisor on how to take a good healthy dump? Cmon I bet you and I are both qualified.

I'm not saying the guy walks on water. I just think to say he is unqualified is different than the discussion of should he given his relationship to trump

And I think to say he is "unqualified" is a stretch at best (without more definition of the role) and to say he is an idiot doesn't really do justice to the conversation. There's nothing about his background or what you said above that leads to idiot. You don't get a degree from Harvard and a jd and MBA from NYu that way. You don't end up on fortunes 40under40 that way.

I get what your saying but couldn't you say the same about trump and the presidency. I know I can/could/did/am.

I'm going best case scenario. It is morning in America again. But I honestly trust him to do that much more than Rinse.

Trump has no political experience. He keeps picking more people with no experience. I would wager that experienced political people all feel like they can use that inexperience to their advantage to advance their own political advantage. If I were him I would want a few people who have been around me for a while that I think I can trust. I haven't seen much evidence that Trump has any actual friends. Next up on the list of people who aren't trying to fuck you over at every opportunity is family. Melania, well, let's just say I don't think she would be much help. The sons are running the business. The list is running out.

Trump has no political allies. Just people who think they can use him to get ahead. Have I mentioned that we are all really fucked?

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I'm beginning to think that we are much more fucked than I thought.

Who said anything about grades? Smart, idiot or somewhere in between, hang around someone enough and you can for the most part figure it out.

Idiot or not his resume doesn't qualify him to be a sr. presidential advisor unless it's his FIL's administration.

I don't think hiring of family members is necessarily a bad thing. Sometimes hiring the family member is good for an organization and the benefits outweigh the negatives. In other words, hiring a family member is not a per se evil.

But in large organizations, I think more times than not, hiring a family member has more negative consequences than positive ones. So as a practical matter, I think nepotism policies are good for corporations.

I think nepotism policies are even more important in the government. But I think the rule should not be absolute but subject to a rule of reason test in certain circumstances. (Note for instance that if a nepotism conflict arises in congressional offices as a result of marriage, both can stay employed in certain cases.)

I think a President should get some discretion to employ advisors whom he trusts. This is not a cabinet position. This is unlikely to cause dissent within the executive. The public is not likely to have problems with IMO. Trump is not doing this to increase family coffers. He is not taking a salary himself. If he believes that he is well served by Jared's counsel, I'm all for making it convenient to get the counsel by having Jared in the White House. I think it would be silly to insist that Trump get in the car, and drive to Jared's house to have face to face meetings.

Taking you guys at your word, it is against the law. So was gay marriage a couple years ago. Laws can be changed.

I have no problem with Hillary doing her health care thing years ago (from a nepotism standpoint).

If Trump gave Melania, Ivanka, Don Jr. all paying jobs, I'd have a problem.

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It doesn't really matter what Phil is saying, the music of his voice is the appropriate soundtrack for a bicycle race. HTupolev

cheezy pete's, mate, did you even read your own link?

"In 2007, Kushner graduated from New York University where he earned a J.D. and M.B.A.;[20] his father had previously made a $3 million donation to NYU in 2001."

anyway, the store-bought degrees are annoying to me, since i had to earn mine the old-fashioned way, but the bigger concern to me is nepotism.

he certainly looks like an ambitious and energetic guy, but he also looks like he was born on 3rd base. some of his ventures have been quite successful and others duds, and the family business has also been charged in criminal court.

it's also a concern since it speaks to the state of trump's personal and professional network. if this is trump's idea of bringing in all sorts of unimaginably "smart" people that he has in his rolodex, it's not too impressive.

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https://lshtm.academia.edu/MikeCallaghan

http://howtobeswiss.blogspot.ch/

I think you meant "because his spoiled brat wife actually WENT TO HIGH SCHOOL with him".

For sure, a wiki page is more reliable. what does your wiki page say about you?

you are defending your hard on for kushner throughout this page. i can't tell if you really like him or just want to go down swinging.

Good points.

My guess kushner there to get education to help trump perpetuate fame thru heirs, ivanka. Doesn't need salary and this experience will be invaluable. Perhaps calming and sounding board for impetuous trump. For goodness sake maybe he can get the prez to slow down on his early morning dumarse tweets.

Cheesy Pete's I did. Including the part where it says he earned his degrees. 6 years after his father made a donation that may or may not have affected his admission. You believe they are store bought. Meaning all his professors dropped their ethics and passed him even though he didn't deserve it, right?

I agree with you that nepotism is the real issue here

I for one am happy the kennedys weren't held accountable for the actions of their father and his business practices to this degree.

a few stray thoughts:

-i don't think NYU receives 3 million dollar cheques so regularly that they just plum forgot about it when mr.kushner jnr applied. did it sway his profs? i doubt it. did it get his application to the front of the queue, ahead of some pleb who could've scored equal grades? probably.


-w.r.t JFK: that only makes the kennedys bad, it doesn't make kushner good.

-again, i think nepotism is a big problem, but the larger one might be trump's judegement. kushner is a white straight male new yorker, born in privilege, who has made his name primarily by building on his father's real estate business and latterly dabbled in business. in all those things he is a carbon copy of trump. what perspective does he bring to the team? harvard and NYU are impressive, for sure, but the world is full of people with impressive CVs. why kushner specifically?

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https://lshtm.academia.edu/MikeCallaghan

http://howtobeswiss.blogspot.ch/