You are Not much of a football fan are you? Super Bowl is about 3 weeks from now.

Not to mention a sitting president exhausted? That’s a shock right there. Not like most presidents look like they aged 20 years in 4 of being in the White House.

You think?

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"Go yell at an M&M"

C'mon Ken, what's an F-52, huh? Bet you can't even tell us, you don't even KNOW what that is.....

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Swimming Workout of the Day:

Favourite Swim Sets:

2020 National Masters Champion - M50-54 - 50m Butterfly

casual fan, but give the guy a break! Have the flu and I'm just not right in the head.

You and Sen Feinstein.

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Steve

The TDS is strong with you, my friend. Seek help.

"This #MAGA slogan is making more and more sense every day."

Yes it is...

There is 'great' optimism in the business world with stocks setting all time highs

Unemployment is the lowest it has been in years. People claim that Obama started it, but the economy was waiting to burst out of the doldrums during his entire Presidency. It was eeking out minor gains for years in spite of the idiotic and burdensome regulatory environment he created. The changes Trump has made have clearly touched off an expansion of major proportions.

We are FINALLY pushing back against foreign countries who have sucked billions of dollars from the US while actively engaged in activities detrimental to the US. The UN has been one of the biggest robbers of them all.

He is FINALLY doing something about border security. If you can't control who comes in the country, you don't have a country.

He has highlighted the hypocrisy and previously hidden agendas of the leftist media. What shitheads so many of these people are. They are absolutely unashamed of the ridiculous spin they put on anything related to Trump.

All that said, the guy is an asshole and does some unbelievably stupid stuff. He is arrogant as hell and has no filter for his mouth or the gd tweets he sends out. I have wished I could give his phone to one of Hillary's staff so they could smash it to bits just like they did when the FBI started investigating her. They knew how to run a political campaign! Unfortunately, the need to smash phones and use secret servers proved that she was up to nefarious activities from the very beginning. How in the F* could anyone vote for her?

Even though I hate the guy, he is enacting policies exactly in line with my own beliefs. So, I am supporting what he is trying to accomplish. Thank God he is reversing so many of the idiotic leftist and foreign policies used by Obama, the worst President this country ever saw. It's funny as hell to see people now calling Trump a racist. Obama, Holder, Lynch, et al were the most racist people ever to hold their offices. But, you can't call them out for it, because calling anyone racist only works one way.

Greg

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If you are a Canuck that engages in gratuitous bashing of the US, you are probably on my Iggy List. So, save your self a bunch of typing a response unless you also feel the need to gratuitously bash me. If so, have fun.
"Don't underestimate Joe's ability to f___ things up" - Barack Obama, 2020

So you basically agree with everything I said but the #maga comment, but I'm the one with TDS. How does Trump's balls taste this morning?

It's super awesome you and the rest of the pubs finally found your optimism after 8 years of a skyrocketing stock market and lowering unemployment. But Obama is racist. That didn't come out of left field.....

Let me see if I have his straight. We need to give Trump a pass on whatever he says, writes, and does, as long as he continues to create a world where Americans are superior and we aren't taking shit from anyone. Oh and your 401k CONTINUES to grow.

I think we agree on a lot more than you care to admit.

Try reading some of Scott Adam (Dilbert fame) stuff on Trump.

He explains Trump's Pacing and Leading pretty well, as well as his basic negotiating tactics (big opening demand).

Starting with an (impossible) initial demand like deporting all illegals, gives him plenty of wiggle room. He gets the support of the extreme parts of his supporters (pacing), and he looks reasonable by later softening his stance. By getting the early support of the extreme end, he can lead them back to something more reasonable. If he started with the reasonable, he would never get there support, and would have to negotiate down from there. It's pretty basic stuff (that he wrote a book about), that seems to be working pretty well. The only problems are that it looks/sounds very different from 'normal' politicians, and a rabidly hostile media will attack anything/everything he says/does.

I mean, he misspoke on the plane thing, big deal, and I suspect that Obama, Hillary, Pelosi, etc. have all called flyover America a lot worse than sh*tholes.

I love Adams (except some of his bizarre treatment of women), but I believe he's completely wrong on Trump. There are two approaches to Trump 1) manufacture exotic rationale for how his seeming bluster is really genius, or 2) throw in the towel and decide he's really just a blustering moron.

I see no evidence on really smart negotiating tactics. He just seems lazy.

I used to be 1). I'm firmly 2) now.

Yes, yes he can!

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

He got that from his Russian handlers.

http://thehill.com/...se-us-of-aiding-isis

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

That sums it up pretty well.

It's hard to argue against success though.

It's hard to accept that he's a 'blustering moron' when he's been successful; as a businessman, as a writer, as a Presidential candidate, and (arguably) now as President.

It can't just all be dumb luck.

It may be just an irrational appeal to emotion, but people are very emotional animals.

I liken it to Elon Musk, was Tesla going to become a world class, high volume, automotive manufacturer overnight? Of course not, but shoot for the moon and see what happens. It seems to have kept owners, prospective owners, and investors happy, and confident that he'll pull it off eventually.

Lets fact check that.

1. Successful business man? A strong argument can be made that he is a terrible businessman. He was given $1m by his father in 1975. He was subsequently floated $7.5m by his father in 1980. It is believed that there were many other loans & gifts to keep him afloat. (http://theweek.com/...ntly-just-first-many). In those early days he lost as much as he won. An argument could be made that during those early years he was like a gambler whose losses were covered by daddy until he finally hit a good sized jackpot. And he did - during the halcyon days of early 80's New York, when property values skyrocketed, his investments payed off well.

But since then? Not exactly brilliant. Fortune magazine reports that Trump would have done better financially if he took his 1987 winnings and simply put them all into a DOW JONES index fund. (http://fortune.com/...d-trump-index-funds/) . Multiple bankruptcies.

The only aspect of business that Trump is excellent at is marketing. He has a knack for self-branding and self-promotion.

2. A successful writer? Oh dear. I hope you don't mean "The Art of the Deal"? The book was written by Tony Schwartz. Schwartz expressed regrets about his involvement in the book, and both he and the book's publisher, Howard Kaminsky, said that Trump had played no role in the actual writing of the book. The best we can hope for is that Trump actually read the whole thing at some point.

3. Successful Presidential candidate. Agreed - he was personally successful in that he won the contest. I am not sure the RNC shares that view of success. Trump winning may be the worst thing that has happened to the Republicans since Nixon. Maybe even worse. But kudos to Trump for having the instinct (and lack of moral compass) to capture the zeitgeist of America and to run as a populist nationalist.

4. Successful President. This question will only be finalized after he leaves office... though I will suggest his presidency will be considered a great and successful one the same way some people consider "The Room" is great & successful movie. Both will be memorable. For similar reasons.

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Remember - It's important to be comfortable in your own skin... because it turns out society frowns on wearing other people's

Scott Adams is a great cartoonist.

But his opinions and thoughts on just about every subject beyond cartooning are shallow and ill-informed.

That's true. But success in life can be narrow. There's no question that Trump has had success as a real-estate speculator and as a marketer for his own brand. He didn't really write his own book, but I guess you could call him a writer. Those don't necessarily mean he's good at much else. Certainly doesn't mean he's a decent person.

But you're right about the irrational part. I'm fully aware that my own perception of Trump can be subject to my own bias.

But the "tie-breaker" for me (and I thought this before the Wolfe book came out) is that almost everyone who thinks Trump is smart/brilliant does so from a distance. They don't know him personally, not have ever had to work with him. This is your Scott Adamses. The "base."

Almost to a person, people who've had to work directly with him are not kind in their evaluation. Mattis (idiot), McMaster (kindergartner), Tillerson (moron), Bannon. And these aren't political enemies of Trump. They are (or were, for some) his own team, picked by Trump to enact the Trump agenda. And this isn't normal. Every President has insiders who turn on him, the tell-all books. But not this many. And not while still in the job.

These are all accomplished men in their own right.

So I just have a harder time trying to convince myself that when Trump does something that has a patina of a stupidity that it's really just because he's a chess player who can see 3-4 moves further ahead than I can, and I shouldn't question it. Or I should try to unravel the layers carefully woven and artful political craft-work to attempt to observer the supremely intelligent core. Sometimes the patina of stupidity is because it's stupidity.

Damnit you figured it all out. I gotta link you up with HR so your brilliant insights can be shared within the NSC. Stand by--hold your breath.

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Steve

So they can blow up the Haitians trying to cross over our shared border.

Best of all, Trump got Mexico to pay for the Norwegian F-52's.

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"Human existence is based upon two pillars: Compassion and knowledge. Compassion without knowledge is ineffective; Knowledge without compassion is inhuman." Victor Weisskopf.

I think you're making fun of me? In any case, the NSC has more important things to do than listen to the pontifications of trail. Like figure out how to accelerate the F-52 program.

I agree with a lot of what you said here, but I would add some things...

1.) Scott Adams hypothesis of the "post fact" world seems wrong to me.
2.) Scott Adams approach to Trump reeks of too much bias on Adam's part.
3.) I don't know if Adams supports any particular Trump policy, but his star is tied to Trump's now. That brings the bias.
4.) Trump has some incredible strengths to offer anyone or any party intent on campaigning and/or stopping a progressive agenda.
5.) Trump has some incredible weaknesses that makes running the gov't or getting legislation passed very difficult.
6.) Obama set the bar in the last administration for in-your-face lies. Trump has outdone him.
7.) Just because something is stupid or an approach is lazy doesn't mean it can't be effective. To wit: watch the "stupid" people getting it on in Idiocracy versus the "smart" people.
8.) I don't know if you have ever negotiated with powerful stupid people over an issue that's very important to you. I have. It's terrifying and unnerving.

That's true. It can be terribly effective to just approach something oozing confidence, panache, and force of personality. That can get one far in life, absent actual competence. The opposite case would be like President Carter who's a great guy, but wasn't effective as President because he lacked those things.

I could expound more on my lazy theory but I fear Steve Hawley's wit.

Aw come on Amigo. It was the gentlest of chidings. You spoke [wrote] with such *certainty* that i thought it chide worthy ;-)

Being a closeted liberal in many regards I agree with most of your musings so please don't hold back on my account :-)

Most importantly today is can Philly win without Wentz? I've followed Nick Foles since he played for UofA (Bear Down) but I just don't see them beating Atlanta this afternoon. Sad Panda

regards

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Steve