There, get it out. Feel better now?

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I'll be what I am
A solitary man

Glorious. Simply glorious.

This was a poll of political scientists, not the general public. W is pretty far down the list which I wouldn't expect form a poll of the general public. But you couldn't do this with a public poll as they would have not clue as to what to do with the presidents of the 19th century.

Or those from the first half of the 20th either.

but he would have to change dramatically. he'd need to stop denigrating the institutions and offices that i believe in: an independent judiciary; our intelligence services; the right of every citizen to vote and to run for office so long as he or she meets the constitutional criteria. he'd need to be - frankly - smarter. he'd need to read; to not isolate us among our friends, and he'd need to begin to defend us against our enemies.


I"ve said this before and I'll say it again, it's not the crazy, wrong, inappropriate deceitful, behavior in individual events with Trump, it's the sheer volume of them AND that this has been a set behavior pattern for a man his whole adult life! Is he going to change, to pivot and be presidential and help pass some legislation that makes sense - extraordinarily doubtful!

Remember, Dan - Trump is the guy that when he insisted on putting his name in the title of a Professional bike race with someone else's money 30 years ago for the, Tour de Trump, Trump declared that, the race would be "bigger than the Tour de France" one day!

So you see it's always been about Trump selfishly using other people to boost and build himself up. It's always been about his vanity and image. It's always been about his narcissism and the constant bragging and boasting!

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Steve Fleck @stevefleck | Blog

And look at him now... The most powerful man in the world.

And look at him now... The most powerful man in the world.


Indeed, that is the title that has been historically bestowed on the occupant of the Oval Office of the White House.


However, if you read Editorials from various media outlets around the world and between the lines, of what most other world leaders are polity saying publicly - that's NOT how Trump is being viewed.


It says something when, Trump's own Cabinet members are abroad, and they tell people to, just ignore what the president is tweeting about or saying!!

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Steve Fleck @stevefleck | Blog

Anyone who thinks the US President is more powerful than Vladimir Putin is just plain nuts. Yes, the US President still wields the most powerful military hammer but Putin influences world affairs far more than Trump and probably more than Obama did.

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Favorite Gear: Dimond | Cadex | Desoto Sport | Hoka One One

I don't take issue with Trump being low on the totem poll but Obama ahead of Reagan? Are these the same guys who gave him the peace prize before he did anything?

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They constantly try to escape from the darkness outside and within
Dreaming of systems so perfect that no one will need to be good T.S. Eliot

I think it is sort of how people always think the most recent athletes are the best ever.

I think in time Obama will be seen as slightly above average. We came out of a serious economic downturn and didn't have any new hot wars going on. But the deebt took a big hit coming out and I'm not sure much if any of his legacy will survive Trump (even if you give all the blame for that to Trump it still diminishes anything Obama did).

But then I also think Reagan is seen far too glowingly. He started the debt explosion. War on drugs. Central America shenanigans. Put Marines in Lebanon to be blown up (Benghazi has noting on Beirut). Iran/Contra.

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

no. those were a different set of guys.

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Dan Empfield
aka Slowman

Ever hear of NAFTA and how it "helped" the US Textile industry.

It's kind of distorted to judge the entire NAFTA on one industry because it ignores all the other benefits.

The trade agreement quadrupled trade between Canada and Mexico. The industries that benefited the most from the increased trade are agriculture, automotive and services like healthcare and financials. Foreign direct investment tripled. The increased trade also lowered prices. For example, the U.S imports of oil cost far less than they used to from the Middle East because of lower tariffs.

Just because Trump isolates manufacturing (those jobs would have left anyway and have nothing to do with trade) and then makes a blanket statement about how bad the deal is for the U.S doesn't mean it's true.

And look at him now... The most powerful man in the world.

Not but the group is biased liberal Democrat.

Pretty sure the country was already divided, long before Trump took office.

And Obama 8th? Who cares where Trump ends up, it will be low, very low. But I would be interested in hearing from the experts how Barack Obama isn't in the bottom 10. Guy failed at everything he did. I'd place Bill and Reagan, even HW Bush way above Obama. At least Bill knew what he was doing, and no matter his personal flaws he was a very smart man. HW Bush is our last truly non-partisan President. Reagan led us out of the morass that was the Jimmy Carter years and made the country feel better about itself after the failures of Vietnam and Korea. Obama? Other then focusing 100% on identity politics and doing something no one thought possible (screwing up healthcare more then it was), name something he did which benefited the entire country?