What's Trump up to now?

[TorontoReign]

Problem is we use justifications that often don't exist to start wars that decades later we find out were bullshit.

Oh and this.

https://twitter.com/dynarski/status/804821111955460096

 

[Ragemage]

Meanwhile because this entire thread is NOT supposed to be a thread involving the following:

It is NOT a thread for memes.
It is NOT a thread for shitposting.
It is NOT a thread for SJW/Feminism/liberal bashing. (The only time it is it relevant to talk about either of these groups is if it directly has to do with a response 'from' Trump and company.)
It is NOT a thread to talk about the riots.
It is NOT a thread to point fingers and laugh at hysterics.
It is NOT a thread to talk about the wikileaks or even Hillary. (Again, it is okay if it has to do about Trump and company responding to it directly)
It is NOT a thread for Trump hype either.

Let's talk about some of the things Trump is actually doing right now instead of breaking everything this thread was meant to establish yes? How about the fact that he just saved 1000 jobs from moving to Mexico by securing a deal with Carrier (an American air conditioning company) so they would stay here? Something that Obama said was impossible if I might add.. (going so far as to ask what magic wand Trump had to make Carrier stay)



http://www.newsandtribune.com/india...cle_7efdd7a2-a7f6-5cdf-a7e2-9092b01abf4d.html

 

[TorontoReign]

Well that isn't just another meme it is actually relevant to what Trump is doing right now. It is a post about how a former Bush adviser uses Donald Trump not knowing what the fuck he is doing (politically) as an excuse for being a loud mouth. It is a shame his Tweets are relevant and potentially could be (now or in the future) sparking an international incident. Maybe he should pay attention to those briefings he doesn't care about or have time for. But I guess we could talk about how he MAY have saved 1000 jobs possibly in the future before they are then lost again in a few years. I wonder how people will feel if he executes these executive powers unchecked? How long do you guys think those jobs will last now anyway? A lot is being wagered on The Art of the Deal and tough talk.

Why has he just so happened to visit/speak with the Philippines, Taiwan, Pakistan, Russia, and various other representatives from countries where he is going to be expanding his brand? Sounds like more of that pay for play shit is in the works, of which we heard so much about during the election.

https://www.foreignaffairs.com/articles/ukraine/2016-11-29/ukraine-prepares-trump

http://www.slate.com/blogs/the_slat...wanese_president_seems_to_be_just_making.html

Now he stacks his deck with a bunch of generals and nationalists like it is WW2. I hate Clinton but her comment on war being triggered by a Tweetstorm is somewhat prescient. Trump says we will stop looking to topple regimes. I hope he means it and can actually carry it out. Problem is I can't trust what he says he can do, because I don't think he fully understands what he can and can't do. Now his aides are tearing each other to shreds with the same DC corruption seeping back into power. Thankfully people on both sides of the aisle agree real change needs to come to the US again. I like a lot of what Trump is saying and doing, but he is out of his depth and his handlers need to get on his ass about some of this.

Spoiler

Some more relevant posts by Chris Matthews

(1) Foreign policy consistency is a means, not an end. It's not sacred. Thus, it's Trump's right to shift policy, alliances, strategy.

(2) What has happened in the last 48 hours is not a shift. These are major pivots in foreign policy w/out any plan. That's how wars start.

(3) And if they aren't pivots - just radical temporary deviations - allies will walk if they have no clue what we stand for. Just as bad.

(4) It's probably time we get a Secretary of State nominee on board. Preferably with experience. Like, really really soon.

I do like Mattis a lot because Trump lacks a lot of foreign policy experience at the moment.

 

[IndignantHedgehog]

MLet's talk about some of the things Trump is actually doing right now instead of breaking everything this thread was meant to establish yes? How about the fact that he just saved 1000 jobs from moving to Mexico by securing a deal with Carrier (an American air conditioning company) so they would stay here? Something that Obama said was impossible if I might add.. (going so far as to ask what magic wand Trump had to make Carrier stay)

http://www.newsandtribune.com/india...cle_7efdd7a2-a7f6-5cdf-a7e2-9092b01abf4d.html

He gave them $7M in tax-breaks, and they company is still moving 1000 out of the 2000 planned jobs. It's not a great deal. I certainly commend him to sticking to some of his promises (because he's been back-tracking on them like crazy), but this is not a good plan.

We've lost 5M manufacturing jobs since 2000. And the vast majority haven't gone to other places either. Manufacturing jobs have been steadily decreasing, but our actual manufacturing output has not. People are simply being replaced by machines.

I really hate how they have been focusing so much on manufacturing jobs. Those jobs are not coming back. If we want accelerated job growth, than we have to invest in growing fields, such as high-tech manufacturing, alternative energy, and tech-jobs in general.



In other news, out unemployment just reached 4.6%, lowest it's been since 2007. We are back down to pre-rescission rates.


Edit:
@TorontRayne

Mattis is a great choice. He's experienced, not war-hawk (at least more than your average retired general), and doesn't enforce stuff like torture. It will take an act of congress to allow him because of our current rules, however.

 

[Dr Fallout]

I swear that unless the government institutes a universal pension we're going to see luddite riots before the century is out.

 

[MutantScalper]

Well what's Mattis's plan for Iraq/Syria or even just Afghanistan? Afghanistan is still very much an active war after 15 years of continuous war. Finns were and still are there too, our troops tried to build facilities and infrastructure for the locals and win over the "hearts & minds". The approach Mattis and US has is the old "level down" - method. Meaning, meet any resistance and level down the nearest village. Oh we don't torture but we will Jdam your mudhut with your kids in it.

 

[Ragemage]

But I guess we could talk about how he MAY have saved 1000 jobs possibly in the future before they are then lost again in a few years. I wonder how people will feel if he executes these executive powers unchecked? How long do you guys think those jobs will last now anyway? A lot is being wagered on The Art of the Deal and tough talk.

So what exactly makes you think those 1000 jobs will just suddenly disappear again? More importantly, "I wonder how people will feel if he executes these executive powers unchecked?" Trump didn't use executive powers to secure the deal with Carrier, he isn't in office yet, Obama still runs the show right now. He did it by making them a good deal so the people who stay and work here can actually get a good wage. I thought Liberals wanted a higher minimum wage anyway? Trump is delivering that to the Carrier employees right now by offering an extra $700 to their paychecks each year, which isn't something to sneeze at. No matter how you feel about Trump, he knows money.

Also, speaking of forcing executive orders to pass, isn't that how Obama passed almost every single one of his legislatives? The pot is calling the kettle black I believe:

https://www.whitehouse.gov/the-pres...-affordable-care-acts-consistency-with-longst

http://www.forbes.com/forbes/welcom....google.com/&referrer=https://www.google.com/

http://www.usnews.com/debate-club/is-president-obama-abusing-executive-power (Considering Congress literally had to pass a new law into action just to stop Obama from using Executive Power so damn much that should say a lot)

Why has he just so happened to visit/speak with the Philippines, Taiwan, Pakistan, Russia, and various other representatives from countries where he is going to be expanding his brand? Sounds like more of that pay for play shit is in the works, of which we heard so much about during the election.

Do you really think he's only visiting those countries to expand his brand? First of all that's an absurd claim without any actual evidence provided to back up your statement. Second of all, looking at this logically, why exactly do you think he's visiting all of them? Every single one of those countries identify as a form of Democracy (except Pakistan):

Philippines: Constitutional Republic

Taiwan: Constitutional Republic

Russia: Federal/Constitutional Republic

Pakistan: Parliamentary/Islamic Republic

The Philippines have been in bed with China and Russia for a long time when they used to be our number 1 ally in Asia besides South Korea. Trump is most likely getting in touch with Duterte to win them back to us. After all, Duterte was quoted as saying he would prefer to buy from Russia, saying how a Russian representative had told him "Come to Russia, we have everything you need here." ( http://www.independent.co.uk/news/w...ng-russia-weapons-us-arms-block-a7395516.html ) The Phillipines were once in line to become the 51st state of America, and now we're losing them to Russia and China in terms of loyalty. We need to get them back, as Asia is one part of the world where we as a nation are sorely lacking in friends.

Taiwan is a little island of democracy floating off the massive Communist giant that is China. You do know how Taiwan got started don't you? When the Communists overtook China after a long civil war with Democracy supporters, the Democratic gov't and its supporters all fled to Taiwan. For many many years Taiwan actually held the UN seat for China because they were a Democratic nation, and were seen as the true China all the way up until 1971 because of Nixon making friends with Big China. ( http://learning.blogs.nytimes.com/2...eoples-republic-of-china-in-taiwan-out-at-un/ ) Nowadays hardly any countries recognize Taiwan as even being an existing country. We need to help out Democracy no matter where it is, and Taiwan is certainly in danger of being annexed by China at this rate. You must remember that despite people saying "Oh China is slowly becoming democratic like Russia after the Soviet Union!" right now they're still Communist, their leader is Communist, and their goverment is Communist.

With Russia, well, I would refer to the talks with Putin as a matter of necessity. At this point, Russia is the closest thing to a SuperPower besides us in the world. Hillary wanted to poke the bear, and as we've already seen, sanctions and shouting "Bad Russia, Bad Russia!" when they took Crimea and Georgia has done absolutely fuck-all to them. They are still going completely strong. So therefore, instead of provoking Russia further and leading to The Cold War 2 as Hillary wanted, why not try to be friends? After all, Russia is the only damn one actually trying to help Assad stay in power in Syria right now. Assad is basically Saddam Hussein, an evil man but one who is absolutely necessary to preserving the region and keeping it stable. Do we want another Islamic Brotherhood/Al Queda uprising again like we had in Iraq and Iran after we "helped" by funding the rebels?

With Pakistan, I can't really make a comment on this one because I don't know diddly squat about Pakistan besides the fact they're supposedly our allies.

Still, the point is, Trump is going to nations that hold Democratic values and is attempting to make connections with them. Right now, besides the smitten South Korea (who have pretty much always loved us since the Korean War for whatever reason) and Puerto Rico we barely have any friends in the world. Most everyone has turned their back on us because of the Bush and Obama administrations. We need to reforge our old alliances. This doesn't have a damn thing to do with "lmao Trump's trying to expand his brand." Trump doesn't care about making more money, he already said he wasn't going to take a Presidential salary ( http://www.snopes.com/trump-refuse-salary/ ) If he truly cared about money that much why would he skip out on making over 200,000 bucks a year?

http://www.slate.com/blogs/the_slat...wanese_president_seems_to_be_just_making.html

Oh my sweet summer child. You still think Slate is a reliable source of information? They say anything about everything only when it's convenient for them. They're pretty much the TMZ of the political news world. As a few examples:

Spoiler

http://archive.is/4ZRiz

 

[Crni Vuk]

I agree strongly with all this, but in Cuba's case... well, the US did have strong justification. Cuba was a military threat capable of holding nuclear weapons that could strike the entirety of America. A blockade is a much better way of stopping that kind of action.

Which happend, because the US was the largest threat Cuba ever faced - from Cubas perspective. Make no mistake, Cuban leaders, didn't have some huge love for the Soviets in particular. No one likes foreign forces on their soil, even if they're caled 'allies', but the eyes of Castro and his goons the Soviets have been the lesser evil compared to the US which they have thrown out a couple of years ago. Without the intention to change this in a Cuban-Missile-Crysis topic, but if the US actually chose a slightly more dipblomatic plan that was not aiming at assasinating Castro at every possible turn, Cuba might have never turned to the Soviets in the first place. And in the end, the promise to never invade Cuba, was one of the conditions under which the Soviets removed the missiles.

 

[CT Phipps]

Which happend, because the US was the largest threat Cuba ever faced - from Cubas perspective. Make no mistake, Cuban leaders, didn't have some huge love for the Soviets in particular. No one likes foreign forces on their soil, even if they're caled 'allies', but the eyes of Castro and his goons the Soviets have been the lesser evil compared to the US which they have thrown out a couple of years ago. Without the intention to change this in a Cuban-Missile-Crysis topic, but if the US actually chose a slightly more dipblomatic plan that was not aiming at assasinating Castro at every possible turn, Cuba might have never turned to the Soviets in the first place. And in the end, the promise to never invade Cuba, was one of the conditions under which the Soviets removed the missiles.

Castro fostered revolution across South America and was constantly promoting communist values. He also offered help to Soviet projects whenever possible. The idea he was a reluctant ally of the Soviets is a serious misreading of the man and his politics. There were times when he was more Red and anti-American than the Soviets themselves.

 

[Vergil]

Castro’s sister Juana Castro, 1965: “[Fidel’s] intention, his obsession to destroy the U.S. is one of his main interests and objectives.

Make no mistake, Cuban leaders, didn't have some huge love for the Soviets in particular. No one likes foreign forces on their soil, even if they're caled 'allies', but the eyes of Castro and his goons the Soviets have been the lesser evil compared to the US which they have thrown out a couple of years ago. Without the intention to change this in a Cuban-Missile-Crysis topic, but if the US actually chose a slightly more dipblomatic plan that was not aiming at assasinating Castro at every possible turn, Cuba might have never turned to the Soviets in the first place. And in the end, the promise to never invade Cuba, was one of the conditions under which the Soviets removed the missiles.

^ Castro with Soviet Premier Khrushchev

Crni does it again.

 

[Crni Vuk]

The USSR and Cuba united against the common enemy: the USA. It was a threat to both of them to a different degree though. "The enemy of my enemy is my friend" The USA made their position clear enough in 1961 with the Bay of Pigs Invasion and the deployment of nuclear missiles in Turkey. The USSR responded.

Fided Castro hadn't got much choice in fact. He could reject the Soviet support and see the Cuban economy collapsing with no other buyers for sugar, the primary Cuban export goods, and no money to buy oil and other industrial supplies. The USA could also invade Cuba openly like they did many times to the other Latin American states. It was beneficial for him to have even a limited number of Soviet troops deployed to Cuba.

I share this sentient.

*Edit, seriously, what is wrong with your head guys? Why is everything always black and white for you. Do you lack some kind of empathy?


The Cuban Revolution which propelled Fidel Castro to power on January 1, 1959, initially attracted little attention in Moscow. Soviet planners, resigned to U.S. dominance over the Western hemisphere, were unprepared for the possibility of a future ally in the region. According to later testimonies from Nikita Khrushchev, neither the Soviet Communist Party Central Committee’s nor KGB intelligence had any idea who Castro was or what he was fighting for. Soviet premier Nikita Khrushchev advised them to consult Cuba’s Communists who reported that Castro was a representative of the "haute bourgeoisie" and working for the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency.[3]


In February 1960 Khrushchev sent his deputy Anastas Mikoyan to Cuba to discover what motivated Castro following Castro's failed trip to Washington where he was refused a meeting with President Dwight D. Eisenhower.[4] According to reports, Khrushchev's aides had initially tried to characterize Castro as an untrustworthy American agent.[3] Mikoyan returned from Cuba with the opinion that Castro's new administration should be helped economically and politically. Though there was no talk yet of military assistance.


Washington's increasing economic embargo led Cuba to hurriedly seek new markets to avert economic disaster. Castro asked for help from the Soviets and in response Khrushchev approved the temporary purchase of Cuban sugar in exchange for Soviet fuel. This deal was to play a part in sustaining the Cuban economy for many years to come. Following the failed Bay of Pigs Invasion of 1961, Fidel Castro announced publicly that Cuba was to become a socialist republic. Khrushchev sent congratulations to Castro for repelling the invasion, but privately believed the Americans would soon bring the weight of their regular army to bear. The defense of Cuba became a matter of prestige for the Soviet Union, and Khruschev believed that the U.S. would block all access to the island whether by sea or air. Even in the 1980s the Soviet aid wasn't very important, but rather a regular trade with Cuba of more than $8.5 billion in 1989 was reached. But already in 1990 the trade was reduced to $4.5 billion.[5]

You really believe the Cuban people - including Castro - who worked and fought very hard for 'independence' from what they saw as an imperalistic regime, felt awesome with the prospect of simply replacing it with another? It's the same kind of sentient that lead to the idea that the Vietnamese would be happy as Chinese/Soviet pawns accepting their rule over their nation. Just beacuse 2 nations are 'communistic' and share a lot of ideals, doesn't mean that they happily agree on all and every matter, including foreign troops on their soil. Even if Castro and Fidel have been 'buddies' at some point.

 

[Vergil]

The USA made their position clear enough in 1961 with the Bay of Pigs Invasion

Raul Castro talking to Life magazine, 1960: “My dream is to drop three atomic bombs on New York.”

It's almost like the staunchly anti-American, communist revolutionaries already liked the leading anti-American communist power in the world at the time.

 

[Ragemage]

Well since my big beautiful post is going to be lost in this retardation that has NOTHING TO DO WITH THE THREAD TOPIC, I may as well post some pictures related because Crni is flat out wrong about Castro seeing Russia has some "lesser evil." Castro loved the Russians, he saw them as his fellow "equalizers" and "Communists brothers":

Spoiler

Castro hugging the first Russian Cosmonaut, Yuri Gagarin (c. 1961)

Castro shaking hands with Soviet Boris Yeltsin, the leader of Russia 1991 - 1999

Castro meeting with Vladimir Putin

Castro pictured with Soviet leader Kruschev

Here Castro is with Leonid Brezhnev, Head of the Central Communist Committee in Russia

So no Crni, you're incorrect in that assumption. Castro loved Russia.

 

[Crni Vuk]

Yeah, and the US made no secret about :

The Kennedy administration inherited the CIA’s plan to send U.S. Armed Forces to invade Cuban territory, approved it, and pushed the invasion forward, afterwards publicly lying by declaring that there could not be any intervention in Cuba by the United States Armed Forces under any circumstances.



In April 1961, an invasion force of fourteen hundred Cuban exiles supported by the United States invaded the Bay of Pigs, but they lacked the proper support needed and the invasion was a humiliating failure as the Cuban people fought off the attack, showing preference for Castro’s policies.

They tried to assasinate Castro and Cuba fought a long time to get US influence and corruption out. That they didn't had some strong feelings about the US, is at least somewhat understandable I think.

What a surprise, that some people threw a war rhetoric around trying to beat each other with who could throw the worst words around ... What about Le May, who wanted to simply 'get in there and bomb nuclear missile sites'. Despite the fact that the nuclear missiles have been already 1. ready and 2. the commanders at the site had the order to retaliate if Cuba was attacked.
Hardliners have been present on every side of the cold war. That's simply the reality.

You know sometimes you really have to ask your self how our species made it trough the cold war ...

 

[Vergil]

Cuba fought a long time to get US influence and corruption out. That they didn't had some strong feelings about the US, is at least somewhat understandable I think.

Oh yes it's a good thing those poor innocent Cuban revolutionaries got that horrible US influence and corruption out and replaced it with the communist utopia that they built.
Are you seriously trying to imply post-Castro Cuba was better than pre-Castro Cuba because that's downright false.
Also again because you clearly can't fucking read:

In April 1961, an invasion force of fourteen hundred Cuban exiles supported by the United States invaded the Bay of Pigs, but they lacked the proper support needed and the invasion was a humiliating failure as the Cuban people fought off the attack, showing preference for Castro’s policies.

Raul Castro talking to Life magazine, 1960: “My dream is to drop three atomic bombs on New York.”
SO even BEFORE the Bay of Pigs Cuba's leadership wanted to fucking nuke the USA.
Also
"showing preference for Castro’s policies."
Right, you can tell how much Cubans loved Castros policies by desperately trying to flee Cuba, mass executions of dissidents, gulag-tier prisons and Cubans who have escaped are dancing in the fucking streets over his death.

I want to know what fucking source you're quoting for these sentences of utter retardation because they sound pro-Castro and anti-America as fuck.

 

[Crni Vuk]

[/SPOILER]

So no Crni, you're incorrect in that assumption. Castro loved Russia.

Maybe he did, maybe he didn't. What do I know? Lots of serbians loved Russia as well. But we sure didn't love them so much that we 'liked' them to be around, if you catch my drift.

I can't look into Castros head, but many of us Balkanites very well understand what a Russian rule can mean, if things don't go well. And you can say about Castro what you want, but he sure was not an idiot..

I 'assume' that Castro and his supporters, simply didn't like the 'idea' of simply replacing the US with the Soviets, when it came to influence. And this might have been a real danger for them as well. You can't tell me that the idea that Castro had some meetings with his closest supporters, where they discussed the possibility of Cuba becoming simply another east block state under Soviet rule. What would have stoped the Soviets from replacing Castro in such a situation if they had the troops to do so, which was also not really rare. The Soviets had no qualms to force regime changes either.

No clue why you people automatically assume that Castro would agree to something like that, because that's what I mean. I am convinced, that if Castro saw a way to keep ANY influence out of Cuba, he would have chosen that path.

But do I know it? No, I have no clue what Castro thought. But Politics, particularly the one during the Cold War, is never about what people really think or say, particularly in the public. Look at the secret conversations between Kennedys Brother and the Soviet Ambassador or the famous letters that JFK received, thankfully they decided to ignore one of them.

Right, you can tell how much Cubans loved Castros policies by desperately trying to flee Cuba and Cubans who have escaped are dancing in the fucking streets over his death.

Yes, I know that this is very very very hard for some americans to grasp, but some people actually DO prefer their dictators over 'american' democracy and influence. I am from Serbia. I know the history of my nation well enough, to understand why some people think like that. That doesn't mean that all people agree with the politics - for example, I don't, but it's hard to argue when you have US bombers bombing your nation. Even if it's all in the name of freedom and such stuff which sounds very nice on press conferences.

Oh yes it's a good thing those poor innocent Cuban revolutionaries got that horrible US influence and corruption out and replaced it with the communist utopia that they built.
Are you seriously trying to imply post-Castro Cuba was better than pre-Castro Cuba because that's downright false.
Also again because you clearly can't fucking read:

"I simply chose to fight for the dictator that spoke my language"
Russian Veteran after WW2.

If people have to chose between two different boots on their throat, they usually chose the one that was made in their nation.

Raul Castro talking to Life magazine, 1960: “My dream is to drop three atomic bombs on New York.”
SO even BEFORE the Bay of Pigs Cuba's leadership wanted to fucking nuke the USA.

Please, don't tell me this kind of rhetoric wasn't comon during the cold war, where each side constantly called each other the axis of evil, or the imperialistic empire that should be fought on every front. Like some hardliners in the US government thought 'better' about their enemy.

At the end of the war if there are two Americans and one Russian left alive, we win!
Thomas S. Power

"Better red than dead" and "better dead than red" were dueling Cold War slogans which first gained currency in the United Kingdom and the United States during the late 1950s, amid debates about anti-communism and nuclear disarmament (red being the emblematic color of communism).

Thisk ind of rhetoric, was very common on all sides of the cold war, and of course Raul Castro was as much of an idiot to fuel the cold war as any one in the west.

 

[Vergil]

Yes, I know that this is very very very hard for some americans to grasp, but some people actually DO prefer their dictators over 'american' democracy and influence.

http://www.pbs.org/newshour/rundown/cubans-miami-celebrate-castro-death/
http://www.foxnews.com/politics/201...il-after-celebrating-fidel-castros-death.html
Wow so people who leave the country all celebrate his death and if you try to do so in the country you get jailed?
Hmmm.... yea those Cubans sure love their overlords alright.
Just like the Soviet citizens loved Stalin or else

Please, don't tell me this kind of rhetoric wasn't comon during the cold war, where each side constantly called each other the axis of evil, or the imperialistic empire that should be fought on every front. Like some hardliners in the US government thought 'better' about their enemy.

The difference is those "hardliners" weren't the heads of a brutal dictatorship with the total authority to do whatever they wanted.

At the end of the war if there are two Americans and one Russian left alive, we win!
Thomas S. Power

"Better red than dead" and "better dead than red" were dueling Cold War slogans which first gained currency in the United Kingdom and the United States during the late 1950s, amid debates about anti-communism and nuclear disarmament (red being the emblematic color of communism).

Thisk ind of rhetoric, was very common on all sides of the cold war, and of course Raul Castro was as much of an idiot to fuel the cold war as any one in the west.

This is all very "whoa so introspective really makes you think" but could you at atleast TRY being relevant to the topic at all? The point is you were defending Castro's regime and saying that they weren't fans of Russia and their decision to join up with the Soviet Union was not because they were red communist fanatics with a severe hatred of Ameriac but was instead due to the Bay of Pigs despite all evidence pointing to the contrary. Even before the Bay of Pigs Raul was preaching about his dream to nuke New York City, that's straight from the mouth of the brother of the absolute dictator of Cuba and his sister later revealed in an interview that Fidel shared this feeling.

Castro’s sister Juana Castro, 1965: “[Fidel’s] intention, his obsession to destroy the U.S. is one of his main interests and objectives.

I get it's your shtick to move the goalposts when you lose an arguments but it gets really tiring really fast.

 

[Crni Vuk]

Where did I defend Castros regime?

I can only assume, that people like you sitting in politics making some decisions are the reason why there is still so much shit in the middle east. I mean you're trying to help those people! Why are those asses STILL fighting you! Amright?

Trying to understand why some people do certain things, doesn't mean that I agree with them.

 

[Vergil]

Where did I defend Castros regime?

Yes, I know that this is very very very hard for some americans to grasp, but some people actually DO prefer their dictators

the invasion was a humiliating failure as the Cuban people fought off the attack, showing preference for Castro’s policies.

They tried to assasinate Castro and Cuba fought a long time to get US influence and corruption out. That they didn't had some strong feelings about the US, is at least somewhat understandable I think.

You're making excuses for and downplaying the words and actions of brutal absolute communist dictators.

I can only assume, that people like you sitting in politics making some decisions are the reason why there is still so much shit in the middle east. I mean you're trying to help those people! Why are those asses STILL fighting you! Amright?

Baseless irrelevent conjecture (your speciality).
If people like me were in charge we wouldn't have been in the Middle East to begin with.

Trying to understand why some people do certain things, doesn't mean that I agree with them.

But trying to make excuses for them comes off as a little fishy.

 

[TorontoReign]

@Ragemage

I realize he didn't use executive powers yet (obviously), but if his heavy handed tactics are any indication, it is par for the course. Thanks to Pence this will cost the Indiana taxpayer 7 million. Trump "saved" jobs by giving out corporate welfare and not letting the union have any input. Carrier is still sending over 1000 jobs overseas and being payed for it. This is a bad idea.

Trump's 1,000 jobs "saved" come at the cost of other jobs so it means jack shit except to his constituents in that region. Fuck there was an episode of House of Cards about this same thing. In two years they are free to move them again. Trump owns stock in Carrier too. Hillary would never hear the end of that shit

You are right that Obama has been just as bad with overreach partly due to the precedent set by Bush. I would argue Trump's presidency will be worse in that respect. No evidence you say? I find it awfully convenient with the facts available to us that he would have NOT curried some favor in regards to his dealings there. Of course I have no proof. I don't need proof when dealing with crooked fucks that can wipe their asses with hundred dollar bills on golden toilets.

That Slate link is quoting Financial Times.

"As the FT accurately notes, "although it is not clear if the Trump transition team intended the conversation to signal a broader change in US policy towards Taiwan, the call is likely to infuriate Beijing."

"The call was first reported by the Financial Times, and Trump’s transition confirmed in a statement that he had spoken with Ing-wen, who congratulated Trump on his election victory."

There are other links from more reputable sources that claim the same thing. Not much of a stretch really. Yes, there is a great deal of strategy coming out of the Trump team right now. I don't believe he is just looking to build more hotels...but you bet your ass he is working on that shit on the side especially considering he won't even attend any briefings last we heard. Sounds more like Nixon everyday.

@Vergil people defend Castro because he openly did shit that we do in private. No nation is above corruption. He was a bad man by all indications, but he kept Cuba independent and free from outside control for the most part, which some people respect. Not everyone likes to be a member of the Empire.