US General Election Thread IV: The Beginning of the End

[European Guilds]

that's how I feel. I feel sorry for him that he has his dream job just out of his grasp.

but I will be fine with anyone Clinton nominates.

Well, hopefully not anyone.

Donald Trump for SCOTUS?

[Ifreann]

that's how I feel. I feel sorry for him that he has his dream job just out of his grasp.

but I will be fine with anyone Clinton nominates.

Well, hopefully not anyone.

I'm available.

[Alvecia]

Well, hopefully not anyone.

I'm available.

Iffy for SCOTUS? Yes please.

[Gauthier]

https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/trump-foundation-lacks-the-certification-required-for-charities-that-solicit-money/2016/09/29/7dac6a68-8658-11e6-ac72-a29979381495_story.html
Look, the Trump Foundation illegally solicited donations.

Trump You not a real university, Trump Foundation not a real charity. Yep, nothing with Trump's name on it is real.

[Alvecia]

https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/trump-foundation-lacks-the-certification-required-for-charities-that-solicit-money/2016/09/29/7dac6a68-8658-11e6-ac72-a29979381495_story.html
Look, the Trump Foundation illegally solicited donations.

Trump You not a real university, Trump Foundation not a real charity. Yep, nothing with Trump's name on it is real.

What d'you reckon that says about his birth certificate?

[Community Values]

https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/trump-foundation-lacks-the-certification-required-for-charities-that-solicit-money/2016/09/29/7dac6a68-8658-11e6-ac72-a29979381495_story.html
Look, the Trump Foundation illegally solicited donations.

Trump You not a real university, Trump Foundation not a real charity. Yep, nothing with Trump's name on it is real.

What about his steaks?

Or his Tower?

[Eol Sha]

Well, hopefully not anyone.

I'm available.

I'll take you over Trump any day, Iffy.

[Gauthier]

trump musta been up late watching the peres funeral on the tv. he went on a twitter tirade against the former miss universe Alicia machado. he even went so far as to suggest that her appearance on a Spanish "big brother" like show generated a SEX TAPE. I suppose he is trying to distract us from the crime of breaking the Cuban embargo but I cant imagine that slut shaming a new citizen will get him any new supporters.

https://thinkprogress.org/donald-trump- ... .by8dpn4kq

I think Alicia Machado made the "mistake" of refusing to sleep with Trump when she was competing in Miss America and that explains his raeg at her.

[Ifreann]

Trump You not a real university, Trump Foundation not a real charity. Yep, nothing with Trump's name on it is real.

What d'you reckon that says about his birth certificate?

Didn't it turn out that his birth certificate actually wasn't real? Or did I just imagine that that happened because it would be funny...

---

I'm available.

I'll take you over Trump any day, Iffy.

Not much of a compliment, but I'll take it.

[Geilinor]

https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/trump-foundation-lacks-the-certification-required-for-charities-that-solicit-money/2016/09/29/7dac6a68-8658-11e6-ac72-a29979381495_story.html
Look, the Trump Foundation illegally solicited donations.

Trump You not a real university, Trump Foundation not a real charity. Yep, nothing with Trump's name on it is real.

Trump is fake. A fake university, a fake charity, a fake TV show, a fake self-made billionaire, a fake campaign.

[Geilinor]

Trump You not a real university, Trump Foundation not a real charity. Yep, nothing with Trump's name on it is real.

What about his steaks?

Or his Tower?

The steaks were unsuccessful and he hired illegal immigrants to build his tower despite wanting them out.

[Alien Space Bats]

I honestly debated with myself as to whether I should post this in the debate thread or the horserace thread. I decided on the debate thread because I really do think this is a fitness-for-office issue.

<pause>

Why in the Hell does Donald Trump feel the need to vomit out these 4AM tweetstorms attacking anyone who's attracted his ire in the course of the preceding day? I mean, is this guy 12 years old, or what?

First, he rags on the Arizona Republic and the Dallas Morning News for endorsing Hillary Clinton. So what? Wouldn't both the smart and mature thing to do be to just ignore them both? The same applies to the USA Today anti-endorsement: Why not just ignore it? Blasting these papers serves no positive end; it merely reminds people of the very editorial articles Trump objects to, so why not let them go?

The answer is because Donald Trump is a child. It's really just that simple. He has to have the last word and can't let the tiniest perceived slight go unnoticed, or let anyone he considers antagonistic to him go unpunished.

It's the same for the whole bit with Alicia Marchado (who is not, incidentally, a "nobody"; she's quite well known on Spanish-language TV as a sometime soap opera and reality TV star, so while Anglophones might be saying "so what" when it comes to his attacks on her, Hispanophones are not as willing to let it go), Yes, it was an obvious trap; the Clinton campaign clearly planned this for months,and was waiting for the right time in the debates to spring it on The Donald; but so what? That's politics. So why keep it going by continuing to obsess about it, and why try to get out of the mess by attacking the woman's past? It's not like her brushes with the law or her lewd film clips justify calling her "Miss Fatty" and "Miss Housekeeping".

Again, the answer is that Donald Trump is small-minded and immature. He can't ignore attacks, and he can't settle for taking the high road. We saw this with Ted Cruz and Marco Rubio: He has to be petty and get down and dirty, and he'll never be satisfied until he "wins" by beating his "opponent" into the dirt.

Presidents not only aren't supposed to behave that way; they CAN'T behave that way. Presidents have too much power to be allowed to resort to petty retaliation. Donald Trump has already suggested that he won't hesitate to pull the FCC broadcast licenses of networks that criticize him; that pretty much leaves only CNN as the only network against which a President Trump couldn't retaliate for bad coverage, as Time Warner transferred control of WPCH-TV to CBS nearly a decade ago. Of course, he'd still have power over the FBI, Homeland Security, and the IRS, all of which leads a concerned citizen to wonder just how far The Donald would go in crushing dissent for the purpose of protecting his fragile ego from any kind of criticism. He's already said that citizens should not protest police shootings; what else are we going to be prohibited from doing or saying if this guy gets elected President?

And then there's the predawn twitterstorm "thing": Several times each week, Trump gets up and tweets something asinine, probably right about the same time he's having his morning bowel movement (the content either way is about the same). What's that going to do to the markets? What new idiotic pronouncement is going to shake the diplomatic world each day? For people who want to watch the world burn, the prospect must be exciting; a train wreck is never boring. But "Why so serious?" is hardly a viable philosophy of life, at least for anyone who's progressed beyond early adolescence.

No, this is just one more example of how Donald Trump is fundamentally unfit for the office of the Presidency of the United States. As much as Vladimir Putin would like us to have one, we don't need our very own Boris Yeltsin.

[Liriena]

Wow, it's the Khan debacle all over again.

A word of advice for the Trump campaign: take his phone away.

[Gauthier]

Yep, nothing like the prospect of a President who will start a military invasion because someone photoshopped a meme pic insulting him.

[Ifreann]

Yeltsin at least had the excuse of being drunk approximately 100% of the time. Unless there's truth to the cocaine rumours, this is Trump stone-cold sober.

[Alien Space Bats]

Trump ordered his golf club in California to fire women who weren't "pretty enough" to satisfy his personal beauty standards.

<pause>

I can see it now: The "Make America Beautiful Again Act of 2017", requiring all women to bleach their hair blond, wear full makeup at all times, and maintain a body mass index (BMI) of 17.5 or less.

[The Princes of the Universe]

I honestly debated with myself as to whether I should post this in the debate thread or the horserace thread. I decided on the debate thread because I really do think this is a fitness-for-office issue.
<pause>
Why in the Hell does Donald Trump feel the need to vomit out these 4AM tweetstorms attacking anyone who's attracted his ire in the course of the preceding day? I mean, is this guy 12 years old, or what?
First, he rags on the Arizona Republic and the Dallas Morning News for endorsing Hillary Clinton. So what? Wouldn't both the smart and mature thing to do be to just ignore them both? The same applies to the USA Today anti-endorsement: Why not just ignore it? Blasting these papers serves no positive end; it merely reminds people of the very editorial articles Trump objects to, so why not let them go?
The answer is because Donald Trump is a child. It's really just that simple. He has to have the last word and can't let the tiniest perceived slight go unnoticed, or let anyone he considers antagonistic to him go unpunished.
It's the same for the whole bit with Alicia Marchado (who is not, incidentally, a "nobody"; she's quite well known on Spanish-language TV as a sometime soap opera and reality TV star, so while Anglophones might be saying "so what" when it comes to his attacks on her, Hispanophones are not as willing to let it go), Yes, it was an obvious trap; the Clinton campaign clearly planned this for months,and was waiting for the right time in the debates to spring it on The Donald; but so what? That's politics. So why keep it going by continuing to obsess about it, and why try to get out of the mess by attacking the woman's past? It's not like her brushes with the law or her lewd film clips justify calling her "Miss Fatty" and "Miss Housekeeping".
Again, the answer is that Donald Trump is small-minded and immature. He can't ignore attacks, and he can't settle for taking the high road. We saw this with Ted Cruz and Marco Rubio: He has to be petty and get down and dirty, and he'll never be satisfied until he "wins" by beating his "opponent" into the dirt.
Presidents not only aren't supposed to behave that way; they CAN'T behave that way. Presidents have too much power to be allowed to resort to petty retaliation. Donald Trump has already suggested that he won't hesitate to pull the FCC broadcast licenses of networks that criticize him; that pretty much leaves only CNN as the only network against which a President Trump couldn't retaliate for bad coverage, as Time Warner transferred control of WPCH-TV to CBS nearly a decade ago. Of course, he'd still have power over the FBI, Homeland Security, and the IRS, all of which leads a concerned citizen to wonder just how far The Donald would go in crushing dissent for the purpose of protecting his fragile ego from any kind of criticism. He's already said that citizens should not protest police shootings; what else are we going to be prohibited from doing or saying if this guy gets elected President?
And then there's the predawn twitterstorm "thing": Several times each week, Trump gets up and tweets something asinine, probably right about the same time he's having his morning bowel movement (the content either way is about the same). What's that going to do to the markets? What new idiotic pronouncement is going to shake the diplomatic world each day? For people who want to watch the world burn, the prospect must be exciting; a train wreck is never boring. But "Why so serious?" is hardly a viable philosophy of life, at least for anyone who's progressed beyond early adolescence.
No, this is just one more example of how Donald Trump is fundamentally unfit for the office of the Presidency of the United States. As much as Vladimir Putin would like us to have one, we don't need our very own Boris Yeltsin.

That this piece of trash is a serious contender for the presidency has utterly destroyed any confidence I once had in republicanism.

[Gauthier]

Wow, it's the Khan debacle all over again.

A word of advice for the Trump campaign: take his phone away.

Nah. Let him have it. The real fun comes in watching his surrogates and supporters give themselves hernias trying to rationalize away his latest vomit.

[Gauthier]

Yeltsin at least had the excuse of being drunk approximately 100% of the time. Unless there's truth to the cocaine rumours, this is Trump stone-cold sober.

It would be worth it just to see Trump reenact the desk coke scene from Scarface.

[The Emerald Dawn]

Trump ordered his golf club in California to fire women who weren't "pretty enough" to satisfy his personal beauty standards.

<pause>

I can see it now: The "Make America Beautiful Again Act of 2017", requiring all women to bleach their hair blond, wear full makeup at all times, and maintain a body mass index (BMI) of 17.5 or less.

17.5? Trump does not employ milk cows, ASB. 2% isn't just for milk, it's the max BMI for any woman in his orbit.

[Khadgar]

Wow, it's the Khan debacle all over again.

A word of advice for the Trump campaign: take his phone away.

Nah. Let him have it. The real fun comes in watching his surrogates and supporters give themselves hernias trying to rationalize away his latest vomit.

Somewhere Kellyanne Conway is looking at her lipstick and thinking "How do I get this on that pig this time?".

[Collatis]

Trump You not a real university, Trump Foundation not a real charity. Yep, nothing with Trump's name on it is real.

Trump is fake. A fake university, a fake charity, a fake TV show, a fake self-made billionaire, a fake campaign.

Don't forget fake hair.

[The Huskar Social Union]

Have either candidate done anyhing new that is stupid, assholeish or fucking insane?

Heard trump had a go at some woman, thats about it.

[Minivanistan]

Yeltsin at least had the excuse of being drunk approximately 100% of the time. Unless there's truth to the cocaine rumours, this is Trump stone-cold sober.

It would be worth it just to see Trump reenact the desk coke scene from Scarface.

Depends on what he brandishes as his "little friend".

Meanwhile, Chicago Tribune has endorsed Johnson for president citing principle support over odds of victory.

[Ifreann]

Have either candidate done anyhing new that is stupid, assholeish or fucking insane?

Trump was up all night talking shit about Alicia Machado on Twitter. Basically, this is reality.