Donald Trump

[Mayerling]

Ironically I forgot one other "Presidential Dynasty" of sorts. We had two citizens of our country who became President, who were (briefly) father-in-law and son-in-law, but were not both President of the United States! Jefferson Davis had been aide-de-camp to General Zachary Taylor in the 1830s to early 1840s, and had married Taylor's daughter Sarah. But three months after they married Sarah died (his second wife, Varina, was the First Lady of the Confederacy). Despite the differences of Taylor and Davis on the slavery issue and secession possibilities, they remained close, and during the Civil War Davis made his ex-brother-in-law, Richard Taylor, a General. As a Lieutenant General (CSA) in 1865, Richard Taylor made one of the last Confederate Surrenders of the war in Alabama, and subsequently wrote an interesting book of memoirs about his war services.

[Pcdunn]

Interesting article about geology and planning the border wall between the U.S. and Mexico.

http://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/vast-geological-challenges-building-border-wall-180962072/

[jason_c]

Interesting article about geology and planning the border wall between the U.S. and Mexico.

http://www.smithsonianmag.com/scienc...all-180962072/

This is the sort of thing Trump rightly derides as Fake News. Surprisingly it is in the Smithsonian, not exactly the worst Fake News offender out there. Why is it Fake News? It quite deliberately misses, or minimizes(I only skimmed the article) the fact that Trump has admitted the Wall will indeed be a fence in many places.

[Pcdunn]

This is the sort of thing Trump rightly derides as Fake News. Surprisingly it is in the Smithsonian, not exactly the worst Fake News offender out there. Why is it Fake News? It quite deliberately misses, or minimizes(I only skimmed the article) the fact that Trump has admitted the Wall will indeed be a fence in many places.

Hello, Jason.

That is interesting. Do you have a source where the President has mentioned it will be a fence? I certainly heard references to "build that wall" frequently during the campaign.

[Pcdunn]

Article about a bill aimed at changing legal immigration quotas.

http://www.cnn.com/2017/02/07/politics/cotton-perdue-immigration-bill

[jason_c]

Hello, Jason.

That is interesting. Do you have a source where the President has mentioned it will be a fence? I certainly heard references to "build that wall" frequently during the campaign.

Sure, about 20 secs into this clip, and a few other occasions too.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=094sdYn1-Ns

What's concerning is that the article is well researched. I have to assume the omission of the fence in the piece was a deliberate attempt to mislead.

[Pcdunn]

Sure, about 20 secs into this clip, and a few other occasions too.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=094sdYn1-Ns

What's concerning is that the article is well researched. I have to assume the omission of the fence in the piece was a deliberate attempt to mislead.

I'm not sure that is true. Mr. Trump often says one thing, and then changes his viewpoint on it.

For instance, in November 2016 on "60 minutes" he did say it could be partially made up of fencing "in certain areas":

http://www.mediaite.com/tv/donald-trump-says-on-60-minutes-his-border-wall-might-just-be-a-fence-in-certain-areas/

Then in January, 2017, Trump stated "It's not a fence, it's a wall.":

http://www.cnn.com/2017/01/11/politics/trump-border-wall-mexico-payment-presser/

We won't really know until the border is surveyed and the plan is presented for approval, I think.

[jason_c]

I'm not sure that is true. Mr. Trump often says one thing, and then changes his viewpoint on it.

For instance, in November 2016 on "60 minutes" he did say it could be partially made up of fencing "in certain areas":

http://www.mediaite.com/tv/donald-trump-says-on-60-minutes-his-border-wall-might-just-be-a-fence-in-certain-areas/

Then in January, 2017, Trump stated "It's not a fence, it's a wall.":

http://www.cnn.com/2017/01/11/politics/trump-border-wall-mexico-payment-presser/

We won't really know until the border is surveyed and the plan is presented for approval, I think.

Sorry, but I have to strongly disagree. You are correct Trump often says one thing and means another. However, when nailed down on the issue after his election he clearly stated(in the video I linked to) that parts of the wall will be a fence. Now, Trump wasn't exactly specific in how much of it will be wall and how much of it will be fence, but he 100% clearly said some of it will be fenced. I assume the most likely part to be fenced shall be geology dependent. It may yet primarily be a wall, and Trump may wish to market it as a wall, but he also said fence. The article, if it were in any way written in good faith, should have said as much.

[ChrisGeorge]

Hi all

Trump advisor Kellyanne Conway's off-the-cuff promotion of Ivanka Trump's fashion line on Fox after Ivanka's wares had been dropped by Nordstrom (as trashed on Twitter by the President), may be small potatoes compared to Trump hosting the Prime Minister of Japan at Trump's Florida resort, Mar-a-Lago, this weekend.

Chris







Trump and Prime Minister Abe of Japan at White House before heading for Trump's Mar-a-Lago resort. Absolutely no conflict of interest.

[Pcdunn]

Trump pauses during a phone call to Putin to ask an aide what the nuclear treaty New START is, then tells Putin he doesn't like it.

http://www.vox.com/world/2017/2/9/14562014/trump-putin-call-new-start-what

Scroll down after the first story to see a history of Trump's comments on nuclear weapons and treaties.

[Patrick S]

Trump pauses during a phone call to Putin to ask an aide what the nuclear treaty New START is, then tells Putin he doesn't like it.

http://www.vox.com/world/2017/2/9/14562014/trump-putin-call-new-start-what

Scroll down after the first story to see a history of Trump's comments on nuclear weapons and treaties.

Trump's absurdity defies belief. For starters, someone needs to confiscate his phone and shut down his Twitter account. He lacks impulse control, to put it gently. Next, he needs to avoid cameras and microphones unless he has a script telling him exactly what to say. While I'm at it, that Spicer guy should avoid speaking at all costs. He's a disaster. Kellyanne Conway should be discouraged from going on TV ever again, rather than going on, you know, all day, every day. As it is, I'm glued to cable news - after not watching it all for the past twelve years - as it's the best entertainment value going right now. You laugh. You cry. You drink. I don't know what's more fun, Trump and his peoples' utter incompetence, lack of ethics, and pathological lying, or the media's hyperventilation, manufactured outrage, and seeming disbelief that this guy won an election.

[ChrisGeorge]

Trump's absurdity defies belief. For starters, someone needs to confiscate his phone and shut down his Twitter account. He lacks impulse control, to put it gently. Next, he needs to avoid cameras and microphones unless he has a script telling him exactly what to say. While I'm at it, that Spicer guy should avoid speaking at all costs. He's a disaster. Kellyanne Conway should be discouraged from going on TV ever again, rather than going on, you know, all day, every day. As it is, I'm glued to cable news - after not watching it all for the past twelve years - as it's the best entertainment value going right now. You laugh. You cry. You drink. I don't know what's more fun, Trump and his peoples' utter incompetence, lack of ethics, and pathological lying, or the media's hyperventilation, manufactured outrage, and seeming disbelief that this guy won an election.

I like the drinking part.

[Sam Flynn]

Scroll down after the first story to see a history of Trump's comments on nuclear weapons and treaties.

And what a worrying load of waffle his comments were. I was thinking to myself as I read them, "If this were a job or a college interview, I'd have to reject his application on the basis that (a) the candidate has no grasp of the subject matter; and (b) he can't string together a coherent sentence, never mind a cogent argument". Yet this is the man who became President of the USA! How on earth could that happen?

[ChrisGeorge]

And what a worrying load of waffle his comments were. I was thinking to myself as I read them, "If this were a job or a college interview, I'd have to reject his application on the basis that (a) the candidate has no grasp of the subject matter; and (b) he can't string together a coherent sentence, never mind a cogent argument". Yet this is the man who became President of the USA! How on earth could that happen?

Well, Sam, it has happened and now we all have to live with it, for better or worse. I agree that listening to what he says it's easy to see that his understanding of world issues is superficial, and a lot of what he professes to believe is wrong-headed and even dangerous.

Tony Schwartz, the ghost writer who helped Trump write The Art of the Deal has said that the man doesn't have the patience to sit still in a meeting for long, so how is he going to fully understand such things as nations with nuclear weapons and how to deal with terrorists? Schwartz now says he regrets helping create the myth that Trump is an unfailing deal maker. See "Donald Trump's Ghostwriter Tells All" by Jane Mayer, The New Yorker, July 25, 2016.

Best regards

Chris

[Sam Flynn]

Thanks for pointing out that New Yorker article, Chris. It's a good 'un.