When does the winning start?

[Inmate Trump]

I'm ready to get bored from all the winning, but I feel we haven't won yet. When will the winning begin?

1. Losing the popular vote by 3 million votes.
2. The largest disapproval for a sitting president this early into his presidency.
3. The Muslim ban failure.
4. His administration under an FBI investigation for collusion with a foreign government to hack the election.
5. The Trumpcare failure.

[HAnnA MArin County]

I've been thinking that all day today and last night as well.

Maybe by winning he really did mean losing? #AlternativeFacts?

[Inmate Trump]

I've been thinking that all day today and last night as well.

Maybe my winning he really did mean losing? #AlternativeFacts?

It's unpresidented.

[Hindsight was 2020]

Oh it will start soon an when it does it will hurt you'll be winning so much

[Hermit For Peace]

The winning starts when Trump is booted out of office, or resigns.

[Absentee Voting Ghost of Ruin]

It already did:

http://fortune.com/2016/08/23/trump-campaign-rent/
http://thehill.com/blogs/blog-briefing-room/news/307509-secret-service-in-talks-to-rent-space-in-trump-tower-report
https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/department-of-defense-looks-to-rent-space-in-trump-tower/2017/02/07/6dec7252-edb0-11e6-9662-6eedf1627882_story.html
https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2017/03/trump-business-ethics-ivanka/519222/
http://theweek.com/articles/683357/donald-trumps-profitable-presidency

On the scale of the US government, it's just petty graft. Trump isn't deliberately capable of much more.

[Hermit For Peace]

It already did:

http://fortune.com/2016/08/23/trump-campaign-rent/
http://thehill.com/blogs/blog-briefing-room/news/307509-secret-service-in-talks-to-rent-space-in-trump-tower-report
https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/department-of-defense-looks-to-rent-space-in-trump-tower/2017/02/07/6dec7252-edb0-11e6-9662-6eedf1627882_story.html
https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2017/03/trump-business-ethics-ivanka/519222/
http://theweek.com/articles/683357/donald-trumps-profitable-presidency

On the scale of the US government, it's just petty graft. Trump isn't deliberately capable of much more.

Thanks for reminding us. Yes there IS a bunch of winning going on, and it's all in Trump's favor. When he walks away from this presidential gig, he's going to look back at all the rest of and call us a bunch of "chumps," while he proceeds to count all the gold he stole from us.

[Person Man]

It already did:

http://fortune.com/2016/08/23/trump-campaign-rent/
http://thehill.com/blogs/blog-briefing-room/news/307509-secret-service-in-talks-to-rent-space-in-trump-tower-report
https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/department-of-defense-looks-to-rent-space-in-trump-tower/2017/02/07/6dec7252-edb0-11e6-9662-6eedf1627882_story.html
https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2017/03/trump-business-ethics-ivanka/519222/
http://theweek.com/articles/683357/donald-trumps-profitable-presidency

On the scale of the US government, it's just petty graft. Trump isn't deliberately capable of much more.

Thanks for reminding us. Yes there IS a bunch of winning going on, and it's all in Trump's favor. When he walks away from this presidential gig, he's going to look back at all the rest of and call us a bunch of "chumps," while he proceeds to count all the gold he stole from us.

Winning is just another word for everyone else losing, it appears. I guess there is no "I" in team, but there are *TWO* in #Winning. Good job everyone!

[Atlas Has Shrugged]

On the floor of the Carried plant.

[bandg]

The health care push was a failure, yes. But just to play devil's advocate:
-Pulled out of TPP
-Nominated Neil Gorsuch, who sailed through confirmation hearings and will be confirmed
-Stock market roaring, healthy job market (yes Obama gets credit here, but remember that a lot of people were predicting a depression/recession if Trump got elected)
-40% drop in illegal border crossings (messaging matters)
-Keystone pipeline approved

[Adam Griffin]

On the floor of the Carried plant.

More like carried interest amirite

[Hermit For Peace]

The health care push was a failure, yes. But just to play devil's advocate:
-Pulled out of TPP
-Nominated Neil Gorsuch, who sailed through confirmation hearings and will be confirmed
-Stock market roaring, healthy job market (yes Obama gets credit here, but remember that a lot of people were predicting a depression/recession if Trump got elected)
-40% drop in illegal border crossings (messaging matters)
-Keystone pipeline approved

It's all a matter of perspective.

[Anna Komnene]

The winning is happening.  It is the recently vacated home on the street where an immigrant family used to live.  You might not know it without looking closely, but the food on the table is rotten because it was left without time to clean it up, and while the TV is on, no one is there to watch it apart from the solitary teddy bear sitting on the corner of the sofa.

[Hindsight was 2020]

The health care push was a failure, yes. But just to play devil's advocate:
-Pulled out of TPP
-Nominated Neil Gorsuch, who sailed through confirmation hearings and will be confirmed
-Stock market roaring, healthy job market (yes Obama gets credit here, but remember that a lot of people were predicting a depression/recession if Trump got elected)
-40% drop in illegal border crossings (messaging matters)
-Keystone pipeline approved

-Tpp was gonna get killed by whoever won an was already dying.
-Neil is hardly winning as picking a RW sc nom is the easiest thing Trump can do
-The stock market being high has been the story under Obama during Trump's rise so why it's a good thing now I don't get
-Keystone is not winning an for the life of me I don't know what RW propaganda is saying that has convinced people otherwise because the facts about the little impact it will have on our countries economy is all over the place

[bandg]

The health care push was a failure, yes. But just to play devil's advocate:
-Pulled out of TPP
-Nominated Neil Gorsuch, who sailed through confirmation hearings and will be confirmed
-Stock market roaring, healthy job market (yes Obama gets credit here, but remember that a lot of people were predicting a depression/recession if Trump got elected)
-40% drop in illegal border crossings (messaging matters)
-Keystone pipeline approved

-Tpp was gonna get killed by whoever won an was already dying.
-Neil is hardly winning as picking a RW sc nom is the easiest thing Trump can do
-The stock market being high has been the story under Obama during Trump's rise so why it's a good thing now I don't get
-Keystone is not winning an for the life of me I don't know what RW propaganda is saying that has convinced people otherwise because the facts about the little impact it will have on our countries economy is all over the place

-We'll never know, but IMO if Hillary was elected, TPP would have been approved after some cosmetic changes.
-SCOTUS nominations should be slam dunks, but not always the case: see Harriet Miers.

[Atlas Has Shrugged]

The winning is happening.  It is the recently vacated home on the street where an immigrant family used to live.  You might not know it without looking closely, but the food on the table is rotten because it was left without time to clean it up, and while the TV is on, no one is there to watch it apart from the solitary teddy bear sitting on the corner of the sofa.

That's a win right there too!

[Ronnie]

It'll start when there's a terrorist attack, unfortunately.

[Associate Justice PiT]

The health care push was a failure, yes. But just to play devil's advocate:
-Pulled out of TPP
-Nominated Neil Gorsuch, who sailed through confirmation hearings and will be confirmed
-Stock market roaring, healthy job market (yes Obama gets credit here, but remember that a lot of people were predicting a depression/recession if Trump got elected)
-40% drop in illegal border crossings (messaging matters)
-Keystone pipeline approved

It's all a matter of perspective.

     It's like when people came up with lists of all Obama's achievements to make a point about how wonderful his Presidency was, ignoring the deep festering problems with our country that continued to fester unnoticed. One of the factors that feeds the partisan divide is that there are always things you can pull out to make the case for your side, and avoid reconciling it with the case against your side.

[Absentee Voting Ghost of Ruin]

The health care push was a failure, yes. But just to play devil's advocate:
-Pulled out of TPP
-Nominated Neil Gorsuch, who sailed through confirmation hearings and will be confirmed
-Stock market roaring, healthy job market (yes Obama gets credit here, but remember that a lot of people were predicting a depression/recession if Trump got elected)
-40% drop in illegal border crossings (messaging matters)
-Keystone pipeline approved

It's all a matter of perspective.

     It's like when people came up with lists of all Obama's achievements to make a point about how wonderful his Presidency was, ignoring the deep festering problems with our country that continued to fester unnoticed. One of the factors that feeds the partisan divide is that there are always things you can pull out to make the case for your side, and avoid reconciling it with the case against your side.

I've noticed a distinct predilection for false equivalents in the Trump-cult. Trump's presidential "successes", as listed above, bear a large similarity to his claimed successes as a businessman: they're either claiming credit for something happening anyway, or pen-stroke triumphs that are briefly celebrated and then ignored (except in the rate occasions when successes emerge down the road, which he will promptly take credit for).

His failures, on the other hand, happen where a degree of judgement and skill in execution over time is needed. At least, that's when they're not self-goals created by the lack of those things to begin with.

[Gass3268]

via Imgflip Meme Generator

[Hermit For Peace]

Maybe Trump "misspoke."

Maybe he meant whining cuz there's sure been a lot of that.

[The_Doctor]

Trump will be one of the least effective Presidents in this modern era. To be honest the same would've gone for Hillary Clinton. Anyone elected after 2016 but before a breakthrough Presidency is going to be highly ineffective. We're in that phase of the political-economic cycle.

But to make Trump's specific case worse he lost the popular vote (he won simply because Hillary Clinton was the neoliberal imcumbent party who had ruled for eight years and represented the old minority Democratic Party) and has middling approval ratings, going underwater by February. This, by the way, is during a relatively strong economy. He didn't inherit a recession or high inflation. The last one was 2010, meaning we're about to hit one. So these three factors guarantee Trump's Presidency will be weak. The House Freedom Caucus and a lot of Congressional Republicans know this, which is why they openly defy the White House.

And I haven't even gotten to the inexperience issue, which was plainly visible during the healthcare debacle. The gridlock and polarization will continue apace as well. This will weaken Trump's hand even more.

This is just the tip of the iceberg too. There's a fundamental mismatch between the changing economy and Trump's policies. Remember Old Economy areas voted Trump heavily, while New Economy voted Clinton. You can see this in how the administration pursues coal mining as somehow an industry worth saving despite the fact they're hemorrhaging jobs and have been doing so for a generation. There's also a cultural mismatch as diversifying America is largely unrepresented by Trump's Norman Rockwell white America.

So, that's what I mean when I say Trump is now the victim of events and not their master. His political capital is extremely weak and even a major event like 9/11 (which hopefully will never happen ever again) will only boost him temporarily against the political - economic - cultural factors running against him. George Bush 43 is a classic example of this.

Trump's inability to compromise with Democratic Congressmembers is going to be limited because of polarization and gridlock. There's simply not the kind of space for a president to reach out to the opposition and expect significant political benefits. In Trump's case, however, he has made his opposition singularly focused on bringing down his Presidency. He has guaranteed that Democrats will constantly refuse to help him.

So he's forced to rely on the neoliberal Ryan - led Republican coalition and the insurgent radicals on the Right to get the meager stuff he wants done. There's no space for grand things to be done.

Trump is actually running below my expectations of him. In short his supporters shouldn't expect much #winning.

[Inmate Trump]

Trump will be one of the least effective Presidents in this modern era. To be honest the same would've gone for Hillary Clinton. Anyone elected after 2016 but before a breakthrough Presidency is going to be highly ineffective. We're in that phase of the political-economic cycle.

I don't know.

I think Hillary might have had a hard time somewhat, simply because Republicans have an unnatural and undefined hatred of her, but I do believe she would've been more effective as president than Trump. She knows Washington, she can actually form a coherent sentence, and even with all the scandals in her closet she is actually a patriot (that is, she wouldn't sell the country out to a foreign power). Clinton, for all her many faults (and there are many), would still work to better the country and its people. Trump works for Trump to better Trump and his brand; he has no care for the country, or its people. He only serves himself and his desires; everything else is unimportant.

[Angel of Death]

Obamacare surviving isn't a win?

[pbrower2a]

Trump will be one of the least effective Presidents in this modern era. To be honest the same would've gone for Hillary Clinton. Anyone elected after 2016 but before a breakthrough Presidency is going to be highly ineffective. We're in that phase of the political-economic cycle.

He already is one of the most ineffective Presidents ever. He has failed to convince people who voted against him to go along with him. He is creating rifts among his electoral supporters. His speech is just slightly more lucid than that of Sarah Palin. He is more effective at inspiring grass-roots opposition than in getting people to give him a chance. He got his chance, misused it, and has lost too much credibility.

Politics under Donald Trump has become little more than patronage for economic elites who can get more only by fleecing or squeezing the rest of us.

   

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When the Obama bull market comes to an end, Donald Trump and the GOP will own the recession. America has been in a "Throw the bums out" mode for a long time, and now Republicans are the bums. 

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Start slow and seek small victories first. Get in the practice of winning and analyze the results for strengths and weaknesses. Beginning chess players do not start in matches with Karpov or Kasparov.

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The solution for Coal Country is to put more effort into formal education so that it can attract more modern industry. Coal is not even the Wave of the Future in energy.

Don't knock Norman Rockwell as a painter. He made his adjustments to industrial reality and even to the Civil Rights struggle. A painter in his heritage would recognize the importance of 'newer' Americans and Americans joining the mainstream. It's possible to imagine him depicting Hispanics who used to be concentrated where he rarely found subjects for paintings -- and mixed-race families and same-sex couples.  I can see him depicting Asians as owners of small business, very much a part of what used to be Norman Rockwell's America.
 

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He sowed the whirlwind that he rides, and we have no idea where the whirlwind will take him and us. It certainly won;t be the wonderful world of Oz.

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As many who saw the victory of Donald Trump and the inability of the Democrats to at least win the Senate with nearly pure trepidation, I expected a nearly-totalitarian lockstep. All that could protect us would be the Bill of Rights, and that was likely to come under attack. If Barack Obama foolishly expected politicians owned by Big Business to act on conscience and the welfare of constituents in exaggerated optimism about the goodness of Humanity, Donald Trump chooses to appeal to the worst in human nature -- which is far more dangerous and destructive.

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It will be what Obama could do for two years -- get what you can while you can. But Trump is far behind Obama at this stage -- and his unpopularity is building even faster.

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I expect him to do much damage to the Republican Party.