When Donald Trump met Chancellor Angela Merkel of Germany earlier this month, he put on one of his most truculent and ignorant performances. He wanted money — piles of it — for Germany’s defense, raged about the financial killing China was making from last year’s Paris climate accord and kept “frequently and brutally changing the subject when not interested, which was the case with the European Union.”
This was the summation provided to me by a senior European diplomat briefed on the meeting. Trump’s preparedness was roughly that of a fourth grader. He began the conversation by telling Merkel that Germany owes the United States hundreds of billions of dollars for defending it through NATO, and concluded by saying, “You are terrific” but still owe all that dough. Little else concerned him.
Trump knew nothing of the proposed European-American deal known as the Trans-Atlantic Trade and Investment Partnership, little about Russian aggression in Ukraine or the Minsk agreements, and was so scatterbrained that German officials concluded that the president’s daughter Ivanka, who had no formal reason to be there, was the more prepared and helpful. (Invited by Merkel, Ivanka will attend a summit on women’s empowerment in Berlin next month.)
[...]
Trump could just actually believe all that stuff.
Hahaha, wow. That seems entirely plausible.
But either way, Trump is making the US a joke and it hasn't even been like 3 months.
There's been some questioning of the veracity of the Germans' claims on other outrageous aspects of the Merkel meeting, or that's what i've been hearing (namely the claim that Trump gave Merkel an actual bill), so there's cause to be wary of these reports, though i don't doubt that they're correct in a general sense.
Dr Doom wouldn't be conservative enough for these people
Ofcourse not.
He'd provide free healthcare and food assistance to everyone.
You have to think two or three generations ahead.
If you provide free health care and food, the people are more likely to love the country unconditionally. That's when you start leaning ultranationalist, and the people are more likely to go for it.
What I'm saying is we all need remember to keep an eye on Canada around 2100. They're biding their time for now, but...
GNU Terry Pratchett
PSN: Wstfgl | GamerTag: An Evil Plan | Battle.net: FallenIdle#1970
Hit me up on BoardGameArena! User: Loaded D1
When Donald Trump met Chancellor Angela Merkel of Germany earlier this month, he put on one of his most truculent and ignorant performances. He wanted money — piles of it — for Germany’s defense, raged about the financial killing China was making from last year’s Paris climate accord and kept “frequently and brutally changing the subject when not interested, which was the case with the European Union.”
This was the summation provided to me by a senior European diplomat briefed on the meeting. Trump’s preparedness was roughly that of a fourth grader. He began the conversation by telling Merkel that Germany owes the United States hundreds of billions of dollars for defending it through NATO, and concluded by saying, “You are terrific” but still owe all that dough. Little else concerned him.
Trump knew nothing of the proposed European-American deal known as the Trans-Atlantic Trade and Investment Partnership, little about Russian aggression in Ukraine or the Minsk agreements, and was so scatterbrained that German officials concluded that the president’s daughter Ivanka, who had no formal reason to be there, was the more prepared and helpful. (Invited by Merkel, Ivanka will attend a summit on women’s empowerment in Berlin next month.)
[...]
Trump could just actually believe all that stuff.
Hahaha, wow. That seems entirely plausible.
But either way, Trump is making the US a joke and it hasn't even been like 3 months.
It was his first day meeting the German Chancellor.
Lex Luthor would at least sell his company if he were elected president.
Luthor would know all the shit he'd have to give up to be President and would never run in the first place. He's already more powerful than the President where he is already, no way would he voluntarily take a demotion. Trump's an idiot and didn't realize just how much shit the President gets thrown at him at a daily basis nor did he realize just how much scrutiny he's under. He basically gave up his power as a media and real estate mogul that could spew all the bullshit he wanted to become the most disliked President in the history of recording Presidential approval ratings. All he knows is acting like a businessman so he engages with foreign dignitaries as if he's running a business and ends up fucking over the country by pissing them off.
Lex Luthor would at least sell his company if he were elected president.
Luthor would know all the shit he'd have to give up to be President and would never run in the first place. He's already more powerful than the President where he is already, no way would he voluntarily take a demotion. Trump's an idiot and didn't realize just how much shit the President gets thrown at him at a daily basis nor did he realize just how much scrutiny he's under. He basically gave up his power as a media and real estate mogul that could spew all the bullshit he wanted to become the most disliked President in the history of recording Presidential approval ratings. All he knows is acting like a businessman so he engages with foreign dignitaries as if he's running a business and ends up fucking over the country by pissing them off.
My absolute favorite line in the entire DCAU is
"President? Do you know how much power I'd have to give up to be President?"
Lex Luthor would at least sell his company if he were elected president.
Luthor would know all the shit he'd have to give up to be President and would never run in the first place. He's already more powerful than the President where he is already, no way would he voluntarily take a demotion. Trump's an idiot and didn't realize just how much shit the President gets thrown at him at a daily basis nor did he realize just how much scrutiny he's under. He basically gave up his power as a media and real estate mogul that could spew all the bullshit he wanted to become the most disliked President in the history of recording Presidential approval ratings. All he knows is acting like a businessman so he engages with foreign dignitaries as if he's running a business and ends up fucking over the country by pissing them off.
Trump is benefiting heavily, it's just all illegal. Trump is still receiving bribes from foreign dignitaries in the form of sweetheart business deals and use of his facilities. The House has asked GAO to look at whether he's really been giving up his foreign profits like he promised. The obvious answer is no, he hasn't, as he'd make a big deal about it. And now everyone will tut tut and wag their fingers, he'll go on profiting immensely, then eventually leave office and there will literally be no legal mechanism to punish him.
Lex Luthor would at least sell his company if he were elected president.
Luthor would know all the shit he'd have to give up to be President and would never run in the first place. He's already more powerful than the President where he is already, no way would he voluntarily take a demotion. Trump's an idiot and didn't realize just how much shit the President gets thrown at him at a daily basis nor did he realize just how much scrutiny he's under. He basically gave up his power as a media and real estate mogul that could spew all the bullshit he wanted to become the most disliked President in the history of recording Presidential approval ratings. All he knows is acting like a businessman so he engages with foreign dignitaries as if he's running a business and ends up fucking over the country by pissing them off.
Actually Luthor did become president, and sold off his company as part of that. That's kinda the joke here Trump is literally worse than a fucking comic book villain.
But will Trump die from radiation poisoning and have scientists implant his consciousness within a younger clone of himself that has real hair and knows kung fu?
“There is kind of a clear separation of church and state that we maintain, and I am deadly serious about that exercise,” [Eric Trump] says, echoing previous statements from his father. “I do not talk about the government with him, and he does not talk about the business with us. That’s kind of a steadfast pact we made, and it’s something that we honor.”
But less than two minutes later, he concedes that he will continue to update his father on the business while he is in the presidency. “Yeah, on the bottom line, profitability reports and stuff like that, but you know, that’s about it.” How often will those reports be, every quarter? “Depending, yeah, depending.” Could be more, could be less? “Yeah, probably quarterly.”
The fig leaf is totally discarded, and every other nation is fully aware of it.
“There is kind of a clear separation of church and state that we maintain, and I am deadly serious about that exercise,” [Eric Trump] says, echoing previous statements from his father. “I do not talk about the government with him, and he does not talk about the business with us. That’s kind of a steadfast pact we made, and it’s something that we honor.”
But less than two minutes later, he concedes that he will continue to update his father on the business while he is in the presidency. “Yeah, on the bottom line, profitability reports and stuff like that, but you know, that’s about it.” How often will those reports be, every quarter? “Depending, yeah, depending.” Could be more, could be less? “Yeah, probably quarterly.”
The fig leaf is totally discarded, and every other nation is fully aware of it.
How stupid these folks are is fucking infuriating to me. I scrape by living paycheck to paycheck and these fucking idiots literally run the world!? How the fuck does that work? They're just fuckin lucky their grandfather was a fucking rich businessman. Not one of them could survive without blatant nepotism.
“There is kind of a clear separation of church and state that we maintain, and I am deadly serious about that exercise,” [Eric Trump] says, echoing previous statements from his father. “I do not talk about the government with him, and he does not talk about the business with us. That’s kind of a steadfast pact we made, and it’s something that we honor.”
But less than two minutes later, he concedes that he will continue to update his father on the business while he is in the presidency. “Yeah, on the bottom line, profitability reports and stuff like that, but you know, that’s about it.” How often will those reports be, every quarter? “Depending, yeah, depending.” Could be more, could be less? “Yeah, probably quarterly.”
The fig leaf is totally discarded, and every other nation is fully aware of it.
How stupid these folks are is fucking infuriating to me. I scrape by living paycheck to paycheck and these fucking idiots literally run the world!? How the fuck does that work? They're just fuckin lucky their grandfather was a fucking rich businessman. Not one of them could survive without blatant nepotism.
The last year or so has really helped my understanding of the French Revolution and various period dramas.
I'd actually prefer to have the person voted in to be the president, even if he is a piece of shit.
It isn't like his election was actually the will of the people. We'd just be going from one person who didn't have majority approval to another one.
It was the will of the nation, however.
Has the administration begun filling in the ambassador ranks yet?
Nope! The only ambassadorial appointments made since the election are Nikky Haley (UN) and David Friedman (Israel).
(ed. - and Friedman was only appointed last week.)
There's a few dozen legacy appointments Trump's since permitted to say around, and fifty to sixty positions which have been vacant since January.
Was listening to the Bombshells podcast last night, and they were listing all the Asian diplomatic positions that Trump's left unfilled, and then ruminating on the lack of Asian expertise anywhere on the Trump team, concluding that the Trump administration is completely unprepared to deal with the Korean peninsula right now. Dovetails with concerns expressed earlier that Trump was blacklisting the many foreign policy experts who spoke out against him during the campaign, because after doing that as well as ruling out Democrats, there's nobody fucking left to staff the White House's international relations positions.
Yep, no ambassador to China, South Korea or Japan, and none to Sweden, through whose embassy the US handles what little contact there is.
I'm pretty sure there isn't a single US ambassador in central or western Europe right now either. The Balkans and basically any Eastern European countries which Russia considers in their sphere still have the legacy appointments, but that's about it.
Yep, no ambassador to China, South Korea or Japan, and none to Sweden, through whose embassy the US handles what little contact there is.
I'm pretty sure there isn't a single US ambassador in central or western Europe right now either. The Balkans and basically any Eastern European countries which Russia considers in their sphere still have the legacy appointments, but that's about it.
He nominated our governor, Terry Brandstad, for ambassador to China (and they can fucking keep him) on Dec7, so to some tiny extent it's not like he's just 100% not doing shit. The nomination was announced in early December and first senate confirmation hearings aren't until next week at the earliest.
“There is kind of a clear separation of church and state that we maintain, and I am deadly serious about that exercise,” [Eric Trump] says, echoing previous statements from his father. “I do not talk about the government with him, and he does not talk about the business with us. That’s kind of a steadfast pact we made, and it’s something that we honor.”
But less than two minutes later, he concedes that he will continue to update his father on the business while he is in the presidency. “Yeah, on the bottom line, profitability reports and stuff like that, but you know, that’s about it.” How often will those reports be, every quarter? “Depending, yeah, depending.” Could be more, could be less? “Yeah, probably quarterly.”
The fig leaf is totally discarded, and every other nation is fully aware of it.
How stupid these folks are is fucking infuriating to me. I scrape by living paycheck to paycheck and these fucking idiots literally run the world!? How the fuck does that work? They're just fuckin lucky their grandfather was a fucking rich businessman. Not one of them could survive without blatant nepotism.
The last year or so has really helped my understanding of the French Revolution and various period dramas.
I visited Versailles today. A massive, gilded monument to one man's vanity. All I could think, going through the royal suites, was how Trumpesque it was.
Shadowhope on
Civics is not a consumer product that you can ignore because you don’t like the options presented.
“There is kind of a clear separation of church and state that we maintain, and I am deadly serious about that exercise,” [Eric Trump] says, echoing previous statements from his father. “I do not talk about the government with him, and he does not talk about the business with us. That’s kind of a steadfast pact we made, and it’s something that we honor.”
But less than two minutes later, he concedes that he will continue to update his father on the business while he is in the presidency. “Yeah, on the bottom line, profitability reports and stuff like that, but you know, that’s about it.” How often will those reports be, every quarter? “Depending, yeah, depending.” Could be more, could be less? “Yeah, probably quarterly.”
The fig leaf is totally discarded, and every other nation is fully aware of it.
How stupid these folks are is fucking infuriating to me. I scrape by living paycheck to paycheck and these fucking idiots literally run the world!? How the fuck does that work? They're just fuckin lucky their grandfather was a fucking rich businessman. Not one of them could survive without blatant nepotism.
The last year or so has really helped my understanding of the French Revolution and various period dramas.
I visited Versailles today. A massive, gilded monument to one man's vanity. All I could think, going through the royal suites, was how Trumpesque it was.
Except it was also magnificently brilliant and was a true genius move at governing.
What is this I don't even.
+14
Options
BlackDragon480Bluster KerfuffleMaster of Windy ImportRegistered Userregular
“There is kind of a clear separation of church and state that we maintain, and I am deadly serious about that exercise,” [Eric Trump] says, echoing previous statements from his father. “I do not talk about the government with him, and he does not talk about the business with us. That’s kind of a steadfast pact we made, and it’s something that we honor.”
But less than two minutes later, he concedes that he will continue to update his father on the business while he is in the presidency. “Yeah, on the bottom line, profitability reports and stuff like that, but you know, that’s about it.” How often will those reports be, every quarter? “Depending, yeah, depending.” Could be more, could be less? “Yeah, probably quarterly.”
The fig leaf is totally discarded, and every other nation is fully aware of it.
How stupid these folks are is fucking infuriating to me. I scrape by living paycheck to paycheck and these fucking idiots literally run the world!? How the fuck does that work? They're just fuckin lucky their grandfather was a fucking rich businessman. Not one of them could survive without blatant nepotism.
The last year or so has really helped my understanding of the French Revolution and various period dramas.
I visited Versailles today. A massive, gilded monument to one man's vanity. All I could think, going through the royal suites, was how Trumpesque it was.
Except it was also magnificently brilliant and was a true genius move at governing.
Yep, it originally let Louis XIV keep his friends close and enemies closer. He was a paranoid jackass after the Fronde and having to be snuck out of the Louvre under cover of darkness as a kid, and Versailles was an extension of that. And he perfected the cult of personality to such a degree, that we may never see the like again in human history. The official diplomatic stance of France for the rest of his reign was literally l'etat c'est moi, "I am the state", and the rest of Europe went along with it.
Of course Louis could also back up his self-confidence by being a guy that was a tireless worker (got up at 7AM, could work till midnight, while skipping meals and anything not directly related to government business), gifted administrator and diplomat (when he had to be), and a man that looked for the best talent available, regardless of station or circumstance of birth. Was a bit of a shitty general and his military failures near the end kinda started the decline of France, but for a guy that reigned 60+ years, his outcomes were pretty positive. So, while his ego was a match or even bigger than Trump's, the rest of the package would be far preferable to what we currently have.
It's Louis XV-XVI courts and styles that were so blindingly incompetent and Trumpesque that the Revolution wound up happening.
BlackDragon480 on
No matter where you go...there you are. ~ Buckaroo Banzai
There's been some questioning of the veracity of the Germans' claims on other outrageous aspects of the Merkel meeting, or that's what i've been hearing (namely the claim that Trump gave Merkel an actual bill), so there's cause to be wary of these reports, though i don't doubt that they're correct in a general sense.
Literally nothing that trump has said or done leads me to doubt the German's claims about him being utterly ignorant.
Gosh, what a surprise. According to the BBC the US representative to the United Nations has informed the UN that the US is no longer prioritising the removal of the Russian backed Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.
Gosh, what a surprise. According to the BBC the US representative to the United Nations has informed the UN that the US is no longer prioritising the removal of the Russian backed Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.
Gosh, what a surprise. According to the BBC the US representative to the United Nations has informed the UN that the US is no longer prioritising the removal of the Russian backed Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.
Do we actually have a better alternative at this point?
Posts
Hahaha, wow. That seems entirely plausible.
But either way, Trump is making the US a joke and it hasn't even been like 3 months.
At this point, "competent evil businesswoman" would be a definite step up.
I'd settle for reliably insane super villain.
Ofcourse not.
He'd provide free healthcare and food assistance to everyone.
You have to think two or three generations ahead.
If you provide free health care and food, the people are more likely to love the country unconditionally. That's when you start leaning ultranationalist, and the people are more likely to go for it.
What I'm saying is we all need remember to keep an eye on Canada around 2100. They're biding their time for now, but...
PSN: Wstfgl | GamerTag: An Evil Plan | Battle.net: FallenIdle#1970
Hit me up on BoardGameArena! User: Loaded D1
I'd actually prefer to have the person voted in to be the president, even if he is a piece of shit.
Not sure about that. Incompetent evil doesn't actually accomplish much evil. Competent evil does.
It isn't like his election was actually the will of the people. We'd just be going from one person who didn't have majority approval to another one.
It was his first day meeting the German Chancellor.
Doom is a statesman.
Luthor would know all the shit he'd have to give up to be President and would never run in the first place. He's already more powerful than the President where he is already, no way would he voluntarily take a demotion. Trump's an idiot and didn't realize just how much shit the President gets thrown at him at a daily basis nor did he realize just how much scrutiny he's under. He basically gave up his power as a media and real estate mogul that could spew all the bullshit he wanted to become the most disliked President in the history of recording Presidential approval ratings. All he knows is acting like a businessman so he engages with foreign dignitaries as if he's running a business and ends up fucking over the country by pissing them off.
My absolute favorite line in the entire DCAU is
"President? Do you know how much power I'd have to give up to be President?"
(He was actually running, but not for reals)
Trump is benefiting heavily, it's just all illegal. Trump is still receiving bribes from foreign dignitaries in the form of sweetheart business deals and use of his facilities. The House has asked GAO to look at whether he's really been giving up his foreign profits like he promised. The obvious answer is no, he hasn't, as he'd make a big deal about it. And now everyone will tut tut and wag their fingers, he'll go on profiting immensely, then eventually leave office and there will literally be no legal mechanism to punish him.
Actually Luthor did become president, and sold off his company as part of that. That's kinda the joke here Trump is literally worse than a fucking comic book villain.
It was the will of the nation, however.
Has the administration begun filling in the ambassador ranks yet?
And if Luthor wanted to keep control of his company he'd do it through intermediaries or something
but Trump is too bad at this/no one cares
Probably not.
After Promising Not To Talk Business With Father, Eric Trump Says He'll Give Him Financial Reports
The fig leaf is totally discarded, and every other nation is fully aware of it.
How stupid these folks are is fucking infuriating to me. I scrape by living paycheck to paycheck and these fucking idiots literally run the world!? How the fuck does that work? They're just fuckin lucky their grandfather was a fucking rich businessman. Not one of them could survive without blatant nepotism.
The last year or so has really helped my understanding of the French Revolution and various period dramas.
it's just
nobody cares that he lies about everything as long as he keeps the fascism going
Nope! The only ambassadorial appointments made since the election are Nikky Haley (UN) and David Friedman (Israel).
(ed. - and Friedman was only appointed last week.)
There's a few dozen legacy appointments Trump's since permitted to say around, and fifty to sixty positions which have been vacant since January.
Was listening to the Bombshells podcast last night, and they were listing all the Asian diplomatic positions that Trump's left unfilled, and then ruminating on the lack of Asian expertise anywhere on the Trump team, concluding that the Trump administration is completely unprepared to deal with the Korean peninsula right now. Dovetails with concerns expressed earlier that Trump was blacklisting the many foreign policy experts who spoke out against him during the campaign, because after doing that as well as ruling out Democrats, there's nobody fucking left to staff the White House's international relations positions.
I'm pretty sure there isn't a single US ambassador in central or western Europe right now either. The Balkans and basically any Eastern European countries which Russia considers in their sphere still have the legacy appointments, but that's about it.
He nominated our governor, Terry Brandstad, for ambassador to China (and they can fucking keep him) on Dec7, so to some tiny extent it's not like he's just 100% not doing shit. The nomination was announced in early December and first senate confirmation hearings aren't until next week at the earliest.
Except it was also magnificently brilliant and was a true genius move at governing.
Yep, it originally let Louis XIV keep his friends close and enemies closer. He was a paranoid jackass after the Fronde and having to be snuck out of the Louvre under cover of darkness as a kid, and Versailles was an extension of that. And he perfected the cult of personality to such a degree, that we may never see the like again in human history. The official diplomatic stance of France for the rest of his reign was literally l'etat c'est moi, "I am the state", and the rest of Europe went along with it.
Of course Louis could also back up his self-confidence by being a guy that was a tireless worker (got up at 7AM, could work till midnight, while skipping meals and anything not directly related to government business), gifted administrator and diplomat (when he had to be), and a man that looked for the best talent available, regardless of station or circumstance of birth. Was a bit of a shitty general and his military failures near the end kinda started the decline of France, but for a guy that reigned 60+ years, his outcomes were pretty positive. So, while his ego was a match or even bigger than Trump's, the rest of the package would be far preferable to what we currently have.
It's Louis XV-XVI courts and styles that were so blindingly incompetent and Trumpesque that the Revolution wound up happening.
~ Buckaroo Banzai
Literally nothing that trump has said or done leads me to doubt the German's claims about him being utterly ignorant.
and the rest is "that b*tch Hillary with a German accent".
Would Putin need to say anything? She's neither a man nor a member of his golfclub.
Also: theres no way that she gave the impression that she has any respect for him.
Did she announce it Russian?
Do we actually have a better alternative at this point?