View Full Version : From Make America Great Again to Make Afghanistan Great Again?
Bye bye Bannon, here come the generals.
A nice distraction from Russiagate?
I think this will ramp up the deficit and affect retirees down the road.
It was an interesting speech - basically I heard Afghanistan needs to fix it, Pakistan needs to fix it, even India needs to fix it. A lot of fluff - I actually didn't hear anything in that speech that we were going to do - did I miss it?
Eclipses traditionally portend disaster. Let's hope not.
On NPR they said it's likely we're sending 4000 additional trainers. Not sure how that comports with the part about killing terrorists and not nation building. But i'm sure his badese loved that line.
He is committing to a troop increase but being vague about it, stating he will defer to whatever the generals think is necessary.
goldensmom
8-22-17, 5:57am
It was an interesting speech - basically I heard Afghanistan needs to fix it, Pakistan needs to fix it, even India needs to fix it. A lot of fluff - I actually didn't hear anything in that speech that we were going to do - did I miss it?
Eclipses traditionally portend disaster. Let's hope not.
That is what I heard too. I did not hear anything about the US fixing Afghanistan, rebuilding Afghanistan or making Afghanistan great again (was it?). I didn't know about the eclipse part but, yes, lets hope not.
freshstart
8-22-17, 8:19am
I'm slightly eased that he's leaving the war mongering to his Generals, just hoping they use that power wisely
I didn't even listen to him. He's such a con-artist, it seemed like such a waste of time to even watch it, so I didn't. I, too, am slightly eased that he has a couple people around him who are more reasonable than he will ever be.
I liked most of what I heard. No deadlines or red lines that would need to be walked back or denied later. No micromanaging commanders in the field for political purposes. I liked that he showed enough humility to say he had changed his mind from his campaign position.
I thought it was one of his better speeches.
There has to be something in it for him--maybe a kickback from all the plundered minerals...
For God's sake, can't we give the rest of the world a break? We're not the only country (by a mile) that is dealing with terrorist attacks. I say ramp up our intelligence--maybe we can even squelch Russian incursions into our political process if we do. Afghanistan is unwinnable and not worth a single life. Ass.
I thought it was one of his better speeches.
Indeed. He stuck to the script, and as a result sounded competent. Admittedly a low bar. But to paraphrase Rumsfeld, "As you know, you get presidented by the president you have, not the president you might want or wish to have at a later time."
Indeed. He stuck to the script, and as a result sounded competent. Admittedly a low bar. But to paraphrase Rumsfeld, "As you know, you get presidented by the president you have, not the president you might want or wish to have at a later time."
Rumsfeld was always a realist. We could do with more of his breed in this tantrum-prone age.
Much like his predecessor, I do think Trump sounds smarter with the teleprompter than without it.
It was an interesting speech - basically I heard Afghanistan needs to fix it, Pakistan needs to fix it, even India needs to fix it. A lot of fluff - I actually didn't hear anything in that speech that we were going to do - did I miss it?
Eclipses traditionally portend disaster. Let's hope not.
We are going to spend money we don't have, that is what we are going to do.
While education is a mess, the elderly live on pennies and crime threatens to take us.
We are going to spend money we don't have, that is what we are going to do.
While education is a mess, the elderly live on pennies and crime threatens to take us.
It would be nice if we could pay our Secret Service agents for all the overtime they're racking up to shepherd our Wastrel in Chief from golf course to golf course, but the money to do that has apparently run out.
I think it's outrageous that the King expects so much Secret Service coverage. It shows his narcissism, for sure. He's the only one he cares about and has absolutely no empathy or concern for anyone else.
You know when he sounds a little reasonable, that he's reading from the teleprompter........and they are words that someone else wrote for him. What an unbelievable crazy time this is. We really need him out of there before he destroys everything.
goldensmom
8-22-17, 11:35am
I liked most of what I heard. No deadlines or red lines that would need to be walked back or denied later. No micromanaging commanders in the field for political purposes. I liked that he showed enough humility to say he had changed his mind from his campaign position.
I thought it was one of his better speeches.
The President is, of course, privy to information that presidential candidates do not have so changing stances on issues should be expected to some extent. I too am glad that, upon gaining further information, President Trump ‘changed his mind’ on Afghanistan. Shows flexibility or that he can 'evolve' which is the word used with issues in the previous administration. It seems prudent to me that we should all adjust our views on issues if needed when further information is received.
I don't think anyone knows what his real feelings are about anything. He's a chameleon, changing his "beliefs" whenever it suits him at the moment or gets him what he wants at any given moment. And that moment is always changing.
I'm all for giving people a chance......but IMHO, he is evil and will never change.
Teacher Terry
8-22-17, 12:02pm
Much like his predecessor, I do think Trump sounds smarter with the teleprompter than without it.
Ldahl: I can't believe you are comparing an actual great president, great speaker to this con artist. I did not think I would ever say this but at this point in time I miss Bush. Ugh!
Much like his predecessor, I do think Trump sounds smarter with the teleprompter than without it.
Ldahl: I can't believe you are comparing an actual great president, great speaker to this con artist. I did not think I would ever say this but at this point in time I miss Bush. Ugh!
Believe it. I always thought he was dreadful off the cuff. I didn't think so much he was a great president as a guy who played one on TV.
Believe it. I always thought he was dreadful off the cuff. I didn't think so much he was a great president as a guy who played one on TV.
Perfect description of Ronald Reagan.
The current schlub isn't even that good.
Perfect description of Ronald Reagan.
The current schlub isn't even that good.
I see Reagan as the last time greatness inhabited the White House. He brought us out of our petulant funk of the 1960s and 70s. He humbled the Soviet Union. He helped break a cancerous inflation. He reminded us that government serves at the peoples' pleasure and not the other way around. He didn't lecture us about "teachable moments", he spoke to us as an equal. I can't imagine any of the recent incumbents joking with the people wheeling him into the operating room to cut out an assassin's bullet.
I miss the Gipper.
I see Reagan as the last time greatness inhabited the White House. He brought us out of our petulant funk of the 1960s and 70s. He humbled the Soviet Union. He helped break a cancerous inflation. He reminded us that government serves at the peoples' pleasure and not the other way around. He didn't lecture us about "teachable moments", he spoke to us as an equal. I can't imagine any of the recent incumbents joking with the people wheeling him into the operating room to cut out an assassin's bullet.
I miss the Gipper.
And he lied about "welfare queens" to start the misperception that lazy, poor black people collect the majority of government benefits. And ran up larger deficits than every president before him so that he could give tax cuts to the wealthiest. And was one of the last world leaders to ever even say the word AIDS, and that only after his press secretary on more than one occasion had used questions about AIDS from reporters to make fag jokes. No thanks. I'll take an intelligent nerd in mom jeans any day of the week compared to him.
And he lied about "welfare queens" to start the misperception that lazy, poor black people collect the majority of government benefits. And ran up larger deficits than every president before him so that he could give tax cuts to the wealthiest. And was one of the last world leaders to ever even say the word AIDS, and that only after his press secretary on more than one occasion had used questions about AIDS from reporters to make fag jokes. No thanks. I'll take an intelligent nerd in mom jeans any day of the week compared to him.
It would be interesting to see who history remembers more fondly a century or two hence.
It would be interesting to see who history remembers more fondly a century or two hence.
I suppose that will depend on who gets to write the history books.
goldensmom
8-23-17, 12:17pm
I suppose that will depend on who gets to write the history books.
Excellent point. For example, I remember John F. Kennedy as a president when he was president and probably do not think as fondly of him as those who only read about him.
catherine
8-23-17, 12:25pm
Excellent point. For example, I remember John F. Kennedy when as a president when he was president and probably do not think as fondly of him as those who only read about him.
I was in 6th grade when he died, so I hadn't formed a very intelligent opinion of him; I do remember being carried away by his charisma. But I actually wrote Jackie a letter afterwards. I thought she was so classy and beautiful, and I thought that Lady Bird was such an inferior replacement as a First Lady. Now I kind of appreciate Lady Bird for her work planting wildflowers along the interstates. A simple touch, but I love it.
Excellent point. For example, I remember John F. Kennedy when as a president when he was president and probably do not think as fondly of him as those who only read about him.
Well there was at least one person who didn't think of him fondly as a president... But seriously, imagine how differently history looks from the perspective of native Americans, to think of just one example.
It's hard to say specifically how future readers and writers of history will judge. Probably mostly in terms of how our past affects their present. Was Western Civilization a flowering of new knowledge and individual freedom or a rapacious destroyer of weaker cultures in the name of individual profit?
Was Western Civilization a flowering of new knowledge and individual freedom or a rapacious destroyer of weaker cultures in the name of individual profit?
Yes.
goldensmom
8-24-17, 6:33am
I was in 6th grade when he died, so I hadn't formed a very intelligent opinion of him; I do remember being carried away by his charisma. But I actually wrote Jackie a letter afterwards. I thought she was so classy and beautiful, and I thought that Lady Bird was such an inferior replacement as a First Lady. Now I kind of appreciate Lady Bird for her work planting wildflowers along the interstates. A simple touch, but I love it.
I also remember President Kennedy’s charisma and Mrs. Kennedy’s classiness. I was in 5th grade when the president was assassinated. My family was politically active - both sides - which made for many spirited kitchen table discussions. My only exposure to things political were family, the Detroit Free Press, the 6 PM news on TV and a few magazines. No political pundits, 24 hr news channels or social media. I certainly hold no ill toward President Kennedy but knew enough about his less than 3 year term to have a more real assessment (as I am sure you do too, catherine) than many who only know from what they read. We will never know what history would have written had he served 8 years as president.
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