Boo hoo, Trump is smarter than he let's on..

[SunsetBengal]

Wow, I can almost hear the feinted sobs in Kathleen Parker's writings..

http://www.msn.com/en-us/news/opinion/opinion-how-can-you-still-doubt-trump%E2%80%99s-intelligence/ar-BBD5X71?li=BBmkt5R&ocid=spartandhp

Quote:Five months into Donald Trump’s administration, only the unwise doubt the president’s intelligence.
Sponsored by Comparisons.org

Just ask former FBI director James B. Comey, who, in addition to being fired by Trump, has been redefined by the president as a dishonest leaker who might have lied were it not for nonexistent tapes of their conversations.
Wait, what?
Keep up on politics with The Washington Post's 5-Minute Fix newsletter
It takes a craven sort of cunning to pull that one off. One day, Comey, a man admired for his brilliance and integrity, is investigating possible collusion in the 2016 presidential race between Russia and the Trump campaign. The next, he’s watching his professional life unravel on television and reading that he’s not to be trusted.
Trump didn’t stop at upending the man’s career, cutting short his FBI directorship by six years. He next tweeted that Comey better hope there were no “tapes” (quotation marks his) of their private conversation that subsequently became the focal point of congressional investigations.
There were tapes?!
Of course, there were no tapes. Did anyone really think there were? Well, yes, there could have been tapes — just as there could have been a legitimate Trump University. To the credulous goes the nation.
But no president ever admits to tapes, at least not until a subpoena becomes inevitable. Or, as in this case, when the House Intelligence Committee demands such tapes, if they exist.
They don’t, Trump finally tweeted after more than a month of suspense-building hedging. But caveat trumptor: The president says he doesn’t personally have any recordings of the conversation, but who knows, what with all the surveillance around these days?
The media, alas, had no choice but to entertain the possibility that there were tapes. Like it or not, there’s no ignoring a president’s statements. Thus, television anchors and pundit panels have devoted hundreds of hours to examining the what, ifs and buts of the illusory tapes: What would it mean if they existed? What would it mean if they didn’t? Was Trump bluffing? Was he trying to intimidate Comey?
No doubt enjoying the scramble to his latest manufactured distraction, Trump chided reporters: “You’re going to be very disappointed when you hear the answer.” Perhaps. But then, life with Trump is a roller coaster of anticlimaxes.
Trump supporters, I suspect, knew all along that he was bluffing. They’re in on the joke, which is actually a Southern tradition — goofing on the media, saying outrageous stuff for the pleasure of watching reporters write it down. Who cares what reporters think, anyway, goes the thinking.
To them, Trump was taunting Comey the way they wish they could, giving him the what-for. You think you’re so tall. Toying with media and other elites has become the sport of both “commoners” and the king these days. When Trump isn’t playing king, he’s happy to be the court jester. With a shrug of his shoulders and a smirkish smile, he conveys “whatever.”
We tend to forget, too, that Trump is a professional bluffer. We keep thinking he’s the president of the United States. That’s his title, but his identity is Donald J. Trump, television star, celebrity wheeler-dealer, a man who grabs what he wants. Everything he says or does should first be considered in this context.
Poor Comey. Burdened with seriousness, he wore a black tie to a circus.
When he testified earlier this month before the Senate Intelligence Committee, saying that Trump suggested that he drop his investigation of Michael Flynn, that he wrote memos about his interactions and leaked them to the media because he feared Trump might lie about them — he was obviously telling the truth.
Otherwise, why admit to the leak — otherwise known as discreet information-sharing, which, you may as well know, makes the world go ’round. It also occurred post-firing and after Trump’s tweet about the tapes.
Yet Trump, who denies everything, has managed to create a fictional narrative that not only justifies his dangling bluff but also gilds it as a moral victory: He tweeted about tapes to make sure “leaker” Comey would be honest when he testified.
Well now.
It takes a certain kind of intelligence to spin a yarn so counterintuitive and defiantly false that some people will believe it anyway. Alternatively, Trump could be just as confused as he hopes others will be.
Read more from Kathleen Parker’s archive, follow her on Twitter or find her on Facebook.

[GMDino]

(06-24-2017, 06:39 PM)SunsetBengal Wrote: Wow, I can almost hear the feinted sobs in Kathleen Parker's writings..

http://www.msn.com/en-us/news/opinion/opinion-how-can-you-still-doubt-trump%E2%80%99s-intelligence/ar-BBD5X71?li=BBmkt5R&ocid=spartandhp

[SunsetBengal]

(06-24-2017, 07:18 PM)GMDino Wrote:

..

[Rotobeast]

(06-24-2017, 07:50 PM)SunsetBengal Wrote: ..

They took the bar !

[Belsnickel]

Just responding to the title without reading anything in the thread, but that seems like a very low bar to step over.

[ballsofsteel]

Trump is the first special needs president. He can't help it he is so stupid. If his old man didn't leave him millions of dollars, he would be in a mental institution.
I did hear he is set to star in Wedding Crashers 2.

[SunsetBengal]

(06-25-2017, 06:01 PM)ballsofsteel Wrote: Trump is the first special needs president. He can't help it he is so stupid. If his old man didn't leave him millions of dollars, he would be in a mental institution.
I did hear he is set to star in Wedding Crashers 2.

See, I knew that this thread would appeal to you.

[HarleyDog]

[SunsetBengal]

(06-25-2017, 06:59 PM)HarleyDog Wrote:

Man, as if the failed "Russian collusion probe" wasn't enough, you have to go and rip their hearts out with this..

[BmorePat87]

Sunset, I hope this thread was posted with as much jest as her op-ed was.

[Vlad]

“Black unemployment has been on the decline since February — falling from (February) 8.1, (March) 8.0, (April) 7.9, and (May) 7.5%, according to data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

https://www.bls.gov/news.release/pdf/empsit.pdf

[Griever]

arent we still running on obamas economic budget and plan from last year? dont remember anything about trump submitting any budgets yet (i think he will in october)

[Vlad]

Hope the trend continues.

Coincidentally recall the last time that remarkable improvements occurred within the black community?
That was under Reagan.

I chose a source written by a black guy. There's half a chance the source will half heartedy be met with your approval.

The good that Reagan did for black America

San Diego Tribune ^ | 6.11.04 | Joseph Perkins

Posted on ‎6‎/‎13‎/‎2004‎ ‎3‎:‎15‎:‎35‎ ‎PM by ambrose
UNION-TRIBUNE
June 11, 2004
I cast my very first presidential ballot for Ronald Reagan. That set me apart from most of my fellow black Americans, 90 percent of whom gave their votes to Jimmy Carter in 1980 and Walter Mondale in 1984.
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Even as the nation mourns Reagan's passing this week, many blacks retain their animus toward the 40th president, as evidenced by the uncharitable remarks by several black leaders.
"Black grandmothers like mine said always speak well of the dead or keep quiet," Rep. Major Owens, the New York Democrat told The Hill, a newspaper that covers Congress. "I choose to keep quiet."
"Many in the African-American community strongly disagreed with his domestic policy," said Rep. Al Wynn, a Maryland Democrat.
"In terms of being a president for African-Americans," said Diane Watson, a Los Angeles Democrat, "he was not."
Based on the remarks by Reps. Owens, Wynn and Watson, and similar sentiments expressed by other black leaders, one might conclude that the Reagan era was a period of retrenchment for the black population.
But the reality is, the 1980s, with a conservative, free-market Republican in the White House, were a boom time for black America.

Indeed, Andrew Brimmer, the Harvard-trained black economist, the former Federal Reserve Board member, estimated that total black business receipts increased from $12.4 billion in 1982 to $18.1 billion in 1987, translating into an annual average growth rate of 7.9 percent (compared to 5 percent for all U.S. businesses.
The success of the black entrepreneurial class during the Reagan era was rivaled only by the gains of the black middle class.

In fact, black social scientist Bart Landry estimated that that upwardly mobile cohort grew by a third under Reagan's watch, from 3.6 million in 1980 to 4.8 million in 1988. His definition was based on employment in white-collar jobs as well as on income levels.

All told, the middle class constituted more than 40 percent of black households by the end of Reagan's presidency, which was larger than the size of black working class, or the black poor.
The impressive growth of the black middle class during the 1980s was attributable in no small part to the explosive growth of jobs under Reagan, which benefited blacks disproportionately.

Indeed, between 1982 and 1988, total black employment increased by 2 million, a staggering sum. That meant that blacks gained 15 percent of the new jobs created during that span, while accounting for only 11 percent of the working-age population.
Meanwhile, the black jobless rate was cut by almost half between 1982 and 1988. Over the same span, the black employment rate ? the percentage of working-age persons holding jobs ? increased to record levels, from 49 percent to 56 percent.
The black executive ranks especially prospered under Reagan. The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission reported that the number of black managers and officers in corporations with 100 or more employees increased by 30 percent between 1980 and 1985.

During the same period, the number of black professionals increased by an astounding 63 percent.
The burgeoning of the black professional, managerial and executive ranks during the 1980s coincided with a steady growth of the black student population at the nation's colleges and universities in the 1980s.
Even though the number of college-aged blacks decreased during much of the decade, black college enrollment increased by 100,000 between 1980 and 1987, according to the Census Bureau.

Meanwhile, the 1980s saw an improvement in the black high school graduation rate, as the proportion of blacks 18 to 24 years old earning high school diplomas increased from 69.7 percent in 1980 to 76 percent by 1987.
On balance, then, the majority of black Americans made considerable progress in the 1980s.
More of us stayed in high school, graduated and went on to college. More of us were working than ever before, in better jobs and for higher wages.

The black middle class burgeoned to unprecedented size, emerging as the dominant income group in black America. And black business flourished, creating wealth in the black community.
Reps. Owens, Wynn and Watson may think that all of those wondrous developments were simply happenstance.
But the credit goes to Ronald Reagan, who initiated the policies that fostered the economic growth and job creation of the 1980s, which produced the prosperity that most black Americans enjoyed.
Perkins can be reached via e-mail at joseph.perkins@uniontrib.com
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/1152858/posts?page=27

[Griever]

(06-26-2017, 07:34 PM)SunsetBengal Wrote: Man, as if the failed "Russian collusion probe" wasn't enough, you have to go and rip their hearts out with this..

did Mueller stop being special counsel?

[Au165]

(06-27-2017, 10:13 AM)Vlad Wrote: Coincidentally recall the last time that remarkable improvements occurred within the black community?
That was under Reagan.

This is a joke right? You realize what Reagan's real effect on the black community was right?

[GMDino]

(06-27-2017, 09:34 AM)Vlad Wrote: “Black unemployment has been on the decline since February — falling from (February) 8.1, (March) 8.0, (April) 7.9, and (May) 7.5%, according to data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

https://www.bls.gov/news.release/pdf/empsit.pdf

http://www.npr.org/2017/01/29/511493685/ahead-of-trumps-first-jobs-report-a-look-at-his-remarks-on-the-numbers

Quote:Trump repeatedly claimed during the campaign that the federal government was understating the real unemployment rate.



"Don't believe these phony numbers," Trump told supporters early last year. "The number is probably 28, 29, as high as 35 [percent]. In fact, I even heard recently 42 percent."


Trump's nominee for treasury secretary, Steven Mnuchin, echoed that sentiment during his confirmation hearing.


"The unemployment rate is not real," Mnuchin told the Senate Finance Committee. "I've traveled for the last year. I've seen this."



The Labor Department actually publishes a variety of unemployment statistics, though none comes close to the figures Trump cited. The headline number of 4.7 percent counts only those who have actively looked for work in last four weeks.

[Benton]

(06-27-2017, 10:40 AM)Au165 Wrote: This is a joke right? You realize what Reagan's real effect on the black community was right?

https://www.ncjrs.gov/pdffiles1/nij/125618.pdf

Going back to the 70s shows a shift of our approach to incarcerating people, especially blacks. Less than a decade and prison admissions tripled while the percentages of blacks incarcerated doubled. Reagan's woefully bad 'war on drugs' only made those numbers worse as we started doling out longer sentences for minor drug offenses.

The end result? More people in prison at taxpayer expense, but little damage to those profiting from illegal drug trade.

[Au165]

(06-27-2017, 11:20 AM)Benton Wrote: https://www.ncjrs.gov/pdffiles1/nij/125618.pdf

Going back to the 70s shows a shift of our approach to incarcerating people, especially blacks. Less than a decade and prison admissions tripled while the percentages of blacks incarcerated doubled. Reagan's woefully bad 'war on drugs' only made those numbers worse as we started doling out longer sentences for minor drug offenses.

The end result? More people in prison at taxpayer expense, but little damage to those profiting from illegal drug trade.

You were supposed to let him respond! No fun.  Don't forget that the CIA backed Contras basically started the crack epidemic by having the ability to freely and easily import large amounts of Cocaine to LA where it was dispersed by freeway Rick Ross. Ross later says that without the huge discounts the Contras provided he wouldn't have been even close to successful as he was. Ross ends up doing 18 years for distributing the cocaine that the Contras brought in. His source and middle man to the Contras only ends up doing 2 years because he turns agent for the DEA. Eventually the DEA forces immigration to give him a green card even though he has a drug conviction so he can continue to work for them.

Basically, Regan and his cabinet facilitated the crack cocaine epidemic while simultaneously telling everyone to "just say no" and putting them in jail over it. That is not even looking at the disparity in sentencing standards for Crack (predominantly a black community drug at the time) vs cocaine (a drug predominantly used by white affluent people).

[Benton]

(06-27-2017, 11:25 AM)Au165 Wrote: You were supposed to let him respond! No fun.  Don't forget that the CIA backed Contras basically started the crack epidemic by having the ability to freely and easily import large amounts of Cocaine to LA where it was dispersed by freeway Rick Ross. Ross later says that without the huge discounts the Contras provided he wouldn't have been even close to successful as he was. Ross ends up doing 18 years for distributing the cocaine that the Contras brought in. His source and middle man to the Contras only ends up doing 2 years because he turns agent for the DEA. Eventually the DEA forces immigration to give him a green card even though he has a drug conviction so he can continue to work for them.

Basically, Regan and his cabinet facilitated the crack cocaine epidemic while simultaneously telling everyone to "just say not" and to put them in jail over it. That is not even looking at the disparity in sentencing standards for Crack (predominantly a black community drug at the time) vs cocaine (a drug predominantly used by white affluent people).

sorry

It's only been the last few years I've started taking an interest in our prison explosion. There's several things to point to at state or federal levels that caused it, a "perfect storm" of policy shifts where we went from 'you made a bad decision, here's a wake up call' to 'you made a bad decision, your life is never going to be the same.' The 70s through 80s were where the bulk of this happened. I don't think the intent was institutional racism, but it has impacted blacks more than whites.

[Au165]

(06-27-2017, 11:51 AM)Benton Wrote: sorry

It's only been the last few years I've started taking an interest in our prison explosion. There's several things to point to at state or federal levels that caused it, a "perfect storm" of policy shifts where we went from 'you made a bad decision, here's a wake up call' to 'you made a bad decision, your life is never going to be the same.' The 70s through 80s were where the bulk of this happened. I don't think the intent was institutional racism, but it has impacted blacks more than whites.

In Nixon's case though it has been confirmed it was driven by institutional racism. Now was Racism a byproduct of the black panther movement being a nuisance to him and his presidency? Maybe. This actually may be a good separate thread.