Another Trump thread - what if his approach actually works?

In My Humble Opinion
1

There’s threads aplenty on the Dope about Trump’s destructive and abrasive actions and words. I certainly didn’t vote for the guy, because I don’t like his example.

But what if his approach works?

Trump sees himself as a winner, and winners believe in themselves 100%. not letting evidence to the contrary deter them. He’s not a politician, has no ounce of tact, and fights back without sugar coating his words or using doublespeak, no matter how infantile it looks.

He doesn’t believe in working with what he perceives as weak and inferior individuals whom he regards as perennial bureaucrats who have no desire to hurry along change. One of his numerous low points was insulting war hero John McCain, averring that he likes guys who didn’t get captured. In his eyes, McCain was a victim and a loser and therefore not valuable as a resource. Heartless his opinion may be, but is he wrong? What remarkable thing has McCain accomplished aside from running for president and losing?

He’s already spurred infighting among Republicans, by claiming everybody will still be insured after the ACA is repealed. The Repubs weren’t going for that at all. They’re trying to get the government off the hook for medical expenses, but Trump preempted them and put them all on the spot. If they can’t rebound from this, they were losers anyway, and he’ll just find somebody else to do the job. He’s already forcing them to cover his ass, and that could spur them out of their comfort zones. Obama tried to sway them through guilt, and that never worked. Now Donald is making promises they can’t keep. In his eyes, if they’re not up to the job, they don’t deserve their seats anyway.

If he goes back on his word, he doesn’t acknowledge that he made a mistake or express regret. That’s what losers do. Trump’s not going to apologize for racism, sexism, arrogance, cronyism, whatever. He dismisses those as protestations of the weak and losers who never accomplished anything noteworthy. They can’t control him through shame because only losers worry about shame.

He’s effectively crashed through barriers by not considering them important. He took Alexander the Great’s approach to the Gordian Knot. So what if it’s not really untied? It’s no longer an issue, if it ever was in the first place. He’s the megabull in the china shop. What good is china anyway? It’s just for looking at and has no practical value. Getting rid of the china shop makes room for a business people will actually visit - that’s how he looks at it.

So what if he pisses off China and threatens tariffs? That puts China on the defensive, not him. So what if he and Putin are buddies? Winners don’t let international politics get in the way. Better to ask for forgiveness than permission, but in Trump’s case, forget about asking for forgiveness. That’s loser talk.

Like it or not, that approach made him a (maybe) billionaire, and got him elected president. He’s got no reason to believe his system is faulty, so he’s going to keep using it. What if it actually works? It has so far.

2

If it works, in the sense that it delivers world that is on balance, much better, then hurrah, mostly. I mean, not so good for all the crushed weaklings, but there’s an argument that you can’t make an omelette without shafting the poor, or something like that.

If it works in the sense that he succeeds in doing what he intends, and it causes mayhem, then his successor and America, but also to some extent, the whole world, has to deal with the outcomes.

3

What’s the criteria for it “working” with him as president? It’s made him a celebrity, allowed him to use tons of money on himself and his projects and gotten him elected president, yes. It’s also made him an object of ridicule, even if he can’t grasp that, it’s cost a lot of people and companies a lot of money, and it’s poisoned American politics and public discourse even worse than the anti-cooperation politicians and media has managed over the last decade or two.

What will count as it working when he’s president? If he manages to implement stupid policies and blame their failure on someone else, will that still constitute “it working”?

4

Define “works”. Who was the last president whose term of office actually “worked”?

No matter what happens, there are going to be perceived winners and losers, who can attribute their circumstances to executive policy.

Maybe the last president who left the nation in better shape than they found it was FDR, from a crushing depression to a post-war boom… Before that maybe James K. Polk, who annexed most of the west, or at least, was president when it came time to annex the west.

5

Then awesome!

That’s one of the great things about living in a democracy. You can vote against and rally against whomever you want but at the end of the day you will benefit from their good stuff just like all these anti-Obama folks have for the past 8 years.

I would love more than anything to say “boy were we all wrong about Trump, huh?! The economy! The climate! The health care! The world peace!”

Totally willing to eat crow, hats, shoes, whatever for all of that.

6

Trump doesn’t have anything you could seriously call an approach. He does nothing consistently. So unless you can call flailing about wildly an approach I would say the question is moot.

He appears to be completely uninterested in governing, so maybe we can hope that some underling has a plan. Maybe whoever is going to be acting president, while he is going to the celebrations he keeps throwing to honor himself and fiddling with his phone, can have an approach.

You have heard that as far as he is concerned the US is going to be without a president for three days following the inauguration because he is going to be too busy partying. He says he won’t be president until Monday morning. :eek:

7

If his approach “works”, then the end result will be a fundamental shift in the structure of US government, because this:

…isn’t how the US system works. Members of Congress are not beholden to the President for their seats, they are the duly elected representatives of the constituents of their electoral districts or states. They have real power, over which they ultimately have sole control. No other entity in the world can compel them to vote Yea if they decide to vote Nay. For so long as a majority of their constituents agrees with them, and votes for them, there is nothing Trump can do to take their seats away.

To change that would require a fundamental rewriting of the rules that establish the US system of government.

8

Well France is saying Trump’s words are an “act of war” against Europe. So he is not heading in any constructive direction so far as I can tell…

But our government could use an overhaul. If he is successful, then I will be the first to congratulate him! I DO have an open mind.

9

Really? That sounds about as stupid as something Trump would say.

As for the OP, then: Yay for us! We got it right after all!!

10

Imo, the reason Trump got elected was to blow up the status quo: enough Democrats stayed at home, enough disenfranchised got up off their asses and voted.

The political class failed the people once too often.

So there is that, and there is the Law of Unexpected Consequences.

Quite where the world will be at the end of the ride is anyone’s guess but it will be quite the ride.

11

What if Stalin’s approach had actually worked? What if the Shining Path’s approach had actually worked?

Would the Good Things outweigh the Bad Things?

Not terribly likely.

However, if what you mean to ask is: What if Trump does a good job, is competent, and follows through on none of his evil policies? What if there were only Good Things and no Bad Things?

Well, I’d be alright with that. No worries.

12

So is sliding down a razor blade. Good luck finding anyone who enjoys the results.

13

Sure, it has “worked” in the sense that he got what he wanted. It will probably get him what he wants now, which (I suspect) is even more power and attention. But what he wants is not necessary what’s good for anybody else.

14

Problem: Over Population.

Solution: Kill 1/2 of the population. Just kill them. Select them. Round them up. Kill them.

Would this approach “actually work”? Well, yes. Over population would no longer be a concern. But, this approach comes with a tremendous amount of baggage. I could go on and on about all of the physical difficulties, the moral implications, the total societal upheaval.

And, believe it or not, it’s actually been done. They called it the Black Death.

Would I vote for the return of the Black Death? No. Why Not?!? It would mean that the problem of Over Population would be solved. The reason why not is that even if I am a survivor, I wouldn’t want to live in a world like that. There’s too much baggage, too little attention & thought given to it.

As much as we might like, the world’s problems don’t have unencumbered easy solutions - or they’d have already been implemented.

15

If it works and he solves problems we have in America today then I will vote for him for re-election. The first Republican presidential candidate I have voted for since Bush the senior.

16

Do you think you and Trump even agree on what are the “problems we have in America today”?

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But what if THAT is pretty much the only solution to the problem?

A CAREER politician sure as heck wouldn’t do it.

Donald Trump might.

And I think that is kinda what the OP is getting at.

18

Not that I didn’t believe this, because now, anything is believable when it comes to the Buffoon, but here’s a link: Trump says 'day one' of his administration will be Monday, not his inauguration

W was the “CEO President,” I guess Trump will be the “9 to 5 President”. He won’t work on weekends.

19

Obviously I and any decent human being honestly want Trump to be a successful President. I honestly hope his administration will make Americans better off and lead the world to greater pece and prosperity. I hope he will in fact do none of the horrible things his alt-right supporters want him to and that instead his New York liberal side will emerge and he will make the USA a better place. Utopia is impossible, just just improvement would be nice.

I have no expectation he will do this; I am 99.9% sure he will be the worst President who ever lived, and I think the chances he will cause a new Great Depression or an apocalyptic war are much higher than the chances he will be a passable President. But I really do hope I am wrong. And if I am, I’ll say so in four years.

I mean, if one of you guys posted, “Hey, everyone, I just swallowed an ounce of Cesium-137, 'cause the radioactivity will make me a superhero!” my firm expectation is that you would not, in fact, become a superhero, but that you would die a spectacular and excruciating death. Indeed, I would say I am quite certain your ill-advised decision would be your doom. But I HOPE I’m wrong. I really, sincerely want you to become a superhero and laugh at me for being a doubter.

I just know where the smart money is.

20

If the Trump approach works, you guys should save a bunch of money by shutting down the infrastructure of the White House and installing this guy as your new permanent head of state.