# Another Trump thread - what if his approach actually works? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [January 17, 2017, 3:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-trump-thread-what-if-his-approach-actually-works/777387 "2017-01-17T15:06:50Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 8\ **Page:** 5
**Author:** ![Knowed\_Out](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/knowed_out/32/7380_2.png) [@Knowed\_Out](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Knowed_Out)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2017, 6:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-trump-thread-what-if-his-approach-actually-works/777387/81 "2017-01-20T18:41:49Z")
> [@Der\_Trihs](#): > > I’m “unable to answer the question” because it’s a poorly defined, complete counterfactual. > > _“If Trump and the Republicans were completely different people acting in a completely different way for an undefined goal, what would your opinion of that goal be”_ isn’t an answerable question. That’s nowhere near what I asked. I asked what if Trump’s policies and actions actually yield positive results. You may not think it’s possible, but that’s what hypothetical questions are all about. ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2017, 8:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-trump-thread-what-if-his-approach-actually-works/777387/82 "2017-01-20T20:35:18Z")
> [@billfish678](#): > > The OP’s question is terrible. Heck, most of us seem to not even know exactly WHAT The question is. And a bunch of you seem to be fighting the hypothetical…even though nobody agrees on exactly what it is. > > MY point is that Trump will do what most career politicans won’t do. See a solution to a problem and DO IT. Life, and the Presidency, is not a Nike ad. You can’t just DO IT. You have to actually decide what has to be done and then convince people to engage in actions that will make it happen. > [@](#): > > What I AM saying is…TRUMP WILL DO SOMETHING… Well, sure. He will breathe, consume food, and do things like walking and talking. Whether he will actually take substantive action on things, we don’t know. I’m not sure why you’re so confident he will, though. ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2017, 9:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-trump-thread-what-if-his-approach-actually-works/777387/83 "2017-01-20T21:25:35Z")
> [@Knowed\_Out](#): > > That’s nowhere near what I asked. I asked what if Trump’s policies and actions actually yield positive results. You may not think it’s possible, but that’s what hypothetical questions are all about. What’s a “positive result”? If on Trump’s initiative the US government magically deports 100% of the Muslims and we have no more San Bernardino-style shootings, is that positive or negative? To my mind that’s a gigantic negative about on a level of ripping up the Constitution and declaring martial law for eternity. The cure was far, far worse than the trivial inconvenience (I can’t bring myself to call it a disease) of domestic Muslim crime. Other folks may think that’s a fine solution with only good effects. Even the side effects of the side effects are Good. Or so they think. Setting aside **Der Trihs** ’s upsetness, the central problem is that we now have a society now composed of lots of people who are willing to clamp on blinders to believe only part of the truth, not all of it. And we have powerful forces actively selling that part-truth (or total non-truth) as the whole and accurate story. How can we measure anything when everyone has a bigly different ruler and we can’t even come close to agreeing on where the points to measure between are? ---
**Author:** ![Der\_Trihs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/der_trihs/32/233_2.png) [@Der\_Trihs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Der_Trihs)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2017, 2:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-trump-thread-what-if-his-approach-actually-works/777387/84 "2017-01-21T02:45:26Z")
> [@Knowed\_Out](#): > > That’s nowhere near what I asked. I asked what if Trump’s policies and actions actually yield positive results. Trup and the Republicans don’t _want_ positive results. Not that you’ve explained just what you think they are. ---
**Author:** ![foolsguinea](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/foolsguinea/32/14751_2.png) [@foolsguinea](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/foolsguinea)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2017, 5:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-trump-thread-what-if-his-approach-actually-works/777387/85 "2017-01-21T05:32:44Z")
> [@Der\_Trihs](#): > > “Honesty, integrity and responsibility” aren’t American virtues in the first place, or Trump and the Republicans wouldn’t have gotten elected. Malice, cruelty and bigotry are what America stands for, and why they were elected. > > What the electorate _wants_ is a reign of terror, to punish “them” and purge America of “them”. And far too many Americans aren’t bright enough to realize that to somebody else,\* they \*are “them” too. Unfortunately, I think this really is true of some large number of persons. We are all “them” to someone else; but knowing that doesn’t always make the hatred go away. ---
**Author:** ![foolsguinea](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/foolsguinea/32/14751_2.png) [@foolsguinea](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/foolsguinea)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2017, 5:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-trump-thread-what-if-his-approach-actually-works/777387/86 "2017-01-21T05:56:47Z")
> [@Knowed\_Out](#): > > That’s nowhere near what I asked. I asked what if Trump’s policies and actions actually yield positive results. You may not think it’s possible, but that’s what hypothetical questions are all about. > [@RickJay](#): > > 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. Asked and answered, I think. Not by Der Trihs, but still. ---
**Author:** ![kopek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kopek/32/337_2.png) [@kopek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kopek)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2017, 2:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-trump-thread-what-if-his-approach-actually-works/777387/87 "2017-01-22T02:45:47Z")
I know its basically been said but: a) It would shock the shit out of me b) I would probably try to find excuses why or at least other people/factors to give credit to c) I will probably point out that things would have been even better faster if Hillary hadn’t screwed Bernie out of the chance to run and win d) I’ll probably vote for whatever Democrat runs against Trump next cycle ---
**Author:** ![GIGObuster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gigobuster/32/421_2.png) [@GIGObuster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GIGObuster)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2017, 6:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-trump-thread-what-if-his-approach-actually-works/777387/88 "2017-01-22T06:38:42Z")
> [@billfish678](#): > > No. You are not getting my point. > > The OP’s question is terrible. Heck, most of us seem to not even know exactly WHAT The question is. And a bunch of you seem to be fighting the hypothetical…even though nobody agrees on exactly what it is. > > MY point is that Trump will do what most career politicans won’t do. See a solution to a problem and DO IT. > > I’m not saying he would be right. I’m not saying he would be insightful. I’m not saying he would actually be solving a “problem” that even existed. > > What I AM saying is…TRUMP WILL DO SOMETHING…and after some/maybe just a little /even no thought about said problem…he will do his best TO DO IT…end of story… > [@RickJay](#): > > Life, and the Presidency, is not a Nike ad. You can’t just DO IT. You have to actually decide what has to be done and then convince people to engage in actions that will make it happen. > [@billfish678](#): > > What I AM saying is…TRUMP WILL DO SOMETHING… > [@RickJay](#): > > Well, sure. He will breathe, consume food, and do things like walking and talking. Whether he will actually take substantive action on things, we don’t know. I’m not sure why you’re so confident he will, though. I would add also that eventually Trump will have to deal with a senate that also has a few Republicans that never supported Trump or decided to drop their support for him like McCain And Flake from Arizona. Besides not having the 60 votes needed for dubious big changes, Trump may find times were even the simplest majorities will not be easy to get. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-trump-thread-what-if-his-approach-actually-works/777387.md?page=4)