# Do we really "owe" Trump a chance? **URL:** \ **Category:** Politics & Elections\ **Created:** [November 13, 2016, 12:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-we-really-owe-trump-a-chance/771733 "2016-11-13T00:19:04Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 5
**Author:** ![Jane\_Smythe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f04885/32.png) [@Jane\_Smythe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jane_Smythe)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2016, 1:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-we-really-owe-trump-a-chance/771733/81 "2016-11-14T13:38:38Z")
> [@ThelmaLou](#): > > He has spent the last year telling and showing us exactly who he is. After every “holy crap!” moment, both sides kept expecting him to start behaving like a mature individual. He never did. So why NOW to we expect him to change? Wasn’t it Maya Angelou who said, “When people tell you who they are, Believe them.” > > A friend sent this [excellent article](http://www2.nybooks.com/daily/s3/nov/10/trump-election-autocracy-rules-for-survival.html) today. Though my quote is lengthy, the article is much longer. I encourage all to read the whole thing. > > It begins: > > The author goes on to list the rules of surviving in an autocracy: > \*“Good faith” in the opposition served Obama really well the last eight years, right? :rolleyes: He’s not going to change. People of the age of 70 and beyond do not make fundamental changes in their thinking, behavior or character. We have seen the real Trump over and over again. Anything that goes against that in any current behavior is because he is doing what he is told to do. He can’t keep that up consistently. The true bigot, racist, misogynist, narrow mined narcissist, will be the man we see most often. ---
**Author:** ![Shodan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9f8e36/32.png) [@Shodan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shodan)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2016, 1:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-we-really-owe-trump-a-chance/771733/82 "2016-11-14T13:44:30Z")
> [@septimus](#): > > Liberals thought Republicans were racist and hateful and Trump … did what? He won the election. All the protests about “not my President” and so forth are missing the point. Trump is the President. All y’all were calling Republicans haters and racists and yadda yadda. Then you lost the election. Now you are going to call Republicans haters and racists and yadda yadda. In order to achieve, apparently, what you achieved in the campaign. Which is not a whole lot. “We lost. Let’s double down.” Good luck with that. Regards, Shodan ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2016, 1:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-we-really-owe-trump-a-chance/771733/83 "2016-11-14T13:52:04Z")
That’s right-He’s the fucking President. But he ain’t the fucking Emperor, or even King. ---
**Author:** ![Omega\_Glory](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/7c8e57/32.png) [@Omega\_Glory](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Omega_Glory)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2016, 2:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-we-really-owe-trump-a-chance/771733/84 "2016-11-14T14:02:00Z")
He’s decided to bring a [white nationalis](http://www.nbcnews.com/politics/white-house/analysis-breitbart-s-steve-bannon-leads-alt-right-white-house-n683316)t with him to the white house, so no. ---
**Author:** ![gytalf2000](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/ac91a4/32.png) [@gytalf2000](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gytalf2000)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2016, 3:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-we-really-owe-trump-a-chance/771733/85 "2016-11-14T15:02:41Z")
> [@BobLibDem](#): > > If Republicans hadn’t acted like total douches for the entire Obama presidency, I’d say give Cheeto a chance. But you can’t let someone bitchslap you for eight years and make all nice when it’s their turn. Republicans have made it abundantly clear that the only thing they care about is political power for its own sake, we either react in kind or face extinction. Yeah, I’m thinking this way, myself. ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2016, 3:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-we-really-owe-trump-a-chance/771733/86 "2016-11-14T15:34:07Z")
> [@BobLibDem](#): > > We don’t owe that fucker the time of day. I hope the protests for the inaugural are huge and continue for every single day that pervert serves as the usurper in chief. Democrats should oppose every single thing he proposes and not give him a single vote on anything. If he wants a resolution proclaiming Girl Scout Week, filibuster it. That’s really a stupid idea. If you want something, you punish behavior you don’t like and reward behavior you do. ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2016, 3:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-we-really-owe-trump-a-chance/771733/87 "2016-11-14T15:44:03Z")
> [@RickJay](#): > > That’s really a stupid idea. > > If you want something, you punish behavior you don’t like and reward behavior you do. But you keep a close eye out for him doing substantial bad things while trying to balance it out by _saying_ inconsequential good things. For instance, proclaiming a “Girl Scout” _month_ doesn’t quite balance out the fact that he just appointed a white racist and a homophobic right-wing religionist to help him guide him. ---
**Author:** ![Lightnin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lightnin/32/180_2.png) [@Lightnin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lightnin)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2016, 4:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-we-really-owe-trump-a-chance/771733/88 "2016-11-14T16:27:29Z")
I think we owe him just as much of a chance as he was going to give Hillary. Remember when he said that she belonged in jail? Remember when he said that he’d accept the results of the election (if he won)? That much. ---
**Author:** ![Fubaya](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/c2a13f/32.png) [@Fubaya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fubaya)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2016, 4:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-we-really-owe-trump-a-chance/771733/89 "2016-11-14T16:56:17Z")
> [@Shodan](#): > > He won the election. > > All the protests about “not my President” and so forth are missing the point. Trump is the President. I think you’re the one missing the point. Those protests aren’t to change the election, they are to send the message that we won’t put up with his racist, sexist agenda and to show people who are being the victims of hate crimes in trumps name that we’re on their side. ---
**Author:** ![bordelond](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bordelond/32/150_2.png) [@bordelond](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bordelond)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2016, 5:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-we-really-owe-trump-a-chance/771733/90 "2016-11-14T17:01:21Z")
> [@Siam\_Sam](#): > > I’ve always doubted Trump believed much of what he was saying, and this is part of why he’s so disgusting. He’s shown it’s perfectly okay to spew the most outrageous of lies if it gets you want you want. Is this really a value we want to uphold? Sure, all politicians lie but not to such an extreme. And half the country is okay with it including several posters on this Board! It makes me think about whether or not the toothpaste can be put back into the tube. Will a civil, spotless candidate ever win a major party nomination again? ---
**Author:** ![BeepKillBeep](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/9e8a1a/32.png) [@BeepKillBeep](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BeepKillBeep)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2016, 6:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-we-really-owe-trump-a-chance/771733/91 "2016-11-14T18:26:51Z")
I think Americans did owe Trump a chance. He did win the election. However, in my view, that chance was used up when he nominated Steve Bannon as Chief Strategist. ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2016, 5:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-we-really-owe-trump-a-chance/771733/92 "2016-11-15T05:20:38Z")
> [@running\_coach](#): > > **Vinyl** never apologizes. **Vinyl** is really Donald Trump? :eek: ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2016, 5:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-we-really-owe-trump-a-chance/771733/93 "2016-11-15T05:23:03Z")
> [@Czarcasm](#): > > That’s right-He’s the fucking President. > > But he ain’t the fucking Emperor, or even King. And _that_ is what he has yet to learn. I think it’s going to come as quite a shock to him too. ---
**Author:** ![billfish678](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7bcc69/32.png) [@billfish678](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/billfish678)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2016, 1:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-we-really-owe-trump-a-chance/771733/94 "2016-11-15T13:45:37Z")
Poor Oprah. She said the other day that she saw Donalds acceptance speech and Trump’s meeting with Obama and Trump saying Obama was a good man as comforting (or something like that). Then she had the gall to suggest that maybe everybody need to “take a deep breath”. The libs ripped into her like a constipated Judge Judy on a bad day. Particularly the other lib movie stars. THIS is how rabid the libs are about not giving Trump a chance. Nor only not give a chance. Even the contemplation of such is a mortal sin. When Oprah gets shit you know its bad. ---
**Author:** ![Lightnin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lightnin/32/180_2.png) [@Lightnin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lightnin)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2016, 1:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-we-really-owe-trump-a-chance/771733/95 "2016-11-15T13:51:52Z")
> [@billfish678](#): > > Poor Oprah. > > She said the other day that she saw Donalds acceptance speech and Trump’s meeting with Obama and Trump saying Obama was a good man as comforting (or something like that). Then she had the gall to suggest that maybe everybody need to “take a deep breath”. > > The libs ripped into her like a constipated Judge Judy on a bad day. Particularly the other lib movie stars. > > THIS is how rabid the libs are about not giving Trump a chance. Nor only not give a chance. Even the contemplation of such is a mortal sin. When Oprah gets shit you know its bad. Is this the part where you make a bunch of snide comments about the “intolerant left”, and then secretly gloat when we get annoyed because it validates your statement? ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2016, 1:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-we-really-owe-trump-a-chance/771733/96 "2016-11-15T13:52:22Z")
> [@Siam\_Sam](#): > > And _that_ is what he has yet to learn. I think it’s going to come as quite a shock to him too. No “Think” about it. > **[Report: Trump was unfamiliar with the scope of the president's job when...](https://www.businessinsider.com/trump-obama-meeting-2016-11)** > > Donald Trump's lack of familiarity with the US government may be coming into view. Trump is hopelessly unprepared for this. No President has been less ready, ever, and he’s not going to be ready by January 20. His decision to appoint an amoral psychopath, Stephen Bannon, to a high position in the White House is much more easily explained if you bear this in mind. It’s not that Trump is a white supremacist, or likes white supremacy, or knows or cares about the alt-right. The denizens of the alt-right movement are just peasants to him. What matters is Bannon is a smart person who helped him and he’s dancin’ with them what brung him. He’s got no one in his circle of sycophants who knows any better. [QUOTE=Czarcasm] But you keep a close eye out for him doing substantial bad things while trying to balance it out by saying inconsequential good things. For instance, proclaiming a “Girl Scout” month doesn’t quite balance out the fact that he just appointed a white racist and a homophobic right-wing religionist to help him guide him. [/QUOTE] Honestly, I kind of thought this went without saying. Of course saying something nice and inconsequential does not counterbalance launching a nuclear missile at Johannesburg because the President of South Africa refused to let him win a game of golf. “Giving Trump a chance” means giving him exactly as much of the benefit of the doubt as he deserves, which isn’t the same for every person. In the case of a smart and decent person, which describes most people who’ve ever been President, there’s more benefit of the doubt than there is for an ignorant jerk, which Trump is. ---
**Author:** ![elucidator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8edcca/32.png) [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2016, 1:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-we-really-owe-trump-a-chance/771733/97 "2016-11-15T13:56:59Z")
His position carries more dignity than authority. Cold comfort. ---
**Author:** ![billfish678](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7bcc69/32.png) [@billfish678](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/billfish678)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2016, 1:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-we-really-owe-trump-a-chance/771733/98 "2016-11-15T13:57:28Z")
> [@Lightnin](#): > > Is this the part where you make a bunch of snide comments about the “intolerant left”, and then secretly gloat when we get annoyed because it validates your statement? Well, my definition of bunch, snide, and particularly the word secret apparently differ somewhat from yours. But yeah that might be it. But again seriously. Oprah gets skewered? She might be the canary in the coal mine for your folks. You guys might need to “take a deep breath” ---
**Author:** ![Icarus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/icarus/32/72_2.png) [@Icarus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Icarus)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2016, 2:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-we-really-owe-trump-a-chance/771733/99 "2016-11-15T14:04:06Z")
I will take my lead from Trump on how much I owe the new President a chance: [![]( " - YouTube") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Blckpwk1voQ) ---
**Author:** ![Waymore](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/919ad9/32.png) [@Waymore](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Waymore)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2016, 2:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-we-really-owe-trump-a-chance/771733/100 "2016-11-15T14:15:02Z")
Trump is owed a chance to the same degree that Obama or any other president was owed a chance at the beginning of his administration. If you bitched about the right wing not giving Obama a chance you’re a hypocrite if you do the same to Trump. Either give a new president a chance or shut up when a new president more to your liking is not given a chance by those who disagree with you. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-we-really-owe-trump-a-chance/771733.md?page=4) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-we-really-owe-trump-a-chance/771733.md?page=6)