As we near the presidential inauguration, I ask you dopers, will you give Trump a chance?
(And yes, I was intending a poll for this topic, but I messed up and didn’t add one. Opinions are welcome.)
I did. I tried very hard to pretend everything would be all right. Then he inserted Steve Bannon and Mike Flynn, respectively a white nationalist in charge of a disturbingly successful propaganda outfit and a conspiracy theorist to government positions. Then he nominated Betsy DeVos for SecEd, a decision I really don’t think could have been much more absurd.
At this point, Trump has gotten more than enough “chances”. Every indication shows that his agenda is either malicious or brainless, and that he doesn’t deserve any further consideration. My only hope is that his more hare-brained schemes, like destroying NATO and the EU, don’t actually happen.
To be honest, I’m still giving this guy a chance. Even if his ratings are bad, I’ll still give him a chance when he starts the job. (Now if only employers could see the same way about me…)
EDIT: And there’s still the power of the vote. If he does poorly, you can expect my finger to be picking the better person for the job in the computer box. If the inverse is true and he does well, I’ll vote red. (Bruce Rauner doesn’t get my vote anymore, though. He got one for the republican nomination for governor in IL back in 2014, but he won’t get it again.)
I’m sorry, but he is not fit to hold the office, if for no other reason than his birtherism crusade. He kept that going for years. Years. That our still sitting POTUS was born in Kenya.
There are dozens of other reasons for my not wanting to give him a chance, but some of these cabinet picks have been terrible (HUD, EPA, Labor, Education, among others).
Do I have a choice?
Trump will be the president. He and the Congress will do their constitutional duties as they see fit. Some of their policies will be enacted, and we’ll see what happens as a result. To that extent, yes, he has a chance.
I won’t tell my elected representatives to roll over and give him everything he wants. I also won’t change my priorities; “let’s lock up Hillary, let Russia annex eastern Europe, and start subsidizing coal mining,” if that’s what you mean by giving Trump a chance, not gonna happen.
There’s another thread asking people what metrics we should use in 4 years to measure whether Trump has been a success. I like that approach, assuming that the criteria are reasonable and the data for them is scrupulously compiled. One example I’d use is the federal deficit. Trump’s supporters have made a big deal of electing someone with business experience to get the budget under control. Okay, let’s look at the deficit now and in 4 years; I’m willing to give Trump (and the Republican majority in Congress) that chance; are Republicans ready to do the same?
Can’t he be both, like the late Earl Warren?
For several months now, he has behaved like a mentally unstable idiot, I can only conclude that this is who he is. I see no benefit in waiting for him to stop acting like a mentally unstable idiot and many reasons why I should do what I can to limit the damage he will do to the country.
“When he starts”? He’s already started. A lot of his influence on the US over the next years will be through his cabinet appointees, and they are appalling. You could try to claim that Donald will have the final say and will direct them, and that we should give him the chance to do so, but the evidence at hand is that he either doesn’t care enough to find knowledgable people, or that he actually wants the destruction his choices indicate.
What if he reduces the deficit but cripples the military, various industries, the health care system and the education system?
Meh, Pit:
To do what?
I’ll give him about the same chance as I would for a serial charger, or an addict in denial: there’s a non zero chance that he’ll change from what he’s been doing his entire adult life, but the likelihood is incredibly low.
The more I think about it, the more I think it’s a strange question. A chance to do what? In the time since the election he has already:
- Undermined NATO, an institution that has been the foundation of US peace since 1949;
- Challenged the One China policy that has been integral to US policy with China for 40 years;
- Stated that John Lewis who marched with MLK and faced down death to build a more just and equitable world was “all talk”
- Said that the EU was not important to the US
- Alienated Germany, an important US ally
- Called the US intelligence community Nazis
- Nominated profoundly unqualified people to his cabinet who demonstrated they didn’t have an even basic understanding of the agencies they will lead
- Refused to divest himself of his business interests, including foreign business interests which means he will likely be impeachable from his first day in office.
And that’s off the top of my head. So I ask you, give him a chance to do what?
serial cheater, not charger. damn auto-spelling phone touch keyboard…
He had his chance to show that the campaign was all just an act. He had his chance to show that despite his antics and inability to coherently present a plan that he was going to change the system (i.e. drain the swamp). He had his chance to show that he was legitimately interested in helping out lower and middle class America.
Then he nominated his cabinet, in particular, for me nominating a climate change denier to head the EPA.
Then he continued to show how thin-skinned, childish and unstable he is on Twitter.
Then it became increasingly clear that he plans to only enrich himself.
Then it became increasingly clear that he is in bed with Putin.
And so on.
So, no, I will fight against Trump in every way that I can.
I’ll give him until Monday, since he doesn’t seem to want to start working until then.
Yup. It’s like asking me if I’ll give a rabid baboon with a loaded gun a chance.
The question is incoherent. I’m in no position to give him a chance or not.
Change it slightly: if he stops doing terrible shit and starts doing good things, will I support his efforts to do good things?
If, for example, he withdraws his nominee for Secretary of Education and instead nominates somebody who has some experience and knowhow and isn’t trying to burn things to the ground, I’ll support his efforts to make public education better.
If, for example, he withdraws his nominee for attorney general and instead nominates somebody who supports the enforcement of civil rights laws, I’ll support his efforts to make our country less racist.
If, for example, he decides not to appeal the ACA until there’s something in place that will for real expand affordable access to health care for even the most vulnerable US citizens, I’ll support his efforts to make our country healthier.
But will I support him when he does obnoxious things that make our country worse, as he’s promised to do and as he’s currently trying to do with his nominees? Of course not. Why would I?
I’ll consider his proposals as I would any president’s. If they make sense, I’ll support them. If they don’t, I won’t. I will be looking at his proposals a bit more closely, though, as I think his main purpose is to enrich himself, but I don’t see any reason to oppose him just for the sake of opposing him.
“Not My President” is a childish response that refuses to accept reality. If you’re not at the point where you think we should take up arms and overthrow the government, then you’re just taking your marbles and going home. No one is going to care.
I have little choice, really. I’ll not praise him but i’ve no need to talk a lot of shit about him, either. There’s enough shit out there already.
This is about what I was going to say. Like it or not (I don’t), he’s going to become the President tomorrow. He and his party will be able to institute all sorts of policies. I can’t stop that. “Giving him a chance” just means “not engaging in armed insurrection”, which is sort of the default for me.