Trump

[Little stoned kiwi]

A wall will be the most disastrous thing to hurt the US economy since the abolishment of slavery.
If there's anything the angry white men have to fear, it's giving voting rights to the second-class citizens already there.

It might give Canada ideas as well. They could build a wall at the US's expense.

[KlaxonCow]

The weird thing, besides how he does that thing of referring to himself in the third person, in what Trump initially said is that he's actually implicitly admitting that he doesn't know what the fuck is going on:

"Donald J. Trump is asking for a total and complete shutdown of Muslims entering the United States until our country's representatives can figure out what the hell is going on".

But, of course, he's saying that in the context of running for office as the country's primary representative - the President - so what he's really saying there is "I'm going to shut that down until I work out what the fuck I'm supposed to be doing".

And that's his pitch for being President. Essentially along the lines of: "Vote for me, because I don't know what the fuck is going on and when I don't yet know how I ought to be tackling a problem, I'm just going to shut everything down until I finally figure it out".

Great policy. What else is he going to do? Because he has trouble understanding the tax code, he's just going to shut down the entire tax system until he can finally figure it out? Because he clearly doesn't really understand how women work, he's just going to ban women from doing anything, until he can figure out what the hell is going on with them?

Actually, yeah, thinking about it, that kind of is one of his other policies, isn't it? So, basically, his grand pitch for becoming President is "nothing happens until I eventually figure out what it is that a President's actual supposed to do" (which, of course, implicitly means that he currently doesn't actually know what it is a President's supposed to do, even though he's running for that very office).

I'm going to try that at my next job interview: "Yeah, I won't be showing up for work until I feel that, in my heart and mind, I've finally figured out what this job might actually be about. No, that's right, I've not actually bothered looking up what this job entails before coming into this job interview. I just felt that I'd apply anyway and then wing it. Make it up as I go along. So, you know, just give me this job - whatever it is, I've not bothered to find out - and then you can be assured that I won't actually do anything at all, until I feel that I truly understand what this job might be".

[funkstar]

The ultimate problem is he cannot win an election.

Now, you say 'problem'...

[funkstar]

"Donald J. Trump is asking for a total and complete shutdown of Muslims entering the United States until our country's representatives can figure out what the hell is going on".

I didn't quote that bit, but basically the entire text of the ad is eye-bulging material. Maybe it's easier to see with a European background, but I have trouble grasping just how completely devoid of any historical knowledge and understanding one has to be, to make these statements in earnest.

I was tempted to write a bit of a screed on the many wrongs of this nasty thing, but I'll just leave this link here instead.

[gumboot]

The weird thing, besides how he does that thing of referring to himself in the third person, [...]

That seems to be how they do it in the U.S.. Candidate merely approves the message and then it is spoken by a third party who we presume is endorsing the candidate, although sometimes they just tell us what a big doodyhead the other candidate is.

I hope that one day these messages will be forced to include disclosures like in drug advertising (yes, drugs are advertised on TV, here, but with half the time given over to a list of safety warnings while on the screen actors continue to appear happy or serene or whatever).

but basically the entire text of the ad is eye-bulging material.

It's indistinguishable from the spoof ads that satirists post, which is why I'm not clear on its authenticity.

It's a little alarming that contempt for this sort of thing isn't universal (merely international, which is the American euphemism for unamerican). The a lot of commentary and opinion in the U.S. that discusses it like it's normal politics.

Finally there's a candidate who represents people who post comments on YouTube... I guess.

[gravy]

The weird thing, besides how he does that thing of referring to himself in the third person, [...]

To be fair to the shredded wheat haired shit basket he has improved, a few years back he'd refer to himself as "The Donald". "Donald J Trump" is slightly less horrendously offensive

[gumboot]

I'm confused. Which one is Donald Trump? Is it the hair thing, or the flapping meat thing that it rides around on? Sometimes the flesh points at the hair while it's talking, so I'd guess the hair is Donald and the language is actually conventional. Or perhaps the fleshy part is the hair's trumping organ.

[pogo]

The ultimate problem is he cannot win an election.

Now, you say 'problem'...

Problem for the Republicans. As I note this is actually healthy: they can’t just buy the election. If all they have for candidates is billionaires or people funded by them they should lose. Meanwhile the Democrats get to break one barrier after another, electing a black president then a woman.

[gumboot]

Or a Jew.

It sounds to me like Sanders, despite his religion, has the best chance of pulling Republican votes, but I'm just parroting something I heard somebody else say and I haven't looked too closely beyond the is-not-Trump factor (he has it).

I wonder how many centuries before an atheist candidate might have a chance.

[KlaxonCow]

That seems to be how they do it in the U.S.. Candidate merely approves the message and then it is spoken by a third party who we presume is endorsing the candidate, although sometimes they just tell us what a big doodyhead the other candidate is.

Oh, I know about that. I've made "I'm KlaxonCow and I approve this message" jokes myself online many times, parodying that weird little political Americanism.

No, this wasn't that. What I quoted was literally what Trump himself actually said standing at the podium, giving a speech (I literally got it by playing the video and pausing it repeatedly to copy it down for word for word). Where he first announced his "ban Muslims" policy to the world.

He's notorious for this strange narcissistic quirk.

As gravy's mentioned, he's done things like refer to himself, in third person, as "the Donald" and "Trump approves!" and the like. He must have been advised to tone it down by his campaign, as he's really struggling not to do it so often now he's running for office. But inside his own head, "the Trump" is the definite article. He's this thing that's bigger than himself. Even he has to stand back in third person awe at his own magnificent edifice, from a respectful distance.

[gumboot]

Oh. I can see a conventional English case for references to "the trump", too. You see, he's like a fortune teller reading tea leaves or tarot cards or bird guts, saying something like "the signs say peril is looming", except that his divinations come from farts.

"The trump says I had steak for lunch."

[pogo]

There are technical/legal reasons for the way they do these adverts too. The “I’m xxx and I approve this message” is to show it’s an official advert, as that only accounts for some of the adverts. Sometimes much more is spent on unofficial adverts. The reason is campaign finance laws limit how much people can donate to a candidate. But a recent court case (“Citizens United”) removed most limits on political spending that is not directly to a candidate.

What people do now is form political action committees (PACs), in particular Super PACs, which are allowed to support a particular candidate as long as they don’t coordinate with them. The support takes the form of raising money and buying adverts, and these are the unofficial ones. As this allows for unlimited spending it is the main way billionaires fund elections, so can account for most of the advertising spending. Trump though is probably using his own money so all his adverts can be official.

[Darkflame]

It sounds to me like Sanders, despite his religion, has the best chance of pulling Republican votes, but I'm just parroting something I heard somebody else say and I haven't looked too closely beyond the is-not-Trump factor (he has it).

Trump and Sanders have one thing in common that probably makes them unpopular with the "political establishment" ; They both disapprove strongly of the amount of corporate donations. Trump, of course, is self-financed. So you know its his own big mouth, he isn't a voice for anyone else.
Sanders meanwhile has done amazingly well at getting "crowd funded".

[pogo]

There is an important difference though. Sanders hasn’t a hope. He is there as the US has a long drawn out process for selecting candidates, and the formal voting hasn’t started yet. So in theory he could become Democratic candidate. The same way, in theory, that Nigel Farage could be PM after 2020. Theoretically possible but so unlikely that no-one gives him a chance.

Many thought the same of Trump six months ago, that he did not have a hope. Many still think it. But he has been leading polls and dominating media. Unlike the Democrats, where Clinton seems unstoppable, there is not an obvious alternative to Trump among the Republican candidates. So even if once voting starts he fades it might be hard for them to choose an acceptable alternative. Especially as the current runners up (Ben Carson and Ted Cruz) are little better. The establishment favourite Jeb Bush is polling in single figures, and it would take a miracle for him to bounce back now.

[PFVA]

He is going to temporarily stop all muslims from entering the US?

All Muslims?

Including the rich Saudis, Koweitians, UAE, etc, etc that have all that money invested in the US? And all their families, relatives, and friends?

yeah, sure.

This is just campaign talk to get the votes of scared right wing people afraid of more attacks in the US. The only thing this will do is raise fear among those already in fear. It will also make life even harder for regular working muslims trying to go about their business. And he will probably get the republican nomination.

And the wall again? They already built a state of the art tech fence along the boarder. The only thing they succeded at it was preventing the regular ilegal imigrants from crossing without the help of gangs. The gang business has been flourishing since then.