Trump

[pogo]

The delegate count meaningless now though as all his opponents have dropped out. This is also driving previously uncommitted Republicans to support him. Absent some complete disaster/shock he is going to be the candidate.

To show how much things have changed here’s two former US presidents, Reagan and Bush, in 1980 debating the response to illegal immigration. Both then proposed very liberal approaches, which would be ridiculed today if used in a Republican contest for presidency.

It shows how crazy the Republican party are (not just Trump), as the common theme of many of their platforms is “Make America Great Again”, i.e. return America to how it was before the liberal takeover of Clinton and Obama and the mistakes of the younger Bush.

But when exactly are they thinking of? Reagan is often invoked but he was liberal in many ways. Reagan could not survive in today’s Republican party. Or they hark back to the 1950s and 1960s, before the Republican party lost the trust of the people with the Vietnam War and Watergate. But that was a time before civil rights when whites still benefitted from structural and institutional racism.

It makes no sense. Neither time is a good model, and none of the Republican platforms, certainly not Trump, would take America back there. Trump’s platform, as much as it would do anything, would mostly strengthen the position of the superrich in the USA, something few of the people supporting him would want if he explained it to them honestly.

[F-ZeroOne]

Also, PumaG, given Trumps previous statements about "bombing every inch", killing the families of terrorists, and showing his sublime grasp of international politics by suggesting that Japan - Japan - acquire nuclear weapons, then presumably he'll be joining the "untouchables" upon becoming President?

[PFVA]

Every time i listen to Trump i think i'm in a Bar in the U.S. listening to drunk Republicans, very drunk Republicans.

[gumboot]

Every time i listen to Trump i think i'm in a Bar in the U.S. listening to drunk Republicans, very drunk Republicans.

He's the personification of every shithead comment on the whole of the internet.

People who ask "what if one day the internet becomes sentient?"... there's your answer.

Or maybe it's more like "what if YouTube became sentient?".

[CableTwitch]

As a friend of mine succinctly put it...

As a note, when I type things like "Trump supporter" you may accurately read my tone as if I said "And then he ate his own vomit."

[gumboot]

Trump would never eat his own vomit. He'd just pretend it belonged to somebody else.

[KlaxonCow]

Trump would never eat his own vomit. He'd just pretend it belonged to somebody else.

In fairness, the notion that "somebody else" in close proximity to Trump would start vomiting actually sounds perfectly plausible.

[Barney]

[PumaG]

Also, PumaG, given Trumps previous statements about "bombing every inch", killing the families of terrorists, and showing his sublime grasp of international politics by suggesting that Japan - Japan - acquire nuclear weapons, then presumably he'll be joining the "untouchables" upon becoming President?

meanwhile the liberal do-gooders have been asking Obama to apologise for Hiroshima

[F-ZeroOne]

PumaG, I've been to that city. Twice. It makes you think. I also have an interest in military history and would probably count as a "liberal do-gooder" by your standards.

Rather like the actual events themselves, there were probably never going to be any real "winners" in the "apology" debate, though it sounds like Obama has done the best he could to handle a difficult and sensitive situation. I'm sure that Mr. Trump would handle a similar situation with equal skill and tact.

Really, really sure.

[Darkflame]

Is the idea that having someone apologize unnecessarily is somehow worse then someone keen to bomb everyone?

[gumboot]

I can't see Japan getting many apologies before they sort out their own denialist problems.

[pogo]

We can’t know for sure what Trump would do, but we can guess. One thing that has been a feature of this campaign is criticism of Clinton for being too pro-war – hawkish in US political terms. This has included criticism from Trump, suggesting he would be less hawkish. But this contradicts his long history of being very pro-war, colonialist even. Vox has done the legwork of finding all the quotes:

The Donald Trump dove myth: why he’s actually a bigger hawk than Hillary Clinton

So no, Trump would not apologise for Hiroshima. He would be more likely to look at the relationship in strict financial terms, and as there is no money in the US presence in Japan (their massive base on Okinawa) he would look at scaling back the US presence in Asia to save money, with dire implications for peace in the region.

[F-ZeroOne]

I can't see Japan getting many apologies before they sort out their own denialist problems.

That I can agree on; I don't read or speak Japanese so its possible I missed indications but another thing I took away from Hiroshima is what can best be described as a lack of context (to be fair, I understand that there is a museum in Kyoto which does address Japans involvement in the war, somewhat unusually)

[F-ZeroOne]

We can’t know for sure what Trump would do, but we can guess. One thing that has been a feature of this campaign is criticism of Clinton for being too pro-war – hawkish in US political terms. This has included criticism from Trump, suggesting he would be less hawkish. But this contradicts his long history of being very pro-war, colonialist even. Vox has done the legwork of finding all the quotes:

The Donald Trump dove myth: why he’s actually a bigger hawk than Hillary Clinton

So no, Trump would not apologise for Hiroshima. He would be more likely to look at the relationship in strict financial terms, and as there is no money in the US presence in Japan (their massive base on Okinawa) he would look at scaling back the US presence in Asia to save money, with dire implications for peace in the region.

Ah, but hes solved that one as well, remember? Japan should have nuclear weapons.

Thanks for the article link. Trumps excellent grasp of logistics appears again; okay, you've secured the oilfields. How are you planning to get the oil to the US safely?