I simply do not understand those who voted for Trump. Again, I am differentiating those who voted against Hillary; many of them they simply refused to consider a vote for her so they would have voted for anyone BUT her. Trump being the Republican nominee was just too bad; he wound up getting their vote no matter how poorly qualified he is.
I’m thinking of those who actively supported Trump (and there are millions). I just do not understand them. A recent poll showed that if it was reported that Trump was lying about something, they would believe his assertion that he wasn’t lying rather than the media reports showing he did. In some circumstances I can understand that; not all news stories are accurate. But those tend to be the “fringe” sources like Breitbart (not really news at all) or Fox (not known for objectivity in reporting, despite their “Fair and Balanced” tagline). But my observations of even Fox as a news source indicates a strong bias in what they report rather than outright lying. So while I don’t agree with their editorial slant and selective reporting, I don’t think “lying” accurately depicts Fox. Therefore Trump’s early assertion that he could “shoot someone in the middle of Times Square” and his followers would believe him when he said he didn’t, turns out to be fairly accurate.
Next, Trump claims he convinced Carrier to stay in Indiana (rather than move a factory to Mexico), saving something like 1300 jobs. In actual fact, Carrier was never going to move that many jobs to Mexico; they had announce that around 300 of the jobs were always going to stay. Secondly, the CEO just announced that many of those “saved” jobs were actually going to be lost anyway, as they were going to automate the functions with robotics to “become more competitive,” and yet Trump is taking credit for a non-victory.
Then, Trump tweeted that Boeing’s cost projections for a new Air Force One (currently on order) was too much money and should be cancelled. Let’s take a look at that; on the surface a $4 billion price tag seems steep. But first of all, that’s not the cost of the airplane; that’s projected costs over 12 years for the development and outfitting of the plane. Second, it’s not for one airplane, but two. Third, the bulk of the costs aren’t for building the aircraft, but for making it a virtual “flying White House” with all the government-mandated communications, security and redundancy features it requires. And fourth, the expenditure is a tiny fraction of a fraction of the defense budget, spread over 12 years, and was determined to be necessary years ago in bipartisan discussions.
So why is Trump so concerned about this? Well, for one, it means he won’t be able to fly around in his own Trumplane, which he used during the campaign and reportedly billed the taxpayers for nearly $7 million to cart around the Secret Service detail required. (US law dictates that when government employees fly on a private aircraft such as Trump’s that the government has to pay the cost of the tickets as if they flew commercial; it’s part of preventing influence-peddling.) So Trump doesn’t get to make a bunch of money by charging the government to use his airplane. Secondly, if Trump wanted to use his airplane rather than Air Force One, he’d have to upgrade the communications, security and defensive capabilities, and since he already has a plane at his disposal in AF1, he’d have to pony up the cost of the upgrades.
But maybe more of the reason is his need to retaliate when he feels he’s been challenged. (Remember, Trump has said he goes on the attack when challenged. Always.) It seems Boeing does a lot of business oversees and Trump’s sabre rattling threats of a trade war with China could affect their business interests, so the CEO of Boeing made a fairly mild statement that annoying our international trading partners is not a very good idea. In response, Trump vomited out another series of tweets and Boeing’s stock (temporarily) tanked.
Anyhow, to bring this back around to my header, I simply do not understand how a rational, thinking person could look at Trump’s actions thus far and see anything but pettiness, stupidity, lies and amateur hour.
Seriously, what am I missing here?
About BigBill
Stats: Married male boomer.
Hobbies: Hiking, woodworking, reading, philosophy, good conversation.
Seriously, what am I missing here?
I simply do not understand those who voted for Trump. Again, I am differentiating those who voted against Hillary; many of them they simply refused to consider a vote for her so they would have voted for anyone BUT her. Trump being the Republican nominee was just too bad; he wound up getting their vote no matter how poorly qualified he is.
I’m thinking of those who actively supported Trump (and there are millions). I just do not understand them. A recent poll showed that if it was reported that Trump was lying about something, they would believe his assertion that he wasn’t lying rather than the media reports showing he did. In some circumstances I can understand that; not all news stories are accurate. But those tend to be the “fringe” sources like Breitbart (not really news at all) or Fox (not known for objectivity in reporting, despite their “Fair and Balanced” tagline). But my observations of even Fox as a news source indicates a strong bias in what they report rather than outright lying. So while I don’t agree with their editorial slant and selective reporting, I don’t think “lying” accurately depicts Fox. Therefore Trump’s early assertion that he could “shoot someone in the middle of Times Square” and his followers would believe him when he said he didn’t, turns out to be fairly accurate.
Next, Trump claims he convinced Carrier to stay in Indiana (rather than move a factory to Mexico), saving something like 1300 jobs. In actual fact, Carrier was never going to move that many jobs to Mexico; they had announce that around 300 of the jobs were always going to stay. Secondly, the CEO just announced that many of those “saved” jobs were actually going to be lost anyway, as they were going to automate the functions with robotics to “become more competitive,” and yet Trump is taking credit for a non-victory.
Then, Trump tweeted that Boeing’s cost projections for a new Air Force One (currently on order) was too much money and should be cancelled. Let’s take a look at that; on the surface a $4 billion price tag seems steep. But first of all, that’s not the cost of the airplane; that’s projected costs over 12 years for the development and outfitting of the plane. Second, it’s not for one airplane, but two. Third, the bulk of the costs aren’t for building the aircraft, but for making it a virtual “flying White House” with all the government-mandated communications, security and redundancy features it requires. And fourth, the expenditure is a tiny fraction of a fraction of the defense budget, spread over 12 years, and was determined to be necessary years ago in bipartisan discussions.
So why is Trump so concerned about this? Well, for one, it means he won’t be able to fly around in his own Trumplane, which he used during the campaign and reportedly billed the taxpayers for nearly $7 million to cart around the Secret Service detail required. (US law dictates that when government employees fly on a private aircraft such as Trump’s that the government has to pay the cost of the tickets as if they flew commercial; it’s part of preventing influence-peddling.) So Trump doesn’t get to make a bunch of money by charging the government to use his airplane. Secondly, if Trump wanted to use his airplane rather than Air Force One, he’d have to upgrade the communications, security and defensive capabilities, and since he already has a plane at his disposal in AF1, he’d have to pony up the cost of the upgrades.
But maybe more of the reason is his need to retaliate when he feels he’s been challenged. (Remember, Trump has said he goes on the attack when challenged. Always.) It seems Boeing does a lot of business oversees and Trump’s sabre rattling threats of a trade war with China could affect their business interests, so the CEO of Boeing made a fairly mild statement that annoying our international trading partners is not a very good idea. In response, Trump vomited out another series of tweets and Boeing’s stock (temporarily) tanked.
Anyhow, to bring this back around to my header, I simply do not understand how a rational, thinking person could look at Trump’s actions thus far and see anything but pettiness, stupidity, lies and amateur hour.
Seriously, what am I missing here?
About BigBill
Stats: Married male boomer. Hobbies: Hiking, woodworking, reading, philosophy, good conversation.