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Donald Trump is no Hugo Chávez. He’s more like Nicolás Maduro.

Luckyone

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Hugo Chávez, for all his faults, was a much cannier politician than Donald Trump. Whereas Trump has become notorious for his lack of impulse control, Chávez knew how to bide his time. The work of dismantling the previous regime’s institutions and assuming dictatorial control of society was carried out in a slow, patient, stepwise fashion. It’s hard to imagine Trump having the mastery over his own passions to pull something like that off.

A man who can be provoked by a tweet is not a man with the patience to dismantle the American republic.

Mr. Chávez aspired to make his model sustainable, but died without achieving that goal. His habit of choosing loyalty over competence was a fatal mistake. So was entrusting multiple responsibilities to a closed circle of people who were unprepared and unwilling to make hard choices. It nurtures a climate of secrecy and unaccountability, which can be a danger to democracy.

I’ve seen that same behavior in Donald Trump, who has surrounded himself with family members, giving them jobs for which they have no experience or knowledge. It’s a standard autocratic tactic in order to keep a tight grip on power, stemming from the paranoia that power addiction creates, and the narcissistic belief that no one can do things better.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/global-opinions/wp/2016/10/18/donald-trump-is-no-hugo-chavez-hes-more-like-nicolas-maduro/?utm_term=.83f63c7d4dda
 
If Trump charges 2 cents per gallon for domestically produced gasoline, he'll be president for life as well.
 
Hugo Chávez, for all his faults, was a much cannier politician than Donald Trump. Whereas Trump has become notorious for his lack of impulse control, Chávez knew how to bide his time. The work of dismantling the previous regime’s institutions and assuming dictatorial control of society was carried out in a slow, patient, stepwise fashion. It’s hard to imagine Trump having the mastery over his own passions to pull something like that off.

A man who can be provoked by a tweet is not a man with the patience to dismantle the American republic.

Mr. Chávez aspired to make his model sustainable, but died without achieving that goal. His habit of choosing loyalty over competence was a fatal mistake. So was entrusting multiple responsibilities to a closed circle of people who were unprepared and unwilling to make hard choices. It nurtures a climate of secrecy and unaccountability, which can be a danger to democracy.

I’ve seen that same behavior in Donald Trump, who has surrounded himself with family members, giving them jobs for which they have no experience or knowledge. It’s a standard autocratic tactic in order to keep a tight grip on power, stemming from the paranoia that power addiction creates, and the narcissistic belief that no one can do things better.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news...e-like-nicolas-maduro/?utm_term=.83f63c7d4dda

Red:
The US is merely a less pliable polity than is Venezuela.

As for Trump's "mastery over his own passions," if you consider his actions as thematically (not, for the most part, at a detailed level) orchestrated by someone else, his mastery isn't relevant so long as he adheres to the high level themes he's been told to hew to.
 
Hugo Chávez, for all his faults, was a much cannier politician than Donald Trump. Whereas Trump has become notorious for his lack of impulse control, Chávez knew how to bide his time. The work of dismantling the previous regime’s institutions and assuming dictatorial control of society was carried out in a slow, patient, stepwise fashion. It’s hard to imagine Trump having the mastery over his own passions to pull something like that off.

A man who can be provoked by a tweet is not a man with the patience to dismantle the American republic.

Mr. Chávez aspired to make his model sustainable, but died without achieving that goal. His habit of choosing loyalty over competence was a fatal mistake. So was entrusting multiple responsibilities to a closed circle of people who were unprepared and unwilling to make hard choices. It nurtures a climate of secrecy and unaccountability, which can be a danger to democracy.

I’ve seen that same behavior in Donald Trump, who has surrounded himself with family members, giving them jobs for which they have no experience or knowledge. It’s a standard autocratic tactic in order to keep a tight grip on power, stemming from the paranoia that power addiction creates, and the narcissistic belief that no one can do things better.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/global-opinions/wp/2016/10/18/donald-trump-is-no-hugo-chavez-hes-more-like-nicolas-maduro/?utm_term=.83f63c7d4dda

Big difference: Chavez and Maduro both destroyed the Venezuela economy. Trump has revitalized the US economy.

Sorry, but Trump is no Chavez, nor is he a Maduro.

When you get right down to it, this guy...

th5VCWBDGL.jpg

...has more in common with Maduro than Trump does.
 
Trump is more like Fisher Price My First Mussolini.
 
If you simply remember that Donald is a thug you have little trouble understanding him. His whole take on NATO and allies generally "not paying their fair share" is exactly the perspective of a mafia thug for example. "You need protection. You don't want your shop smashed? You need protection. Pay me and I will protect you."

Actually more money from allies is not what we want. More money would mean we are even more engaged in what some would call world cop role. Trump really does the job part way and the wrong part at that. We want our allies to do more, to take more responsibility. However insulting them, denigrating them and threatening them is not the way to start that process. Abdicating from our leadership role isn't either. If we want them to take a larger part in their defense which should be the goal, not their paying more for protection, we need to be the ringmaster. We need to coordinate the various roles we want them to play. They all don't have the same talents nor resources.

In what world does Donald Trump have the intellectual capacity to understand any of that? In what world would the thug Donald not approach virtually every issue as a mafia boss would approach it? This provides another insight ridding oneself of the notion that Trump is a Hitler. He's not smart enough to be a Hitler. Another Himmler or Heydrich, maybe. Hitler, no shot. Trump's not smart enough.
 
Hugo Chávez, for all his faults, was a much cannier politician than Donald Trump. Whereas Trump has become notorious for his lack of impulse control, Chávez knew how to bide his time. The work of dismantling the previous regime’s institutions and assuming dictatorial control of society was carried out in a slow, patient, stepwise fashion. It’s hard to imagine Trump having the mastery over his own passions to pull something like that off.

A man who can be provoked by a tweet is not a man with the patience to dismantle the American republic.

Mr. Chávez aspired to make his model sustainable, but died without achieving that goal. His habit of choosing loyalty over competence was a fatal mistake. So was entrusting multiple responsibilities to a closed circle of people who were unprepared and unwilling to make hard choices. It nurtures a climate of secrecy and unaccountability, which can be a danger to democracy.

I’ve seen that same behavior in Donald Trump, who has surrounded himself with family members, giving them jobs for which they have no experience or knowledge. It’s a standard autocratic tactic in order to keep a tight grip on power, stemming from the paranoia that power addiction creates, and the narcissistic belief that no one can do things better.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/global-opinions/wp/2016/10/18/donald-trump-is-no-hugo-chavez-hes-more-like-nicolas-maduro/?utm_term=.83f63c7d4dda
siiting around the jungle wondering who to shoot or extort next will do that to you.
 
siiting around the jungle wondering who to shoot or extort next will do that to you.

Mind you, anytime you are compared with Chavez and worse still with Maduro, it means you are at the bottom of the well. Maduro has taken Venezuela down a rabbit hold and into the sewers where only rats and cockroaches live.

In Venezuela, there is no food, their is no medicine, there is no justice and there is no way out. In addition, Maduro is so incompetent that even with their oil richness, they are starving. They can't even produce enough oil to export and they have the largest reserves of oil in the entire world.

If Trump continues to be President, he will lead us in that direction due to his incompetency and desire to be an autocrat/dictator like Maduro is. The Washington Post comparing Trump to Maduro is probably the biggest insult and the lowest form of comparison there is in the entire world. What does that say about Trump supporters?
 
Mind you, anytime you are compared with Chavez and worse still with Maduro, it means you are at the bottom of the well. Maduro has taken Venezuela down a rabbit hold and into the sewers where only rats and cockroaches live.

In Venezuela, there is no food, their is no medicine, there is no justice and there is no way out. In addition, Maduro is so incompetent that even with their oil richness, they are starving. They can't even produce enough oil to export and they have the largest reserves of oil in the entire world.

If Trump continues to be President, he will lead us in that direction due to his incompetency and desire to be an autocrat/dictator like Maduro is. The Washington Post comparing Trump to Maduro is probably the biggest insult and the lowest form of comparison there is in the entire world. What does that say about Trump supporters?

You said Chavez. Maduro dint have a lot to work with.
 
Lets compare our leaders to misfits and vagabonds Alex, for $1,800 please
 
You said Chavez. Maduro dint have a lot to work with.

Chavez started the Narcissist approach and Maduro then took over when Chavez died. Chavez was at least somewhat competent and though he took the nation toward the autocratic rule, he was not as incompetent as Maduro has been, meaning that Maduro has now bankrupted the nation and been unable to accomplish any of Chavez goals.

Let's compare Chavez and Maduro to Putin and Trump. Putin has taken Russia to an autocratic rule that is not what we would like to have but it works for Russia. Chavez was doing the same. Maduro took Chavez idea and ran it into the ground. Trump is doing the same by trying to emulate Putin but is so incompetent that like Maduro took Venezuela to economic ruin, Trump is doing the same to us.

The difference in this scenario is that the U.S. has always been much wealthier than Venezuela and Democracy has always been stronger here than in Venezuela, meaning the downhill speed of the ruin will be slower for us. Nonetheless and make no mistake about it, we are heading in the same direction as Venezuela under Maduro with Trump being President, only a lot slower and taking more years to degrade.
 
Chavez started the Narcissist approach and Maduro then took over when Chavez died. Chavez was at least somewhat competent and though he took the nation toward the autocratic rule, he was not as incompetent as Maduro has been, meaning that Maduro has now bankrupted the nation and been unable to accomplish any of Chavez goals.

Let's compare Chavez and Maduro to Putin and Trump. Putin has taken Russia to an autocratic rule that is not what we would like to have but it works for Russia. Chavez was doing the same. Maduro took Chavez idea and ran it into the ground. Trump is doing the same by trying to emulate Putin but is so incompetent that like Maduro took Venezuela to economic ruin, Trump is doing the same to us.

The difference in this scenario is that the U.S. has always been much wealthier than Venezuela and Democracy has always been stronger here than in Venezuela, meaning the downhill speed of the ruin will be slower for us. Nonetheless and make no mistake about it, we are heading in the same direction as Venezuela under Maduro with Trump being President, only a lot slower and taking more years to degrade.

When I was following what Chavez was doing, he was seizing at least one corporation a week so he could finance himself and his military.
 
Big difference: Chavez and Maduro both destroyed the Venezuela economy. Trump has revitalized the US economy.

Sorry, but Trump is no Chavez, nor is he a Maduro.

When you get right down to it, this guy...

View attachment 67247840

...has more in common with Maduro than Trump does.

This country went into a deep, deep recession under the Bush watch, remember? Yes, people were losing homes left and right, the economy was in the crapper. It was only because of the actions taken by President Obama that the economy saw a renewed life and eventually stability then increased growth. Trump had nothing whatsoever do to with an economic recovery.
 
This country went into a deep, deep recession under the Bush watch, remember? Yes, people were losing homes left and right, the economy was in the crapper. It was only because of the actions taken by President Obama that the economy saw a renewed life and eventually stability then increased growth. Trump had nothing whatsoever do to with an economic recovery.

LOL!!

So tell me...what, exactly, did Obama do to bring about the increase in manufacturing that we've seen in just the last two years.
 
When I was following what Chavez was doing, he was seizing at least one corporation a week so he could finance himself and his military.

Well, being married to a Colombian woman since the year 2000 and who has many close friends that are Venezuelan, I have lived through each and everyone of the trials and tribulations of Venezuela ever since Chavez took office in 1999.

I am fully familiar with everything Chavez did and what Maduro has tried to do. Unfortunately, Maduro is mostly an ignorant person with no education regarding managing anything and what he has done to Venezuela is sinful. I would personally have to say that Trump has to be just a bit better than Maduro because Maduro is the worst of the worst. Nonetheless, as far as ethics, morals, principles and humanity, they are both exactly the same, having none of those. As far as incompetency is concerned, it can be said that Trump has some knowledge inasmuch as he knows something about Real Estate. Nonetheless, knowledge about running a country has to be almost on a par with Maduro, with perhaps Maduro having a slight edge in less knowledge than Trump. The key word though, is "slight".

How Trump supporters are so blind to this man's incompetency is beyond me. Then again, over 50% of the population voted for Chavez and that does mean I should not be all that surprised.
 
Hugo Chávez, for all his faults, was a much cannier politician than Donald Trump. Whereas Trump has become notorious for his lack of impulse control, Chávez knew how to bide his time. The work of dismantling the previous regime’s institutions and assuming dictatorial control of society was carried out in a slow, patient, stepwise fashion. It’s hard to imagine Trump having the mastery over his own passions to pull something like that off.

A man who can be provoked by a tweet is not a man with the patience to dismantle the American republic.

Mr. Chávez aspired to make his model sustainable, but died without achieving that goal. His habit of choosing loyalty over competence was a fatal mistake. So was entrusting multiple responsibilities to a closed circle of people who were unprepared and unwilling to make hard choices. It nurtures a climate of secrecy and unaccountability, which can be a danger to democracy.

I’ve seen that same behavior in Donald Trump, who has surrounded himself with family members, giving them jobs for which they have no experience or knowledge. It’s a standard autocratic tactic in order to keep a tight grip on power, stemming from the paranoia that power addiction creates, and the narcissistic belief that no one can do things better.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/global-opinions/wp/2016/10/18/donald-trump-is-no-hugo-chavez-hes-more-like-nicolas-maduro/?utm_term=.83f63c7d4dda
Chavez's country collapsed into economic and humanitarian anarchy. People stealing, assaulting, turning to prostitution and eating family pets and zoo animals in a country rich in natural resources; Trump's economy is booming, people are getting jobs and raises. How exactly is Chavez's country better off?
 
This country went into a deep, deep recession under the Bush watch, remember? Yes, people were losing homes left and right, the economy was in the crapper. It was only because of the actions taken by President Obama that the economy saw a renewed life and eventually stability then increased growth. Trump had nothing whatsoever do to with an economic recovery.

You got it right Humble, Trump is not the architect of the recovery in the US economy. All he did was sign a piece of paper that was brought to him by the Republican Congress regarding a tax cut and deregulation. It was all from the minds of the Senators and Congressmen and not from his own mind. The Trade War is from him mind and that is what he will stand or die by as far as the economy is concerned. If he can pull successfully his Trade War with China, he might actually been the seed of something positive. As of right now though, the Trade War has done more damage to the economy than good and that is a fact.
 
Hugo Chávez, for all his faults, was a much cannier politician than Donald Trump. Whereas Trump has become notorious for his lack of impulse control, Chávez knew how to bide his time. The work of dismantling the previous regime’s institutions and assuming dictatorial control of society was carried out in a slow, patient, stepwise fashion. It’s hard to imagine Trump having the mastery over his own passions to pull something like that off.
Trump does not wish to pull something like this off
A man who can be provoked by a tweet is not a man with the patience to dismantle the American republic.
Except he is saving the Republic by voluntarily crippling the power of the federal government and supporting the right of the people to bear arms something no other president has ever explicitly done, you fail again sir

Mr. Chávez aspired to make his model sustainable, but died without achieving that goal. His habit of choosing loyalty over competence was a fatal mistake. So was entrusting multiple responsibilities to a closed circle of people who were unprepared and unwilling to make hard choices. It nurtures a climate of secrecy and unaccountability, which can be a danger to democracy.
Communism/socialism by definition requires valuing loyalty over competence. If accountability existed in a left wing society it would lurch right immediately.

I’ve seen that same behavior in Donald Trump, who has surrounded himself with family members, giving them jobs for which they have no experience or knowledge. It’s a standard autocratic tactic in order to keep a tight grip on power, stemming from the paranoia that power addiction creates, and the narcissistic belief that no one can do things better.
Trump is reducing his power
[/quote]https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/global-opinions/wp/2016/10/18/donald-trump-is-no-hugo-chavez-hes-more-like-nicolas-maduro/?utm_term=.83f63c7d4dda[/QUOTE]Trump is like neither because he's not a socialist.
 
Another "Trump is like [insert dictator's name here]" crapfest.

Get some new material, people.
 
Trump does not wish to pull something like this off

Except he is saving the Republic by voluntarily crippling the power of the federal government and supporting the right of the people to bear arms something no other president has ever explicitly done, you fail again sir


Communism/socialism by definition requires valuing loyalty over competence. If accountability existed in a left wing society it would lurch right immediately.


Trump is reducing his power
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/global-opinions/wp/2016/10/18/donald-trump-is-no-hugo-chavez-hes-more-like-nicolas-maduro/?utm_term=.83f63c7d4dda[/QUOTE]Trump is like neither because he's not a socialist.[/QUOTE]

By your answers, it is evident that you are a supporter of an autocracy and not a democracy.

A Democracy is a rule by the people. An autocracy is a rule by one person and you seem to be totally in favor of destroying the government, which is a rule by the people, and letting Trump has his way.

Hey, you are entitled to your values but just don't come back and say that you are for Democracy.

One suggestion, if Trump fails here (which he will), perhaps you should consider moving to Russia where you can be happy with an autocracy running the show.
 
LOL!!

So tell me...what, exactly, did Obama do to bring about the increase in manufacturing that we've seen in just the last two years.

It is easy to forget how close the US economy came to an outright depression during the banking crisis. Indeed, by a number of macroeconomic measures . . . the first year of the Great Recession . . . saw larger declines than at the outset of the Great Depression in 1929-30. The Great Recession officially ended in June 2009, six months into former President Obama’s first term. The economy continued to shed jobs until the following March. Manufacturing was particularly hard hit, with almost 2.3 million manufacturing jobs—some 1 in 6—lost between January 2008 and March 2010. Naturally, the pulling back of regulations helped Trump increase jobs in the manufacturing sector. We won't understand the overall cost to the environment of de-regulations immediately.

Whether this manufacturing jobs boom will continue is now largely dependent on Trump's high-stakes trade stand-off with the People’s Republic of China. We are only beginning to see the effects of Trump's 25% tariffs on China since they were supposed to go effect this month. Some economists warn that Trump’s tariffs put our healthy economic expansion (stimulated by tax cuts and deregulation) at risk.

The administration of George W Bush was responsible for severity of the financial crisis but did act with a response tot he crisis. The US Federal Reserve acted effectively; and Congress passed important legislation. Yet, shockingly (and not), most congressional Republicans opposed all significant monetary, financial and fiscal actions taken to deal with the crisis.

The starting point must be with President Obama’s inheritance: the economy was in free fall in early 2009. The Obama administration rescued the US economy and bequeathed a sound foundation for Trump to build on. But his administration made a big mistake: it didn't go all out to punish those whose wrongdoing and irresponsibility blew up the financial system and economy. This sense of injustice is one reason why the US has elected the wrecking crew that took office in 2017. President Obama could not channel rage but Trump has proven he can.

The Obama administration implemented a number of important fiscal measures, notably the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009. It also provided strong moral support for the Fed (including the reappointment of Ben Bernanke, who had been President Bush’s nominee). The administration also restored the financial sector faster than expected and carried out a highly successful rescue of the car industry.

b7673900-13ce-432f-9a82-7b8f6c79d52a.png


Given the starting point of 2009, the performance of the economy has been remarkable. The unemployment rate has consistently fallen faster than expected. US business has also added 15.6m jobs since private-sector job growth turned positive in 2010. Real wage growth had been faster than in any since the early 1970s. In the third quarter of 2016, the economy was 11.5 per cent bigger than at its pre-crisis peak and real gross domestic product per head was 4 per cent above the pre-crisis peak, while that of the eurozone was still below it. Household net worth had also reached 50 per cent above its 2008 level.
 
~snipped the irrelevant nonsense~

The Obama administration implemented a number of important fiscal measures, notably the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009. It also provided strong moral support for the Fed (including the reappointment of Ben Bernanke, who had been President Bush’s nominee). The administration also restored the financial sector faster than expected and carried out a highly successful rescue of the car industry.

Sorry, but the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, the Fed and the financial sector...under Obama...did nothing to account for the surge in manufacturing that we've seen in the last two years.

Try again.
 
Trump is like neither because he's not a socialist.[/QUOTE]

By your answers, it is evident that you are a supporter of an autocracy and not a democracy.

A Democracy is a rule by the people. An autocracy is a rule by one person and you seem to be totally in favor of destroying the government, which is a rule by the people, and letting Trump has his way.

Hey, you are entitled to your values but just don't come back and say that you are for Democracy.

One suggestion, if Trump fails here (which he will), perhaps you should consider moving to Russia where you can be happy with an autocracy running the show.[/QUOTE]

I never said I supported autocracy, in fact everything I said defends the point of view Trump is not an autocrat. He is relinquishing federal government power
 
...Donald Trump, who has surrounded himself with family members, giving them jobs for which they have no experience or knowledge. It’s a standard autocratic tactic in order to keep a tight grip on power, stemming from the paranoia that power addiction creates, and the narcissistic belief that no one can do things better...

You couldn't come up with a more accurate summation of Putin's paranoid, narcissist man in the WH. Anyone who's watched Numnuts, knows that for him loyalty is a one way street. He obviously uses family members not for their expertise, but for their blind loyalty regardless of how they're treated.

This latest report of Trump's 5 meeting with his handler, should wake up the Cult. What does it take for them to see what kind of sleaze they're following?!? If a tape emerged from a rendezvous that recorded his secret agreements with the country that poses our greatest threat? How about a video recorded him grabbing his daughter's privates? Bending over for Putin?!? Seriously, what would it take? How evil does he have to get?!?

...Actually more money from allies is not what we want. More money would mean we are even more engaged in what some would call world cop role. Trump really does the job part way and the wrong part at that. We want our allies to do more, to take more responsibility. However insulting them, denigrating them and threatening them is not the way to start that process...

Trashing our allies to save "tremendous amount of money" is another lie;

NATO countries do not pay money to a broad NATO defense budget. NATO defense spending is "not money that is going to be put in some kitty at NATO," Benjamin said.

In reality, each country determines its own level of military spending, said Ivo Daalder, president of the Chicago Council for Global Affairs and the former U.S. ambassador to NATO under former President Barack Obama.

"No one owes us any money," Daalder said. "Nor is the U.S. spending more because allies are spending less ... our defense spending is a national decision and is determined by our national security and defense needs."...


Giving up the security that our agreements with our allies returns us for an imaginary debt is a fools errand. This campaign phrase is just like his, "build the wall", it may not be smart or practical, but it's something the cult can understand and sink their teeth into...
 
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