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See No Evil

Good4Nothin

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A lot of Democrats didn't watch the SOTU because they "knew" it would just be more stupid evil boring nonsense. They will find out what it was about from CNN and SNL.

I keep trying to hate Trump, since after all he was just a reality TV star, and I hate reality TV. I also don't understand why someone that rich can't afford a hair stylist.

But every time I watched one of his speeches I hated him less. And last night's speech showed that he has become qualified to be president, even if he wasn't before. If it was all BS and lies, then at least he proved he is a good actor. No sign whatsoever of mental illness or dementia, etc. And if he is a psychopath he's damned good at covering it up.

And Democrats are sure he's a racist, or at least appealing to racists supporters. So why did he free those black prisoners? And talk about it in such a compassionate way?

I am having more and more trouble hating the president.
 
Perhaps you should review your reasoning for hating him the first place?

Here's mine.

I'm not aware of anything Trump has done since this that rates him any sort of reconsideration. He's a bad person, with no regard for the people he has damaged on his drive to make himself wealthier.

And consider too, that since he was born wealthy and had the opportunity to do anything he wanted, that this is what he chose to do. He is a real estate hustler, trading on lies. He busted out his own credit before parachuting away with everything he could get his hands on, and leaving the peons to fight over the scraps.

He's probably done worse, but this is bad enough for me to flag him as a garbage person for life. At his age, he isn't going to be alive nearly long enough to undo the damage he has caused, not that's he expressed any interest.

Reading a flunky's speech isn't a step in the right direction, to my eyes.
 
Perhaps you should review your reasoning for hating him the first place?

Here's mine.

I'm not aware of anything Trump has done since this that rates him any sort of reconsideration. He's a bad person, with no regard for the people he has damaged on his drive to make himself wealthier.

And consider too, that since he was born wealthy and had the opportunity to do anything he wanted, that this is what he chose to do. He is a real estate hustler, trading on lies. He busted out his own credit before parachuting away with everything he could get his hands on, and leaving the peons to fight over the scraps.

He's probably done worse, but this is bad enough for me to flag him as a garbage person for life. At his age, he isn't going to be alive nearly long enough to undo the damage he has caused, not that's he expressed any interest.

Reading a flunky's speech isn't a step in the right direction, to my eyes.

It sounds like you hate businessmen in general. Are you sure you aren't a Democrat?
 
It sounds like you hate businessmen in general. Are you sure you aren't a Democrat?

It is normal business to take out multiple rounds of loans and lie to the lenders about your intentions?

Or intentionally bankrupt a business, then lie to the courts about your intentions?

Or have your father artificially inflate business by buying hundreds of thousands in casino chips?

There is nothing wrong with an ethical businessman.
 
If it was all BS and lies, then at least he proved he is a good actor. No sign whatsoever of mental illness or dementia, etc.

You may imagine that many of us are thick, but we've all seen your "I keep trying to hate Trump" routine here before by others.

As for the Trump SOTU, even Trump can read a teleprompter. The speech (as boring as the Super Bowl) seemed to be a collaboration of Brittany Baldwin and Stephen Miller.
 
You may imagine that many of us are thick, but we've all seen your "I keep trying to hate Trump" routine here before by others.

As for the Trump SOTU, even Trump can read a teleprompter. The speech (as boring as the Super Bowl) seemed to be a collaboration of Brittany Baldwin and Stephen Miller.

If you think he was reading a teleprompter, then you didn't watch it. Trump-haters did not think it was worth their time.
 
A lot of Democrats didn't watch the SOTU because they "knew" it would just be more stupid evil boring nonsense. They will find out what it was about from CNN and SNL.

I keep trying to hate Trump, since after all he was just a reality TV star, and I hate reality TV. I also don't understand why someone that rich can't afford a hair stylist.

But every time I watched one of his speeches I hated him less. And last night's speech showed that he has become qualified to be president, even if he wasn't before. If it was all BS and lies, then at least he proved he is a good actor. No sign whatsoever of mental illness or dementia, etc. And if he is a psychopath he's damned good at covering it up.

And Democrats are sure he's a racist, or at least appealing to racists supporters. So why did he free those black prisoners? And talk about it in such a compassionate way?

I am having more and more trouble hating the president.

I didn't watch it, but did read the speech on NPR since they were transcribing it to their website. I'm glad it was delivered as a formal speech than something he would preform at one of his rallies, and I think it was effective at communicating the things he feels he's accomplished. However, the if the speech reflected his general demeanor and how he handles things I'd agree that he's grown into the position more. Since he still conducts himself in the same immature manner, (name calling etc.) it's hard to agree with that position. I also think it's silly for anyone to hate him, but then again I come from the perspective of not using my emotional energy that way. I disagree with Trump on a variety of issues, his approach, and communication style, but that in no way is going to remotely validate hating him.
 
I didn't watch it, but did read the speech on NPR since they were transcribing it to their website. I'm glad it was delivered as a formal speech than something he would preform at one of his rallies, and I think it was effective at communicating the things he feels he's accomplished. However, the if the speech reflected his general demeanor and how he handles things I'd agree that he's grown into the position more. Since he still conducts himself in the same immature manner, (name calling etc.) it's hard to agree with that position. I also think it's silly for anyone to hate him, but then again I come from the perspective of not using my emotional energy that way. I disagree with Trump on a variety of issues, his approach, and communication style, but that in no way is going to remotely validate hating him.

It sounds like you are trying to be objective and fair. I also disagree with him, and the Republicans, on certain things, but agree on others.

I think it is better to watch this speech than read it though. He seemed to be sincere. Not wooden like someone just reading mindlessly. There were spontaneous jokes, which shows he was relaxed and thinking about what he was saying.

I doubt he wrote the speech, but probably was involved in the process. It seemed carefully thought out -- how to please various factions and not piss anyone off too terribly.

He understands the value of sounding good and appearing sincere. I don't know how sincere he actually is.

I agree with your impression that he is growing into the position. He never did anything anywhere near this serious before. Hardly anyone has. Maybe he woke up one day and thought "I really better not screw this up, or the world could end."
 
It was a speech read from a teleprompter.

I'm sure there was something to remind him. How many of us have photographic memories? But he obviously was not simply reading. He obviously remembered the basic messages.

If you did not watch it, you should not comment.
 
It sounds like you are trying to be objective and fair. I also disagree with him, and the Republicans, on certain things, but agree on others.

I think it is better to watch this speech than read it though. He seemed to be sincere. Not wooden like someone just reading mindlessly. There were spontaneous jokes, which shows he was relaxed and thinking about what he was saying.

I doubt he wrote the speech, but probably was involved in the process. It seemed carefully thought out -- how to please various factions and not piss anyone off too terribly.

He understands the value of sounding good and appearing sincere. I don't know how sincere he actually is.

I agree with your impression that he is growing into the position. He never did anything anywhere near this serious before. Hardly anyone has. Maybe he woke up one day and thought "I really better not screw this up, or the world could end."

The problem reconciling the speech and where he is as a president is how he behaves and communicates otherwise. A professional speech is very different to how someone communicates in real life, and his tweets are a better gage of his communication style and tone than a professional speech. We've seen the difference between "speech Trump" and "regular Trump", and they are two very different things. What struck me about his call for bipartisanship is the fact he's continually attacked opposition members via social media and called them names; no different than when he was on the campaign trail. It was also odd to read the part about Joshua Trump and how people shouldn't be bullied etc. yet has done the exact same thing as a president.

I think if he were really sincere, we would have seen a better effort from him in bridging the gaps but the catch 22 is that very same divide is what helped him get elected; so any attempt at working with opponents is going to be seen negatively by his core supporters. The former was displayed clearly when many attacked him for opening up the government. Donald Trump has been a leverage player most of his career, and it became evident that's how he was going to approach politics. The problem is he's not going to have the same leverage as he did when he was in real estate or pushing his brand. I think he needs to learn when to play hardball and when a softer approach is required, but he starts off with the hardball approach almost every time. If you do that, you make others defensive and unwilling to cooperate.
 
I'm sure there was something to remind him. How many of us have photographic memories? But he obviously was not simply reading. He obviously remembered the basic messages.

If you did not watch it, you should not comment.

I don't need to have watched it; that a teleprompter was used is in a variety of articles. Also, if you've watched Donald Trump speak off the cuff, he often goes off on tangents and has a hard time making a cohesive point. Compare the two SOTU addresses to any moment where Trump is speaking without a prepared statement and tell me if they're anything alike.
 
A lot of Democrats didn't watch the SOTU because they "knew" it would just be more stupid evil boring nonsense. They will find out what it was about from CNN and SNL.

I keep trying to hate Trump, since after all he was just a reality TV star, and I hate reality TV. I also don't understand why someone that rich can't afford a hair stylist.

But every time I watched one of his speeches I hated him less. And last night's speech showed that he has become qualified to be president, even if he wasn't before. If it was all BS and lies, then at least he proved he is a good actor. No sign whatsoever of mental illness or dementia, etc. And if he is a psychopath he's damned good at covering it up.

And Democrats are sure he's a racist, or at least appealing to racists supporters. So why did he free those black prisoners? And talk about it in such a compassionate way?

I am having more and more trouble hating the president.

I find it easy to dislike compulsively, pathologically dishonest con-men with long histories of being mobbed up and ripping people off.

You seem to love guys like that.

Meh.
 
So glad to provide you with entertainment.

Sure, the speech was planned. Was there ever a SOTU that wasn't planned?

If he was simply reading that mindlessly he is a darn good actor. But if you watched it you would know it wasn't simply mindless reading.

All he ever does is mindless.

Thanks for eating your own words.
 
The problem reconciling the speech and where he is as a president is how he behaves and communicates otherwise. A professional speech is very different to how someone communicates in real life, and his tweets are a better gage of his communication style and tone than a professional speech. We've seen the difference between "speech Trump" and "regular Trump", and they are two very different things. What struck me about his call for bipartisanship is the fact he's continually attacked opposition members via social media and called them names; no different than when he was on the campaign trail. It was also odd to read the part about Joshua Trump and how people shouldn't be bullied etc. yet has done the exact same thing as a president.

I think if he were really sincere, we would have seen a better effort from him in bridging the gaps but the catch 22 is that very same divide is what helped him get elected; so any attempt at working with opponents is going to be seen negatively by his core supporters. The former was displayed clearly when many attacked him for opening up the government. Donald Trump has been a leverage player most of his career, and it became evident that's how he was going to approach politics. The problem is he's not going to have the same leverage as he did when he was in real estate or pushing his brand. I think he needs to learn when to play hardball and when a softer approach is required, but he starts off with the hardball approach almost every time. If you do that, you make others defensive and unwilling to cooperate.

Ok, that makes sense. Maybe part of the problem is twitter and its spontaneous nature. As far as I know, no other president has twittered. It kind of inevitably leads to conflict. Anything online leads to conflict -- just look at this forum.
 
I don't need to have watched it; that a teleprompter was used is in a variety of articles. Also, if you've watched Donald Trump speak off the cuff, he often goes off on tangents and has a hard time making a cohesive point. Compare the two SOTU addresses to any moment where Trump is speaking without a prepared statement and tell me if they're anything alike.

Every SOTU is planned. This is not unusual.
 
If you think he was reading a teleprompter, then you didn't watch it. Trump-haters did not think it was worth their time.

He was reading a teleprompter. All presidents do it. There are three of them. One in front and one to either side. That way it can appear as though they are looking at their audience, when in fact they are reading a speech written for them by a professional speech writer.
 
If you think he was reading a teleprompter, then you didn't watch it. Trump-haters did not think it was worth their time.

If he wasn't reading a teleprompter, why were they there? I despise trump, I still watched the speech. All he proved to me is he is capable of reading because if you think he memorized an hour and a half long speech you're kidding yourself. People who don't like trump have a multitude of reasons, people who love trump willfully overlook his negatives because they think they are going to put more money in their pockets. The man shouldn't be president, he is not qualified and truthfully he doesn't care about being president, he cares how it makes his ego feel, important.
 
He was reading a teleprompter. All presidents do it. There are three of them. One in front and one to either side. That way it can appear as though they are looking at their audience, when in fact they are reading a speech written for them by a professional speech writer.

They ALL do. So why mention it? These speeches are planned. They are not like twitter. We all know that.
 
They ALL do. So why mention it? These speeches are planned. They are not like twitter. We all know that.

One thing I notice is that the normal speech patterns of this president (during interviews and such) are drastically different than the flow of his prepared speeches. Most professional speech writers try to imitate the speech patterns of the president in order to lend legitimacy to what he is saying so that it's not blatantly obvious that someone else wrote the speech. Of course, all presidents sound much more eloquent when reading someone else's words from a teleprompter, but with Trump's speeches it's like his speech writers aren't even trying to sound like him at all. It really makes him come across as a total fraud.

That wasn't the Donald Trump we all know and love (or love to hate) giving the State of the Union address. That was Donald Trump dutifully reciting a carefully prepared speech he barely understood because someone told him his presidency depended on it.
 
One thing I notice is that the normal speech patterns of this president (during interviews and such) are drastically different than the flow of his prepared speeches. Most professional speech writers try to imitate the speech patterns of the president in order to lend legitimacy to what he is saying so that it's not blatantly obvious that someone else wrote the speech. Of course, all presidents sound much more eloquent when reading someone else's words from a teleprompter, but with Trump's speeches it's like his speech writers aren't even trying to sound like him at all. It really makes him come across as a total fraud.

That wasn't the Donald Trump we all know and love (or love to hate) giving the State of the Union address. That was Donald Trump dutifully reciting a carefully prepared speech he barely understood because someone told him his presidency depended on it.

There was nothing hard to understand in that speech. You bought the myth that his intelligence is below average.

So many people have trouble separating myth from reality.
 
Obviously the Democrats here who heard the speech think it was good. That's why they are complaining that it was read from a teleprompter.

Did you complain about Obama reading speeches from a teleprompter? Or was it ok when he did it?
 
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