Taiwan is the United States’ 10th largest trading partner
My guess is that you probably did not think it possible that George W Bush would become president in 2000. And get re-elected in 2004. Or am I wrong about that? Anyway, I would caution against being so confident that Trump cannot possibly become president. Or indeed, thinking that we could not possibly wind up with someone even worse than him. History is replete with disastrous leaders, often very popular in the beginning of their term(s) of office.
Note that I am not making any predictions. Trump, Hillary, Sanders, Deez Nuts - all possibilities (though I wouldn’t bet money on the last one).
I agree with those who say that none of the candidates could care less about Taiwan. Or even know where it is. Certainly none will go to war with China on Taiwan’s behalf. As for weapon sales, that will be determined by corporate lobbyists, not the president. “Wanna buy a submarine? First accept psychosis-inducing ractopamine-infested US pork imports, and then we’ll consider it.”
My guess is that you probably did not think it possible that George W Bush would become president in 2000. And get re-elected in 2004. Or am I wrong about that? Anyway, I would caution against being so confident that Trump cannot possibly become president. Or indeed, thinking that we could not possibly wind up with someone even worse than him. History is replete with disastrous leaders, often very popular in the beginning of their term(s) of office.
Note that I am not making any predictions. Trump, Hillary, Sanders, Deez Nuts - all possibilities (though I wouldn’t bet money on the last one).
I agree with those who say that none of the candidates could care less about Taiwan. Or even know where it is.[/quote]
I don’t think Trump or Sanders will appeal to the masses. So my guess is in the end the president will be either Hillary or Jeb if one of the former makes it to the election. Now, if Trump and Sanders would be the candidates, that would be interesting. If one of the two would be elected, that would send shock waves around the world (very different ones of course).
My guess is that you probably did not think it possible that George W Bush would become president in 2000. And get re-elected in 2004. Or am I wrong about that?[/quote]
Entirely different. The electoral environment at that time was definitely leaning towards a very strong possibility that Bush could be President. Bush ended up being a total disaster after the fact, but leading up to the election there was no real reason to think he was unelectable, or couldn’t get the nomination. Trump on the other hand is entirely unelectable. Every single political strategist I’ve read on the subject points to woman and latino’s as the MUST attract more area’s of the voting populace. Trump gets neither, and there is no electoral path for Trump being president.
The messed up way US elections are is already leaning heavily towards a democratic president, ANY democratic president. It’s just a game, moving red and blue pieces around the board. Republicans only have an outside chance and that’s if the nomination is someone truly great. Trump is the most unqualified candidate in the last several decades. He literally has nothing going for him. He’s not well spoken, he’s not presidential, he has no political experience, he has no foreign policy experience, he’s not a war veteran, he’s not an inspirational public figure, he’s not a minority, he has no record of building successful business, no philanthropy, nothing. He’s an arrogant trust fund baby that 75% of America will despise. Of course there’s going to be 25% of the voting populace that resonates with his type of crazy, but sadly for them 25% isn’t enough to be President.
I wasn’t able to watch more than 20 seconds of it.[/quote]
Watching them side by side, Trump actually appears to be a reasonable person. Palin, she is so crazy~~~
Trump saying that he loves the bible? Interesting. What if Jesus approached him and said: “Go and sell all your possessions and give the money to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me.”
Would he follow or call security?[/quote]
He’s meeting with the televangelist gang this week. I thought he couldn’t get any more despicable in my personal opinion -given his views on women, Latinos, etc. Well, he outdid himself now.
The joke ain’t funny no more. Please stop.
That sounds a lot like George W Bush, except that he did get elected as governor of Texas (he was a lousy governor, by the way), so at least he had that much political experience.
Being xenophobic and anti-free trade could help Trump a lot more in the polls than hurt him. In case you hadn’t noticed, Tea Party Republicans have had a lot of success in recent elections, and they are Trump’s base.
Dog’s Breakfast, don’t confuse the party primaries with the national election. Anti-trade and anti-immigration are great ways to get ahead in the white male-heavy Republican party, but in a national forum it won’t get him into office. Both parties will keep coming up with unexciting Al Gore/Mitt Romney types who are probably qualified for the job but just can’t get votes
That last sentence should be emphasized: Both parties will keep coming up with unexciting Al Gore/Mitt Romney types who are probably qualified for the job but just can’t get votes.
Yes, BOTH parties. So if the Democrats nominate Hillary, for example, we will have Hillary vs Trump, both very unexciting candidates who can’t get elected. In that case, I would make no bets on which one will succeed in getting elected. Intelligent voters would want to vote 3rd party, but that never seems to work out. In a hypothetical Hillary vs Trump scenario, maybe the Libertarians get 2% instead of their usual 1%, and the Green Party manages 1% for the first time ever. Perhaps Bernie Sanders jumps in as an independent and gets 10%. And then Trump wins with 44% vs Hillary’s 43%. Just one possibility, out of many.
Again, no predictions on my part. It’s all wild speculation. The one thing I can assure you of is that no amount of wishful thinking by Forumosans will make any difference at all on election day. Indeed, most of the people on this forum don’t even vote.
There’s one interesting thing about Trump. While Trump talks about tax cuts, he’s not talking about it the typical Republican way. Usually Republicans talk about tax cuts for the wealthy Americans, and are fiercely against a flat rate. They argue that if the really wealthy get to keep more money, then they would go on and invest the money they kept and have that trickle down the economic system. Trump in his interview with Sarah Palin seemingly argued for a tax cut for the middle class but have a flat rate across the board. That policy sounded a lot more democrat than republican.
I guess he’s meeting with the televangelist who’s asked his followers to buy him a $65 million jet…
These people, do they ever read the bible?
[quote=“Dog’s_Breakfast”] Perhaps Bernie Sanders jumps in as an independent and gets 10%. And then Trump wins with 44% vs Hillary’s 43%. Just one possibility, out of many.
[/quote]
Bernie would not run as an independent, but Trump might this time around. If Fox news gets their way and denies Trump a nomination, he’s likely to run as an independent.
Bernie-Trump 2016! I’ll start working on the bumper stickers… I mean trumper stickers… I mean bernie stickers… uh…
Ah yes, political bumper stickers. So many great ones to choose from, but my personal favorite…
Hillary is an intelligent successful well spoken woman, with extensive political and foreign policy experience. I’m not saying I support her because she’s about my third choice at this point, but she is literally the epitome of an electable candidate. There’s been no more than a handful in the last several decades that check as many of the electable boxes as she does. How on earth are we here trying to compare Clinton to Trump? From one extreme to the other. One candidate without a single thing going for him, vs another candidate with a list of electable positives so long it’s hard to even highlight them all.
I guess he’s meeting with the televangelist who’s asked his followers to buy him a $65 million jet…
These people, do they ever read the bible?[/quote]
I only believe in the church of Our Lady of Perpetual Exemption.
[quote=“Dog’s_Breakfast”]My guess is that you probably did not think it possible that George W Bush would become president in 2000. And get re-elected in 2004. Or am I wrong about that? [/quote] You are wrong about that. I did think he would lose, but I was only right about that in 2000. 
[quote]Anyway, I would caution against being so confident that Trump cannot possibly become president. [/quote] I base this on the many like him who have come before. I am certainly not 100% sure- no one can be. But I don’t think he has a real path to the White House based on current voting demographics. I predict he won’t win a single primary.
I predict that I won’t make any predictions. History will be what it will be, for better or worse.
[quote=“hansioux”]
I only believe in the church of Our Lady of Perpetual Exemption.[/quote]
I believe in Bokononism.
The Fourteenth Book of Bokonon
(A short book with a long title.)
Title: What Can a Thoughtful Man Hope for Mankind on Earth, Given the Experience of the Past Million Years?
Only verse: Nothing.
Yeah, because the very few 'mericans who bother to learn a second language are the real threat. Bush speaks the language of rapists. 
Hairforce One:
Clowns to the right of me, commissars to the left. The contest for ringleader-in-chief of the world’s most popular reality show is sure to be a ratings bonanza next year.
I’ve changed my assessment. Trump would be a disaster in foreign policy. He has criticized Japan for not doing enough to protect the US (what?) and said Korea would do just fine defending itself if the US weren’t there to help out. Don’t expect any real, useful policies for Taiwan.