Yes, but I’m a libertarian in the sense that I believe we can decide on social programs ourselves and we should have the right to vote on social programs. I also believe we should be able to buy prescription drugs from overseas, and insurance from overseas. THAT’S economic freedom. Why can’t I buy health insurance from Spain? Or China? Why are our health care costs so high yet our health industry increasingly closed and at the same time more and more monopolistic? EDIT: Going on a trip. Will respond in a couple days.
A leader, if he wants any credibility, needs to call a shithole a shithole.
Oh, and people who call this guy a clown all seem to end up looking like clowns themselves sooner or later. Have you noticed that? There are two types of clowns: jokers and fools. Trump is a joker. That’s only a problem if you’re the fool he’s mocking.
Why do you seem to take this all so personally? Just wondering. To put it another way: why so serious?
Libertarians are losers. I do admire their idealism in the abstract, but they just don’t think things through. They never, ever come up with an action plan that can get results.
What’s the point of wishing for smaller government if you won’t do what it takes to make it happen? Oh, and… look who’s slashing government regulations right now. Hint: he’s not a libertarian.
Results matter. Words are words. Ideals are… all too often just words. But results are concrete. Results are actual. Everyone who’s not a fool understands this.
The prosperity’s starting to get real. The peace… we’ll see, but so far so good. It’s an open question whether those who claim to care about results will give him due credit.
Never call someone an idiot who’s doing well. He may be a lot of things, but we ruled out “idiot” a long time ago.
So, from “not holes but houses!” to “not holes but hole leaders!”. What’s next?
Well, “basket of deplorables” was already taken.
A shame about that. Probably the only clever turn of phrase she ever came up with in her entire life, and it got turned against her. She just couldn’t hold that ground.
As for shit leaders, even the least free society gets rulers no worse than the people are willing to tolerate. The worse you’re willing to submit to, the worse will rule over you.
And if they have a gun to your head, well… there are plenty of threads already about that. A monopoly on the use of force doesn’t just happen. It takes a whole lot of scheming to grab all the guns in the first place.
In many conversations about Trump you are always blamed for following the narrative of “main stream media”, like you can’t think for yourself. Of course if you cited fringe new sources you would be criticized for something else.
I think if I had talked about Taiwan’s predicament with regards China you would have got the reference immediately, in no small part because we live here and discuss the issue ad nauseam on these boards.
Kim Jong Un’s predicament is much worse, although since we have pigeon holed his regime as the most evil dictatorship on the planet (with good reason) we tend not to think about his predicament. As you say, he most likely is not the one with the most power (which means if the powers that be are displeased, its his head on the chopping block), he is isolated from just about every country except China and a lessor extent Russia, obviously he would like to change that, except his value to the two countries that prop him up is that he is not like SK, that is not in Russia/China’s interests, the very thing he wants to give up in order to be more like something they don’t want is the very thing they want as a strategic advantage.
Quite the predicament indeed.
What makes you so sure that Beijing is unhappy about the way this is going now, compared to the last few years?
Donnie isn’t the only one who would love to cover the beaches with condos.
I didn’t say they were unhappy, I am saying no deal was ever going to be made without taking into consideration Russia/China influence and the strategic advantage NK provides them.
In other words, when dealing with denuclearization of NK, you are primarily not dealing with NK, you are dealing with China and Russia. But mostly China.
except his value to the two countries that prop him up is that he is not like SK, that is not in Russia/China’s interests, the very thing he wants to give up in order to be more like something they don’t want is the very thing they want as a strategic advantage.
I took that as an implied “NK is pivoting to the West” type statement.
My point is that China will probably like the new “glasnost & perestroika” NK more than the old NK. It will still be a buffer when there are a few more Americans – and probably a lot more Chinese – doing business there.
I thought the “superpredators” thing was pretty good.
No, I didn’t mean to imply “NK is pivoting to the West” at all, the very opposite, implicit in any deal to rid NK of nukes would have to include assurances to China/Russia that they retain strategic influence, hence comments by Trump that it would not be USA investing in NK, it would be traditional allies.
I agree 100% with your latter statement.
Yeah, superpredator sounds really badass.
Let China build some beach resorts and save some face and they’ll be happy.
Ditto America. In fact, NK could become the UN of beach resorts!
Let’s hope for a better outcome than that.
Ah, willing to settle for peace & prosperity if absolutely necessary, but still hoping for nuclear war. I see.
Future so bright I gotta wear shades.
Won’t someone please think of the children? The trending narrative is that Trump is a big meanie for separating kids from their parents on the border.
Feinstein, Bubbette and others are in full moral panic mode, but various commentators are already spotting the blind spots.
This is looking like it’ll be another fun one.
Is it that they never think before they open their mouths, or is it that they totally lack self awareness?
most politicians on both sides of the American aisles are so out of touch with reality AND they are way past retirement age. Look at McCain. He’ll die in office of cancer, just like Kennedy. This is not a party thing, it’s a power trip thing. No matter how old they get, they can’t let go of the power they yield/have. And so, they get older and lose touch with the real world and continue to make stupid statements. Thank God for the Internet, as history will write a clearer picture of their idiocy than any autobiographer could.