I've been pretty clear, Trump was not my first choice for POTUS - felt like we were getting into uncharted territory.
That opinion still lingers, -but- he's going a darn good job with almost no help from the GOPe, House & Senate - I find that amazing!
Trump can really stay focused, and knows how to play the media, better than anyone else I've ever known.

I like Donald Trump - he is, IMHO, the best person to occupy the White House right now.


Had Ted Cruz been elected, IMHO... I doubt he could be weathering storms like Donald Trump has.   I think Ted would have become bogged down with answering stupid questions by the MSM, yet Trump seems to be like the Energizer Bunny, able to work several situations at the same time, and still handle the media.  Still like Ted Cruz, don't get me wrong, but I see Trump as the guy who can turn over the entire establishment & entrenched state dept.   He has the temperament for it.

I'm inclined to say, "let Trump take the arrows, ahead of Cruz.  Cruz can run again in 2024.

Like Trump?  Sure Trump has shown some patriotism, some leadership but he's also shown some incompetency and definitely lack of knowledge about the function of the executive branch. You have your viewpoint of him, I have quite another. First and foremost, you can't ignore or forget Tump's bombastic, narcissistic personality during his campaign that attacked not only the media, but every GOP candidate.  He unmercifully went after Cruz and his family with lies and false accusations. It was Trump who didn't even know the ins and outs of the electoral process and accused Cruz of cheating. Secondly, I believe he made a deal with Priebus to push his nomination through; a roll call vote wasn't allowed at the convention.  With that being said, I think there's a couple of things to take into consideration.  It was Ted who survived Trump up until the very end and very courageously stood before millions of people at the convention and spoke for conservatism.  It was Ted who met with Trump afterwards and publicly announced he was voting for him in order to stop Hillary and that Trump gave him a list of conservative justices and that he would pick a justice from that list.  I believe had Cruz not done that, Trump would have lost.  It was at that point that I believe Cruz supporters decided to vote for Trump for those reasons; stopping Hillary and seating a conservative justice. Without those votes, he would have lost. Keep in mind, that so far placing a conservative justice on the bench is the one promise that Trump has kept; we still don't have a wall, nor repeal of Bammycare.

Because of his bombastic, crass, rude and narcissistic personality many from the GOP and the DEMS vowed to do everything they could to derail his presidency and to make sure he was a one term president.  That is holding true.  What is now happening to Trump, he brought on all by himself. He's the one that brought on all the pitchforks against him. No one created that scenario but him.  As one example, you can't announce to the country that you could shoot someone and still have supporters and expect a positive reaction from your own party and certainly not from the opposing party.

It was blatantly obvious to me, that during the campaign, Trump never attacked Hillary until the very end.  That was a red flag and I believe he was just as surprised when he won. He didn't have a clue. He thought he could run government like a business and has even admitted so.  He was wrong. 

Cruz on the other hand, has a personality that conducts himself in a respectful manner towards the position of the presidency and didn't make a three ring circus spectacle out of himself during his campaign. He has stood time and time again for conservatism and truly for the people.  He has tremendous knowledge of the Constitution and knows the functionality of our government. Yes he was loathed by the DEMS as well as by the GOPe as is Trump, but I believe deep down inside after Trump's circus performance, they would have preferred Cruz bringing some civility and respect to the oval office. Keep in mind when he stepped back into the Senate, he was met with a round of applause. He has definitely acquired some long overdue respect and recognition.  It is Cruz who has tried to bridge the gap between Trump and those in Congress for the sake of country and has worked his butt off trying to save Trump from imploding.

To say that Cruz wouldn't have been able to endure as president what's happening now, will never be known, but Cruz did survive Trump and certainly didn't create the current scenario of the DEMS with pitchforks in hand. 

Sure Trump has shown some patriotism and some leadership, but he's also shown some incompetency and definitely lack of knowledge about the function of the executive branch. So far, he's been unsuccessful in making the 'art of the deal' to fulfill his promises of building a wall and replacing healthcare.  The three ring circus that he created followed him into the White House and the pitchforks against him aren't going away anytime soon. I support him as our President and I stand with him as I watch the ugliness coming out of the swamp, but whether or not he wins re-election in 2020 of course remains to be seen.

While all opinions are free; I agree w/I's judgement of Trump.
Anyone who has ever dated or married someone addicted to bluster/bombast
(Trump's infantile comments and tweets) knows that the relationship is doomed!!!
It is only a matter of time before the voters turn their back on him; as his below 40%
favorability is a flashing amber light.

Quote from: Walter Josh on August 05, 2017, 04:26:37 PM
While all opinions are free; I agree w/I's judgement of Trump.
Anyone who has ever dated or married someone addicted to bluster/bombast
(Trump's infantile comments and tweets) knows that the relationship is doomed!!!
It is only a matter of time before the voters turn their back on him; as his below 40%
favorability is a flashing amber light.

IF you can believe the polls.       Remember Hillary was always going to be in the White House not Thump.   It's how you play the game that make you a winner.  Hillary and the MSM did not count on the founding fathers, and there wisdom.   

Quote from: Walter Josh on August 05, 2017, 04:26:37 PM
While all opinions are free; I agree w/I's judgement of Trump.
Anyone who has ever dated or married someone addicted to bluster/bombast
(Trump's infantile comments and tweets) knows that the relationship is doomed!!!
It is only a matter of time before the voters turn their back on him; as his below 40%
favorability is a flashing amber light.

I disagree, I see his use of Tweets as pure genius, with every tweet he has the leftist media scrambling to catch up, and just when they think they have him cornered, he closes the door on his way out on their worthless asses, locks it and leaves them panicking to find an exit, as he releases another volley of scathing tweets.
To even think his strategy is a negative, one would have to live on a diet of TV news, which by the way, is the only place one hears such nonsense..

FWIW, I can't stand Trump, but by God, his use of tweets and bypassing leftist media to connect with the public is pure genius, and I guarantee you, the Dim party is in serious study mode in trying to reverse engineer his winning formula.
Just because his enemies are lost as to how they can combat his success via rigged polling, or what have you, Trump is kicking leftist ass with every tweet.

I am not Trump's target market, regardless, I can see the beauty in his control over his message and it's not being filtered by the Marxist NY Slimes first.
How is it you can't see the genius of controlling your own message?
As to "bluster and bombast", try narcissist, I think that may be a better fit, but then, we're electing leaders, people with an ego the size of the sun, a person that has to confront sociopaths leading other nations, so "bluster and bombast" goes with the position, Hell, he better have an ego or the world would eat him alive.

Like I said, I can't stand the guy, and he may not be all that Conservative, but at least he has leftist in both party's in a panic.

IMHO both parties are in chaos more so now than before Trump.  Sure Trump can handle the media; if there is a story the breaks that he doesn't like he attributes it to fake news, or he fires someone, or tweets about them rather it be false or true and really that's exactly how he won the presidency; lies and false accusations.  So far, for the most part, his presidency has been a three-ring circus with many sideshows.  Not good for the country at all.

Quote from: Ms.Independence on August 05, 2017, 05:40:56 PM
IMHO both parties are in chaos more so now than before Trump.  Sure Trump can handle the media; if there is a story the breaks that he doesn't like he attributes it to fake news, or he fires someone, or tweets about them rather it be false or true and really that's exactly how he won the presidency; lies and false accusations.  So far, for the most part, his presidency has been a three-ring circus with many sideshows.  Not good for the country at all.

All done with a leftist Jackal media looking to Cull the weak, just imagine if we had a media that actually loved, Hell, even liked the country, imagine how things would look then.
The Marxist Admin was a traveling "Hate America" circus with worldwide events, but the media never once mentioned reality.
No, Trump's administration is no different than any of the preceding with the exception of the web, something Trump uses to bypass an adversarial Enemy media.

More than fair enough, as disagreement fertilizes reflection.
Not to belabor this but while I voted for Trump, I've become disillusioned.
Margaret Noonan, Reagan's chief speechwriter, recently observed in the WSJ:
"He's neither cool, low key nor self-controlled but rather he's self-pitying and whiny;
the very essence of a narcissistic drama queen, needy of attention."
Ironically a half-dozen of my female friends and neighbors, Republicans all, say the same.
Frankly, I'll gladly accept being proven wrong by him.

Quote from: Walter Josh on August 05, 2017, 08:17:29 PM
More than fair enough, as disagreement fertilizes reflection.
Not to belabor this but while I voted for Trump, I've become disillusioned.
Margaret Noonan, Reagan's chief speechwriter, recently observed in the WSJ:
"He's neither cool, low key nor self-controlled but rather he's self-pitying and whiny;
the very essence of a narcissistic drama queen, needy of attention."
Ironically a half-dozen of my female friends and neighbors, Republicans all, say the same.
Frankly, I'll gladly accept being proven wrong by him.

So will we I all.

Something occurred to me. Trump is often called a dictator and in a way he is since no one on willing to work with him.

Quote from: The Boo Man... on August 05, 2017, 10:07:24 PM
Something occurred to me. Trump is often called a dictator and in a way he is since no one on willing to work with him.

For the most part Trump is an outsider.  IF they let one in, there will be more that follow.  It has taken over 75 years stacking the deck there way. 

We do not control congress other than by voting them in, out or voter recall.  They control us, we do not control their pay, perks, working hours and benefits they give each other. 

No business is alive today that the employees control the employers.

Quote from: Solar on August 05, 2017, 05:06:42 PM
I disagree, I see his use of Tweets as pure genius, with every tweet he has the leftist media scrambling to catch up, and just when they think they have him cornered, he closes the door on his way out on their worthless asses, locks it and leaves them panicking to find an exit, as he releases another volley of scathing tweets.
To even think his strategy is a negative, one would have to live on a diet of TV news, which by the way, is the only place one hears such nonsense..

FWIW, I can't stand Trump, but by God, his use of tweets and bypassing leftist media to connect with the public is pure genius, and I guarantee you, the Dim party is in serious study mode in trying to reverse engineer his winning formula.
Just because his enemies are lost as to how they can combat his success via rigged polling, or what have you, Trump is kicking leftist ass with every tweet.

I am not Trump's target market, regardless, I can see the beauty in his control over his message and it's not being filtered by the Marxist NY Slimes first.
How is it you can't see the genius of controlling your own message?
As to "bluster and bombast", try narcissist, I think that may be a better fit, but then, we're electing leaders, people with an ego the size of the sun, a person that has to confront sociopaths leading other nations, so "bluster and bombast" goes with the position, Hell, he better have an ego or the world would eat him alive.

Like I said, I can't stand the guy, and he may not be all that Conservative, but at least he has leftist in both party's in a panic.

I agree some luster is off Trump. However, the MSM is just repeating their pre-election practices. There is still a silent majority and now Trump is actually showing some good results, both domestically and in foreign policy. Folks, those are not fake people attending those rallies just like before the election. I am one of those who is now looking at results. We don't need a nice guy in the WH. We need a leader that moves America forward. Good results cover many sins. Also, the democrats have not changed. In fact, they are moving even further to left with no message. The folks see all these factors.

Quote from: Solar on August 05, 2017, 05:06:42 PM
I disagree, I see his use of Tweets as pure genius, with every tweet he has the leftist media scrambling to catch up, and just when they think they have him cornered, he closes the door on his way out on their worthless asses, locks it and leaves them panicking to find an exit, as he releases another volley of scathing tweets.
To even think his strategy is a negative, one would have to live on a diet of TV news, which by the way, is the only place one hears such nonsense..

FWIW, I can't stand Trump, but by God, his use of tweets and bypassing leftist media to connect with the public is pure genius, and I guarantee you, the Dim party is in serious study mode in trying to reverse engineer his winning formula.
Just because his enemies are lost as to how they can combat his success via rigged polling, or what have you, Trump is kicking leftist ass with every tweet.

I am not Trump's target market, regardless, I can see the beauty in his control over his message and it's not being filtered by the Marxist NY Slimes first.
How is it you can't see the genius of controlling your own message?
As to "bluster and bombast", try narcissist, I think that may be a better fit, but then, we're electing leaders, people with an ego the size of the sun, a person that has to confront sociopaths leading other nations, so "bluster and bombast" goes with the position, Hell, he better have an ego or the world would eat him alive.

Like I said, I can't stand the guy, and he may not be all that Conservative, but at least he has leftist in both party's in a panic.

I think that you summed up nicely how many feel about Trump.

Quote from: Walter Josh on August 05, 2017, 08:17:29 PM
More than fair enough, as disagreement fertilizes reflection.
Not to belabor this but while I voted for Trump, I've become disillusioned.
Margaret Noonan, Reagan's chief speechwriter, recently observed in the WSJ:
"He's neither cool, low key nor self-controlled but rather he's self-pitying and whiny;
the very essence of a narcissistic drama queen, needy of attention."
Ironically a half-dozen of my female friends and neighbors, Republicans all, say the same.
Frankly, I'll gladly accept being proven wrong by him.

That's Peggy Noonan, and although she was Reagan's speech writer, she has always been a full blown leftist RINO.
The words she crafted were the thoughts and motivations under the direction of Reagan himself.
Noonan herself, lost all credibility decades ago.

I think we'll be able to tell more with the next 6 months ... once we head into 2018, hopefully progress will have been made with healthcare and immigration. 

If anything, my bet is we're going to see economic growth and jobs like we haven't seen in decades.