Powerful speech against Trump from the floor of the House.

One thing about Trump's future administration:

If there's one guy that can reign in Trump, it could be retired Marine general Mattis. A tough-talk Marine with a nick-name like 'Mad Dog' is something that Trump obviously listens. Yet the important quotes (actually hopefully) don't come to the ears of the alt-right and other Trumpists, because Mattis has critisized Trump quite heavily:

- Regarding Trump’s contention that U.S. allies are not paying their “fair share” of costs to support the alliance, Mattis called the claim “about as kooky as [if] a president were to call our allies freeloaders.”

- On Trump’s call for a ban on Muslim immigrants, Mattis — who rarely gives media interviews — was also sharply critical, saying that such talk prompts U.S. allies to think “we have lost faith in reason.”

- Asked about the reaction in the Middle East to Trump’s suggestion, Mattis said, “They think we’ve completely lost it. This kind of thing is causing us great damage right now, and it’s sending shock waves through this international system.“(See article Ex-military leaders at Hoover Institution say Trump statements threaten America's interests)

Perhaps the best quote comes from President elect Trump himself, describing in a recorded session with NY Times his meeting with general Mattis:

Trump:

General Mattis is a strong, highly dignified man. I met with him at length and I asked him that question. I said, what do you think of waterboarding? He said — I was surprised — he said, ‘I’ve never found it to be useful.’ He said, ‘I’ve always found, give me a pack of cigarettes and a couple of beers and I do better with that than I do with torture.’ And I was very impressed by that answer.

Any real soldier knowd that intel with torture is bad, but Trump seems to be really surprised. After this Trump actually tells about himself (and about his supporters much) of how much they know about fighting insurgencies (or terrorism)... and their ignorance and naive thinking. From the talk you can notice this is a real transcript of Trump btw.

I was surprised, because he’s known as being like the toughest guy. And when he said that, I’m not saying it changed my man. Look, we have people that are chopping off heads and drowning people in steel cages and we’re not allowed to waterboard. But I’ll tell you what, I was impressed by that answer. It certainly does not — it’s not going to make the kind of a difference that maybe a lot of people think. If it’s so important to the American people, I would go for it. I would be guided by that. But General Mattis found it to be very less important, much less important than I thought he would say. I thought he would say — you know he’s known as Mad Dog Mattis, right? Mad Dog for a reason. I thought he’d say ‘It’s phenomenal, don’t lose it.’ He actually said, ‘No, give me some cigarettes and some drinks, and we’ll do better.’

That kind of grasp of reality is what the Trump cabinet needs.

I think Trump is already showing signs of living down to expectations, by refusing to put his interests in a blind trust, cronyism with family members, engaging in Twitter wars with journalists who write critical articles about him. The only possible hope for Trump is that he can rise above himself, but there is little sign of it.

I think Trump is already showing signs of living down to expectations, by refusing to put his interests in a blind trust, cronyism with family members, engaging in Twitter wars with journalists who write critical articles about him. The only possible hope for Trump is that he can rise above himself, but there is little sign of it. — Wayfarer

If Hillary would have won, the Republicans would have started to talk immediately about impeachment. With Trump, that impeachment might be a reality. Not only have the children and son-in-law have had a huge impact during the campaign (like starting from picking Pence as a running mate) If Trump is saying that his children will take care of his business ventures (which isn't at all a blind trust), what does it tell that he meets the Japanese Prime Minister with his daughter and son-in-law? Nobody would have minded if it would they would have posed for a picture with Melania, but with Ivanka sitting there through the meeting? I suspect that picture people will get the correct message.



It's a similar move like that his Washington DC hotel are targetting diplomats... if they in the Capitol. To put it simply: the corruption goes to a totally different level with Trump that it would ever be with the Clintons, who basically played the game as it's intended (with corporations giving money to the right charities etc.) What happens when Ivanka starts the next multi-million hotel Project? Likely those foreign entities who give the loans can have other agenda's than just to make money.

And Twitter wars? Nevermind the Trump's whimsical theatre tweeting, It's telling that Trump got the UK government officially responding that they have an able embassador in the US already (Trump tweeted that Farage would be a great UK ambassador to the States). Trump unlikely will not get it that he's not just tweeting with similar celebs as he used to do.

Yet why I bring the example of Mattis here is that the worst thing Trump can do if there is absolutely nobody in his cabinet speaking reason to him. The damage can simply be phenomenal. Trump's Russia connection is actually alarming as it's extremely naive to think that a "reboot" in relations would be a great thing.

So, is it OK if POTUS is a liar? Trump claiming that Clinton was beneficiary of 'millions of illegal votes', with not one shred of evidence or on any grounds. Is it OK if the 'world's most powerful man' engages in twitter wars about such matters? Seems ridiculous to me.

So, is it OK if POTUS is a liar? Trump claiming that Clinton was beneficiary of 'millions of illegal votes', with not one shred of evidence or on any grounds. Is it OK if the 'world's most powerful man' engages in twitter wars about such matters? Seems ridiculous to me. — Wayfarer

Well, he's not POTUS yet. But yeah, he needs to take a four year break from those kind of shenanigans.