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OT: American Politics

https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/trump-trade-gomez-baruah-1.4732736

"A former Mexican congressman and founding member of a Mexico-based think tank says it's time for Canada to drop the gloves in its trade fight with the United States. "

"Agustin Barrios Gomez said Canada needs to understand that Canada is living in a new world where the friendship that bound it to its southern neighbour "no longer is currency with the current administration" in Washington.

"This policy of appeasement, or this policy of playing nice that was attempted by the Trudeau government at the beginning, I think that that time is over," Gomez, a founder of the Mexican Council on Foreign Relations, told guest host Catherine Cullen.

"We have to sit down and look at what each country's national interests are and be very clear that we cannot be allies if we are not friends. And this is not a way to treat friends."
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Some good advice from our actual friends in the south.
 
I think at this point you're best off handling this in as muted a way as possible. Don't be overly aggresive, and continue matching the tariffs dollar for dollar. Let Trump's stupidity run for a bit.

Why? November is coming. Don't give Trump a "them" to rally the undecideds around. If November comes and the Dems either don't sweep in blue wave style, or do so and are for whatever reason unwilling or unable to get a hand on the wheel and pump the brakes, then by all means turn up the volume and make it hurt as much as we're capable of.

That's only 4 months. We can keep our mouths mostly shut and just go about our business for 4 months.
 
MindzEye said:
I think at this point you're best off handling this in as muted a way as possible. Don't be overly aggresive, and continue matching the tariffs dollar for dollar. Let Trump's stupidity run for a bit.

Why? November is coming. Don't give Trump a "them" to rally the undecideds around. If November comes and the Dems either don't sweep in blue wave style, or do so and are for whatever reason unwilling or unable to get a hand on the wheel and pump the brakes, then by all means turn up the volume and make it hurt as much as we're capable of.

That's only 4 months. We can keep our mouths mostly shut and just go about our business for 4 months.
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If America goes after Canada again, that's political suicide for Trudeau.

The conservatives already tried going after him softly for not putting tariffs immediately after america implemented theirs.

Not countering America and trump next time, and the attacks of how he is weak and sold and how Canada needs more assertive leadership will kill the liberals. 4 months of that? That's brave.
 
Is Canada's targeting of tariffs to goods from mostly Rep. states considered as trying to influence the Nov. election results?
 
Altair said:
If America goes after Canada again, that's political suicide for Trudeau.

The conservatives already tried going after him softly for not putting tariffs immediately after america implemented theirs.

Not countering America and trump next time, and the attacks of how he is weak and sold and how Canada needs more assertive leadership will kill the liberals. 4 months of that? That's brave.
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I'm not saying to not counter. What I'm saying is that our Mexican friend really isn't offering advice here. We need to weather this storm under the assumption that the political winds are going to shift hard in november. But don't go so far in our responses to Trump's stupidity that we give undecided voters in important states a reason to listen to the calls of dear leader to circle the wagons.
 
anne25 said:
Is Canada's targeting of tariffs to goods from mostly Rep. states considered as trying to influence the Nov. election results?
Click to expand...

By that standard, all foreign policy is an attempt to influence elections.

The tariffs are targeted to get Republican governors, senators and representatives to influence Trump’s anti free trade policies. There’s no point targeting dems since they a) have no influence and b) are mostly already on the right side.
 
zeke said:
After having written many best selling books, and somewhat priding myself on my ability to write, it should be noted that the Fake News constantly likes to pour over my tweets looking for a mistake. I capitalize certain words only for emphasis, not b/c they should be capitalized!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) July 3, 2018
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http://thehill.com/homenews/adminis...biographer-trump-didnt-write-any-of-his-books

A biographer of President Trump hit back at Trump’s tweet touting himself as the author of “many best selling books,” saying that ghostwriters had written all of the president’s books.

“President Trump didn’t write any of his books. Ghostwriters on all of them,” author Tim O’Brien tweeted Tuesday.
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We all knew this of course, but still.
 
MindzEye said:
I'm not saying to not counter. What I'm saying is that our Mexican friend really isn't offering advice here. We need to weather this storm under the assumption that the political winds are going to shift hard in november. But don't go so far in our responses to Trump's stupidity that we give undecided voters in important states a reason to listen to the calls of dear leader to circle the wagons.
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I think our Mexican friends are getting to the root of the issue.

Canadians still think of america as allies and friends, and we need to move away from that.
 
Altair said:
I think our Mexican friends are getting to the root of the issue.

Canadians still think of america as allies and friends, and we need to move away from that.
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I would suggest that our current policy of "punch us and we will punch you back exactly as hard" is moving away from that. Trudeau hasn't been particularly friendly with Trump for a while now.

and with all of that said, outright hostility is just the wrong policy. Do I trust the US political process to not spin out another ****ing lunatic in 7-11 years? No, no I don't, but there's absolutely zero sense and zero need to be overly hostile, for reasons I've already stated. November is coming. Trump is about to stop having a rubber stamp Congress. He regularly exceeds his executive power (these tariffs on "national security" grounds being a fantastic example) and will have checks and balances put on his ass when the Dems retake the house in November. There's no sense and no need in poisoning any future relationships that don't need to be at this time.

Our first, second, and third priorities here should be finding a way to make this relationship work for both of us. It's just too strategically important for both countries.
 
Nobody wants to embarrass POTUS on his stupid Iran citizen tweet

DhQqChUWkAAYZ6h.jpg:large
 
So a bunch of gop senators (NOT a bipartisan group - which is unprecedented, for the record) snuck away and are having meetings in Russia right now, without saying anything to the american public about it. This is a preamble to Trump wanting to meet with Putin without anyone else in the room.

Not only is it hilariously suspicious, but of course, when you hide this kind of stuff from the public, you hand the narrative over to the other side:


Julia Davis @JuliaDavisNews
GOP lawmakers requested that their meetings with members of the Russian government proceed in a closed format (no press allowed).
Here is @SenShelby chitchatting with Molotov's grandson, Vyacheslav Nikonov.
Happy #IndependenceDay.

Julia Davis
@JuliaDavisNews
#Russia's state TV:
"GOP lawmakers sounded tough on Russia when speaking from Washington, but changed their rhetoric upon arriving to Moscow."

Julia Davis
@JuliaDavisNews
Konstantin Kosachev is under US sanctions, was mentioned in the Steele Dossier. GOP lawmakers just invited him to Washington. BTW, they were seated across from Sergey Kislyak.

Julia Davis
@JuliaDavisNews
#Russia's state TV:
Chairman of Foreign Affairs Committee Konstantin Kosachev, WHO IS UNDER US SANCTIONS, said every GOP lawmaker shook his hand:

Julia Davis @JuliaDavisNews
51m
#Russia's state TV:
Chairman of Foreign Affairs Comm Konstantin Kosachev, who is under U.S. sanctions, says that the mere fact of GOP lawmakers traveling to Russia is a concession, since the US previously pledged to isolate Russia for Crimea, etc., but they changed that position.

Julia Davis @JuliaDavisNews
29m
Igor Morozov, member of the Federation Council, mocks Shelby for suddenly changing his previously tough posture regarding Russia:
"One of the main initiators of anti-Russian sanctions... he now says we’re a superpower & competitors... You bet we are competitors, in every area."

Julia Davis
@JuliaDavisNews
#Russia's state TV speculates about what Putin told Trump in a verbal message sent through Bolton, according to the Kremlin aide Ushakov, who said that Putin "conveyed some thoughts to Bolton that were intended exclusively for Trump... nothing was handed over in a written form."

Julia Davis @JuliaDavisNews
#Russia's state TV:
Yury Afonin, member of the State Duma, says that the main intrigue - in light of Trump's recent comments about Ukraine - is the likelihood of Trump and Putin entering into a secret verbal agreement during their upcoming get-together.

Julia Davis @JuliaDavisNews
#Russia's state TV:
Igor Korotchenko, member of the Defense Ministry’s public advisory council, talks about GOP Senators coming to Russia and the Trump-Putin summit:
"The Russians should look down upon the Americans, like the USSR did... You came to us, because YOU need it."




And who ever thought we could learn more from Russia State TV than america's free press?
 
Lol.

BUT RUSSIAAAAAA!



So because of histrionics the President shouldn’t even use Russian dressing.

Just stop already.
 
https://apnews.com/a3309c4990ac4581834d4a654f7746ef

As a meeting last August in the Oval Office to discuss sanctions on Venezuela was concluding, President Donald Trump turned to his top aides and asked an unsettling question: With a fast unraveling Venezuela threatening regional security, why can’t the U.S. just simply invade the troubled country?

The suggestion stunned those present at the meeting, including U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson and national security adviser H.R. McMaster, both of whom have since left the administration. This account of the previously undisclosed conversation comes from a senior administration official familiar with what was said.

In an exchange that lasted around five minutes, McMaster and others took turns explaining to Trump how military action could backfire and risk losing hard-won support among Latin American governments to punish President Nicolas Maduro for taking Venezuela down the path of dictatorship, according to the official. The official spoke on the condition of anonymity because of the sensitive nature of the discussions.

But Trump pushed back. Although he gave no indication he was about to order up military plans, he pointed to what he considered past cases of successful gunboat diplomacy in the region, according to the official, like the invasions of Panama and Grenada in the 1980s.

The idea, despite his aides’ best attempts to shoot it down, would nonetheless persist in the president’s head.....
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Habsy said:
Lol.

BUT RUSSIAAAAAA!



So because of histrionics the President shouldn’t even use Russian dressing.

Just stop already.
Click to expand...

How can you compare salad dressing with secret meetings that even the Russians are laughing about actually happening?
 
https://www.washingtonpost.com/opin...ory.html?noredirect=on&utm_term=.822d723f1e9c

The left’s contempt is going to reelect Trump
. Axios reports that Democrats are targeting the “20% of Trump’s voters [who] told exit pollsters they didn’t like him” hoping these reluctant Trump voters will help power a “blue wave” in the 2018 midterms and defeat President Trump in 2020.

One problem with that theory: The left’s nonstop, over-the-top attacks on Trump are not peeling those voters away from him; they are pushing them further into the president’s camp.

In recent weeks, Trump derangement syndrome on the left has reached critical mass. First, there was Robert De Niro’s “f--- Trump” tirade at the Tony awards, followed by Samantha Bee’s calling Ivanka Trump a “feckless c---” on her TV show. Then the owners of the Red Hen restaurant threw outWhite House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders because she works for the president, while chanting protesters heckled Secretary of Homeland Security Kirstjen Nielsen at a Mexican restaurant. Rep. Maxine Waters (D-Calif.) added fuel to the fire by openly calling on mobs of left-wing activists to “absolutely harass” Trump officials. Then, there were the countless Trump opponents in the media, Congress and on Twitter who compared family separations at the southern border with Nazi Germany, and the Time magazine cover depicting Trump staring down heartlessly at a crying migrant girl and implying she was separated from her mother (until it emerged that she had not in fact been separated from her mother). And now come the threats to block Trump’s Supreme Court nominee before he has even nominated one.

How do liberals think that 20 percent of reluctant Trump voters respond to these displays of unbridled contempt? They are outraged not at Trump but at his critics. The unhinged hatred for the president makes these voters almost reflexively defend him.

Don’t take my word for it. The New York Times recently intervieweddozens of tepid Trump voters who explained how the incessant attacks are causing them to rally around the president. “Gina Anders knows the feeling well by now,” the Times reports. “President Trump says or does something that triggers a spasm of outrage. She doesn’t necessarily agree with how he handled the situation. She gets why people are upset.” But Anders, who the Times says has “not a stitch of ‘Make America Great Again’ gear in her wardrobe, is moved to defend him anyway.” When she hears the “overblown” attacks on Trump, she says, “It makes me angry at them, which causes me to want to defend him to them more.” Another reluctant Trump voter, Tony Schrantz, agrees. “He’s not a perfect guy; he does some stupid stuff,” he tells the Times. “But when they’re hounding him all the time it just gets old.”

These are exactly the voters Democrats are hoping to win back. Instead, they are doing the opposite. Polls bear this out. Two weeks ago, Trump’s Gallup approval rating hit 45 percent — the highest it has been since his inauguration. (It slipped slightly to 41 percent last week). Trump’s approval among Republicans is at a near-record 87 percent, comparable to the levels of support for George W. Bush in the immediate aftermath of 9/11. Think about that: The left’s attacks on Trump have had the same rallying effect for GOP voters as the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001
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The democrats can't win.

They play nice and they get run over, they play nasty and they drive people to Trump.

Seriously, america is broken.
 
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