malf
Member
Allow Americans to buy their pharma from outside the US solves a lot (without "social" policies) - just more freedom.
Heh.
Allow Americans to buy their pharma from outside the US solves a lot (without "social" policies) - just more freedom.
The first thing to do is to expose the bent science that has propped up some phoney ideas. For example, the idea that statins should be widely used as a preventative treatment for future heart disease.Awesome. So you would support social policies that curtail the profiteering of those companies?
Right - and I think if I had been a US citizen, I would have voted twice for Obama, then for Trump, and I would vote for Trump again. Obama seemed to go wrong in that second term - possibly he was blackmailed, I don't know, but starting the wars in Syria and Lybia was unforgivable, as was the interference in The Ukraine.Trump registered as a Republican in Manhattan in 1987 and since that time has changed his party affiliation five times. In 1999, Trump changed his party affiliation to the Independence Party of New York. In August 2001, Trump changed his party affiliation to Democratic. In September 2009, Trump changed his party affiliation back to the Republican Party. In December 2011, Trump changed to "no party affiliation" (independent). In April 2012, Trump again returned to the Republican Party.[3]In a 2004 interview, Trump told CNN's Wolf Blitzer: "In many cases, I probably identify more as Democrat," explaining: "It just seems that the economy does better under the Democrats than the Republicans. Now, it shouldn't be that way. But if you go back, I mean it just seems that the economy does better under the Democrats...But certainly we had some very good economies under Democrats, as well as Republicans. But we've had some pretty bad disaster under the Republicans."[4]
In a July 2015 interview, Trump said that he has a broad range of political positions and that "I identify with some things as a Democrat."
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Political_positions_of_Donald_Trump
...but has become more popular among the Democrats, who like to blame Russia for everything under the sun.
The Syrian situation is a terrible mess, interpreting Trump's (non-)actions is all very subjective.OK, let's try this another way.
I think that Trump recognised that there was no real point in the war in Syria, and that it was extremely dangerous for world peace. Therefore although he made a token attack with conventional cruise missiles, aimed not to cause causalities in response to 'gas attacks', he carefully avoided a war and has let Russia and the Syrian government pacify the region. America should never have started arming dissidents opposed to President Assad because it was just stoking up a religious conflict. I think Trump did the right thing, Hillary said she wanted to ramp the war up if she got elected.
So, no deal is better then a deal that has an end to it?Obama's deal with Iran was horribly flawed for several reasons - notably because it has a sunset clause which meant Iran could acquire a nuclear bomb after that time.
Now would you believe it, DT lied about that to:He has put a lot of pressure on Iran with sanctions, and also killed Solomeini while he was out of the country plotting further terror. I think this action was utterly justified, and it caused something close to a revolt in Iran.
Why then give the regime a new marter? Why sanction them back into the middle ages? What is the end goal of all of these new provocations?I once chatted to an Iranian exile who told me that the population is utterly sick of the regime which forces them to pray and demonstrate against the USA when in fact they are mostly secular by now.
Trump contained nothing David, Kim played him like a fiddle.Trump has managed to contain NK's push for viable nuclear weapons by threats and promises, and Kim has gone into talks with South Korea. He did this by giving Kim a photo op with the president. Surely that is worth conceding to get talks going?
Please discuss without resorting to name calling or other waffle.
David
Well who got us into that mess - Obama - and there was only one reasonable way out of it, to stop trying to be involved. Be honest, did you prefer Hillary Clinton's intended approach?The Syrian situation is a terrible mess, interpreting Trump's (non-)actions is all very subjective.
Any discussion about that is going be, what you cal it, waffle. Even worse, opinionated waffle.
Actually there was some sort of settlement shortly afterwards.What is objectively verifiable, is the fact that Trump hung the Kurds out to dry, sided with yet another autocrat, and lied about it.
We aren't discussing that - we are discussing real outcomes.
I hope not - the concept is that squezing Iran very hard economically may result in an internal overthrow of the regime (which is not liked) which would solve the entire problem overnight.So, no deal is better then a deal that has an end to it?
You do understand that ending the deal now pushes Iran's capability to develop a nuclear weapon forward, not backward?
Well 'tension' isn't war.If he really would have wanted to impress as a deal maker, he could have negotiated a better deal.
Trump leaving the deal only ramped up the tension between the US an Teheran, and he forced his allies to leave the deal against their wil.
It wasn't if it allowed Iran to grow strong by selling oil, and then go nuclear after the deal expired!The deal Obama struck was a compromise, it was the best that could be reached at the time, but it was a positive achievement.
We can't know all the facts, but he certainly didn't start a war, and we know that that is his whole strategy. We also know that the Iranians didn't choose to pursue their grievance with more attacks.The Trump administration tried to make it look as if there were only minor damages, and a few lightly wounded in the Iran counterattack.
They made it seem as if Teheran planned it that way, but some doubt it is all that clear:
11 US troops were injured in Iran’s attack. It shows how close we came to war.
The US escaped a full out war with Iran very narrowly there. That is not because of Trump, but in spite of Trump imo.
Probably more luck than anything else.
The man seemed pretty key to their strategy of terror - he was almost certainly in Iraq for no good, and Trump got rid of him - he doesn't mind killing people who are soaked in the blood of others.Why then give the regime a new marter? Why sanction them back into the middle ages?
Am Iranian I spoke to some time ago, seemed to think that the country was already pretty secular - they hate and despise their government.What is the end goal of all of these new provocations?
If Trump would have kept the deal, or maybe even expanded it, don't you think the secularization would have had a better chance?
Trump took the view that sharing a stage with Kim was not really giving him anything. The previous approach was to refuse to even negotiate without preconditions - a great way to escalate a conflict.Trump contained nothing David, Kim played him like a fiddle.
I am simply not interested in discussing all the junk about lies - I am interested in what he has done that is useful.And of course (starting to see a pattern here?) there were some lies:
Trump administration officials seem to have caught themselves in a lie about North Korea
Former White House Officials Say President Trump 'Is Lying' Over Claims Obama Tried to Meet With Kim Jong Un
Conclusion of this all seems to be that Trump's lies, although maybe trivial to you, seem to ultimately matter an awful lot.
They seem to inform you, and a large part of the US. The feedback loop between DT and his propaganda channels, leaves the truth hidden for this group.
Don't believe the links i provided if you don't want to.
Inform yourself David, you will see that Trump is a liar, and that it matters.
No name calling, just a fact.
My view is that Trump has been very constrained over the first three years of his time in office, and has had to concentrate much of his effort on tackling those who want to bring him down by devious means. So while he has courted the Saudi regime, which I dislike as much as you do, I don't think he could do anything about that immediately. He has however helped to bring about the near ending of the hideous Syrian war, which I think was mainly a creation of the US, and has worked to try to bring down the Iranian regime, and NK without the use of warfare. He also may have ended the Afghanistan war! I very, very much hope that you will see more action on foreign policy in his second term along those lines - including dialog with President Putin.I have stayed out of this thread intentionally. I see Trump just as any other politician.
I just wanted to jump in and say that I am very sorry to see Steve leaving the forum. He has a kind heart and he will be missed.
I once supported Trump but my mind was changed my mind based on a complete 180 degree flip on the promises leading into the election he made regarding foreign policy. Saudi Arabia is the prime example of lies.
You can spin this anyway you want but the fact of the matter is the imperialist agendas of the U.S has not changed at all under Trump. This is what I care about. He failed or lied. Take your choice.
Steve was the only other person to recognize the deep influence of Israel in America, of which Trump is a asset. It has nothing to do with antisemitism and everything to do criminal foreign interests.
Carry on.
I share everything you said, Philemon, all the way up to - So, with that said...
To me, the best president is the one who does all he/she can to make sure that each and every living soul has the best opportunity to experience the good and bad from ones exercise of their own personal freedom and "do no harm." Only in a framework like that can people realize the critical importance of one's own personal responsibility with regards to the world, nations and communities, their friends, loved ones and ultimately, themselves. Soul growth is my goal. And I see a hindrance to the opportunities for growth in a world brought on by the likes of socialism, communism or anything close to that. The worlds I encounter beyond this are just exactly that... beyond. Though I choose to believe my soul is in all worlds, I am anchored in this physical world with others who are also. And many of those others do not even consider such a thing as soul, as life beyond death of the physical body, as life that could have preceded such, as life without a physical body... and it is those who, in my most unsubstantiated, yet strongest belief need the lessons of this world to have any shot to awaken to such (the soul), the possibilities beyond this one life.
Challenge is what spurs growth. Not a nanny state. But also, the Sanders / Warren... and in fact the Squad and pretty much the way the entire Democratic party is being pulled... that is a recipe for financial collapse and the end of life.
Again... all just my opinion
"Medicare For All" is intended to ban private insurance. That isn't a safety net. That is only one of their many forms of destruction of personal freedom.
"The Green New Deal" will destroy life as we all know it - do the math on the costs and you will understand. The climate alarmist hoax has been thoroughly exposed.
Long ago the "education system" was "taken over" by a group of elites via their "foundations" network through which they began to supply almost every single text book used by the education system. This was only one of the forms of takeover of a system that should be trying to teach people "how to think" not "what to think." While this was going on, a moderately paced "evolution" occurred within the makeup of the educators who shared significant common ground founded on Marxist ideologies. Sanders is a Marxist. You now have an education system in the US which isn't actually education, but indoctrination into Marxist ideology.
All nations who have tried to walk this path, a slow roll to full Marxist totalitarianism, have failed or are in process of failing. Additionally, as the process matures, it usually ends up benefiting a tiny few at the top who siphon off as much as they can and send the fruits of their thievery to safe havens whereby when they day comes, they escape the collapse of the lie they built into a bonfire while all the people are left dead, dying, or wishing they were dead.
No economic system is perfect, but the fact is that capitalism has a proven record of raising the living standards of the most, for the most throughout its history.
Humans are humans and in all systems, one or a group will abuse that system. The only way to measure it is by comparing the track record of the combination of governmental systems and the economic systems with which they are associated. If one does so honestly and fairly, the best way to go is to make sure individuals have freedom within a framework that deals with those who do harm to others which also places emphasis on personal responsibility to "do the right thing." Each individual is faced with having to decide what "the right thing " is. For those who have known "their soul" or discovered "their soul," doing the right thing automatically includes (and puts first) assisting others in a responsible fashion.