Donald Trump and US politics

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鬼殺し wrote:

http://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-trump-military-idUSKBN1AB1TM

What an arsehole.

well from what I have heard from some of my military friends it was kind of an issue

of course the us Military has far larger issues

I think trans folk do have disproportionate medical costs, to include reassignment surgery, hormone therapy, and psychological counseling. From the standpoint of health insurance financials, this makes being trans a preexisting condition. There are many, many medical conditions that US military recruiters screen for and reject applications on the basis of. To me this is no more unreasonable nor hateful than creating a policy that prohibits diabetics in the military (as the US already has).

I don't hate diabetics by the way. I wish them the best in all their endeavors.

The military is another welfare org. We shouldnt even have a standing army let alone like 150 bases all over and F35 boondoggles. We cant even beat guys in sandals who are equipped w/ Korean war era weapons (see 16 years in Afghanistan which we are losing and will lose) and transgender wont help that.

With a single 2 part tweet, Trump shifted the narrative. Whether it will stay shifted away from "Russia" is yet to be seen.

If Russian interference, and in particular interference in the elections was actually important to the democrats, why are they blocking senators from both parties from holding a national security briefing and blocking hearings into investigation of Russian interference?

Seriously: Russia is interfering, we should investigate/Let's block the investigation.

“Over the last few weeks, my Democrat colleagues have delayed and blocked Judiciary Committee hearings, shuttered a national security briefing and now cut off a hearing about interference in our political system by agents working for foreign powers,” Senator Grassley said.

https://www.grassley.senate.gov/news/news-releases/once-again-democrats-block-committee-work-russian-interference-and-matters

The democrats want to drag the Russian story out as long as they can - till 2018 if possible- because they know the investigation will find no evidence that Trump worked with Russia in any capacity to influence the election. Since the investigation can't even proceed without being obstructed, Trump will be pushing all of the hot buttons to pull the left off track.

Expect more such decisions in a similar vein. Yes, people have a legitimate complaint about the latest decision, and the military does have legitimate rationale on their side. It doesn't mean their rationale is correct, and history has shown their decision making to err on the overly conservative side when it comes to change. The military certainly didn't take their position out of a sense of hate or intention to inflict distress.

Consider that Obama had 8 years in office, but didn't make the change to allow transgenders into the military until slightly over a year ago (June 30, 2016)

"The announcement -- which removes one of the last barriers to military service by any individual -- was made by Defense Secretary Ash Carter, who had been studying the issue for almost a year. Carter also gave the services until July 1 (2017) to develop policies to allow people already identifying as transgender to join the military if they normal standards and have been stable in their identified genders for 18 months."

"On June 30 (2017), Mattis extended the July 1 2017 deadline to Jan.1 (2018) saying the services should study the impact on the "readiness and lethality of our forces." That is the prism through which Mattis has viewed most, if not all, personnel issues."

So the ban on openly serving had never been officially lifted.

http://www.cnn.com/2016/06/30/politics/transgender-ban-lifted-us-military/index.html
http://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/military/the-intel/sd-me-military-transgender-20170607-story.html

Although I am sure this is disheartening and discriminatory against transgendered people, that doesn't mean it was meant as such, and may be related more to costs and combat considerations. Whether the combat considerations is true is certainly debatable. Whether the cost consideration is significant enough to be a factor depends on where spending is prioritized. We already know from the past 8-12 years that defense spending was not prioritized on combat or readiness, but along the lines of "reforming the military" into some untested paradigms.

Mattis is clearly focused on combat ability and costs, as evidenced by his ordering a full review of any military training that has nothing to do with warfighting.

Let's get back to Russia, please - we are hurting CNN's financial feelings by shifting.

now thats the truth

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Aim_Deep wrote:

The military is another welfare org. We shouldnt even have a standing army let alone like 150 bases all over and F35 boondoggles.

The F-35 boondoggle is a result of people using cost cutting as the primary goal. They wanted a single fighter that would be everything to everyone in every service - thinking universal parts would save money. (Economies of scale aren't quite that simple, but economics has always been the Achilles heel of the left) They were planning for 70% commonality of parts but ended up with 25% commonality, and a much much higher price tag per plane. The US military forces opposed the F-35 program strongly when it was being discussed, but it was shoved down their throats.

We could have had 4 or 5 different aircraft that were much better suited to their tasks, and have more of them, at a cheaper price per aircraft and total cost.

Good intentions are not enough. Imagine that a loved one has been in a terrible car accident, and is undergoing surgery to survive. Instead of the most qualified surgeon, the hospital selects the person who was voted "Best intentions and social amiability" to do the surgery.

This is why Trump was elected president. America is tired of politicians patting themselves on the back for a job poorly done. Whether the current president will be effective at achieving the goals he was voted in for remains to be seen.

But, let's get back to Russia, because that story line is helping so many people, in so many ways. Ignore the stories about the 103% voter turnout, and thousands of voters over age 100 in parts of Florida, Russia is all that matters.

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鬼殺し wrote:

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DalaiLama wrote:

With a single 2 part tweet, Trump shifted the narrative.

Bread and fucking circuses.

You are absolutely correct there. The CNN Maximus and MSNB Colloseum audience demands a circus. They don't want substance, they want emotional entertainment. Those on the left could say Fox, Breitbart and others are doing the same with the conservative viewers.

The MSM can't afford for their audience to ever reach catharsis. They prefer an unending tease, with no release.

Trump recognizes this and is giving their protesting gladiators a few stimulation infused morsels. If this sidetracks them, and let's him get on with actual business, then it may be a wise decision. If it bogs down all the other Roman congress members to join the circus and nothing still gets done, it will be a bad decision.

Time will tell.

I just feel sorry for the people that have to code the stuff at hospitals for the payment systems.

The law for insurance was basically the same for literally 50+ years.
Then they change everything so all that code had to be changed.
Then like a year later they are talking about undoing it.
Then about a year after that they will come up with a new plan.

The IT dudes who code this stuff and train people to use it have to be ready to just walk off the job.

I present you the saddest forum thread on the entire internet. Read at least one full page of the responses.

http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showthread.php?t=1411794

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鬼殺し wrote:

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DalaiLama wrote:

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鬼殺し wrote:

Bread and fucking circuses.

You are absolutely correct there. The CNN Maximus and MSNB Colloseum audience demands a circus. They don't want substance, they want emotional entertainment. Those on the left could say Fox, Breitbart and others are doing the same with the conservative viewers.

The MSM can't afford for their audience to ever reach catharsis. They prefer an unending tease, with no release.

Trump recognizes this and is giving their protesting gladiators a few stimulation infused morsels. If this sidetracks them, and let's him get on with actual business, then it may be a wise decision. If it bogs down all the other Roman congress members to join the circus and nothing still gets done, it will be a bad decision.

Time will tell.

Oh please. It's the White House Maximus and you know it. It's not the media tweeting constantly to 'shift the narrative'. The media? They're just sportscasters for this bullshit farce.

Don't twist my words, thanks. They're not baguettes. Or pretzels. Or even made of dough.

But you're right: it's not the media tweeting constantly to control the narrative. They do have access to TV channels, after all.