He says it better than I can even if its hard to decifer

[Kurieuo]

Honestly, I'm kind of surprised that nobody here but me seems alarmed. I assumed that the crazies would stay reliably crazy and the dullards would remain true to form, but there are plenty here who fit neither of those categories. I'd have expected them to at least be a bit taken aback by our new President's tendency to talk like a dictator...

It is very obvious what Trump is attempting to do
... and yes I am a conservative who is alarmed by Trump's behavior as President ...

There are two powerful American institutions that Trump does not have power over
The Courts and the Media
Both of those institutions have the ability to place checks on Trump's power.

And what two institutions does Trump attack daily and attempt to delegitimize in the eyes of the American public?
The Courts and the Media
That's blatant authoritarianism, plain and simple.

Abraham Lincoln was authoritarian. I see better comparisons between Trump and him than Ed's totalitarian mass murderers named previously like Hilter et al. Democrats back then didn't like him much either. Many people didn't.

• Abraham Lincoln is widely accepted as one of the United States’ best presidents. But while in office, many of the American people not only thought he was doing a horrible job but also considered him to be a complete fool. It wasn’t until his tragic assassination that he rose to the ubiquitous popularity he has today. (http://knowledgenuts.com/2014/01/02/abr ... president/)

[DBowling]

Honestly, I'm kind of surprised that nobody here but me seems alarmed. I assumed that the crazies would stay reliably crazy and the dullards would remain true to form, but there are plenty here who fit neither of those categories. I'd have expected them to at least be a bit taken aback by our new President's tendency to talk like a dictator...

It is very obvious what Trump is attempting to do
... and yes I am a conservative who is alarmed by Trump's behavior as President ...

There are two powerful American institutions that Trump does not have power over
The Courts and the Media
Both of those institutions have the ability to place checks on Trump's power.

And what two institutions does Trump attack daily and attempt to delegitimize in the eyes of the American public?
The Courts and the Media
That's blatant authoritarianism, plain and simple.

Abraham Lincoln was authoritarian. I see better comparisons between Trump and him than Ed's totalitarian mass murderers named previously like Hilter et al. Democrats back then didn't like him much either. Many people didn't.

Going back to our founding fathers, America's system of checks and balances was an explicit attempt to prevent the executive branch from becoming a 'King'.
A 'king' by definition allows decisions to be made and implemented much more efficiently, but our founding fathers recognized the dangers of a 'king' to the basic freedoms of the American people, hence our Constitution and governmental checks and balances.
Presidential authoritarianism is a fundamental threat to the freedoms of the American people.

Regarding the comparison to Lincoln.
Trump is the polar opposite of Abraham Lincoln.
Abraham Lincoln is known as 'Honest' Abe.
Trump is a serial liar who continues to disseminate misinformation, and Orwellian 'alternate facts'.

It makes me a little sick to my stomach when people compare a dishonest con-man like Trump to great Presidents like Abraham Lincoln and Ronald Reagan.
I supported the Party of Lincoln and Reagan for decades. I will never support the party of Trump.

My .02

[Kurieuo]

How you believe Trump to be is what a great many people thought Lincoln to be. Lincoln was only considered a great president after his death.

It seems to me, a great many people overreact to what Trump is and project a whole lot of imagery. Just like Lincoln. It'd be largely rather imagined than real, what any of us see Trump is, because it's largely what we have received third hand. Yet, everyone wants to be an expert right, and knows what they know beyond any doubt.

I'd expect the tune of many people would change if they actually met and sat down with Trump, which is unlikely any of us will do. BUT, if you look at the people who do in fact sit down with the man, many seem to come away kind of surprised in a positive way.

[RickD]

I think we tend to look at Lincoln through our 21st century glasses.

Even regarding slaves, Lincoln wasn't exactly what we'd call conservative, as we see conservatives nowadays.

http://www.history.com/news/5-things-yo ... ancipation

Give Trump a chance. How many presidents have done as much in so little time, as Trump has. He's fulfilling his campaign promises.

What more should we expect from a president?

If you want Jesus Christ as president, you're going to be disappointed.

The days of honest presidents are gone. The position requires lying. It's part of the job.

[Philip]

I supported the Party of Lincoln and Reagan for decades. I will never support the party of Trump.

My .02

I'm not a supporter of ANY party - except God's. But I don't categorically dismiss and demonize a person, either - nor every action and initiative they might present us. Where good, I'll applaud. When bad, I'll say bad. Even Obama did a few good things. Let's judge Trump less on his flamboyant mouth and Tweeting, and more so on his actual actions and policies. So far, the left is frothing at the mouth of a strawman caricature of what they way he is doing or has done (that is harmful) as opposed to his actual actions. We better hope he surprises us in many good ways. Support him where there is merit. PRAY for him (a Scriptural instruction) and ALL of our leaders.

[Hortator]

Give Trump a chance. How many presidents have done as much in so little time, as Trump has. He's fulfilling his campaign promises.

I just want to mention something here, by this time in 2009, Obama had his Stimulus. He had the expansion of CHIP. They were also laying down the groundwork for the ACA roll-out.

Trump is being stonewalled on everything by partisan hacks implanted into the framework of government by other partisan hacks. It's not *we* who should give Trump a chance, but *they* who should give Trump a chance.

[abelcainsbrother]

President Trump Has Been Far Too Nice To The Mainstream Media
https://townhall.com/columnists/kurtsch ... wsCarousel

[abelcainsbrother]

I think we tend to look at Lincoln through our 21st century glasses.

Even regarding slaves, Lincoln wasn't exactly what we'd call conservative, as we see conservatives nowadays.

http://www.history.com/news/5-things-yo ... ancipation

Give Trump a chance. How many presidents have done as much in so little time, as Trump has. He's fulfilling his campaign promises.

What more should we expect from a president?

If you want Jesus Christ as president, you're going to be disappointed.

The days of honest presidents are gone. The position requires lying. It's part of the job.

Donald Trump's Top 10 Accomplishments In His First Month In Office. This was written by a NeverTrumper also.
https://townhall.com/columnists/johnhaw ... e-n2287565

[DBowling]

Donald Trump's Top 10 Accomplishments In His First Month In Office. This was written by a NeverTrumper also.
https://townhall.com/columnists/johnhaw ... e-n2287565

I actually support 8 of the items on that list of 10 and oppose 2 of the items on the list.

And my attitude towards Trump would probably be different if I were to evaluate his fitness to be President based on that list of 10 accomplishments alone.

However, you cannot ignore his attacks on the Courts.
You cannot ignore his attacks on the Press (who even though their bias is blatant and palpable, they are still more honest and truthful than Trump.)
You cannot just ignore Trump's disregard for (or possibly ignorance of) the truth.

Yes, Trump has taken some actions that I approve of, and surrounded himself with some people who appear to know what they are doing.
I'll give him that.
But I cannot get past his fundamental dishonesty and Orwellian authoritarianism.

Again
My .02

[abelcainsbrother]

Donald Trump's Top 10 Accomplishments In His First Month In Office. This was written by a NeverTrumper also.
https://townhall.com/columnists/johnhaw ... e-n2287565

I actually support 8 of the items on that list of 10 and oppose 2 of the items on the list.

And my attitude towards Trump would probably be different if I were to evaluate his fitness to be President based on that list of 10 accomplishments alone.

However, you cannot ignore his attacks on the Courts.
You cannot ignore his attacks on the Press (who even though their bias is blatant and palpable, they are still more honest and truthful than Trump.)
You cannot just ignore Trump's disregard for (or possibly ignorance of) the truth.

Yes, Trump has taken some actions that I approve of, and surrounded himself with some people who appear to know what they are doing.
I'll give him that.
But I cannot get past his fundamental dishonesty and Orwellian authoritarianism.

Again
My .02

When we see Trump send the National Guard down to shut down CNN,etc then I might believe you.The courts are not above criticism and they are the ones in the wrong on Trump's EO and they will be held accountable if we have Islamic terrorist attacks and those who opposed keeping America safe from Islamic terrorim will take a big hit politically and will have egg on their face.It won't effect the Trump administration.Those who oppose keeping America safe like these liberal judges are now holding the ball should we have Islamic terrorist attacks and all Trump has to do is sit back and wait.

As far as the media Trump has called them out on their fake news and lies and the media is not above criticism. As a matter of fact the President is mentioned first when it comes to the first amendment,not the press,but they think they should be immune to criticism which they are not. If you want to believe the lies and slander that the liberal news media has used many times to smear Reublicans and you can't see they are trying to do the same thing to Trump,then I can't help it. But the majority do not trust the media and believe Trump is more trustworthy than they are.But it is laughable to me how you claim Trump lies more than the media or typical politicians. You are nit-picking unfairly to believe that. I would like you to list lies Trump has told and we can compare it to the lies the media and politicians and liberals have told and you'll realize that you have no leg to stand on.I'm not talking about Trump being wrong about something he said,that does not make anybody a liar,a lie is intentionally telling a lie.

Trump has a plan to deal with the media that is doing everything it can to smear him.I don't exactly know what he will do but here are some things Trump could do and just might do to deal with the media.

He could use anti-trust laws to break up the monopolies of only a handful of people owning all of the media.In a capitalistic society competition should apply to the media on TV just like it does in the rest of the economy and at times monopolies have to be broken up and it has been done before.He also could buy the media and then shut it down.Ford,Chevy,Dodge,etc = competition. CNN MSNBC,ABC,CBS,NBC,New York Times,Washington Post,etc = monopoly.

[Hortator]

Donald Trump's Top 10 Accomplishments In His First Month In Office. This was written by a NeverTrumper also.
https://townhall.com/columnists/johnhaw ... e-n2287565

I know you're trying to be optimistic, but 10/10 or close to that number, of those "accomplishments" have not occurred. They have been sabotaged, stymied, halted, stopped, or at least neutered so much they barely resemble his promise.

I'll give Trump this, though. He is doing his darndest to fulfill his promises. And a lot of his promises will, in the end, be very good for this country. IF they are allowed to be rolled out....

[Kurieuo]

Donald Trump's Top 10 Accomplishments In His First Month In Office. This was written by a NeverTrumper also.
https://townhall.com/columnists/johnhaw ... e-n2287565

I actually support 8 of the items on that list of 10 and oppose 2 of the items on the list.

And my attitude towards Trump would probably be different if I were to evaluate his fitness to be President based on that list of 10 accomplishments alone.

However, you cannot ignore his attacks on the Courts.

Attacks on the courts? I don't understand.

If you mean the 9th Circuit Court trying to prevent Trump keeping his promise people who voted him in on immigration policies, well, it says to be he's trying to be a loyal as possible to the people who voted him in at keeping his promises.

You cannot ignore his attacks on the Press (who even though their bias is blatant and palpable, they are still more honest and truthful than Trump.)
You cannot just ignore Trump's disregard for (or possibly ignorance of) the truth.

You mean, like when much fake news media reported upon a Trump misstatement on Sweden as factually inaccurate and therefore Sweden has no crime issues? Hmm.. I'm sure you don't want the US to become like Sweden.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kPtNON6sHXw

Yes, Trump has taken some actions that I approve of, and surrounded himself with some people who appear to know what they are doing.
I'll give him that.
But I cannot get past his fundamental dishonesty and Orwellian authoritarianism.

Surely your Orwellian authoritarianism statement is exaggeration. Please explain with examples?

Trump for all his faults evidently appears to have the best interests of Americans at heart. It is doubtful you've had a president in recent time who will fight for Americans harder than Trump, such that many other countries are in panic due to his American exclusivity. I see him doing everything to deliver on promises which won him the election whether that means executive orders, or taking it to the courts.

He's certainly not taring down the courts, rather simply doing everything legally in his power to keep on his promises that people elected him on in quick time. And, those anti-Trump don't like that, will see such as authoritarian when he pushes back on those who try to thwart his delivering on election promises.

The irony is, when an authoritarian mindset is being overthrown (i.e., "Regressive Left", of which the fakestream media has been the spokesman of), the one spearheading the overthrow will appear authoritarianist. Yet, there is also a long line behind the spearhead doing the pushing.

I'd encourage you to watch the videos I posted in this thread.

[abelcainsbrother]

Donald Trump's Top 10 Accomplishments In His First Month In Office. This was written by a NeverTrumper also.
https://townhall.com/columnists/johnhaw ... e-n2287565

I know you're trying to be optimistic, but 10/10 or close to that number, of those "accomplishments" have not occurred. They have been sabotaged, stymied, halted, stopped, or at least neutered so much they barely resemble his promise.

I'll give Trump this, though. He is doing his darndest to fulfill his promises. And a lot of his promises will, in the end, be very good for this country. IF they are allowed to be rolled out....

I am optimistic despite him being opposed by the establishment.I have good reason to be optimistic despite this opposition to stop his agenda.I know you probably doubt it but I am confident that Trump has a plan to turn the tide to get what he wants. Trump is a winner and he will give them a chance but he will put his foot down at the right time and in the right way and he will get his way.He may not get all of it but he will get most of it.He does'nt even have his team fully in place yet and he is surrounding himself with generals who are fed up with the corruption in our intelligence agencies.Trump knew he would come up against opposition from the establishment and he has had a plan in place to deal with them and I have no doubt he will.

He knows all about how the establishment opposed Reagan and how it hindered Reagan with much of his agenda so he has a plan to deal with opposition. While alot of his opposition thinks they have something on Trump to impeach him,he has stuff on them and it willl be exposed at the right time and I think people are going to be surprised just how many people in our government are going to be effected,once the investigations start and some already have started.I predict alot of corruption is going to be exposed by investigations and it is gonna take out much of Trump's opposition.

[DBowling]

Yes, Trump has taken some actions that I approve of, and surrounded himself with some people who appear to know what they are doing.
I'll give him that.
But I cannot get past his fundamental dishonesty and Orwellian authoritarianism.

Surely your Orwellian authoritarianism statement is exaggeration. Please explain with examples?

When the Trump administration formally distributes misinformation behind the cloak of 'alternative facts'... that's Orwellian

When the Trump administration attacks the the independent free press when they expose factual untruths perpetuated by the administration... that's Orwellian.

When Trump tries to perpetuate propaganda that the media are "the enemy of the American people"... that's Orwellian

Trump has deliberately chosen to make the media his enemy for his own political and propaganda purposes.
I don't agree with the bias in the media, and I don't take much of what the media says at face value either.
But Trump's attacks on an independent free press (whether you like or agree with them or not) are a textbook example of attempts at 'Orwellian' control and manipulation.

BTW... I don't think its going to work.
Based on the ferocity of Trump's attacks, I expect the independent free press to push back and push back hard.

My .02

[RickD]

What exactly is the independent free press?