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George Will: Trump has a dangerous disability

Ohio Guy

Ohio Guy

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I hesitated posting this op-ed from George Will because I assumed a vocal minority here will be up in arms about it. After that consideration, I decided to go forward with it because this isn't some far-left rag saying this - it's George Will. I know he's been very public in his disdain for Trump, but I'm curious how even the most ardent Trump supporter could read this piece and refute it.

Another assumption I'll go ahead and make (and by all means feel free to let me know if I'm wrong), is that Trump's lack of intellectual curiosity and that he's not even close to the most articulate guy in just about any room he enters are foregone conclusions.

I don't believe Will is off base here, but what say ye, Trump supporters of the Water Cooler?
 
Ohio Guy said:
I hesitated posting this op-ed from George Will because I assumed a vocal minority here will be up in arms about it. After that consideration, I decided to go forward with it because this isn't some far-left rag saying this - it's George Will. I know he's been very public in his disdain for Trump, but I'm curious how even the most ardent Trump supporter could read this piece and refute it.

Another assumption I'll go ahead and make (and by all means feel free to let me know if I'm wrong), is that Trump's lack of intellectual curiosity and that he's not even close to the most articulate guy in just about any room he enters are foregone conclusions.

I don't believe Will is off base here, but what say ye, Trump supporters of the Water Cooler?
Click to expand...

Not sure there are really any vocal Trump supporters here, rather just those that twisted themselves into pretzels to justify their vote for someone so severely lacking of basic intellectual qualifications for the office. It's an embarrassing indictment of the American system that such an individual could win its highest office.
 
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Ohio Guy said:
I hesitated posting this op-ed from George Will because I assumed a vocal minority here will be up in arms about it. After that consideration, I decided to go forward with it because this isn't some far-left rag saying this - it's George Will. I know he's been very public in his disdain for Trump, but I'm curious how even the most ardent Trump supporter could read this piece and refute it.

Another assumption I'll go ahead and make (and by all means feel free to let me know if I'm wrong), is that Trump's lack of intellectual curiosity and that he's not even close to the most articulate guy in just about any room he enters are foregone conclusions.

I don't believe Will is off base here, but what say ye, Trump supporters of the Water Cooler?
Click to expand...
I think I can say that I agree with Will and not violate any rules as a military member.
 
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Almost all of those who voted for Trump are still supportive at the 100 day mark according to a poll which I heard referred to by a commentator. Obviously George Will may not be one of these.

I suspect the Trumpites will put George Will down as one of the establishment guys who just doesn't have a clue.

Comments by Trumpites will include: At least he isn't Obama, Give him time, Gorsuch and the Syrian missile attack prove he is on the right course.

Finally according to Trumpites; Health care changes, less regulation, tax reform, an upsurge in economic growth, immigration reform, and revamping of entitlements are yet to come. These items and many more will begin to make America strong again. Someday in the next year or so, George Will will apologize for underestimating Trump.
 
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Ohio Guy said:
Another assumption I'll go ahead and make (and by all means feel free to let me know if I'm wrong), is that Trump's lack of intellectual curiosity and that he's not even close to the most articulate guy in just about any room he enters are foregone conclusions.
Click to expand...

Addressing the latter first, articulation probably wouldn't be as big of a deal if he was able to still effectively communicate his policy/stance for various issues. That has been the worst part about the Administration, the lack of clarity and attention to detail between those that know (e.g. Mnuchin, Cohn, etc.) and those that should know (e.g. Trump, Spicer) is causing ineffective leadership and governance.

Secondly, you are dead on about his lack of intellectual curiosity. I think many were assuming that Trump was going to be more open and willing to learn nuances and details regarding issues than he has been. When you come from the private sector, you can tout benefits that differ from life-long politicians like Clinton, Sanders and Cruz, but you need to be willing and eager to educate yourself about certain things that you otherwise have elementary knowledge of. While some on this board will inappropriately suggest this is the fault of electing a wealthy elite, I'd argue that there are countless others that still have that intellectual curiosity and drive to learn new things and that Trump is more of an anomaly.
 
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Ohio Guy said:
I hesitated posting this op-ed from George Will because I assumed a vocal minority here will be up in arms about it. After that consideration, I decided to go forward with it because this isn't some far-left rag saying this - it's George Will. I know he's been very public in his disdain for Trump, but I'm curious how even the most ardent Trump supporter could read this piece and refute it.

Another assumption I'll go ahead and make (and by all means feel free to let me know if I'm wrong), is that Trump's lack of intellectual curiosity and that he's not even close to the most articulate guy in just about any room he enters are foregone conclusions.

I don't believe Will is off base here, but what say ye, Trump supporters of the Water Cooler?
Click to expand...

I think Trump has decided that articulation is a liability because it restricts his flexibility . . . well, that and because his articulation is a liability.

Perhaps that's the best way to explain his approach to governance . . . he doesn't know what he's doing and couldn't explain it anyway if he did, so he needs to have the greatest degree of flexibility to accommodate his change of direction and impulsiveness.
 
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Sope Creek said:
I think Trump has decided that articulation is a liability because it restricts his flexibility . . . well, that and because his articulation is a liability.

Perhaps that's the best way to explain his approach to governance . . . he doesn't know what he's doing and couldn't explain it anyway if he did, so he needs to have the greatest degree of flexibility to accommodate his change of direction and impulsiveness.
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I don't think he cares to learn cause he doesn't give a shit about anyone, except himself.
 
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hoot1 said:
Almost all of those who voted for Trump are still supportive at the 100 day mark according to a poll which I heard referred to by a commentator. Obviously George Will may not be one of these.

I suspect the Trumpites will put George Will down as one of the establishment guys who just doesn't have a clue.

Comments by Trumpites will include: At least he isn't Obama, Give him time, Gorsuch and the Syrian bombing prove he is on the right course.

Finally according to Trumpites; Health care changes, less regulation, tax reform, an upsurge in economic growth, immigration reform, and revamping of entitlements are yet to come. These items and many more will begin to make America strong again. Someday in the next year or so, George Will will apologize for underestimating Trump.
Click to expand...

I wouldn't say that Will has no clue. But I will say he has no clue about why I voted for Trump. One of the reasons he got my vote was that I thought he could end the crisis-mode federal spending that was present throughout the last 6 years of the Obama administration. It looks like I won't be disappointed.
 
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I have always admired George Will and as usual his column is on the money.I just wish he would smile once in awhile.
 
CO. Hoosier said:
I wouldn't say that Will has no clue. But I will say he has no clue about why I voted for Trump. One of the reasons he got my vote was that I thought he could end the crisis-mode federal spending that was present throughout the last 6 years of the Obama administration. It looks like I won't be disappointed.
Click to expand...

What are you talking about? Crisis mode
Federal spending?
 
CO. Hoosier said:
I wouldn't say that Will has no clue. But I will say he has no clue about why I voted for Trump. One of the reasons he got my vote was that I thought he could end the crisis-mode federal spending that was present throughout the last 6 years of the Obama administration. It looks like I won't be disappointed.
Click to expand...
lolwut?
 
CO. Hoosier said:
Heh. "Last minute Budget deal" used to mean renting a car. Obama changed it to mean federal spending.
Click to expand...

Obama didn't change anything. Congress decided what/when they would fund the govt. They wanted to play political games with funding deadlines, under the guise of deficit reduction.

Amazingly now that Trump is in office, spending levels don't matter...they gave Dems everything they wanted and then some.
 
twenty02 said:
Obama didn't change anything. Congress decided what/when they would fund the govt. They wanted to play political games with funding deadlines, under the guise of deficit reduction.

Amazingly now that Trump is in office, spending levels don't matter...they gave Dems everything they wanted and then some.
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How about that. Even more amazing is CO.H's apparent belief it's all a feint that will result in some kind of, what, spending cuts or something? Not even entirely sure what he was talking about in the first place.
 
TheOriginalHappyGoat said:
How about that. Even more amazing is CO.H's apparent belief it's all a feint that will result in some kind of, what, spending cuts or something? Not even entirely sure what he was talking about in the first place.
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Right now, some Democrats are starting to get the feeling that they actually won the election. Better yet, they may not have to do all that much work to continue getting what they want--no real cuts in spending, and a Republican party that continues to travel down that road to perdition.

As for Trump, Donald Rumsfeld was right. The unknown unknowns are the worst ones of all. Trump's lack of knowledge is dwarfed by his lack of knowledge that he lacks so much knowledge. George Will (whom I have little respect for as a man*), takes that to another level by pointing out that Trump doesn't even know what it means to know something (i.e., he is incapable of knowing that he does not know so much stuff). And I think he's right.

*my lack of respect for Will stems from his actions in his personal life.
 
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twenty02 said:
Not sure there are really any vocal Trump supporters here, rather just those that twisted themselves into pretzels to justify their vote for someone so severely lacking of basic intellectual qualifications for the office. It's an embarrassing indictment of the American system that such an individual could win its highest office.
Click to expand...
You can't be vocal here, you get deleted.
 
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Noodle said:
And Trump has changed absolutely nothing about that!
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I dunno. All the talk about a shutdown came from extremists on both sides of the aisle. While the time limit was getting short, the negotiations proceeded over the weekend in a reasonable fashion.

This issue was a stop gap that Trump inherited. I guess we will know more when the fiscal year negotiations comes up.
 
CO. Hoosier said:
I dunno. All the talk about a shutdown came from extremists on both sides of the aisle. While the time limit was getting short, the negotiations proceeded over the weekend in a reasonable fashion.

This issue was a stop gap that Trump inherited. I guess we will know more when the fiscal year negotiations comes up.
Click to expand...
The president of United States literally said that we need a "good shutdown."
 
Noodle said:
Right now, some Democrats are starting to get the feeling that they actually won the election.
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I don't understand the Trump criticism about this. The Limbaughs and Hannitys of the world are pissed. So what? They and their ilk in congress have been part of the problem. The Democrats doing a touchdown dance are also a big part of the problem. Obama bragged that he thought politics was always winning and losing; and that is how he ran things. That's BS. I expected Trump to eliminate the hand to hand combat part of running the government. So far he is doing as I expected.
 
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RBB89 said:
The president of United States literally said that we need a "good shutdown."
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I know. Trump says a lot of similar things, then he negotiates differently. That is all part of the art of the deal. Most people (lawyers) I know say a lot of things to define negotiating limits and to keep their clients happy in negotiations, (me included) then they compromise at the final hour. This happens a lot.
 
CO. Hoosier said:
Heh. "Last minute Budget deal" used to mean renting a car. Obama changed it to mean federal spending.
Click to expand...

Good lord, that's been going on every time a Democrat has been in the White House since Gingrich was Speaker.

Your ODS really occupies far too much of what is left of that geezer brain of yours.
 
CO. Hoosier said:
I wouldn't say that Will has no clue. But I will say he has no clue about why I voted for Trump. One of the reasons he got my vote was that I thought he could end the crisis-mode federal spending that was present throughout the last 6 years of the Obama administration. It looks like I won't be disappointed.
Click to expand...
Gfg you are an brainded.
 
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Ohio Guy said:
I hesitated posting this op-ed from George Will because I assumed a vocal minority here will be up in arms about it. After that consideration, I decided to go forward with it because this isn't some far-left rag saying this - it's George Will. I know he's been very public in his disdain for Trump, but I'm curious how even the most ardent Trump supporter could read this piece and refute it.

Another assumption I'll go ahead and make (and by all means feel free to let me know if I'm wrong), is that Trump's lack of intellectual curiosity and that he's not even close to the most articulate guy in just about any room he enters are foregone conclusions.

I don't believe Will is off base here, but what say ye, Trump supporters of the Water Cooler?
Click to expand...
I love the part about how Penn graduated this guy. Money talks and bull shit walks.
 
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